A family of 5

Sorry I haven't posted lately but things have been crazy here but in a good way. I'll update everyone now cause I have heard from many of you that I hadn't.
Mason did so incredibly well on the flight home. Not one problem, he played in the seat between us and entertained himself very well. Took a few cat naps but nothing real long. The 1st flight was 11hrs and it seemed to drag on forever. We arrived in Atlanta at about 4pm and had a 4hr lay over which was probably the most difficult part of the whole trip because Mason wanted to run but the place was so packed so he did fuss some but still no complaints. We got on our flight for Des Moines and I don't even recall the take off because Mason and I were already asleep. A 1/2hr into the flight the captain came on and said we had to return to Atlanta because of mechanical problems. Naturally we were devastated becasue all we wanted was to get back to the girls and they were waiting for us in Des Moines. We returned to Atlanta and changed planes and after about a hr delay we were back on our way to Des Moines. We had a great welcome once we arrived with family and friends waiting for us. It was so wonderful seeing the girls after 3 weeks of being apart and I think Madison grew an inch. Mason instantly went to the girls and it was incredible. It was as if he knew them instantly. It was so nice to have the five of us together at last.
This week has been good. Mason has adjusted to the time change easily, I'd say it only took a day or two and he was on his schedule. He will no longer us the potty now that we are home and he hasn't adjusted to the food. He likes his cheerios, gold fish, bread and that is about it. I was really concerned at first but I figure he will eat when he gets hungry. I always make him a meal anyway and it's there for him to try but he hasn't yet and yes I have tried just about everything. I even bought instant grits at Wal-Mart.
I am lucky enough to be home full-time with Mason and it is such a joy. We laugh so hard during the day and I cherish every moment. Once the girls are home from school I don't seem to exist any longer cause he absolutely loves the girls.
He is talking less and less Russian all the time and starting to pick up English very easily. He adores the dogs which was a huge concern of mine but an unnecessary one cause he now cries when we let them out to go potty, he stands at the door waiting for them to come in.
We are so incredibly happy to be home and there is no place like home in the great USA. Can't wait to introduce Mason to everyone. Thank you all for taking time to check our site.
We love you all.
Marty, Tammy, Tori, Madison & Mason

The blogspot website apparantely has been down for a couple of days because none of us have been able to get on. Tomorrow we will be home and cannot wait. Mason has adjusted well to the time change in Moscow so hopefully he will do as well in Storm Lake. All our friends got to leave this morning to go home so we had some tearful goodbyes by all. We have made some incredible friendships out of the process and plan to keep in touch in years to come.

Our final exit from the orphanage. I can't even begin to explain how well things went. Can't wait to tell everyone once we are home. 5 more days and counting. Thursday we leave for Moscow at 6am. Can't wait to get out of Krasnoyarsk but we hope to be back someday and show Mason where his heritage all began. 12-14 years if we have any travels who would like to come along.

Mason's first car ride went great. We had another couple with us that their little boy cried practically the whole time and I thought maybe Mason would start up but he never did. He just looked out the window and talked. We have learned the word baca (bye-bye) and he says it alot. He stands at the hotel door of our room and says it to go. Today we went outside and fed the pigeons with another family and he had a great time just running around.

Mason has been wonderful about going on the potty. Everytime we put him on it he goes. If we mention potty he goes and starts to pull down his pants. If you could pick up a potty for us mom before we get home that would be great.

Look girls at what daddy is doing to Mason already. For now Mason thinks it funny. Like the rest of us--that won't last long

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Mason is great sleeper, we put him in the crib and asleep he goes. (See the giraffe Madi) Hey dad, it would be great to have the crib up cause I don't know how well he'll adjust to the toddler bed right away. Thanks.

Mason has taught us so much. I love the little man with all my heart but I also can't wait to get home to my two beautiful girls. I miss them terribly so. So does dad. We aren't a family till all five of us are together. Everyday is one day closer.

One journey is coming to a close but another is just beginning.

OKAY! OKAY! I'M SORRY I DIDN'T BLOG YESTERDAY BUT I'M A MOM TO A 2yr OLD.

I'm so sorry about not posting yesterday but we had a lot of running around to do for paperwork and passport photos to take.
Everything went so incredibly well I couldn't even believe it. We arrived at the orphanage at approach. 8:30am and when we got there they stripped him of his clothes, changed him and off we went. Apparently they try to do it quickly because it is hard on the caretakers seeing the kids go. His one caretaker cried as we were leaving. She dressed him in his new duds and Mason thought he was so cool-he beamed from ear to ear. As she was dressing him she was talking to him and she started crying. I tried not to look at her cause it was hard enough because we were so excited and she was loosing someone she has taken care of for almost 2 years.
We got into the van and they usually cry because they either haven't been in a vehicle before or if they have it is only to the hospital. Mason just took it all in and watched out the window. Never cried once. Another family was in the van with us with their new little boy and he cried pretty much the entire time. It didn't seem to bother Mason one bit.
When we got to the hotel after all the running we took Mason into the room and he became an instant ham. He is so funny. I think they were giving him something to calm him on our visits because he is an animal--all in a good way. He never spoke a word on our visits and now he is talking constantly. We really thought it was sentences in Russian and our translator told us it was probably blabish but when he came to our room and Mason started talking he couldn't believe how much and how clearly. Mason even started a conversation with a Russian gentlemen walking down the hall and the man talked right back to him. Mason loves to get attention and is always trying to make us laugh. He is hilarious.
Our first nap went very well and we just laid him in the crib and he played with his animals (he loves the giraffe you gave him Madi) and went right to sleep. Today's nap was a little more difficult but he again laid down and went to sleep.
We are putting him on his potty chair and he goes everytime. We have had quite a few dry diapers. That is going much better then I anticipated.
His first bath he did not care for much at all. They just hose down the kids at the orphanage and so giving him a bath was pretty scary for him. I think we will skip it tonight.
Last night we cuddled on the couch for a few minutes and then I carried him into his crib and he went right down. He slept from about 9pm--7am. Right on schedule.
Today we all gathered in the lounge and the kids all played and us parents compared our nights sleep. Mason realized the long hall and sent Marty running after him and it became an instant game for the two of them that went on for about 45 minutes.
I can't post pic's again today--who knows why, it's probably me. I'll try again tomorrow.

