Monday

What a wonderful day....

We met with a representative from the Russian Ministry of Education at 9am this morning to discuss adoption of a child in Russia. She asked us a smattering of questions about the US, about Russia, why we're choosing a Russian child over an American child, etc. Jon was sweating bullets, but all went very well. We'll detail out the traffic & Russian drivers (Jon will rarely complain about his commute any more!), as well as the hit and run we saw first hand. Oh, and the guy that attempted to break into the car we were sitting in ..... yes, our translator and adoption rep had to get our paperwork notorized, left us in the back seat of the car, and a gentleman attempted to break in. When he saw us, he took off. Again, welcome to Russia!

We weren't able to go to the baby home until 3pm, as the home did not want to interrupt Nakita's daily schedule. Words cannot describe the immediate love that we felt for him when he walked through the doors to meet us. Although he was somewhat leery of us at first, he warmed up quite quickly. Within 5 minutes, he was out of his caretaker's arms, eating cheerio-s with us and playing with the ball that Natalie had picked out for him. Not long after, he was in Becky's arms, playing ball and reading books. He is such a smart boy. He was high-fiving Jon and caught on quickly when Jon told him to give him knuckles (push his knuckles against Jon's). We were there over 3 1/2 hours (most parents are only allowed an hour on the first day) and got to go outside and play with his entire group of "mates". The children are wonderful, they were hugging and playing ball with Jon and we could not get enough of them. It's very sad to see the number of children that are so desperately in need of (and deserve) a loving home. Jon was the first one to say that he wished he could take more home with us (we'll need to discuss that a little more.....)

We have so much to tell all of you about Nikita. We also have several pictures of him and were going to post a few to the blog. However, we've decided to limit it at this point because of some news that we just received. Throughout the adoption process, we are working with our adoption Doctor at Illinois-Chicago regarding specifics around Nikita. Unfortunately, the Dr. just told us that he is concerned about some of the information that he has received from us about his health. It appears that this may complicate some of our decisions about Nikita. We certainly don't want all of you to become attached to this boy, as we have, so are waiting to post photos. We ask that you all please keep us in your prayers. It is so difficult to be here, live this life changing experience and not be able to talk to everyone, the way that we want to. Overall, it has been a wonderful day. We have met a boy that will forever change our outlook on life and how fortunate all of us in the US have it.

Unfortunately, it was also filled with sorrow. We learned this morning about the passing of Jon's Uncle Doug on Saturday night. Uncle Doug, a diehard Missouri Tigers fan, is most remembered for trading barbs with diehard Iowa Staters Jon and his brother Jamie over the years. It is Jon's hope that Doug is golfing with his Dad in Heaven, talking about the thrashing that MIZ-ZOU-RAH put on the Tigers' (and Cyclones') hated rival the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday night. Our thoughts and prayers are with Spencer & Dawn and the entire family back home. We love and will miss you Uncle Doug.

Thank you everyone for your comments. We look forward to logging in every few hours and seeing who has replied. By the way, you all are making us laugh. You can sign your full names...don't have to be initials! (But, we do like the challenge!)

Love to everyone back home!

We Love and miss you,

Beck and Jon