Very, Merry, POOPY Christmas!

Oh, yes...Vera has made it a very memorable Christmas in more than one way! It has been great that we have been able to spend this Christmas with Vera. I thought we would have to wait to spend Christmas with our second child until Christmas 2009, so it has been a blessing to have her for this Christmas. But, she has made this Christmas even more memorable than I could have imagined...

Vera slept much better last night and so did Ryan. She did wake up twice, but once was because she had fallen asleep on me after the first time she woke up and I was trying to lay her back down.

We had been told that a doctor would come to examine Vera this morning between 8 and 8:30 AM. Well, at 7:45 AM the front door phone is ringing because the doctor is here and buzzing us to let him in! Ryan is still in a towel. I have just gotten up and Vera has just woken up. Kiara is still sleeping. So, I grab Vera and change her diaper and Ryan puts some clothes on and runs down 4 flights of stairs to let the doctor in. He was not at all what I expected. I thought it was Geraldo Rivera plus 15 pounds! Plus, he had this long haired fur coat on, it was just the funniest sight.

By now, Kiara is up and we use her magic bed to do Vera's examine. It was a pretty normal once over like a child would get at a well child visit. I have read several blogs that have used this same doctor and it was funny to me because he said a lot of the same things to me that others have said he said at their child's visit. He said that Vera must have been one of the favorites at the orphanage because she seems very healthy. He also told Ryan he will need to get a shot gun and put it by the door to keep the boys away. I think he must say these same things almost every time! Vera hated the whole thing and basically cried through the whole experience. But, no more than 20 minutes later, he was out the door.

So, Ryan fed Vera and I got the Christmas stuff ready. Kiara could hardly wait! I had gotten each of the girls a small stocking and one gift. Santa is visiting our house on New Year's Eve this year since we were out of town. ;)

Next, Ryan had to leave to meet V & C to go pick up Vera's passport. So, while he was gone, I put Vera down for a nap and gave Kiara a bath. Shortly after he returned, they came to tell us they aren't going to be able to fix our washing machine before we leave. So, we now have the key to an apartment right across the street and will go over there to use the washing machine.

Vera took a 3 hour nap and woke up without a temperature even after her medicine had worn off. This morning she still had a temperature of 101 degrees. I was so happy that she felt better. We fed her lunch, played a little, and by that time you could tell that it was time for her to have another nap. So, down she went for another hour. Ryan ended up sleeping during that time to on the floor in the living room! Vera got up and I gave her her first bath. She did pretty well. She didn't love it, but she didn't cry much. It was funny because she didn't know what was dripping from her head, she kept trying to grab whatever it was! So, once we were done with that, we woke up Ryan and got ready for our Christmas dinner.

Here are my cuties in their matching Christmas outfits.

Where do Americans who are in Russia on Christmas eat their Christmas dinner....McDonald's, of course! We made our first trek out in Moscow with 2 kids to eat at the golden arches. Our cheap umbrella stroller on slushy Moscow streets isn't the best combination, but probably better than carrying the bundle of joy all the way there and back! So, I have to back up a little. Vera had yet to do #2 since we have had custody of her. For lunch, I fed her about a half of jar of prunes to help the process along a little. After her second nap, we were yet to see any progress, so I fed her the rest of the jar of prunes for her snack. Can you see where I am going with this??

So, back to Micky D's...Ryan goes up to order and me and the girls find a table. A nice employee comes and asks if I want a high chair for Vera, which I was surprised they even had. So, we tried that out and she sat well in it. We eat our dinner and I give Vera a few Gerber Puffs that are broken in half. (For those of you out of the loop on baby food, these things basically melt in your mouth.) Vera proceeds to cough a little when she eats one. She eats a few more and then basically sounds like she is coughing up a lung! She scares the begebbers out of me, so we are done with Puffs until we get home! Ryan comments that he thinks everyone is looking at us because we have a baby at McDonald's. I haven't seen another baby there any of the times we have been there. I said that I would be looking at us too, if someone's child was coughing like that, I don't think it was just because we are Americans or had a baby with us!

Now it is time to put Vera back in her snowsuit and make a quick stop at the grocery store on the way home. I pick her up out of her seat and....you guessed it, she waited to have her first bowel movement until we took her out in public and of course it is a blowout! H & C, you are very lucky that lady brought us the highchair, or I would have still had Vera sitting in the umbrella stroller not all the way out of the very cute snowsuit you loaned us! I am so grateful that the snowsuit was spared! At this point, I am not sure if I can even get Vera to the bathroom without getting it all over me. It smelled putrid! So, I grab the diaper and the wipes, hold her under her arms and head for the bathroom. In Russia, they don't have the convienent changing tables that we have in America, so I go into a normal stall. Luckily, the stall walls go closer to the floor than I am use to and it already smells horrible in the McDonald's bathroom. I use all the wipes I have but one. Luckily, they have toliet seat lids, so after I get most of the poop off of her, I am able to sit her on there to put her diaper on. I throw away her socks and pants. It was her Christmas outfit that matches Kiara's, but at least I took a couple pictures before we left the apartment! There is a trash can in the stall, so the poor person who chooses to use that stall! So, I take her out of the restroom in only her top and diaper. I am sure all the Russian people were looking at me like the worst mother in the world since they bundle their children up SO much! But, luckily, we brought her in a warm snowsuit that even has booties, so she is still toasty warm for her ride home. And, she was kicking her legs all the way home, so she probably felt a lot better! I had thought earlier in the day that she would probably wait until we went out to poop, but I didn't imagine it would be that bad! At least it wasn't on the airplane, I can't imagine that smell in an enclosed space. Pray that it doesn't happen on the plane!

She does look like she is concentrating awfully hard!
After the blowout!

Once we get home, I give Vera her second bath and finish feeding her dinner. We call our families to wish them a Merry Christmas and then it is obvious that it is time for Vera to go to bed. She feels a bit warmer so I want to take her temperature. We have just been taking her temperature with an ear thermometer, but she absolutely hates it! We have to hold her down to do it and she gets so worked up! Her temperature was 100.2 degrees, which is up a bit, but not as high as it has been. So, we give her Motrin and she is off to bed. The 3 of us left awake played a game of Old Maid and are now trying to recover from the tramatic exerience! Oh, what a night!

After all that happened, I totally forgot to get a picture of the 4 of us together on Christmas! :( I guess we will have to do that tomorrow and count that as our Christmas picture.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!