One more day and counting!!!

Today when Mason walked into our visit he ran up to me with his arms out. It was breathe taking. I fall in love with this little boy more and more each day. Today was another great day in the interaction we had between the three of us. He's warming up to Marty more all the time. Here in the pic he climb up on Marty's chest and Marty acted like he fell back and Mason just laughed so hard.
Tomorrow morning at 8am we get to go and pick him up forever. We are so excited and making it an early night so that we are rested up for the big day. No more afternoon naps for us but we are willing to give that up for him.
Another holiday is Monday & Tuesday and we don't know yet if the business office will be open or not so there might not be any posts so don't be alarmed if you don't hear from us.
Much love to all. 9 days left and we are home. Can't wait to see everyone.

Nothing new

Can't get pictures to down load for some reason (kinda a guessing game when most things are in Russian on the computer) so I will try again tomorrow. We did get into a much bigger room today and we are very excited about that. Got all settled and then went to lunch at the hotel cafe. It has been snowing most of the day although not really that cold. We went to the toy store today and got Mason a potty chair (some of the kids are having a hard time going potty in their diapers that the parents put on them when they are used to sitting on a bucket) and hopefully that will help him out. Yesterday when he had his accidents he did not indicate at all that he had to go so it's a timing thing. After we got back from toy store & market (had to get more vodka--it's the best, we'll try to bring some home for everyone to take a shot--very smooth) we took our daily afternoon nap. I don't know what we are going to do when we get home because we are in such habits of laying down in the afternoon and sleeping for an hour. And now I'm here in the business office. Not real exciting today but tonight we will go out for supper with everyone and then sit around till about 10:00 and back to bed again. We do get to see Mason tomorrow so it really helps pass up the time.
Let you know more tomorrow. Miss everyone.

PEE & POOP

Mason was so glad to see us today. He smiled as soon as he saw us. He came up to me and put out his arms. Definetely a mama's boy. What a pleasant greeting. We have completely turned the corner in his acceptance.
When they bring Mason in he is in underwear and as Marty is holding him up on the windowsill to look out and Mason p-e-e-d (spelled out for you Dawn) all over the sill and Marty's hands. We cleaned him up and they came in with a change of clothes (Marty absolutely did not like his outfit today, you can't really see it in the picture but he had brown shoes, orange socks, pink shorts and a funky top) and we quickly began playing again. Not more then 10 minutes Marty is looking at me with the look of disgust. He could smell something and naturally his first thought was it was me. (Why?) We looked down on the floor and Mason had pooped on the floor and down all over his legs etc. (very messy & runny/no details left out). Once again we got him cleaned up and they brought yet another set of clothes. Mason was like a new man. He played so hard and belly laughed. We got it on video and can't wait to show everyone.

We don't get to go back tomorrow but will see him again on Friday and pick him up on Saturday to be with us forever. We are so excited. I wish I could show expression on the computer but I am jumping out of my skin right now.

This has been so much more fulfilling then I could have ever imagained. We have got to have the best agency (GOL-Beth you are awesome) and facilitators (Aleks and Yelena) we have been so welcomed here by them and they take such great care of us. Aleks and Marty love to give eachother a hard time. We have met some of the most amazing people through this experience and made some great lifetime friends. I couldn't be happier. We don't even spend much time in the room anymore because families are starting to get their babies and we that don't have our kids yet do a lot of running for things that the other families need. It helps pass the time for us. If any of the other families are any indication--you don't leave your room once you get the child for first 1-2 days. Some kids have adjusted great and love to come out and play with all of us adults (we call it the adult orphanage) and others are just so overwhelmed and take some more time. I feel Mason is going to love the freedom of the motel and the very long halls. All the families are on one floor and they have a lobby area that we all congregate at and visit for hours.

Tomorrow I'm going to post pictures of our current room (we got VERY small room till tomorrow) cause you guys will not believe it. I think Marty has a total of 3 steps he can take in his pacing modes.

Better go. Much love to all. We are half way through and miss everyone terribly.

This is my all time favorite picture. He is so precious. I can't wait to get him on Saturday. Today we witnessed a family getting their little girl brought to them today and it just gives you goosebumps. Our time is slowly coming. I'm so jealous of all the families already bonding. Our time will come.
Visits are getting better all the time. We have an organizer on our hands girls..dad has someone on his side (for the time being). He loves having everything in place and stops what he is doing if something gets knocked over to pick it up and place it properly the way he had it. If he takes something out of the bag he puts it back before taking another.

We got to go to the local zoo on Sunday and it was fun. Something different to do.
Aleks took us to a look out point and we got to see the view of the river and city from here. It is the 4th largest river in the world and runs north to the Artic Ocean. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to be able to get out of the hotel for something else to do.

There is some story about this giant sturgis but I can't recall it so just enjoy the goofy picture.

Love to get your comments so please keep sending.