Lisa's Dreams

Wow, the last couple of nights I have had the worst dreams about Wyatt and leaving him behind or forgetting him.

The first night I dreamed I put him in his crib for a nap ( he must have fallen asleep, and was quiet) anyway I left and went to US Cellular to change my phone plan, and while in the store I saw a mother come in with a baby, and realized I have one of those now and I left him at home by himself. I was hurrying home, but my car broke down and I could not get there fast enough, when I finally got home he was awake, crying, and really pissed at me.

Last night I dreamed I took him to Lubbock. I decided to go to a Tech football game and I asked my mom to get him from daycare she said yes, but then got busy and was not able. Mom came by the stadium asked where Wyatt was, and told me that I had my priorities wrong, and I yelled at her and tried to go find my son at daycare. Mom, sorry I yelled at you in my dreams, I was just scared.

I really do want to be a good momma, and these dreams have me scared. Please everyone do not let me forget I have a son now, and the most precious one at that!

The other drama for today is that we met with the Doctor who conducts the exit medicals for the children, and she does not feel comfortable not disclosing that Wyatt and the other children came from an orphanage that has had an outbreak of chickenpox. She wants to tell the consulate, and let them make the decision, but says Russia would be responsible for us traveling, and exposing the other travelers. The last official outbreak of chickenpox was reported on March 22nd, so the thought is they may make us wait here the 21 day incubation period! Keeping in mind that Wyatt and Gavin still show no signs of chickenpox, and Dr. Raley says some people are immune or get such a mild case you would never know they had it. We should know more in the next 48 hours if they plan to hold us over!!!!!!!!

Lastly, I just wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions about the feeding. Carrie, thank you for the specifics, the one thing I can tell is that I am doing a lot of good things right, and that is comforting. Also, for the Becky's of the blog world would you put your last name. I know Beky spelled BEKY, and Francy you put your last name. But, there is another Becky that posts, and I am trying to decide, is it Becky my cousin, Becky my nail girl, Becky my neighbor, Becky formely of VistaCare. Lots, of Beckys in my life.......

Hope everyone has a great Monday, and I will keep you posted....

A day with the Meacham's........

We had a great day at the Vlad Inn!

Irina came today and we filled out all the necessary paperwork for departure. Even though we still have 11 days nothing like getting ready now, plus some of the items are being couried to Moscow next week. We will be getting Wyatt's passport from Moscow!

We had a play date with several other families today. Sam and Katie are from Ohio, and their daughter is 32 months old, Anastiya. She is with our agency, and we have been together since the beginning of this 2nd trip. Josh and Leslie are from Alabama ( she talks so Southern, I asked Justin do I talk like her, he said exactly) they have a 2 1/2 yr old boy Noah, they went to court yesterday so last night was their first night. Also, Melissa her husband is Sam, and he has already gone back to the states because of work. ( Melissa says he has been sick since he got home, and has lost close to 10 lbs) They have Natalie, she is 3 yrs old, and Gavin is 20 months (Gavin is still at the baby home, she will get him on Tuesday) But, it was a fun play date at the White Rabbit! Not exactly sure how the room got it's name, but it is located within the hotel and has games for both children and adults. Our families were the only ones in there, and we decided today we will meet everyday at 4:00 to play for an hour or so to break up the day before dinner.

About dinner, I had Breck post some new pictures of Wyatt. I have really been challenged by dinner, lunch, and breakfast for that matter. Trying to keep Wyatt clean is challenging because between every bite he wants to suck his fingers. I just made the decision it is more important that he eat really good, and not be to concerned about how he looks. For now we will just decline any dinner invites to others' homes!!!!!!!!! I had hoped he would take formula because of the good nutrition value, as of yet he has no interest. In fact he will barely take anything to drink, no water, milk, formula, or juice. I have been putting some formula, and/or milk in his mashed potatoes, and other vegetables. Trying to disguise it if you will! Any suggestions, about this matter would be great. Amy, if you are reading this could you give some advice, PLEASE..... All of my calculations, and other good ideas were left back in America because Wyatt is not buying in to this so far.

