Surgery and Animals

Sorry it has been so long since we posted anything. You know, life happens.

Well Gabriel had his surgery on the 20th of August for the undescended testicle. Everything went fine, but Angela and I hate seeing our little boy like that. A week and a half after his surgery we got a new dog, Sam, a 3 year old yellow lab. He ain't Ammo, but he'll do. A week before his surgery we adopted a kitten that was wandering around the neighborhood. We named her Ana, short for Anastasia (the Russia thing and all), and Gabriel loves tormenting both of the animals (Mama and Papa) as any 3 year old boy would. He also likes to play with Sam and Ana. On the 2nd of Sept, Gabriel started school. We have him in the 2 year old class at Wichita Christian for now, but are thinking of bumping him up to the 3 year old class as soon as an opening comes available. Anywho, hope this sees all of you doing well and thanks for checking on us.

Our Water Bug

As you can see, Gabriel loves the water. We got a pool that is plenty big enough for him to splash around in and if we are brave enough, we can get in with him.

Gabriel's surgery was postponed for the time being because his doctor was in an accident two weeks ago and had fractured vertebrae. It looks like his surgery will take place late August, but we won't know for a while.

We all miss Ammo, but we still talk about him and in the future we will get a family pet once again.

Gabriel continues to pick up things and surprise us how well he is comprehending English. He picked up a toy the other day and told me it was green AND IT WAS!!!! He has adjusted tremendously well and even though he is particular about when he wants to socialize, he definitely loves to do so!!!!!!

Hope you are all doing well and having a great summer. It is hard to believe that it is already half over though. :( We love you all and pray that all of you are doing well.

Because of Him, The Schwarte Trio - Rick, Angela, and Gabriel

Busy, busy, busy

In the past few weeks we've seen the cardiologist and the urologist for Gabriel. He was diagnosed with congenital heart disease in Russia, so the cardiologist was more precautionary than anything. He got a normal report from that doctor. He also has a testicle that hasn't dropped yet so he needs a surgery to fix it. It is an outpatient surgery, but we have to go to Abilene for that (I have no idea why, but that is where Tricare sent us.) We saw the urologist two weeks ago, but he wanted to wait for the surgery for good measure until Gabriel had been seen by the cardiologist which was Wed the 18th. Now we have his surgery scheduled for the 3rd of July, but we have to be in Abilene the 2nd for the pre-op physical.

On a side note, we had to have our dog, Ammo put to sleep on Wed. the 18th as well. He had developed cancer, so needless to say that even though the cardiologist gave Gabriel a clean bill of health, it became a bittersweet day for us.

Hope that everything is going well with everyone else.

In Him,

Rick, Angela, and Gabriel

Lazy Summer Days

We just returned home from a walk, so Gabriel posed for a picture with Ammo. If we don't enjoy the outdoors in the morning, we will cook to death in the afternoon. Hope you are all enjoying your lazy summer days.

We will send more again soon.
Love, The Schwarte Trio

Summer is Here!!!!

Well, summer is here and we are already cooking in Texas. As you can see in this picture, Daddy was reading to Gabriel. It was interesting to listen because the book was called Little Toot and as Rick was reading it to him it talked about Big Toot, which must have been the dad. I couldn't help but laugh to myself as I listened from the other room, because it was irony at its best. I love Big and Little Toot dearly though!!!!

Gabriel picks up so much more each day. His favorite word now is NO, sometimes in context and sometimes not. So my current project is trying to put it into context for him. However, I am told this is a popular first word, but it is bordering on disrespect around our house.

We hope and pray you are all doing well and we will try to keep updating regularly throughout the summer.

Love,
The Schwarte Trio

It is almost summer!!!!

Well, we are on the count down for lazy summer days. Gabriel and Mommy can't wait to stay home together and play with Ammo and all of our human friends too.

Hopefully we will get Daddy to spend some time with us too.

Gabriel has progressed soooo much in the last few weeks with his English. He is quite a parrot. He received his first American haircut last weekend and looks so CUTE!!!! Plus, with the cowlick that he has on the back of his head, his hair is not driving mom crazy like it was before.

Mommy doesn't have to work Friday of this week, so we get to play a lot this long weekend. Plus the following weekend, Gabriel and Mommy will make a trip to Iowa for Marissa's graduation. (She is the one on the right. His oldest cousin and Mommy's oldest niece.) After the long weekend and fast road trip to Iowa, Erin, cousin on the left will come back to Texas with us for almost two weeks.

