Pupek ... Family of FOUR!!!

Court was this morning at 9am and at 11:09am we were officially named the parents of Roman and Maxim! Court was something ... really can't describe unless you've been through the experience but the end result after 18months is that we have finally realized our dream of being parents!!! After court we had lunch with Svetlana, Helen and the social worker who went with us! On November 11th we will pick the boys up and head to Moscow for the Embassy paper work and then it's off to New York!!!

A few pictures from our preparations and then court!


Stephen preparing for court


After court in front of the court house ... we are PARENTS!!!


With Svetlana outside the court house!

And now for the pictures you have all been waiting for!!!

Introducing.....


Roman Robert Pupek- 2 1/2 years old


Maxim Vincent Pupek - 18 months old

We will post more pictures soon of the last few days but at long last here they are!!! We are so excited and can't wait for the rest of this journey as new parents!!!

Thoughts from today

Today was day 3 with the boys...it's getting easier and easier for them to be with us..I think. The first day both boys came in and were fine, played and we had about 25 minutes with them.. Max was sleepy and it seemed that Roman remembered Stephen's watch from our first vist. Yesterday was tougher .. Max was still a little sleepy and confused and Roman was plain scared!!! He came into the room and took one look at us and started to cry .. he didn't want much to do with us, well until he saw the books and puzzles and then he warmed up some. Max is still confused but is okay to be picked up and cuddled and will play with the toys after some time. Today, Roman came into the room and was excited to see us and went right for his puzzles! Max was a little more scared, cried but again was okay when I picked him up. He's more aprehensive of Stephen but will go to him eventually. Today's visit was short and tomorrow when we vist the social worker will be coming with us to "observe" us as a family and see how we are all getting along. NO PRESSURE THERE!!

I was a little nervous about our visit yesterday ... I think there is so much going on for these two little guys and in a few weeks what will be very exciting for us is going to be DAMN scary for them. I know they will adjust but I just worry about there feelings and what they think is going on. I just keep thinking of my friend Amy's words of wisdom to just get them home and then we can begin to bond and adjust as a family... it breaks my heart to see them cry and looking so scared and we will do all we can to help them and have them feel safe with us.

Here's a picture of some Yekaterinburg snow ... I'm going to bring it home to hopefully use when we baptize them!



And here's one from our day with them today ... you can't really see their cute faces but you can see how big they have gotten!

Our Apartment

So for this trip since we are going to be here for 17 days we are staying in an apartment! It's a very nice apartment and we have been able to get the internet up and working. When we got here on Sunday our internet was up but then it became sporadic so Svetlana made a call and a repairman came yesterday... he only spoke Russian and the little Russian we know is to talk with a 3 year old! We made it through and the internet was fixed. There is a supermarket down in the bottom level of the apartment building and there is another one about a block away at the mall! We have been navigating our way around .. THANK heavens for our translation book! It only took one attempt to buy milk! The first thing we bought was a "yogurt like drink"... YUCK but I guess it's what the kids drink!!! We have been cooking in our apartment but will probably venture out to a restaraunt this weekend!

Here are some pictures of the apartment!


Hallway where you come in


Kitchen




Bedroom (no storage so we are improvising)


Living room area


Bathroom (shower and bedet) (toilet is a seperate room)!

This is where we will be for the next few weeks! Not to shabby!

This afternoon we ventured out to the bank to exchange money to pay for our apartment.. since I was telling Stephen words to say in Russian the teller looked at me thinking I was his interperator! How funny is that!!!

Pictures of the boys to come soon... only a few more days til court!!!

Back with the boys at last

Today has been an exciting day .. we started the day being reunited with the boys!! We can't believe how big they've gotten in the last few months. They both were a little apprehensive at first but quickly adjusted and "warmed up" to us. We got a late start this morning because Svetlana was busy with phone calls so we got there just before lunch/nap time and this was a factor to our time with the boys. Roman was again, very taken with Stephen and played cars and Max was happy to sit on my lap, suck his thumb and take a little nap.