One of the other new pictures is of Wyatt in his Texas Tech Red Raider outfit, enough said...

Have a great weekend everyone!!! We love you guys, and are missing you.

Gotcha Day II

What a beautiful day!

We picked Wyatt up this morning, and still no bumps! We stopped by the baby store for a few things, and then back to the hotel. I left Wyatt here with his Daddy and went to the grocery store with another family with a different agency. Justin fed Wyatt lunch, and they were playing when I got back. When I walked in the room Wyatt lifted his arms to me as for me to pick him up! I thought he did it by accident I held him a few minutes, and then sat him down to put the groceries away. A few minutes later with a smile on his face, he looked up to me, put his arms in the air as to say hold me! It felt so GOOD! I know I have probably started something there, but I will worry about that another day. Then shortly later it was nap time I put him in the crib, and he started crying. So I went back in the room, not even real tears I rocked him for a few minutes then back to the crib. He cried for about 5 minutes, and then he fell asleep! He is napping right now, and after he wakes we will go out for a short walk before dinner.

We will post Gotcha Day II pictures very soon. But, let me just say it was a beautiful day! Could not have been more perfect. GOD is really good, and has blessed my family beyond measure. He has continued to be loyal to both me, Justin, and Wyatt. I want to raise our son in a way that will honor him.

Thank you Lord for our beautiful blessing... AMEN

Getting ready for tomorrow...

Well it is Thursday midday here, and we are BORED. Justin said last night as soon as we get home he wants a steak. The food in Russia is good, just not so much here at this hotel. We had been eating some good meals with Irina, but not this past week. She has decided she needs to eat more lettuce only, she is a size 6 (guessing) but has decided she can not get into her good clothes. I think me and Justin are suffering because of her diet (ha.ha) Maybe in the next day or two we can go out for a meal. We have not eaten out in over a week, and how many ramon noodles, and french fries can one person have?

Went for another visit yesterday to see Wyatt, and he was in a good mood. We played for a couple of hours, and then fed him his lunch. Literally, when he took his last bite a caretaker came and took him out of Justin's arms. I thought she was going to burp him or something, no she was taking him to his room said it was nap time. Irina walked in to see all of this happening, I was not believing that it was happening because of what was discussed the day before about we would be the ones to take him and put him in his crib. I am really beginning to resent this place! But, tomorrow we will have him again, and that will be it for the orphanage, hopefully! He still has no bumps.

I promise to post tomorrow night after we get Wyatt, and will include a new picture at that time, we will be calling it Gotcha Day II!

Another day with Wyatt...

We went for our daily visit to the orphanage. No changes, and Wyatt still has no bumps. They are saying Friday morning we can take him with us. We have decided that will be Gotcha Day II, and maybe we can get some pictures on Friday and not be so rushed as we were last Thursday. Irina left us at the orphanage today because she had things to do, and at one point one of the caretakers took Wyatt from us and said," nap time" so they took him to his room. I thought he was crying and went for him, but the lady said "Neet" which means No, and so I sat down. When Irina called to check on us, she learned of this and made them bring him back to me, she said, " he could sleep in my arms, and they are not to take the children from us" It was not a bad experience, just another reminder that Irina cares about Wyatt, and us. She told us today that she may have to stop being a translator, and helping with adoptions because this has been very hard for her. She worries about Wyatt, and about me and Justin. She says, frankly this is unfair for everyone. In all the years she has done this she has never had a case like mine and Justin's with so many challenges. We get him, we take him back, we are told we could have him, we are told no! I told her if she decided to stop doing adoptions then she should be a translator/ tour guide and invite all her families back with the kids, and give them a tour of their home city. I think 10 years from now I would like to show Wyatt this city, who knows how I will feel then, and if he will even be interested!

Another day planned for the orphanage on Wednesday, then Thursday Irina says Justin and I can get the room ready again, and rest because Friday it starts all over. It has been very nice of her to take us because it is an hour here for her, then an hour to the orphanage, then an hour back here, then she has an hour home. Our friends from Sherman, Texas are with another agency and they have not gone to see their son. All they know of him is what Justin and I tell them daily. It has been a very different experience for their family!