We hope all of you are doing well and we will try to blog more this summer. That way everyone can keep up with us, especially with Gabriel's progress.

With all of our love,

The Schwarte Trio

Six Weeks and Counting

Well, the past month has been VERY busy or we would have been blogging more. Everyday, there are new things Gabriel has learned to say or do, which of course, keeps Mommy and Daddy happy and busy too. Gabriel and Ammo have turned into best buddies. It is so fun to listen to him trying to give Ammo commands. His Russian accent sometimes hinders Ammo's understanding. One of Gabriel's new favorites has become Little Ammo, his stuffed black lab.

Since last post, Gabriel has met both sets of grandparents, one of his aunts, and two of his cousins. So we have Grandpa Schwarte and Babushka (Grandma in Russian), G.G. and G.D. (Grandma Gladys and Grandpa Don), Aunt Stacey, and Marissa and Erin. Gabriel even turned three on April 11th. He had his first school program which is where the video came from and he seems to have the budding star bug. He loves to sing and play with Daddy's guitar, as well as instruments he got for his birthday. Look for his name in lights someday!!!

We visited the train museum last weekend with our best friends Quinn, Keegan, and Meredith. Meredith's parents were in town and were with us, so Gabriel has a Gaga and Poppa too. Yesterday, we went to the park with Quinn, Keegan, and Meredith. We had a picnic and played. Gabriel even got his first sunburn, but thank goodness it wasn't as bad as Mommy's.

Everyday is an adventure at the Schwarte house now. We can't imagine what our lives would be like without our little angel. We are so thankful to God for blessing our lives and trusting us with this bundle of energy. Thank you to everyone for your continued thoughts, prayers, and concerns.

With all of our love,

The Schwarte Trio - Rick, Angela, and Gabriel

Weekend News

Gabriel has had a good weekend. He has become very comfortable here and enjoys having our attention. He is eating so much better, going to bed so well, and tonight finished bath time without fussing. (He loves bathing.)

Saturday, he met our friends, the Roberts family, who moved here from Idaho after mom and dad. Gabriel enjoyed his time with them. Late this afternoon, Sunday, one of daddy's co-workers and his family stopped by to meet him. (They have a little girl that they adopted from China almost two years ago.) Gabriel loved playing with Julia and was very upset when they left. He is such a social butterfly.

Mommy and Daddy start back to work tomorrow, so please pray for us all as reality begins.

Gabriel's First Week

Gabriel started school on Tuesday. He is there from 9:30 - 2:30 and went back again today. He will only go on Tuesday and Thursday. This picture shows him with his teacher and one of his classmates.

On Monday, we got Gabriel put on the insurance plan with the AF and had our friends over for supper and play time. The other picture is Gabriel with his friend Quinn. Tuesday was school and the pet shop to try to get him more comfortable with our dog Ammo, as well as a gift card shower from mommy's co-workers and a few presents just for him. Wednesday, we went back to base to finish up paperwork. Gabriel got his first pair of Crocks and in the afternoon we went over to play with Quinn and get used to Aunt Meredith's house. We did not go to church because the grumpy bear came out after coming home from playtime. Last night was his first night not to cry himself to sleep, so that was VERY EXCITING for mom and dad.

Thursday brought his first visit to the doctor here and yucky blucky blood work that was very tramatic for us all. Once we escaped all that, Gabriel got to go to school again. Tomorrow we have plans to go visit Nana Sara from church, since she will be keeping him on M/W/F.

Several of you have asked for clothing sizes so here is where Gabriel is for now. Pants - 18 months, some 24 months or 2T; Shirts - 2T or 3T; Shoes - size 7.

We thank you all for your continued prayers and ask that God will continue to bless you as well.

Love the Schwarte trio,

Rick, Angela, and Gabriel

Home

Hello everyone! We made it home Saturday afternoon.Gabriel has been enjoying getting familiar with his new home. Eating has been interesting, but we are making progress slowly. Our cat was very sick before we left and had to be put to sleep while we were gone, so Gabriel did not get to meet Niles. However, he has "met" Ammo and is terrified of him, so we are trying to ease him into that relationship.

Gabriel is picking up some English words already. On Wednesday, the 19th we had him saying please. He will count 1, 2 with us. He started saying thank you over the weekend and will say nose and eyes with us. So he is making progress for only being with us for one week now. He seems to now that his name is Gabriel and will answer to it and he seems to understand us when we talk to him about things. ie - "pick up", "put it in the __", etc. Mommy and Daddy are adjusting okay too.

