We Meet

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."
—George Santayana

What a day!!! I soooooo want to post some photos to share our little princess with you!!! I will do so as soon as I can.

Today we met with our agency reps (husband and wife: Alex and Tania) at 8:30am. They drove us to city center, and we were able to walk around with Tania while Alex waited at the Ministry of Education for our appointment. We had to go there to sign papers and then to get permission to go and see our little girl. Yes, Barb, the lady there was very stoic!!! We must have passed inspection, though, because she granted our wish. While we were in the MOE, we randomly met another family there from Charlotte, NC - what are the odds?? The other couple waiting is from Italy!!!

After the MOE, we did not have time to drive to the baby home (which takes about an hour by car due to traffic). Tania again walked around with us pointing out historical places, and she took us inside St Isaac's Cathedral. At this point it was raining pretty heavily and very windy and chilly. We did not know this morning that we would be out walking. I had on dressy shoes and no jacket!

After St. Isaac's, we went to a souvenir market with Tania who helped to translate for us and get us a discount. The prices here are still expensive in my opinion. We were able to get a few things, but I am hoping to be able to find some places in Moscow. Apparently, the main market is really not safe in Moscow right now so we won't be going there.

We then had lunch with both Tania and Alex at a traditional Russian restaurant. They ordered for us, and let's just say that I am not much of a fan of the food. I'll leave it at that! :)

Since it was still pouring rain, we drove around while Tania was pointing out landmarks like the Peter and Paul Fortress, Vasilievsky Island, and the Summer Gardens. Thankfully, Alex was able to call the baby home and arrange for us to go there early.

We entered the baby home, and it was much like what you would envision. We were taken to a nice room with lots of NEW toys where we met with the director and the social worker. Apparently we answered the questions correctly as there really weren't many. We were prepared to be grilled about adopting. In the middle of a translation, the door opens and the caregiver brought Emma in the room, and I promise all the noise (3 ladies speaking in a foreign language) stopped. JC and I both had tears in our eyes...very surreal. She brought Emma to me instantly, and she let me hold her. She is very cuddly and very healthy. She was quite heavy - which is a blessing to me!!! She sat in my lap while we finished the Q&A. She did start to fuss, but as soon as I stood up and started rocking back and forth, she settled down. We brought her a blanket and little rattle today, and she kept those in her grasp the entire visit.

After answering questions and getting her medical from the director and social worker, we had about an hour just to spend time with Emma. We sat on the floor with her, and she played with some of the toys. She was always touching me though and she wanted me to hold her. I handed her to JC at the beginning, but she was NOT happy about that. There are no men who work in the baby home so she was a little frightened of him. That was a little heartbreaking; I know. She is very clever, and she figured out a game with a ball and a tunnel where you fit the ball through a small opening and it goes round and round until it comes out at the bottom. At first she just wanted to hold as many balls as possible with the blanket and rattle. We took many photos, and thanks to Tania we were able to get a few of all three of us.

After playing, she did become very sleepy, and she would lay her head back against my shoulder - what a nice feeling.

She is very precious! She did stand and start walking before her first birthday. She is described as full of joy and cheerful. She is medically healthy and has received some vaccines already. Two months ago she was moved out of a younger group because she is a little more advanced...all those things sounded like music to my ears!!!

What can I say??? We are already in love!!!

We have signed the papers saying that we want to proceed with the adoption, and Friday we have to go to the notary here to redo one power of attorney form.

We get to visit twice tomorrow and Friday. There were no trains available so we will be flying again...please say some prayers for us on Friday!!!

We are very tired again since we were up most of the night. We came back to our hotel tonight around 7pm and had trail mix and meal bars again for dinner.

Hopefully more to follow from our stay here! It is very exhausting and it is making us even more homesick. Being able to visit more Thursday and Friday will make it all worthwhile!

Thank you all for your kind comments, your positive thoughts and your prayers!!!