Justin's travel plans

Justin will not be leaving for the USA. He could not get a seat out today on Korean Air, and tomorrow had only 1 seat, and it went as far as Seoul, but not to LA.

We stayed in our room most of the day because it was cold, snowing, and just pretty drab! We did go for a brisk walk to the bay, and tonight Melissa came over after Natalie went to bed. Her mom is here with her, and her husband left for the states today. Her little boy is still at the orphanage with Wyatt! They are the only two boys who still have no bumps! We will go to the orphanage on Tuesday as long as it is not icy outside. Irina plans to pick us up at 10:30 am if the weather cooperates.

Hope everyone has a great start to their work week.... Lucille Brown, can you email me at LMeacham02@aol.com, I am wondering how is Pops? Tell him I said "Hi"

Happy Easter!

On this special day I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! We had our daily visit at the orphanage and still no bumps for Wyatt. We asked again to take him back to the hotel with us, and were told No by Zoya (medical doctor of the floor). She has said for the mandatory 10 day wait they still have complete control over his care. Only, on Friday or later would they release him.

Tomorrow Justin will be making the decision if he will go home. It depends on if the US Consulate can help Justin this early by receiving his signature on an exit form ( we did not complete a power of attorney for that transaction before we came over here), and if Korean Air has a seat available on the flight he needs. If both of these things happen he is going home, and back to work. The reason he took so much time off was so that he could bond with Wyatt, and as it is right now there is very little bonding, only the time at the orphanage.

Also, some breaking news came yesterday about a family from Utah who abused, and because of their abuse killed an adopted infant from Russia. Maybe not big news in the US, but here it has caused concern for Irina and she has canceled all extra activities. She wants us to stay safe, and stay at the hotel. Did any of you hear this news report?

Eat lots of ham, mashed potatoes, and dessert for me. Also, a Dr Pepper in my honor would be good!

As you each are starting your Easter, I am headed for bed.

Good Night....

Justin and Wyatt, one has had chicken pox!

Just an update to let you all know that Justin wants to set the record straight. He has had chicken pox, and got them when he was 13 or 14. Momma Meacham he says they were really bad, and that he noticed his first bump when he was climbing a hill. He went home took a hot shower, and caused them to blister and spread! That's his story...

For Wyatt as of today he still has no chicken pox, he and the little boy being adopted by the family from Sherman Texas are the only ones left. We did go to the orphanage today for a family picture for our embassy/ visa inviation for Wyatt. Irina called panicked this morning and said it needed to be done now before he has the chicken pox and all that blue stuff on his face. We do not need those pictures for the legal documents, trying to get out of the country. With each passing day and no bumps, I get mad that I agreed to take him back. Can you image as a mother putting your son in a crib knowing what it is going to do? We took pictures of his play buddy that is covered with spots, and blue stuff and we will try and post this picture.

Irina will call tonight with another update for us.

Wyatt goes back to Orphanage

Well what a crapy day!

We had to take Wyatt back to the baby orphanage because they had a real outbreak of chicken pox and they are concerned that Wyatt has been exposed and will be giving it to the other children here at the hotel. We promised to stay away from everyone, but it did not matter. He has no spots, no fever and was eating good and being active. I know it is in the best interest of all the children, but we just got him and now have had to send him back for at least a week. It will all depend on when the first bump appears, that the time clock will start on when he is returned to us. When we took him back they immediately placed him in a crib with a little boy that is COVERED in them, they say sooner is better. Irina is hoping that he will have his first bump by morning. In the last 2 months Wyatt has had an ear infection, the flu, and soon to add chicken pox.

Please continue to pray for my little guy. He is a real fighter, and a very easy going baby! I have cried so much my head feels as if it is fixing to explode! This is just another chapter in our journey.

Enough for now.....

First night of Rest...

