A Long, but Wonderful Day

What a long day! I think Katrina and I have about done our coordinator in. Don't know if she'll ever let two families come at the same time again. The good thing is she gets it all over with at once. The bad thing is that she's so stressed trying to work out all of our details at the same time, she can hardly stand us by the end of each day (or at least it seems that way...)  It's OK, I don't blame her. Holy cow, I would not want her job.

This morning we spent five hours at the passport office, then this afternoon, we drove around forever in traffic.  At about 4:15 pm, we finally made it to Anya's orphanage so I could see her.  I got to go in without our coordinator because she had to go run an errand with Katrina for her adoption.  So it was just me and my sweetie for an hour and a half.  

When she saw me in the little therapy room, she smiled so big, then came over to me and gave me a big hug.  Oh, my gosh. A month was so long to wait for squeezes from my Anya. It's good to finally be together again.  

Well, it was then time to get right down to some important business.

First, she took each of the animal magnets that I brought out of my bag, then stuck them to a magnetic board,  then pointed to them and asked, "whassa?" 

After pointing, she waited until I would tell her the animal's name, then she would go on to the next one.

Cuter than CUTE!

 

After learning their names, she found a paint brush and did a little "painting."

Oooooo, what's this?

Don't have my glasses on today.  Maybe I can see better this way.

 

What a gal. She was so sad when I took her back to her group.

Funny thing:  I got lost in the orphanage trying to find which door led to the staircase that went up to her groupa's door. I had to carry Anya for a good 5 minutes as I went from one end of the place to the other. Whoa, she is so heavy! I'm telling you, this cute little (former) orphan is NOT deprived of food.  I need to start lifting weights!

Anyway... as I was walking around, I whispered in her ear, "Guess what? In a couple of days, Mama's gonna come get you, and I won't ever have to take you back to your group again. We're gonna go bye-bye! What do you think? Does that sound good?"

I doubt she understood a word I said, but I kid you not, she smiled so big and said, "DA!" It was adorable.

Yea! That was the last time I will ever "visit" my daughter. Since we can't go visit on weekends, my next stop at the orphanage will be on Monday--Gotcha Day! I can't wait!

So the plan is for Katrina and I to each take our kids out of their orphanages on Monday. Then we have to wait until Thursday for their passports. We'll probably stay in the apartment most of the time, but knowing me, I'll have to venture out for a few walks out on the city streets to catch a few rays of sunshine.

Thursday night, we'll leave on a train for Moscow to finish the process. Our husbands are flying in on Sunday the 27th, then we'll leave probably Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. (We still have to figure that part out.)

OK, I really need to go to bed now. Thanks, everyone for your prayers and support. We love you all!