Morning arrived way to early after a sleepless night. Matt and I were up at 5:30 to get ourselves ready so we would have plenty of time to wake both boys up and get them fed and ready to leave by 7am. We weren't sure how the morning would go, but Rance woke up rather easily, with no potty accident, and ate his cereal concoction daddy made him like a champ! We were thankful to be ready with a few minutes to spare!
Oleg picked us up at 7 and we were off. We were headed to the region where Rance was born and lived before coming to the orphanage. We thought it was about a 2 hour drive from Alexandria where we were. Ha. 4 very long hours later we arrived. Riding with two wiggly little boys with Matt and I in the backseat was interesting to say the least. Not to mention how many times we heard Rance sing the ABC's!
First item on the agenda: get a new birth certificate for Rance with his new name and listing Matt and I as his parents. Its an answer to prayer that we were able to do this at all on Tuesday. Last week Yulia found out that the birth certificate office was closed from January 31-February 5 as they would be working on in office documents only. Thankfully between Yulia and Oleg calling and begging one of the ladies at the office, she said she would work us in first thing Tuesday morning. PRAISE GOD!
**Firsts for Rance
-Playing outside! Rance said he couldn't remember the last time he had been outside the orphanage. So sad! He ran around, jumped around, carefully stepped on the squares and had a grand time. Cavin of course, was trying to keep up, but couldn't quite figure out how to jump. Truly priceless!
While the lady prepared the new birth certificate we walked down the street to a cafe to eat lunch. It was freezing in the cafe. Normally places are cold here, but it was so cold you could see your breath. This cafe was definitely proof that looks can be deceiving. The dining area looked pretty nice, chair covers, table cloths, nice curtains and rugs. However, I walked through the back to the bathroom, passing the kitchen on the way. Let's just say this, I wouldn't have used the bathroom if you paid me a million dollars, and I am amazed that we didn't get food poisoning after seeing the kitchen.
After an hour wait we picked up the new birth certificate! Yulia said that normally its a 3-5 hour wait and we were again thankful for God's provision as we were on a very tight time schedule.
Next on the agenda: Changing Rance's personal number (like our social security number).
We were able to wait in the car while Oleg changed the number for us. It only took about 20 minutes.
Then we were off to Kirovograd where we would get the paperwork notarized and apply for Rance's passport.
It took us about 2 and 1/2 hours to get to Kirovograd where we again waited in the car while Oleg worked with a friend who is a lawyer to get some paperwork notarized. Then we went across town to the passport office. Oleg, Matt and Rance went in while Yulia, Cavin and I waited in the car...again! At this point it was 4:30 and were just thankful we were in time to apply for his passport. It took them about 40 minutes in the passport office and then we were done for the day!
We stopped to get gas, had to stop and get a few more official pictures of Rance for other documents and then we headed back to Alexandria. We ate at the "cafe on the road" which is connected to a gas station that had become our favorite place to eat. We wanted to eat there one last time before leaving. They have this honey cake that is to die for. I asked for the recipe everytime we ate there but sadly never got it.
**Firsts for Rance:
-French Fries and a Juice Box!
As usual, Cavin had charmed the waitresses and while we were eating Yulia said that Cavin's favorite waitress, a very tall blonde, had just said that she was waiting for Cavin to get done eating! As soon as Cavin was done he climbed down and headed towards the counter where he was promptly picked up, passed around and smothered with kisses. Rance tagged right along. He had a conversation with one of the ladies, and I wish I knew what he said!
We headed back to the hotel for the night, where we had two little boys with lots of energy from being in a car all day. Bath time was even more crazy! We finally got them both to sleep and thankfully they both slept well through the night and so did Matt and I!
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