Good Morning

The local time is 6:24 am, and I have been up since 5:45 am. I was the last to bed, and now the first up. It was hard to sleep last night because the crib is less than 2 feet from the bed and everytime Wyatt made a sound I was up looking over him to see if he needed anything. He slept good, and never woke last night. I was concerned because Irina told us to put him to bed around 9:00 pm, which I think is to late, but has been his schedule so I was going to do just that. But, he never made it past 7:45pm so I thought this might mean he would be up during the night. He wasn't, but I was and Justin said Welcome to motherhood because he never heard any of those sounds, and he rested good!

I will post at the end of the day, I am headed back to the room to get ready for a busy day!

Our stay in Russia

Several of you have asked why are we having to stay in country over three weeks? The answer is because we now have a mandatory 10 day wait imposed by the judge after court. On the 11th day they will have a courier travel to Moscow with our documents and get Wyatt's passport, his visa into the USA, along with his adoption decree, and birth certificate.

Every region in Russia is different, and this happens to be a requirement of this region. I also learned some interesting facts about how our own government plays a role in international adoptions. It will be a topic that I will really begin to research at a later date. Also, Irina tells me that she believes that adoptions between USA and Russia will not ever come to an end, and that she does not expect that it will get much harder. She says this is the hardest she has ever seen it.

Good night Everyone...

He's Ours, All Ours....

First, let me say that I am sorry you had to wait for this post. Computers at the hotel have been down all day! But, what a day we have had. It is 8:30 pm here, and I put Wyatt down at 7:45pm, he was one tired little boy because he had no nap today.



Court was okay, I say just okay because it was scary, I cried when the told us they had accepted our petition to adopt Wyatt. I tried hard not to show emotion in the court room, but Justin said the secretary of court was smiling, and that made her happy to see us care so much. The questions were tough, but Justin did a great job answering. He was unable to pronounce all the big medical words so Irina said in your own words what does that mean? You have never seen us so quiet. It was hard to concentrate on the judge because we kept wanting to look at our translator. But, we were told look at and answer the judge, not Irina. But, he is all ours.. He has captured our hearts!



Things went very quickly at the baby orphanage today and we did not get to take the pictures we really wanted because they were trying to get us out of there fast. The sanitation guy was on his way because they had a 3rd child on Wyatt's floor get the chickenpox and we were told they were trying to get us to leave the babies there until this was past.Irina said we could care for Wyatt at our hotel, and if he got to sick then we could bring him back for treatment. She said all they do is fever relief (which we have with us), and a green lotion which she will get for us at the pharmacy tomorrow. Justin spotted something tonight, but we are wondering if our minds are playing tricks on us. It is a wait and see!



He ate a jar of chicken and potatoes for me, but would not take a bottle. I hope tomorrow he will do better! Also, I have officially been pee'd on, while I was putting lotion on him tonight after his bath he got me. All we could do was laugh, and laugh, and laugh. I did not even get his first set of pajamas on him, and they were officially dirty. He loved his bath tonight, he was chasing the waves he was making. He and Daddy had a great time with that!



Well I will let you all know tomorrow how our first entire day together is. I have a schedule in my mind about the time he will wake up, we will feed him, he will nap, we will play, he will have lunch, he will nap, we will take an outdoor adventure, he will have dinner, we will read to him, he will go to bed. You get the idea, a perfect day planned. My mom tells me Good Luck with all that!



Thanks again for everyones post, and comments. We love reading them because we feel a million miles away from our home, family, and friends. Lucila, thanks for offering with Bailey and Joani I will let you know if we need anything!!

Meeting Wyatt again...

Well we met Wyatt, again. It was like meeting him all over again, he did not really seem to remember us. We had a good day with him, and he played with several of the toys I brought with us from home. He can really crawl, that was a change since the last trip. Also, he loves to dance and move his head from side to side, and babble. He is a good little dancer! We fed him lunch today out of a regular soup bowl, Justin was holding him because he is not big enough for their type of high chair, and I was feeding him with a spoon larger than we would use to feed ourselves. It was potatoes, ground beef, with a little carrots. They thought I was not feeding him fast enough so they came and fed him! Literally, one scoop then another, and another with no rest in between. He was gagging, and is eyes were running but that did not slow them down! They followed it up with a regular cup of tea, the cup did not even have a lid just a regular cup. I am glad I will not have to sit through that torture again and that Wyatt will only have to sit through it for breakfast today then he is all ours.

