[tnl0515]

Dh and I are still waiting on our court date like many of you. I hope we all hear something soon!
I was wondering though when the day finally arrives to get your child from the orphanage, what that was like. I would love to hear stories and we can all use some hope.
Is the orphanage happy the child is leaving? I would think to them it is the child's "big day."
Do you get to dress your child in the outfit you brought?
If it is cold out, do you put ALOT of layers (like they do) on the child ?
With all the time I have on my hands latley, these are thoughts that I have! So Ring phone ring!!
I hope everyone gets some news soon. I will be thinking of you.
Laura

[Vicki H]

When we got Alex from the orphanage, they were generally happy for him, not happy to see him go but happy he found a family. One of the caretakers cried, especially when we dressed him.
Yes, you get to dress your child. They pay particularly close attention to this. I would definately dress him in layers. Also this time of year I would recommend a onepiece snowsuit and a hat for the baby.
I have heard that even in the hot months they still layer children and put hats on them.
Hope this helps, ring phone ring.

Vicki

[Kasey]

Our was interesting in that with the Kirov region there are two orphanages, but when we there you only go the Kirov one and our son was from a neighboring orphanage, so he was brought to us for both trips, now for the 2nd trip, his orphanage had been in a chicken pox quarantine, so he could not come inside the Kirov orphanage, so we met withhim in a car before court and then we did not get him until we were on the train that night ont he way back to Moscow, we met him at his town's train station, we had provided them with his clothes prior to court, so he was dressed in that and the snowsuit they made us buy him in August!! yes it was damp and chilly, but definitely not snow suit weather.
It was hard because the rest of our group had their kiddos soon after court and lunch and we had to wait several more hours for our little man--but then we had an overnight train ride to hold him and snug and start bonding.
Best wishes!

[bratgirl]

Laura,

We did get our kids all dressed up on the day they left. You have to bring clothes for them to wear. Everything is is the property of the orphanage.

They brought the kids to us. I dressed Helena and Kevin dressed Hayden. We were the only family with two kids - so it did take us longer to get them ready. The other two families with us did not dress their children up at all. Our kids were dressed to the nine's! It was September and very moderate temperatures. They both had jackets and hats. For this time of year, add snow pants and mittens also.

We were so excited to finally be getting the kids. We had court on Tuesday and we could not take the children until Friday morning. We left the orphanage and went straight to the airport. It was sureal to say the least. As we were getting the kids ready, the social worker, director and their main caretakers were there with eyes welled with tears. They were all making comments about how adorable they looked. When we had them ready, they were all kissing and hugging them goodbye. It was really sweet and we left knowing that our children were loved in their former home.

I will always remember that day! It was truly the best day of my life up until that point!

[mschweber]

They were happy to see Rebecca have a family but it was bittersweet as they were saying goodby to her, very possibly forever. For us dressing her was basically a joint effort. We brought lots of layers so as not to seem "bad parents". Here is a picture with Rebecca and some of her caregivers right before we left. As you can see she was crying as we took her out but she quieted down as soon as we got in the car as her curiosity took over.

[drazil65]

It was a day of mixed emotions as our son was 20 months old and knew something was up. He was very fussy and did not want us near him at first (like he could feel the change coming). Prior to this day we had spent the previous 2 days with him and he was so happy to see us again (4 weeks between trips) and everything was in happy mode. But that day was different for him. He screamed and cried when we tried to dress him holding his hands out to his favorite caretaker (was very loved there and pretty much had the same caretakers for a while), she was crying, we were crying. The director had us come up to her office before leaving and she was crying (very, very emotional) but they were so happy for their little shinning star to have a family. In the directors office area we (him and I) sat down on the piano bench and he turned around and started to play on the piano (very softly), stopped crying, raised his hands to me when we got up to go and we went straight to the waiting car and he never looked backed. Very curious in the car looking out the window (we were in St. Petersburg so alot to see) and it was new and a first for him. Loved the hotel when we got back there, favorite thing to play with was the tv remote but used it as a cell phone (yes, he knew what a cell phone was but obviously not a tv remote). He ate and slept well, not only had his first experience in a car that day but then in an overnite train compartment that night to Moscow, then the embassy appointment. He loved the hotel (so many sights for him to see for the first time just in the room) again, ate well and then we left late at night and he had his first plane ride (actually 3 planes when all was said and done). He did very well, we bought an extra plane seat for him (godsend!) and requested and sat in bulkhead for the extra room (double godsend). Talk about planes, trains and automobiles!!!

[tnl0515]

keep the stories coming!! This is making me feel so much better. I think I am going to cry from reading them, but they are happy tears! LOL! I cant wait for our turn!
Thank you all for sharing!

[Javalita]

yes, definitely keep the stories coming. this is like therapy!

[erickk]

It was fabulous for so many reasons. There were tears between us and our son's main caregiver-tears of sadness and tears of joy. Our son (who was 15 months old at the time) was given to us naked. Once he was dressed he strutted around like a peacock! It was so funny. He was so happy to have his own clothes and shoes that fit. We were taken aback when all of a sudden he started walking down to his room (which was right by the room all of us met in for 5 days to see our children). He marched in-he wanted to show them his new clothes. The caregivers fawned over him and gave him and called him their beautiful Maksimka and gave him more good-bye kisses as did the orphanage doctor. It was March so we bundled him up in his snow pants, coat, little boots we bought for him in Russia and hat and mittens. His outside clothes were sooo big for him. He know something was up and he and the other 3 boys that were adopted by the other 2 families we traveled with were quiet on the ride home. We found out it was the first time our son had been in the car since he had been brought to the orphanage shortly after he was born. The fun came when we got him back to our host family's house. Some how he knew-he knew he was going home. It was like watching fast motion photography of a flower opening. He went from quiet and uncertain to crawling all over the place, running and chasing, getting into cupboards, taking every thing out of our suit cases and full blown belly laughs. Holding him for the first time when we got to the orphanage was the best, leaving with him was the 2nd best.

