Yes.  We are in Moscow.  It seems like it has been forever, but it has only been 3 nights.  Four more to go.  We have learned some good things.  For example, having a child with you seems to entitle you to special privileges.  Russians seem to hate lines, and prefer mobs instead, but if you walk up holding a child, the seas part, and you get to go first.  It is actually refreshing.  On the other hand, dear Russians, if someone asks you “Do you speak English”  and the only word you know in English is “Yes,” then that would not be the time to use that particular word.  But thankfully, a large percentage of the population speaks “a little” English, and we can get through our day with broken English, random Russian words, pointing and holding up the number of fingers of the things we want.

We had an adventure today because we decided we needed strollers.  We didn’t get strollers before we left, because we thought it would be okay, but after these 3 days, we decided that they would be very helpful.  (And after walking with them down to Arbat street-two blocks away… they crashed and burned pretty quickly.  Strollers would be a good thing.) 

I realize many are saying “but they’re too old for strollers”.  Not really.  They are very small children.  Nathan doesn’t weight 25 pounds, and is four years old.  He is too small to fit into the 2T clothes we brought.  Ben is only slightly bigger.

Strollers.  We asked the man at the hotel desk where we might find them and the only place he knew of was a place that would have them, but “there they are very expensive.”  But we tried it.  We got a taxi and took off.  He was right- there they were very expensive.  It was one of those boutique stores, and the least expensive stroller was $400.  So we asked our taxi driver if he knew of any other place, but he didn’t speak English very well.  It turns out he was a friend of Sasha (who went to his country home because it was the weekend).  We called him, and he directed his friend to a children’s hypermarket.  So the driver went there, and then helped us with the transaction.  We bought us two strollers, but they didn’t take credit cards (and we didn’t have that many rubles on us) so our driver found out where there was an ATM.  So we made a 10,000 ruble withdrawal, which covered two still expensive strollers and the taxi fare.  (I thought the price for the cab was excellent, considering he waited for us, carried one of the strollers for us, and Ben puked in his car twice.)

And the boys LOVE strollers.  They both thoroughly enjoyed them.  We used them to go get lunch: pastries from a little shop under the street.  But they weren’t really pastries, they were baked breads with stuff in them.  Some were sweet, but most were meats.  We had the hot dogs and I got one with cheese and mushrooms.  And there are several tunnels that go under the busier streets so that no pedestrians have to cross these streets. The tunnels have a name, but I don’t know it.  They are tunnels with shops in them.  With good prices.  I got a liter of Pepsi for 50 rubles.  That isn’t bad at all.

We also used the strollers for going to the grocery store.  It made the trip much better.

We continue to learn more about the boys.  We’ll start with Nathan.  Nathan is a very smart, well rounded little boy.  We watched him playing really well tonight.  He has a great imagination (he used his Lego blocks to build a gun- simple and crude, but that’s abstract thought.)  He has started repeating English words to us.  Just a couple here and there, but each day it grows ever so slightly.  When we say, “Nathan!” he looks up and comes to us.  So, he is learning his new name.

Benjamin, on the other hand, has some serious issues.  We don’t know how deeply they go.  He seems to be sincerely trying to get us to reject him.  The poor little guy doesn’t realize that no matter how much he fights, we will not give up on him.  I got bitten pretty hard today.  I also got smacked, pinched, and spat upon.  Yet no matter what he couldn’t make us go away.  He is very intelligent-there is no doubt about that.  He started singing “You Are My Sunshine” today with Shannon (with no intelligible words, but the tune was right).  But he cannot focus on any given task for more than about 15-20 seconds.  He does sometimes listen to an entire Thomas the Tank Engine storybook.  And he already is calling them books, and yells “Peep Peep!” when  we start to read.  And on the airplane I got him to color with me for a few minutes.  But he has no idea how to play with toys.  Every toy he either chews on or throws.  Nor does he look at the books, but he throws them, too.  He is very upset that his new car only has three wheels, but when you bite one of them off, there isn’t much that can be done about it.  He has such a long way to go, and is the source of 99% of our struggles.   If both boys were like Nathan, this would be a very fun and enjoyable time.  We would probably venture out to the zoo, or maybe take a walk (with strollers) to Red Square.  But they aren’t. We spent six of our 24 hours trying to get him to sleep today.  He fights it.  He fights us.  We have no support team here.  So we are really in a sort of survival mode.  We spend the entire time we are awake redirecting him.  He   Things are moving in the right direction, though.

Now I said, “if both boys were like Nathan” but I want to make sure that everyone understands that we do not regret the boys we have.  We wish the baby home would have given us a better heads up, but knowing that he is the way he is would not have deterred us.  We are not adopting to make us a happy little family.  We are adopting because we were called by God to serve in this manner.  Because two little boys on the far side of the world need a place where they will be loved and will grow.  We do it because He adopted us.  We are seeing the gospel all over this.  As I watch Ben fighting me-I get frustrated.  Yet my frustration is me fighting against God.  He is sovereign, and has put this very difficult task before us.  We had no idea it would be so difficult.  But he has been preparing me for something for some time.  I have told several people that he was going to do “something” in our lives.  I cannot explain how I knew it, but I knew something incredibly difficult was coming.  I think this is it.  (Actually I thought it would be something different than this- but this is really very close to what I thought).  Sorry if that sounds enigmatic, but I do not know how to describe it.  I was being prepared for some unknown thing. 

But we got the boys to bed fairly quickly.  We have prayed and cried more than we have ever done before.  I have begun praying regularly with Shannon, which I am sad to say was by far the exception than the rule.  It is a difficult time in a difficult place and we desperately miss Erin and Sam.

So please pray that we would continue to get to know the boys and their idiosyncrasies. That Ben would begin to trust us.  (Right now he does not like us to touch him).  That fear would leave him.  That both boys would bond with us.  That Erin and Sam would continue to enjoy their time with Grandma.  (Spending last weekend with cousins in Kentucky and the fair coming up this week has helped tremendously.)  Pray that Shannon and I would continue to grow closer to God and one another.  That we would have the strength to endure four more nights in a foreign city with two boys we don’t really know.  And that which we fear the most-our trip home Thursday (adding an extra 9 hours to the day because of time zone changes, 12-13 hours in an airplane, and getting to meet new siblings).  The trip from Vladivostok to Moscow was not bad at all, but I think that was mainly because they were still in shock and terror of having left everything they had ever known behind.  They will have a week, and will be more comfortable (and likely more unruly) by then. 

Thank you everyone, again, for all of the help and support you have given.  We have been given clothes, beds, food, money, prayer, a housecleaning (yay!), babysitting, and so many other little things.  Thank you, everyone!