"We Do"

Our driver and interpreter were running 15 minutes late to pick us up today, and a good thing because our baggage arrived just in time for us to grab the toys and family picture book for our little girl (I've got to protect her information here, so I'm not going to mention her name). It's a God thing-this was the last day we had to see her, which is SO hard, and we wanted to make sure the caretakers had a book they could give her with our pictures in it to help her remember us.
Time really flies in the orphanage. I felt like we barely spent 30 minutes with our cutie. She cried again when she saw us in the room, but Trav quickly popped a goldfish cracker in her mouth and all was well! Trav visited with the doctor and the social worker while I had all the fun. We got a lot more smiles today, more eye contact and some babbling, so I think she felt much more comfortable. Since there were so many stuffed animals around the room, I walked her around to several and put the animals up to her lips making a kissing sound, which she really liked. She had a big smile on her face and leaned forward to kiss all the animals-it was really cute. I was preparing her to kiss me before we left today, but she preferred the animals to me. I stole a kiss anyway!
She is walking well on her own and very aware of her surroundings. She is quiet but active and developmentally at about 12 months, which is normal given her age and the time spent in the orphanage. The orphanage is very clean and orderly, the children seem to be well cared for and the staff seems genuinely concerned for them all, which is great. Unfortunately we didn't get any video, but we were able to snap a few quick pictures before the doctor walked in. We were fortunate that the orphanage had a lot of information on her mother, and after we had some questions answered, we felt comfortable with our decision to adopt our little girl! Yea! Congratulations to us, we're so excited! This whole experience is surreal. It's amazing.

We have made fast friends with 2 other couples from Ohio whose children are in the same orphanage, so we've decided to get together every year for a reunion to keep the common thread between us and the kids going. There are 5 couples representing 2 different agencies in our hotel, so we've been having a great time sharing stories and experiences in court. We wanted to take a boat tour on the Volga River today, but I really needed a nap! Maybe tomorrow.