Homecoming

I loved my time in Armenia.  Sure there were tough days where I wanted to (and sometimes did) barricade myself and the kids in our apartment all day to work on bonding, but I also really enjoyed walking around Yerevan.  I loved much of the food (I really miss those croissants from Baguette and Co.) There was Gelatto or ice cream on most street corners.  You could get a cone for just $1 US!  I even got comfortable shopping in the grocery after several visits and even ventured to street vendors for fresh fruits and veggies.  There were many people that stared at us but I don't think anyone was rude.  There was a gentleman in the grocery who was following me around trying to say something about Aleks, I think it was because he looked so uncomfortable in his carrier, but otherwise people left us alone.

On the weekends in Yerevan there is a huge outdoor market called Vernissage. Hundreds of vendors come to sell their wares.  There are many artists who do beautiful work from painting, sculpting, woodworking to jewelry and more.  I came home with some lovely treasures to share.  One such treasure came from a sweet older woman named Tamara.  I met Tamara as I was admiring her cross stitch work.  She commented on my children and how they were Angels.  Tamara did not speak much English but there was another vendor close by who was able to translate for us.  She showed me pictures of some Biblical scenes she had cross stitched in the past and I ordered a cross stitching of Milena's name in the Armenian alphabet done in bird letters.  Basically each letter is a character (the Armenian alphabet) that is made to also look like a beautiful bird!  I will post a picture of the finished piece below.     While conversing Tamara gave Milena her ice water (it days I was in Armenia.)  In our conversations she asked my name and we laughed about her comment about my children being Angels and my name being Angeline.  Tamara was a sweet woman, easy to talk to and very talented.  If you ever venture to Yerevan you won't want to miss Vernissage!  Make sure to see Tamara and her artwork!

Milena's name in Armenian. Sorry the picture is vertical, I can't seem to get it to flip!

We had a few paperwork hiccups while in country but both our team in Armenia and stateside worked their tail ends of to get the children and I home.  If there was a way to make things happen more quickly, they were on it and we are so grateful!  Just as I was getting comfortable venturing out on my own it was time to come home.

We left our apartment at 1am Saturday morning on August 8th (Armenian time.)  We flew from Yerevan to Vienna, from Vienna to JFK and JFK to our home airport.  The children did remarkably well.  Milena was nervous for the first take off but was fine after that.  I was able to get Aleks to sleep for much of the trip and Milena watched movies.  The Vienna airport had a nice area for the children to play which took some stress off from me.  Milena and I dozed off and on throughout the trip home.  We got home late Saturday night, still August 8th since we went back 8 hours.  We had a lovely welcome committee of friends and family.  The only issue we had was one lost bag which was delivered to our house the following day (an elderly man took it by mistake.)  It was so nice to see so many of our supporters at the airport!  We even got a few pictures of our first time as a family of 5!

Aleks was sleeping.

Claudia, Milena, my cousin Claudia and Claudia's Frenemy Sara (Right Natalie!?!) taking selfies.

My cousin Claudia and Milena

Getting to Know Each Other Part 2 Church tour

These are pictures taken on the bus tour I took with the children to see some Armenian Churches and ruins.  It was a very hot day in the middle of summer but the kids and I did quite well.  Aleks fell asleep by the end of the tour.  This is the website of the tour service, we did the Sunday 4 hour tour: http://www.hyurservice.com/eng/trips_reg_eng.php

We were able to witness some of the services at the Churches.

Saint Hiripsime Church:

 

Saint Gayane Church

Zvartnots Temple Ruins

The Mother Cathedral, surrounding buildings and gardens

 

July and August 2015 - Getting to Know Each Other Part 1

In the time between court for Aleks and the judge declaring him our son I visited him about twice a day with Milena (Jason went home the day after court for Aleks.)  While I enjoyed getting to spend time with Aleks and the other children in the Orphanage, I felt that it was too hard on Milena and looked forward to having them both with me and not having to make visits to the orphanage.  Milena desperately wanted to be close to me and wanted my full attention.  Of course my attention was divided between her and Aleks as well as the other children at the orphanage.  I loved getting to spend time with the other children, getting to know them and see their potential.  Since being home I've been able to advocate a little bit for some of the children I met.  I've also been able to pass information along through our agency to the families hoping to meet some of the children I met.  Anyway, it broke my heart to see Milena feeling down when she did not have my attention 100% of the time but I also knew that it would be something she would need to get used to as she would soon be coming home to two siblings who both required more care than she did.  Below are a few pics from the first days in Armenia (trip 2.)

The day after Milena became our daughter.

 

The day after Milena became our daughter #2.

Jason's first time meeting Aleks

Visiting Aleks in the orphanage

After Aleks became our son, I was able to bring him back to the apartment with Milena and I.  He came to me on a Friday which gave us the weekend to spend together bonding and getting used to each other before we had to continue with paper chasing the following week.  It was a balancing act to spend adequate time with both Milena and Aleks.  At times I felt like I was not doing either of them justice.  I had some difficulty getting Aleks to eat and drink over the first few days and Milena was somewhat jealous of the time I spent with Aleks.  I wanted so badly for everything to go smoothly but it was certainly a stressful time.  Milena did not know as much English as I had thought she did and she preferred Armenian speakers over me at times.  My in country representatives and adoption agency were so sweet and willing to offer help during some of the difficult times but I felt that it would be best for Milena and Aleks in the long run to stay with me and to know who their caretaker was.  I still think that was a good decision even if it made some things harder for me while in Armenia.

Some days in country were spent in the apartment figuring each other out.  Other days we had paperwork to take care of.  We spent much time walking around Yerevan exploring or going out to eat at different restaurants.  Some days our in country representative would take us to places like Vernissage (the huge outdoor vendor market), the Yerevan zoo, the children's railroad and she even set us up to take a tour of some of the old Churches/ruins in Armenia.  Pictures of some adventures below:





One of our favorite breakfast places Baguette and Co.



Yerevan zoo

Hippo at the zoo.  Milena loved the hippo!

Yerevan Zoo

Picture by the horses at the zoo.

Not so sure about those camels!

Family pic on the Children's Railroad

Another favorite place to eat: Artbridge



Aleks' first spaghetti, at Artbridge

Another breakfast at Baguette and Co.  They got to know us there and would bring Aleks these cute mini-muffins (he wouldn't eat them but it was a sweet gesture!)

The Dancing Fountains at Republic Square

Republic Square during the day

I will do another post later on our trip to visit some Armenian Churches and ruins!