[LHecht]

Hope this works - I've never posted a photo before!

This is our little snow princess, 16 mos old, and her papa on the day we took her from the orphanage, dressed in the duds we brought for her, just over one month ago. (They dressed her and we learned quickly that it was a two man operation!) Probably 15 people came by to hold her once more and to wish us well, as well as share any last minute tips for taking care of her. They were so wonderful to her and us, and we are so grateful to them for their loving care of our girl.

Our older daughter, age 7, had a going away party with the girls in her group. Can't post that one since every picture has other kids in it and I hear there are rules about that. But they too were very kind, they made special treats and gave her a gift, and several of the workers came by to wish us well. They asked us to send pictures of her with long hair, which she has always wanted but was not allowed to have in the orphanage. Our daughter went through her food and toy stash the night before her party and gave a good portion of it to her friends in the orphanage.

[skiboo]

Our Baby Home has a tradition of holding tea parties for the adoptive parents and the baby home staff on the day you pick up your little one. Usually there is only one or two families picking up at the same time and the parties are small, but we ended up with 4 families on the same day so we had a very large and very celebratory party in the outer office of the director. There were about 30 people in attendance and we had cake, tea, sweets, etc... and then the baby home director made a lovely speech about how glad he was that we were going to be giving homes to these children and made a toast to us with champagne (we drank several bottles). All the families then shared some words about what their adoptions meant and it turned in to a very sentimental and touching occasion. We gave our gifts to the director and for the rest of the orphanage staff and then we were brought down to get our babies.
The baby home workers had them all bathed and dressed and ready to go (we had dropped off their outfits on the way to the party). There was lots of tears and hugs and it all seems a blur -- almost surreal. I just know that my happiness was complete at the moment they finally placed him in my arms and we waved "paka paka" to all the workers....
I will post some photos later if I have time....

[kimber413]

The caregivers at our orphanage were very happy that Kaitlin was finding a home, but sad that she was leaving. One of the caregivers cried as we took her to dress her. At our orphanage, you take them and dress them in clothing you've brought, leaving all their orphanage clothes and shoes behind for the next child.

Kaitlin seemed a little confused, but since we'd seen her quite a few times, she trusted me. However, as we were leaving, one of the caregivers knealt down and whispered something to Kaitlin, and she burst into tears. I had to take this crying, screaming child to the car, rubbing her little back and telling her it was okay. I think she didn't realize until that moment that she was going away forever. I wish I'd asked what the caregiver said to her, but I was so concerned with calming Kaitlin down that I didn't think of it. Poor thing cried herself to sleep in the car.

But after we got to the apartment in Kemerovo, and she started to settle in, she became aware that we were her parents and warmed up to us quickly. It took some time (well, a week or so) before she seemed completely comfortable with us, but now she DEFINITELY knows who her parents are, and squeals and runs to me whenever I go pick her up at daycare. That really makes my day.

Here's a photo of when she was given to us to change, and you can see the lady crying in the background.

[Steffanie]

I love the stories and the pictures!!! Thank you for sharing and please tell us more. It is great to hear the happy endings.
-Steffanie

[HollyB]

Great thread! Please continue to post. This is the best therapy for us who are waiting.

I have an awesome "first meeting" story. When we adopted our daughter in Nepal she was 3 1/2 years. She had our pictures we had sent, for about a month before we came. The caretakers showed her my picture often and told her who I was, but never told her when we were coming. (she wouldn't get it) Anyway, when we first met her, she had no idea we were coming that day. The director called her over and I knelt down to see her. She walked up, looked right at me and said in this surprised voice "Mummy!" She was as thrilled to have us as we were to have her. She contines to be an absolutely amazing person.

[hadams]

In Russia, it is a tradition that when the father goes to the hospital to take his wife and new baby home, he brings cake to the nurses.

So, our agency arranged with us to bring a cake to the caretakers in our baby's room.

Both times we have adopted, the last day in the orphanage is party celebration, part chaos, part melancholy.

For our first adoption, we took a tour of the orphanage, then all met together for briefing of our children’s daily routine. Once that business was completed, we broke out the champagne.

There were toasts all around, and then we presented the orphanage director with flowers (our agency had arranged for).

Our children were brought in, and we dressed them up. We took our dressed up babies, their old orphanage clothes, and the cakes back to their rooms. A few quick pictures, some hugs and kisses, a lot of tears, and then rushed outside into the darkness of late afternoon in a Russian winter.

Second adoption, same thing. A celebration, the ceremonial redressing of the kids, posing for some pictures, and a tearful last good bye.

It is a very weird time. All sorts of conflicting forces. It is exciting yet somber. Earth shattering yet fleeting. Joyful yet sad. You feel a sense of release (they are mine!) yet fear at the same time (they are mine?!?!?!).

For my children…they seemed to go along with the flow. They accepted me dressing them (and the first time I dressed my son I was a complete amature!), and handled leaving the orphanage o.k. There was an older boy adopted at the same time as my son (just under four) and he was very sad and very scared to leave the orphanage. But my daughter, at age two, wasn’t. So, it is part age, part temperament.

The care takers, the physical therapist, the speech therapist, etc. all come to say good bye to the children. They tuck their scarves around their faces, and feel their feet to make sure you have thick enough boots on them. It was important to us to have our children dressed in “Sunday best” for this occasion, even if sweat pants would have been far easier to fit them in.

Best of luck to all you PAPs, soon it will be your day!