He sleeps really well once he goes to sleep. He doesn't like to go to bed and has some doozy temper tantrums (like his dad used to). He is very sociallable, (like his mom). He met his church family yesterday and enjoyed that and was very good in church (for now). He was introduced to everyone during the service and one of our elders prayed for all of us.

We know that God has blessed us through this journey and we are so thankful to all of you, our family and friends for your support, love, and prayers. Gabriel is ready to meet you all and charm you as he does us.

Love the Schwarte trio,

Rick, Angela, and Gabriel

Back From the USSR

I know the USSR is no longer, but considering I just had to use the Beattles tune as a title, even though I prefer the Billy Joel version.

Anyway, we made it back to the States on the 21st of March as scheduled, it was after we hit Chicago that the schedule went haywire. It took nearly an hour to get our bags from the plane, then it took another hour to clear customs and immigration. Since Chicago got hit with bad weather, we couldn't make it out on the 21st. We are staying in the USO for the night so that Gabriel can get a good nights sleep cause he really needs it. We have a flight at 8am on the 22nd that should arrive at DFW around 11AM. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers, and we can't wait for you to meet the little rascal. Love ya'll and we'll post pics/video later.

Rick and Angela

Update and pics

Sorry we didn't post the pics yesterday, but we didn't have our 1 ton camera with us. Here are a couple of pics of us playing with him. We will get family pics taken when we get home I'm sure. Hope ya'll enjoy.

More news on the little one.

Well yesterday afternoon we got to go see Gabriel at the orphanage in Kuznietz (don't ask about spelling or proper pronunciation please). We spent about 2 hours with him playing. We did take some pics and video of him that we will get posted later. His little smile and laugh are infectious. For those parents in the crowd that we have laughed at the antics of your little one's, WE ARE SO SORRY!!!!! PLEASE DON'T LAUGH TOO HARD AT US????? With the language barrier, there will be some difficult times ahead, but God will guide us as he has through this whole process. We found out today that we will get to take custody of him Monday, and we will get his passport Tuesday before we head back to Moscow. In Moscow, we have to have Gabriel seen by a doctor, then to the embassy to get that process started. Yeah we get to deal with more government beaurocracy.

WE'RE PARENTS

We had our court date this morning, and it all went very well. It was a formal/professional setting, but the judge was not mean at all. She asked both Angela and I some questions, what our living conditions are, how will we provide medical care, yada yada yada. The "prosecutor" also asked some questions along the same lines. The overall process took an hour and a half, but the judge returned and said that the adoption is approved, AND that the 10 day waiting period is waived. That means that it is completely and officially done. WE HAVE A LITTLE BOY. After we got the court documents, we went and had a new birth certificate with his American name on it and his new parents names too. We are still in Mother Russia now, but we will be back the evening of the 21st so we will post pics here then. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayer, and ya'll have a new little nephew/grandson/playmate for your children/comedic relief when Angela and I deal with what some of you other parents have dealt with. (Plus, when you laugh at us, we will know some of you are getting even!!!)

We will try to post again before returning home and we apologize for it taking so long, but we hadn't forgotten our HOMELAND and we can't wait for Gabriel to meet his new family and homeland.

With all our love and because of the Lord's love,
Rick and Angela "Daddy and Mommy"

To Russia With Love

We leave in the morning. It is hard to believe that it is finally time. This post will be short. We just ask for your continued prayers and we will do our best to visit the internet cafe, so that we can keep in touch.

With all our love,

Rick and Angela

A Date

YIPPPEEEE!!!! We have a date! Our court date is scheduled for Tuesday, March 11th, but we will have to be there a week ahead due to a Russian holiday that falls on the 10th. We are so excited and so frazzled right now it is hard to keep our heads on straight. We are practicing calling each other "mommy" and "daddy". It has a nice sound.

Keep praying for us! God is hearing all of the prayers and answering them. Thank you to you all and God bless you.

With all our love,

Rick and Angela (Daddy and Mommy Schwarte)

Waiting

This is the beginning of the blogging. Hopefully, there will be much more on the horizon. Rick and I are finishing up with the doctors that we have to see in the USA before we know when we will return to Russia. In the meantime, we ask for your continued prayers for us and for Gabriel Michael and the changes that are on the horizon for all of us.