Also, they have the baby hospital/ orphanage quartined because 2 of the children have chicken pox. They told us to get ready because there is a good chance that Wyatt will get the chickenpox, also.

We are headed to court in exactly 4 hours, so at 6:30 your time please be thinking about us, and praying for us. Pray for an easy time at court, and pray that we will be able to easily answer the judges questions. Justin will do most of the speaking, that is the tradition in Russia. I will only be asked to speak if he is unable to answer all of the question, and I will be asked to speak about my employement and our plans for childcare. We should do okay because they prepped us yesterday on what would be asked. We have to be able to tell the judge about Wyatt's family here in Russia, his medical history ( using the big medical words), and why we are choosing Russia, why we decided to adopt to begin with, and the many other things I can not remember at the moment. After, we finish at court it is straight to the orphanage to pick up a naked baby. That is what Irina told us they will hand him to us naked because he owns nothing, and we have to have his clothes with us.

Okay, we know our lives are fixing to change forever. Today, is the first day of the rest of my families life!

Return to Russia

Well we have made it to our destination! Very uneventful I might add. We made every connecting flight, no delays and it took just over 30 hours from the time we left Tulsa until we arrived in Vladivostok. Our longest leg of the flight was from LA to Seoul, Korea and it was a 13 hour flight, of which I slept 10 hours. Justin on the other hand took Tylenol PM and managed to get about 3 hours sleep. Korean Air is all about serving rice with all their meals, Justin's favorite you know.

We have checked in to our hotel, the VLAD Inn, which you can google or maybe Breck can add a link to the blog site (thanks Breck), and you can see where we will be spending the next 22 days. It feels weird to be in this room, and have a crib next to our bed. Irina will pick us up at 10:00 am in morning and we will spend the day with Wyatt.

I hope everyone had a Great St. Patrick's Day, we flew right through it. LITERALLY.... We left LA on Sunday night at midnight, and arrived in VLAD on Tuesday at 1:30pm. You know when you sometimes say where did the day go? Well, I can literally say that and mean it this week.

Good Night, Good Morning, Good Day depending on when you are reading this...

Eve of our trip

Well we spent the entire day washing, packing, and preparing the house for a new baby. The house was the easy part! But, it will be interesting to see how we do with everything that I am wanting to take with us. As it stands now I have 2 suitcases, a box, and the stroller all of which will be checked luggage. Then we will carry a garment bag with our suites for court, a backpack, and another carry on bag. Lots of stuff, but I can not figure out what I feel like I can do without. Coming home we will be less the box, and less the stroller box because the stroller will be in use, but plus a baby boy named Wyatt. What a trade off!!! We are so excited about getting this trip started, so that we can get back. Many of you will think this sounds silly, but we are going to miss our dogs terribly, they have been pouting today because they can not figure out what is going on. I am going to get to bed now because I am hoping for a good nights rest before the trip tomorrow!

Good Night... Sweet Dreams...

YYYYiiiiiiiiippppppppppppeeeeeeeee.....

Okay family and friends

We learned today about 3:15 pm that we will be leaving this Sunday for Vladivostok. We depart Tulsa at 5:10pm on Southwest Airlines headed for Los Angeles. We depart LA at 12:10am for Seoul, Korea with a stopover there before arriving into Vlad on Tuesday, March 18th at 1:30pm (Vlad local time). We will see Wyatt on March 19th for several hours at the orphanage, and then we will go to court on March 20th and then will pick our son up before moving to the VLAD Inn where we will stay until April 9th. We will begin our journey for America on the 9th, and actually arrive at Tulsa International at 11:50 pm on Wednesday, April 9th if all goes as planned.