We hope to have more time with them tomorrow and in a few days we go to court and then can post many pictures of our new family. We are settling in the apartment and learning our way around the area.

Here's a picture of Stephen's newest friend

For those who don't know, Stephen was a HUGE fan of ALF growing up and now he has a life sized version in our bedroom in the apartment!!

Any EKAT families who are reading the blog, please send restaraunt suggestions from when you were here!! We are beginning to explore but would love any recommendations from what you enjoyed!!!

Can't wait to see the boys again tomorrow and to show pictures soon!!!

We made it!

It's 9:06pm and we have arrived in Yeakaterinburg and settled into our apartment. The flights went well ... only a short delay from Moscow to Yekaterinburg for "technical delays". Svetlana and her family picked us up and we are in a VERY nice apartment and we HAVE INTERNET!!! We hit the market downstairs for a few supplies and now we are getting ready to hit the sack!

First visit with the boys tomorrow ... pictures to come soon!!!

Today is the day!!

Well... we are off (in a few hours) on our return trip to Russia to go to court and bring Roman and Max home! So much to do ... get packed..go through the house and do a last check ... and BREATHE!!! It's rainy in New York so we are hoping that won't delay our flight or at least not by much!!! The plane is scheduled to take off at 5:35pm and then 8 1/2 hours later we are landing in Moscow at 10:20am on Sunday, October 25th!!!

We are both fighting colds .... cold medicine is packed but excited that we are going back to Russia! What a journey it has been! We go to court on Friday, October 30th and the the boys are officially ours!!!

Everything is set here ... house/dog sitters = check (thanks to Stephen's parents, my Mom, Mark and Susan) Lucy and Happy will be in good hands! Limo is scheduled to pick us up on November 14th .. how else do you get 3 parents and 1 sister to JFK and then all 8 of us back home easily and without stress :-)!!! You wouldn't believe the things you need to prepare for when you are NOT home for 3 weeks ... pay bills ahead of time, schedule payments ... pick up mail (thanks neighbor lady and neighbor man)and just everyday things you do and don't think of!

But the day we've been waiting, praying and hoping for has finally arrived and we will be coming home as parents ... strap in ... follow us and keep checking the blog as we head to Russia and back to New York!!!

Thanks to all our friends for love and support and all the advice we've gotten from other Russia families! WE ARE READY!!!!

Travel Dates

We got our travel dates and information today!!! We are leaving JFK in New York on Saturday, October 24th and flying to Moscow ... we arrive in Yekaterinburg on Sunday, October 25th and it looks like our court date is Thursday, October 29th!!! We will get to visit the boys the few days before court and then we can visit them while we wait out the 10day appeal period. We should be able to pick them up at the baby home on November 11th and fly to Moscow for embassy paperwork and the pediatrician visit!! If all goes well ... we will leave Moscow on Saturday, November 14th and arrive at JFK around 3:05pm on Saturday, November 14th!!!

Gotta love travelling with time difference!!! Things are really coming together and we are busy with all our last minute preparations and wrapping things up at work!!!

Six Month Letter

Dear Roman and Maxim:

Yesterday was October 3, 2009 and it marks 6 months since we left Russia after meeting you and accepting our adoption referral that will make you our sons!!! We have had some very exciting news in the last 2 weeks ... we got our court date from the judge and we hope to be coming back by the end of the month to bring you home with us FOREVER!!! I did get a call on Friday saying our court date had been confirmed but Svetlana forgot to put the date in the email. What we do know right now is that our visas are being requested and we should have our passports back in 12 days and we need to be in Ekaterinburgh on the morning of October 25th so that means we should be flying out around October 23rd .... just 2 more weeks to go!!! We are very excited and doing everything we can to get ready to come back to Russia and then bring you home to your new family!!! We always thought October would be our month and it looks like all our wishes and dreams are coming true!!!

The day we go to court ... October 29th will actually mark that we have been doing our adoption for a year and half since we started on March 29, 2008 with our adoption information meeting!!!

We are getting closer ... we can't wait ... and next month our 7th month letter will probably be written while in Russia and when we are "officially" your parents!!

We love you!
Mama and Papa