Arkhangelsk, Russia had four athletes competing in the Beijing Olympic games.
Swimmer Arkadii Vyachanin won two bronze medals (200 meter backstroke, a new European record, and the 100 meter backstroke) and swimmer Yevgenii Lagunov won silver in the 4×200 freestyle and the 4×200 relay.

On our first trip to Russia to meet AJ we were able to spend about 9 hours with him over three days and each moment was precious. He began to take to us after that first day and we learned so much about him in that short time period. We have a lot to learn but he will certainly teach us…he was not shy.
Our representative walked into the room and handed AJ to me and he was so scared. He took a couple of deep rattling inhales and would not look at me or hang onto me, something I completely …read more

Just before we left to return home I captured this picture of AJ taking a break in front of the playroom window.
He was getting yet another cold, he was tired, and to me, he looks so alone. In reality, he was trying to escape stimulation, something that he continued to do at home when he got there. He used to stand at his favorite window with his cars and watch the cars on the street go past the house.

During our first visit we spent a total of nine hours with AJ playing with him, bonding with him, and analyzing his behaviors (because that is important to do that as well as go with your gut).
As we neared the first day’s visit with him Eric picked him up and told him that he just knew he was going to be a baseball player because he had a fabulous arm (he was throwing all of the fake fruits around the room…and yelling BA! as he did so).
Just as Eric picked him up I was able to capture this beautiful smile.

Three years ago we “officially” embarked on our adoption journey by boarding a plane to St. Petersburg, Russia on Good Friday. We were excited, nervous, and anxious. We anticipated everything that was to come, all that we were to encounter, and we were hoping that AJ would be all that we had ever dreamed our first child would be.

Last year my mother proposed something in lieu of stocking stuffers; a charity. And she told me and my husband to pick the first charity to donate to. Because our hearts had so recently been in Russia and had seen how much AJ’s orphanage needed help we decided to donate the money to the Regional Baby Home in Arkhangelsk, Russia.
This year this post is part of Babylune’s Generous December Group Writing Project in hopes of “winning” a donation to FORO…read on to find out exactly what FORO is and where the donated money will go.
When we visited the Baby Home …read more

In January 2007, just after we decided to adopt our second child I decided to journal the process. I told myself it wasn’t going to be an ordinary journal…it was going to be spectacular and everyone of our friends could read it. Some of our closest friends and relatives read my personal blog, My Two Boys, or my Discussing Autism site where I blog about AJ’s health issues, developmental progress, and about special needs and education. I also now write at One Book, Two Book for b5media. That certainly comes in handy because I have my master’s degree in Young …read more