We will have a very hectic few days ahead of us, but are very excited about what awaits us! No time like the present so I have to go make my TO DO LIST so nothing gets left behind. I will update again before we get on that plane Sunday.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Wyatt's birthday and travel update

Well today our son turned 1, and we were sad that we could not be there to enjoy it with him, but there is always next year, and the next, and the next, and so on...... At this point we are just trying to get back to Russia. My day started out by receiving an email from EAC travel stating that most likely our situation with the invitations would not be cleared today, and please wait a little bit more. They will let us know as soon as they know something!?!?!? Tonight I sent an email to my contact at EAC and asked does this definitely mean we will not be traveling this weekend, and that our court date will be pushed back? I should get a response to my email tomorrow. The other family we are traveling with says she still feels confident we will leave this weekend, see our kids on Wednesday, Court on Thursday and then starting our happily ever after... She is not giving up until "the fat lady sings".

I will post again on Wednesday, and provide you with an update.


Please, Please, Please continue to pray for my family.

Clarify Certain does not mean certain post...

Thank you to each and everyone of you who have emailed or called out of concern about yesterday's post. I do not think we will not be traveling, it just means we may be delayed. But, I feel 90% certain that the yellow light will turn green, and not red concerning travel. It is just the caution flag, we still have our foot on the gas. I kept thinking when you are sitting at a traffic light it never turns from yellow to green, it always turns red. Why am I so calm then? Because this makes sense to me, and I realized because it can turn from yellow to green and does every Sunday when we are watching Nextel/ Nascar racing. This is the example I was trying to use, and next year, Wyatt will be here to watch Nextel/ Nascar with his daddy! They did not want us to buy non refundable tickets, and then not be able to travel on those dates. Yesterday's post had to do with when we would travel, and not if.

Positive thoughts= Positive Actions= Positive Results.........

Sometimes Certain does not always mean Certain..

Well we have been working through travel plans since I last posted, and still have not purchased any tickets other than the ones from Tulsa to Los Angeles on March 16th. I have not even wanted to share this with each of you because I do not want you to worry about us, but I have been worried for a week so I feel it is time to share my worries.

The reason tickets have not been purchased is because we will not learn until March 12th if our invitation will be extended to us. We have to have an invitation to return and the hold up is because there are changes at the American Embassy in Washington D.C with the Russian program. This is occurring because Russia had elections last week and Putan was named Prime Minister, and a new President was elected therefore, changing some cabinet appointments. Russia is a very fluid country right now, and Putan has gone on record saying that he does not want the Americans adopting his children. I feel that in the near future it will not be possible to adopt from Russia, or become near impossible. All I know today is that we need to leave, get Wyatt, and get back to America. I feel about 90% certain that all will go well next week, but if we do not get our invitations on March 12th then court will be pushed back. Until next week our international flights are being held because I call every day to do another 24 hour hold! We were also told on Monday that we would need updated employment letters for each of us, and another copy of our homestudy, and tax returns. For those of you involved in my daily life know that the employment letters for both me and Justin are HARD to come by. Justin's because it comes from Virginia and this summer it took his boss over a month with no results, and then I stepped in and finally got his employment letter. That experience this summer lasted about 45 days, and I do not have another 45 days to wait for this updated one! Can you say ANXIETY....

We all need to pray this in the coming days:

Dear Lord

Please be with the Meacham's as they finish up required documents for travel, and that every agency involved will feel a sense of urgency to help accomplish this task. Also, prepare Wyatt for his new mommy and daddy, and for the travel and changes ahead of him. Be with the Russian government, and all of those involved with the orphan children that they would see how positive it is for God's children to be raised by loving people, regardless of where they live. A special lift up for Lisa as she finishes up documents, and help reduce her anxiety level. For, Justin we would pray that he is reminded that he is loved and respected by his wife, and that together and with God's help that they can accomplish anything.

Amen

If each of you would pray that prayer for us, I would really appreciate it. Things are hard at home right now, and we both are just ready for this chapter of the journey to end, and our next chapter to begin.

Love to each of you!

Lisa