Great update from the doctor and picture!

The picture above is one from the shtos we had taken of all of us. Great pictures!

We received a call from the boys' pediatrician this week. Great news!!! All of their blood work and stool tests have come back with positive news! Everything seems to be great, except their polio vaccines. Blood count, liver, thyroid, parasites, previous vaccines, hepititis, HIV, and MANY more... all good to go!!! What that means is that they'll need to retake their polio vaccine, since it doesn't appear that they are immune to polio. They had that vaccine and many others, but it's a live virus and needs special handling (refrigeration)and it may not have been handled properly prior to administering it. They'll also need their measles, mumps and rubella vaccine again too since that one requires even more special handling than polio. That's great and just minor compared to things that could have been wrong. They had a boat load of tests done and it seems like we couldn't have had a more positive outcome. The doctor was very impressed, based on her experience with kids adopted internationally. Keep the good news coming!!! We'll be heading to the pediatrician again in mid-February to finish out their vaccines!

Maks' 3rd birthday and Pop Pop and Gramie visit

Thursday, January 21st- Maks' 3rd birthday!!!
We celebrated with Elmo ;-). What else but?

Maks has been doing great with his English. He counts to 10 and sing his ABC's through H. He knew to blow the candles out when we put the cake down. It was kind of cool-thinking they probably celebrated birthdays in the orphanage with cake and candles. That's great! We don't think that the boys have had ice cream or popsicles before though- their faces told us that. They both love ice cream now ;-)!

Fin has been "talking" a whole lot. He tries, which is the best part, with a lot of sounds and a million facial expressions.




Pop Pop and Gramie come to visit and meet the boys! We had a fun weekend just hanging out and playing on their bikes, taking a few walks and trips to the playground. There is quite a bit of construction still going on in our neighborhood, so they enjoy just watching the workers, big trucks and scoops. The pictures above are from the airport- when the boys meet their grandparents for the first time ;-). They ran right up to them! The group shot is from our trip to Rudy's BBQ- one of our favorites ;-).
Fin has picked up quite a few nicknames already... bull dozier, meat ball and boom boom. The scratches on his face explain it. Not something we'll share with our social worker or adoption agency. wink wink.

One month!

Wow- tomorrow is the one month date from when we came home with the boys. It's crazy to think back to those times....

- December 22nd- the day we picked them up from the adoption center in Vladimir. We took a direct flight from Houston into Moscow, but the weather was too bad in Moscow to land so we were re-routed to Copenhagen - which is a 2 hour flight from Moscow. It was bad enough having a 12 1/2 hour flight, but then we added another 2 hours plus an 8 hour layover then flew another 2 hours back to Moscow. 36 hours of travel - we ended up in Vladimir and were running around trying to finalize things for the boys- passports, paperwork, etc. We show up to adoption center in Vladimir and we're given the boys. We're asked to change them and get on the road for a 5 hour drive back to Moscow. It was crazy hectic! On the drive back to Moscow, the driver asked us to keep them seated... they don't use car seats. Thankfully Elmo on DVD saved the day to keep them occupied!
- December 23rd- we spent the night in our apartment in Moscow with the boys. First night... Mark and I slept on the pull out couch while Fin was in the crib and Maks was in the king size bed. Decent night sleep, from what I can remember. Now the fun begins... what do we feed them, what are they saying, what do we do with them? ;-). Limited resources, but we made it work! We went through all the toys and books we had to keep them busy in a matter of no time. Again, thank God for Elmo DVDs!!
- December 24th- Christmas Eve~! Fin managed to climb out of the crib that night. whew! This day- we actually had the entire day to ourselves, other than an early visit from the doctor in the apartment. We took the day to get to know each other! We even took them out to lunch at a close by crepes place.
- Friday, December 25th- Christmas Day!!! We fly home with the boys. Early trip to the airport for a 10:30AM flight from Moscow to Houston. Long flight, of course, but all in all- we can't complain. The last 3 hours were the only part we would have changed ;-). We arrive in Houston at 1:50PM on Christmas day. I remember thinking that it didn't feel like Christmas. So many people were around- travelling, working, and out and about. We made it through customs quickly, but then had about an hour wait in the immigration office while the boys were ok'ed on their green cards (we wait about 6 months before getting their actual citizenship). Off the the car we go. Both of them fell asleep in the shuttle to the parking lot which made it difficult for them to sleep on the way home. Whew! What a long trip! We also had to pick up Buster from friends' house on the way home too. Fin was scared to death of him at first... if only you could see him now. Fearless!

