BACK TOGETHER WITH BRAIDEN....

IT WAS A VERY LONG AND ROUGH DAY, HERE IS OUR RE-CAP OF THE EVENTS. WE SHOWED UP AT THE BABY HOUSE AT 10:30AM AND MET WITH THE DIRECTOR FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES. WE WENT OVER ALL OF BRAIDEN'S MEDICAL AGAIN, AND WHAT WE HAD MISSED IN THE LAST 2 MONTHS. THE GOOD NEWS IS THERE IS NOTHING WRONG AND ALL IS THE SAME EXCEPT HE HAS GROWN A LITTLE. AFTER THAT THEY TOOK US OUTSIDE WHERE HE WAS PLAYING WITH ALL OF HIS FRIENDS ON THE PLAYGROUND. HE DID NOT APPEAR TO RECOGNIZE US BUT HE MAY HAVE BEEN MORE UPSET TO BE TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS FRIENDS AT PLAY TIME. JOSH WAS NOT VERY HAPPY TO SEE THAT HE WAS DRESSED HEAD TO TOE IN PINK!!! HE WAS VERY SHY AGAIN SUCH AS WE MET HIM ON THE VERY FIRST DAY. HE LOOSENED UP A LITTLE TOWARDS VALERIE, BUT WAS VERY SHY TOWARDS JOSH. HE WOULD NOT LET ANYONE PICK HIM UP, AND IF WE TRIED HE WOULD CRY. WE GOT TO GET REACQUAINTED FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES AND THEN HAD TO LEAVE. WE WERE TOLD TO COME BACK AT 3:30 AND WE WOULD BE TAKING HIM OFF SITE TO GET HIS PASSPORT AND VISA PICTURES TAKEN. THIS WAS A REAL CHALLENGE. HE WAS WITH A CARE GIVER AND ALL OF US, BUT WHEN HE SAW THAT HE WAS GETTING IN THE CAR HE FREAKED OUT AND DID NOT STOP CRYING OR SCREAMING THE WHOLE TIME. OUR TRANSLATOR TOLD US THAT HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO THE DOCTOR, SO HE WAS VERY SCARED. DURING PICTURES HE WAS HIS NORMAL SELF HAPPY, SMILING AND GIGGLING. THEN BACK TO THE CAR AND WE ALL NEEDED EAR PLUGS. THERE WAS NOTHING ANYONE COULD DO TO CALM HIM DOWN. ONCE WE GOT OUT OF THE CAR AND HE SAW THE BABY HOUSE HE WAS HAPPY AGAIN. UNFORTUNATELY RIGHT NOW HE IS VERY SCARED OF BEING CARRIED BY ANYONE. HE IS A LITTLE BETTER WITH VALERIE THAN ANYONE ELSE BUT HE STARTS TO CRY. WE THINK THAT HIS WHOLE DAY WAS JUST INTERRUPTED, AND WITH US COMING BACK JUST THROWN OUT IN THE YARD HE WAS VERY CONFUSED. ANYWAYS, THEY HAD US WAIT THERE ABOUT 1/2 HOUR AND HE ATE DINNER THEN HE CAME UP TO THE NORMAL ROOM AND PLAYED WITH US FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES. THIS WENT A LOT BETTER. HE LAUGHED AND GIGGLED AND APPEARED TO REMEMBER THE TOYS THAT WE HAD ON THE PREVIOUS TRIP. IT WAS DEFINITELY BETTER THIS MEETING, HOWEVER IF ANY OF US TRIED TO PICK HIM UP HE WOULD START TO CRY. IF WE WOULD HOLD HIS HAND AND WALK WITH HIM HE WAS JUST FINE. HOPEFULLY TOMORROW WILL BE MUCH SMOOTHER, AND HE WILL BECOME HIS OLD SELF AROUND US AGAIN. WE WILL GET TO SEE HIM TWICE, THEN NOT AT ALL ON SUNDAY. SUNDAY WE WILL MEET WITH THE COURT TRANSLATOR AND SHE WILL PREP US FOR COURT. MONDAY IS COURT AND WE WILL SEE HIM IN THE MORNING FOR PLAY TIME, THEN WE GO TO COURT AT 1:00PM. HE DOES NOT GO. AFTER COURT WE GO TO GET HIS VISA AND PAPERWORK, AND SIGN ALL LEGAL DOCUMENTS, AND BY THIS TIME IT WILL BE TOO LATE TO GET HIM, OR SO WE ARE TOLD. WE ARE TOLD THAT WE WILL SIGN THE LAST DOCUMENTS TUESDAY MID MORNING THEN GO TO PICK HIM UP FOR GOOD. WE WILL THEN BE GETTING ON A 11:00 PM OVERNIGHT TRAIN TO MOSCOW, WE HAVE ALREADY PURCHASED THOSE TICKETS. WEDNESDAY IS A HOLIDAY OVER HERE (HA, HA , HA) BUT IT REALLY IS, SO WE WILL SPEND THAT DAY WITH BRAIDEN ALONE. WE WERE ABLE TO RENT AN APARTMENT WITH A KITCHEN. THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND POSSIBLY MONDAY WILL BE AT THE US EMBASSY, THEN WE FLY HOME. THAT IS ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO THIS POINT, PLEASE PRAY FOR US AND ESPECIALLY BRAIDEN, HE IS GOING TO HAVE A VERY ROUGH TIME, CARS WE KNOW HE DOES NOT LIKE, NOW WE ARE VERY AFRAID HE WON'T LIKE THE TRAIN OR THE PLANE.

P.S. I KNOW LOTS OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT YOU WANT TO KEEP OFF THE BLOG SO PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US AT joshua_anders@sbcglobal.net.