Out of the Dom!

We have reemerged from self imposed blog darkness. Actually, we've just been very busy and unable to post. Thank you for the e-mails and prayers, wondering if we were okay.



We are! Great, actually. Yesterday at 4:30, we made our last trip to Baby Home #4, and left with our beloved son, Samuel Matvey. Without much external "hoopla", we drove away from the only place he has known as home for his young little life. While the mood was typical in Group #8's room, our hearts were leaping as the caregiver dressed him in the clothes we had brought, and he left with only a small toy pig we had given him in July. He left with out ANY material possessions. But I don't think he cared.

We knew after walking down the stairs we've used close to 50 times in the last 2 weeks, that Samuel's fear of "machinas" would soon show itself as he realized he was getting back in a car. Among our many prayer requests before driving over to the home, was that he would not be too frightened to drive back to the hotel. We think we understand, in a small way, the unimaginable changes he's going through right now. We were hoping riding in cars would be among the easier ones. We very quickly saw our Heavenly Father's gracious answer, as Samuel calmed down after only 3 or 4 minutes of our 15 minute drive. He calmly watched the big world around us, as Paul drove us down the street. Samuel didn't celebrate, but he didn't fight either. We continue to pray that he will trust us, and allow us to love and care for him.

After a quiet evening, and a short walk to pick up some dinner, Samuel fell asleep as Ally sat next to his crib, silently praying for him. Every few minutes, he would reach his hand through the bars, and grab Mommy's hand to make sure she was still there. He has grown in his affection for each of us during our entire stay, but he is really beginning to love his new "Mama". (I can say that, because she's up in the room with him, not seeing what I'm posting) I don't think he understands, entirely, the difference between a caregiver and a mom yet, but he already looks at her differently than I saw him look at any caregiver in Baby Home #4. He knows she's different, and I think he knows she loves him. If he only understood how much! Samuel's mama and papa (we're working on daddy still), love him wholeheartedly, and we won't stop. We hope we can point him to a much greater love very soon:

"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are..." 1 John 3:1

Today, Samuel experienced another important rite of passage to be a Howard! A haircut! Taylor, Lauren, Makenna and Noah, you know what I mean. Mommy loves giving or getting her kids' haircuts. We first tried Hotel Rostov's hair saloon (not salon), but they didn't cut children's hair. So after finding a nice place at the local CA shopping mall, I bravely sat down in the salon's chair first, as Samuel cried about the idea that we were even inside a building he wasn't familiar with. After learning that an American #4 is a little different than a Russian #4, I got out of the way and Ally sat down with our brave son in her lap. After crying for the first minute or so, he calmed down and allowed the stylist to trim him up.

Before

During

After

After rejecting McDonald's today for lunch, we stopped at the hotel restaurant and ordered a mini feast to be sent up to our room. When the soup, bread, chicken with gravy and beef stroganoff arrived in our room, to our relief, Samuel went to town. It was a relief, because so far he had pretty much only enjoyed bananas, fruit in a jar and the chocolate the stylists gave him. We will do our best to find him food that makes him comfortable and train him to enjoy hamburgers and orange chicken a little at a time. He might not even be ready for Chipotle next week?!

There is much else to tell, but we look forward to sharing with most of you in person, very soon. Our next post, will be from Moscow if possible. 3 years ago, our internet access was more difficult there, so we may have difficulty doing more than checking e-mail once or twice. We shall see.

For now, we will spend the rest of the weekend in Rostov, before flying to Moscow Monday afternoon at 12:45. If everything goes according to plan, we will hopefully arrive in Fresno on Saturday next weekend!

Love from Ryan (and Ally & Samuel too)