Things have come a LONG way in a month. Most of the other adoptive families tell us that by month 3 you feel great and everyone should be adjusted for the most part. These little guys are troopers for what they have done and accomplished in this short amount of time!! One month and counting.. for life ;-).

Go Ravens photo!

Ok, so we lost, bummer!......but the boys were ready for the game this past Saturday!

Pictures!

Pictures!!!
The boys at the airport the day that Dad (Papa Keens) met the boys!!

Pictures from meeting Santa (Father Frost Party)!

Papa Keens is here!

It's been a great week. Papa Keens arrived on Wednesday night. The boys took to him right away. It's crazy to think that the boys have been home with us only 3 weeks. What did we do with all of our time before? ha. They have adjusted so well that it seems like we've been together for months!!! We understand all of the daily tasks and we have a good schedule down with them.

It's been a lot of fun having Mom (Mimi) and Dad (Papa Keens) here, although the rain has kept us inside. We have enjoyed spending time in the garage enjoying their little bikes and bubbles. The boys had their first Rudy's experience (famous Austin BBQ). Fin ended up only liking white bread and pudding... go figure for our little meat ball. Papa Keens, Mimi, Mama and Maks were the ones who enjoyed it most.

Maks is picking up a lot more English. Mom has been teaching him animals and sounds, as well as traffic light colors, crayon colors, trucks, school bus, etc. It's great having a contant teachere in the back seat while we drive. He is doing such a great job with it all. He will repeat a lot of things we all say, so it will probably be sooner than we think that he'll be speaking sentences.

Fin has been working on his sounds. He still doesn't say any words, other than Mama and Papa, but he's getting more sounds down. Please is "pla" with a head nod... I guess we nod our head when we ask him to say please. ha.

Some favorite foods right now- clementines, hot dogs, PB and J, meat balls, yogurt, apple sauce, bananas, apples, raisins, fruit snacks

Some funny things that just make our day...
Maks is such a big helper. He loves to help throw away trash.
Fin always has such a big smile when he wakes up and we walk in the room
Mark has been trying to get them to go tinkle in the potty so he takes them with him when he goes. They love to watch "Papa toilette"

The boys had their first big pediatrician appt. on Thursday. Whew- 2 1/2 hours, lots of poking and 6 shots each, but they were great!!! We came out of their with a laundry list of things to do- blood work, stool samples, etc. All of it is pretty standard for Internationally adopted kids to make sure that their previous vaccinations are legitimate and that they don't have any illnesses, medical concerns, etc.

Well.. got to run. Maks just woke up from his nap.

Go Ravens tonight!!!!

Mimi is here!

Mimi arrived on Friday! Tears of joy when she saw the boys for the first time. It was really neat to see her with them! They ahve been really comfortable and even learning more English from Mimi.

We had the FRUA (Families of Russian and Ukranian Adoption) Father Frost Party tonight. Father Frost is the Russian Santa Clause and Christmas is celebrated on January 7th. There is a pretty big group of families that are a part of FRUA in the Austin area. They said that about 500 people are members of the FRUA yahoo group in this area. wow. Maks and Fin were really quiet and shy for the party. That's to be expected. They wanted to be held most of the time and mostly Mimi and Mark held them. I was busy taking pictures ;-). Towards the end of the night, we wanted to see if they would sit on Father Frost's lap. The pictures say it all! Overall, it was neat being there and seeing all of the other kids. I'm sure the boys will be a lot more rowdier next year once they get acclimated!

Tomorrow morning... we have our family pictures outside. It's supposed to be pretty cold in the morning, so we'll see how it goes.

Pictures:
Mark with the boys in their running stroller! They enjoy every minute, thankfully!

We love our vests!

Pictures above are from the travels home... the one asleep in the car says it all... long trip and we can't handle any more. Wish we all could have had a cat nap in the car ride home.

Good day today... we had 2 trips outside. We took the wagon, their favorite new toy, to the playground, had a short nap, them wanted Mama to take us outsdie again... we ventured out in the stroller to the next neighborhood over- their BIG playground. Can't get enough of it! We all love the outdoors!

