Maksim Is 13 Months Old Today

Maksim is just over a year now and doing so well. He celebrated turning 13 months old by learning how to drive...well o.k. his toy car. Every day has been a joy! Watching him explore and learn so many new things. It is just wonderful!

Maksim's First Trip to the Park

It was a gorgeous day today! So Mom (Bunny) and I took Maksim for a walk down to the park. It was a beautiful sunny fall day :) He enjoyed watching the boats go by, walking on the boardwalk, playing in the grass, and putting his feet in the splash pad. He was laughing the whole time. Just didn't want to be held too much, quite the little walker...just wanted to go go go!!! He had a blast!!!

A Wonderful Welcome Home

The first couple of days at home have been wonderful. Maksim has adapted beautifully to his new environment, family, friends, pets, food, his bed, basically everything. All the things David and I worried about...have been non existent.

He loved meeting all his Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, Great Aunts and Uncles, Great Great Aunts, Cousins, neighbors, and friends. He is adjusting so well. We are amazed! We feel so fortunate. After all this time, David and I keep pinching ourselves...we can't believe he is finally here!!

P.S. Thanks to all our friends who have dropped off all the wonderful dinners, goodies, fruit basket, and balloons. What a wonderful surprise and such a warm welcome when we arrived home.


When Maksim takes his nap... Joey and Buddy take full advantage of the time to get their naps in as well.

We are Home!!!!!!!!!!!

We finally got home just after midnight. What a long and exhausting day!!! Maksim fell asleep on the way home from the airport. But as soon as we got him home, he woke up and was just as excited as we were. He first saw Buddy and Joey, our two cats. Wow, was he excited!!! He was giggling and clapping his hands. He couldn't believe that there were two live little fuzzy creatures walking around. Then we brought him up to his room to get him ready for bed. As we walked into the room he literally gasped and shrieked with excitement, jumped up and down, danced all around and pointed at all of the toys and all the other wonderful things that were waiting for him. He couldn't believe it was all for him. It was like Christmas morning!! It brought tears to our eyes, to see our child this overwhelmed with joy. What a wonderful feeling to bring such happiness to a child.

We feel incredibly lucky and truly blessed. We thank God everyday for bringing us this wonderful baby boy into our lives.

A special thanks to all of you for your support, prayers, and friendship during our adoption process. Stay tuned for more postings of life at home. Love, Barbara, David and Maksim, and of course Buddy and Joey.

Our Flight Home

Well so much for getting some shut eye! Maksim just didn't feel like sleeping. He was too interested in talking to the flight attendants or anyone else who would pay attention. Although, no complaints he was such a good baby on all the flights! Despite the fact that David was not feeling so well, he was able to get Maksim to laugh and laugh. Maksim sure does love his Daddy. However, after 13 hours of flying I was ready to be home.

Our last morning in Moscow

Good Morning! Today is our last day in Moscow. We just had time for a little breakfast. We packed up our things and Daniel picked us up at 9 am to head to the airport. Our flight is at 1 pm. We fly to Atlanta and have to go though customs, change planes and then fly to Detroit. Just worried about David and Maksim, both are under the weather. Hopefully, everyone gets some rest over the 13 hour flight. Can't wait to be home! See you soon.

Moscow at Twilight

Our Little Red Wing

An Afternoon Stroll in Moscow

This afternoon the sun finally came out from behind the clouds. So we took Maksim out for a stroll in the Red Square. We had a great day with him. We also received wonderful news. We can go home tomorrow. Our agency was able to get all our documents done so we can go home early. We are ready to go home and get settled. Here are some photos from our day today.






*Don't worry John she is just window shopping :)

A Fun Afternoon Watching Tennis in Moscow

Maksim was enjoying another relaxing day and getting ready for his nap. So Gramie suggested that David and I go to the Fed Cup Tennis Finals and she would stay with Maksim. How nice is that!! :) So David and I grabbed our coats and went off to the stadium. We were so excited to see Franchesca Play. We arrived at the stadium and got to our seats. We were in the VIP section right behind the Italian team. It was so exciting!!!! It was a huge match for the reigning team (Italians) vs. the Russians. Although the Italians were the underdogs in the final matches. However, to be that close and watch their power and control was amazing. David and I were in awe! Francesca was so intense! She has an amazing one-handed backhand! It was a very close match- unfortunately Francesca Schiavone lost to Anna Chakvetadze 6-4,4-6,6-4. We were bummed, but still so happy to see her play and see the match. We left the stadium and headed back to see Gramie and Maksim. They were having fun playing in the room and she said "they had watched the match on T.V." We all were ready for dinner and then it was off to bed. Since David and Maksim were both coming down with colds :(







Maksim watching his friend Francesca on T.V.


Oh no Mr. Monkey I can't watch...Was it in or out?


Go Francesca!!!


I am too nervous...I can't watch.


I am so upset...I can't believe they lost!