Success at SDA

So, I'll start with the exciting stuff first. We had our SDA interview this morning, and it went very well. Jude truly is our little ambassador, and his presence has smoothed many situations already. He charmed the SDA worker, and the meeting went quickly and well. We were hoping and praying that they would give us both boys' files right away, thereby making our trip significantly shorter, but they couldn't budge on that. So, we will go back for Oleg's file in about two weeks. It was a thrill just to SEE their files, and see the younger pictures of them. So precious. Definitely made me a little teary. Sure wish we'd been there to scoop them up the minute they needed a family!

 So, next we will go to the orphanage to see the boys. Hopefully we will be allowed to see Oleg, too, even though we don't yet have official permission for that. Here we are at the SDA:

We got to see a little bit more of the city. There are some really pretty parts. 

We've eaten more tasty food. This Ukrainian spot is so good and cheap. However, I'm beginning to suspect that it has contributed to some...ahem... tummy troubles. 

Chicken noodle soup with meatballs. I love how they put dill on almost everything.

And these were Siberian pelmeni. Basically Russian meat ravioli. So good. 

Some have asked what our apartment looks like inside. 

The super-tiny WC. 

Our clothes dryer. It's basically hot water pipes in the bathroom, that snake back and forth for warming towels, or in our case, drying our clothing. I hid the undies. You're welcome. 

Our washer is also super-tiny (but we are SO glad to have it!), and this is a load of laundry. One pair of jeans and a few small items of baby clothes. 

Here's a few cute Jude pictures...

A couple days ago, he began holding a phone to his ear, and saying "hello", though it sounds more like "huwwo". Today, he just started doing it with everything. Here, he is pretending that a baby wipe is a telephone. 

Hopefully the next post will be Friday or Saturday, and will have pictures of the boys! That's all for now. It's midnight-thirty here, so nighty-night!