Maks is learning a lot more English... please, all gone, moon, shoes, light. He repeats a lot after us! Fin has some good sounds down- Ba- for Buster, Ma- for Maks, mumu for milk, baba- for banana, etc. We are understanding some of it, but we do have someone coming from eci to get an eval. on his speech since we think there are delays. We are anxious for their input!

We are excited for the crew to meet the boys. Mom comes on Friday! Dad comes on Wednesday... then Chris and Mark the following week. Lots to look forward to!

Go to go... bath time.

First update

Here we are... back from our long trip to pick up the boys. Thought we could create a blog to log our funny tales and dramas from the Kilchenstein household.
The pictures here are from the orphanage... we are anxious to see how much Maks and Fin will change in the next few months!

Things have been going really well. The boys are adjusting quite well. Can only imagine what goes through their mind on a daily basis... taken to an apratment in Moscow to live with almost strangers, going into a crowded airport and flying 12 and 1/2 hours with these wacko people, called Mama and Papa. They were really excited at the site of coming and going airplanes from the airport. They also get really excited at the site of cars... "machina!!" It's humbing hearing them talk and not know a word- not only Russian but in their own little voices and language too. We have a lot to learn from each other, but we are doing great- one week and one day since we've been home.

Already this week.. we've had some firsts...
- They love the bath tub and playing in it. "Vanna" as they know- they get excited with the sound of it.
riding in a car- "machina"... they couldn't be happier in the car, thankfully.
We've taking them for quite a few walks in the stroller and they seem to love it too. With a pit stop at the play ground.. Maks took to the slide. Fin loved the swing.
- They love bananas- they could sit with you for awhile sharing bites off a banana. It's adorable. They also LOVE water bottles. Never thought of them as so exciting, for some reason they can't get enough of them.
- Elmo- We (Mark and I) are HUGE fans of Elmo videos. Ok, so he has an annoying voice, but he saved us on that long flight, long waits in the car, and everything else that required patience on our trip. Wow- what would we do without Elmo!!!
- They both call us Mama and Papa. They know that, and Busta (their word for Buster), very well. Maks is at a point now where he'll repeat words after you.... please, fan, Fin, kiss, crab, Mimi, Papa Keens, Gwami (Gramie), PopPop, Momo (Elmo), etc. He has a hard time saying some of them... just like Mama has a REALLY hard time speaking Russian. I have actually learned a lot from Maks and Mark just this week. We have a good Russian vocabulary down now, where we can get by with the daily tasks. I also started a running list in the play room with common words, so I can refer to that on occassion. Thankfully the communication is coming, because Mark goes back to work on Monday.

I can't say that they LOVE everything.. there are definitely quite a few temper tantrums and cries too. They HATE to go to bed. Hate is a strong word, and it fits this example quite well. Reading in bed isn't an option for us either- first because of the language barrier and then because they won't even get in bed to try. We found that Elmo videos help to settle them down before bed time... sometimes it works great, others times it doesn't. Fin's favorite toy is Papa's new TV and Maks' favorite toy is Papa's remote control. That goes over really well! Mark and I have spent a small fortune trying to find foods they'll eat, but we decided to give up trying and stick with what's been working thus far.. apple sauce, dried fruit, bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, go-gerts (yogurts in a push up pop), apples, grilled cheese, sometimes soup, blueberries, and sometimes hot dogs. Of course, they'll eat crackers, fruit bars, and cookies most of the time too. All in all- we can't complain with that diet. Hopefully more will come with time.

Maks is working on his potty training. "Kaka" is his way of saying he has to go #2. We go back and forth to the "toilette" quite a bit until it actually comes. He's done a great job with it most of the time, but it does test your patience after the 10th time to the potty and no result. Fin, on the other hand, doesn't even try. He rather just go in his tent, hide, grunt, and let it come right out to the pull ups. He has no problem sitting on the potty though, but no results yet.

We have been Skyping with family quite a bit! What a great and easy tool to stay in touch. We have managed to do high fives and tap knuckles through the screen with everyone too. Maks and Fin caught onto that right away. It's adorable!

Well, that's it for now. Happy new year to all!!!!
p.s. Sorry for any typos... I'm just happy to have time to sit and blog about this stuff! ;-)