Monday, October 5, 2009

Baby Doctor and Red Square

It’s Official…we leave for home on Wednesday. We only have 90 minutes to get through Customs in the US so please say some prayers that things go smoothly for us.

Today started a little earlier for us here in Moscow. We were supposed to get a call from the Embassy approved doctor at 7:15am so we got up and got dressed and had Emma fed before that. He ended up just knocking on our door at 7:50am to give Emma her physical. She was fine with him until I had to undress her and sit her in front of him – then she started screaming. She did not like it at all, and the doctor asked me to leave the room. She proceeded to scream for five minutes straight while he was speaking to her in Russian trying to get her to calm down. Finally she did, and he was able to listen to her lungs and her heart. He does not think that she has any residual problems with congenital heart disease since her surgery in January. Obviously we will have her checked out as soon as we get home with our doctors as well though. At the end of the assessment, he told us that she is very spoiled to us already and that she could not act like that in her Baby Home. He said that she figured out the “weak link” very quickly – that would be me!!! Haha! Then he said that he thinks that she did get extra attention in the Baby Home based on how she acted with him and how healthy she is. He told me I should invest in a new “back” since she wants me to hold her so much! Basically he confirmed what we already knew about how she has figured out how to get us to do what she wants and how she is already testing our boundaries. We just smiled and thanked him for his time. It was kind of funny to hear his prospective on things though.

After the physical we just hung out in the room playing. Emma now responds to her new name. She knows I am “mama” and instead of the traditional “papa” in Russian, she now says “dada” for JC. I also have her giving me kisses when I say “Mama Kisses” or “Emma Kisses”. We are still working on the “Dada Kisses” though. She has also learned the word “ball”. She will repeat after me when I point to a photo of a ball in one of her books. It doesn’t sound quite like our Southern drawl, but I’m sure she’ll get there soon enough.

After naptime, we decided to walk to Red Square with the other couple who is here with us. It took about 45 minutes walking with two strollers. It is a little cold here so we bundled up. We had a few more things to buy, and I really wanted some photos with Emma in Red Square.

Tomorrow we go to the Embassy at 2pm for Emma’s Visa.
phone
Excuse me, but I really must take this call!
st basil 2
20091005-(1 of 2)
20091005-(2 of 2)
Emma in front of Kazan Cathedral, Red Square
vendors outside of red square
Vendors at Red Square
dad and emma st basils
Dad and Emma at St Basil's

14 comments:

Lakeshore Cottage Living said...

Those are wonderful pictures!!! You are almost home..almost all done.

Are you flying through Atlanta? I think 90 minutes will be plenty of time...they have things very streamlined with the adoption paperwork.

Isn't St. Basil beautiful???!

Kristine

Tara said...

Future cheerleader, I see! She is going to love looking back on these pictures! Glad you finally have a departure date!

Henley on the Horn said...

I will continue to pray that all goes well as you make your way home with your new DAUGHTER@!!!!!

3 Peanuts said...

I am glad that went well despite the screaming. know that once you are home and settled into a routine..Emma will respond to firm boundaries. Right now she is testing the limits to see if you will leave her. Just shower her with love and trust and reassurances. You cannot spoil with love only with things and lack of boundaries.

I love these photos. St. BAsil's is beautiful!!!!

I will pray for easy and safe travels home.

Barb said...

Great pictures! Glad to hear everything went fine with the exam . . .

Nancy said...

Love the picture in front of St Basil's with all of your Carolina gear! :) If you're coming through Atlanta - we brought our daughter home from Russia earlier this year and immigration in Atlanta took LESS than 5 minutes...SO much easier than I had imagined. Safe trip!

Heather said...

These pictures are terrific! I am glad the doctor's examination went well.

redpoppy007@aol.com said...

Beautiful place. I know everything will work out once she is home.
I can't imagine what is going through her little mind.
One can't help but spoil them alittle after all she has been through.
She looks so pretty in her Carolina blue.
Godspeed.

Jodee said...

She is absolutely adorable! I hope you have a safe trip home!

Half Gaelic, Half Garlic! said...

Oh WOW....what beautiful pictures!!

So glad you are coming home! Will be praying for you guys that you have a safe and speedy trip home. I bet you cannot wait to see the boys and introduce them to their beautiful sister.

xoxo,

Lisa

Over-Caffeinated said...

Girl, I hope you can fully appreciate what a little genius you have on your hands... repeating English after two days with you is just off the chart... she IS a smart one! :) The Russian's crack me up, man. Any time they see a child doing any type of misbehavior, they want to blame American parenting or say the child was spoiled. Seriously, if they could see my kids at home they probably would never have given me a child in the first place! :)

That's amazing that she wants to be held and that she is giving kisses already. It sounds like bonding is going to be a piece of cake.... can't wait to hear you're home... weak link! :)

Hannah said...

I have been quietly following you for a while and just wanted to congratulate you on being able to finally bring your sweet daughter home.

My some came home from Russia and I loved the pictures from Red Square...It brings back such sweet memories!

Anonymous said...

Hey Corey, It's Monika Priddy here. Big congrats to you guys on finally getting to bring Emma home. I have been following along with your blog each day and feel like I have been right there with you. Even though I haven't met JC...even his blog was a good one...you trained him well on blogging...lol. All the pics are great...love the Carolina one...too cute. Gonna have to meet little Emma some day. Might have to get that girl some ballet shoes...lol. She is truly blessed to have you guys as her new mom and dad. I know ya'll are thrilled. Safe travels to you all and can't wait to read more. Love ya, Monika :)

Carrie said...

Great pictures! After looking at your blog the other night I told my husband I want to go back!!

When we returned to the US with our daughter we did not have a lot of time between flights. The flight attendants let us off the plan first and the baggage people were waiting for us. As we were running to the counter the men working yelled our last name and we threw our bags at them and ran off. This was after they told us they were holding the plane for us. We ran all the way to the terminal only slowing for security. Sure enough the plane was waiting for us.

My point - it will work out. Our airport experience is one of our favorite stories to tell. Nearly 5 years later we still laugh about it.

Good luck and safe travels.

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