So many firsts...

First of all, today is the day I am going to tell you her name. We had a hard time deciding because we weren't sure if we should keep the name she was given at birth. That name is Anastasia. We love that name and planned to keep it as a middle name. But, we found out that her birthmother did not name her that, and the caregivers actually call her a nick name (which I do not know how to spell). Therefore, we named her Julia Kathleen. Now she does have a part of me, besides my heart.

Today was a day filled with firsts. It was the first day we spent the whole day with Julia. If you do not count the 5 hours spent in the car. We took her on her first car ride to get her passport photos. She was a little afraid, but it was a great chance to hold her tight. (No car seats in Russia.) When we got back to the babyhome, I was able to feed her a bottle. After the bottle, she fell asleep in my arms for about an hour. It was a wonderful hour, except for the fact that I was sitting on the hard floor that long. It's hard to believe how far she came with us this week. She went from being stiff as a board, to falling asleep in my arms. I can't wait to show you the pictures.

We had dinner at an authentic Russian restaurant and it was really quite good. I was pretty conservative in my choice of food, but think it was the best meal we had all week. It is 7:30 here and we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Our 17 hour journey home begins in a few hours. I can't wait to get home. It broke my heart to leave her today, but the sooner we can get home, the sooner we can get back. Also, the sooner you all can see how adorable she is.

We're in the court system

Wow, I was happy to see all of the comments from you! We miss home!! You asked how old she is...her birthday is November 12, 2005. We certainly hope that she is home for her big day. No word on when we will be back here, but we did file all of our paperwork today promising to be her parents forever. One big step is out of the way. She is no longer on the databank now.

We also had an amazing tour of the Kremlin. The history here is amazing and several times during the day, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was really in Russia and not dreaming. Moscow is huge and, for the most part, going through a big renovation. Everywhere you go there is construction. The people here are very friendly and warm. They all speak to us in English. (I still can't figure out how they know we're American!) The city is green with many parks and trees. Maybe you all knew that, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Okay, we will write more later about the real reason we are here. I'm starving and shaking because the coffee here has more caffeine in it than in the States!

Wednesday, Moscow

Bryan here - sorry we did not write yesterday...very busy day. We started out by going to the Doctor. No we are not sick...this is a requirement for the adoption. One of the many crazy things we have to do. We were seen by eight doctors ! We are all clear !!!! We ate at McDonalds yesterday for lunch...can you believe we came 6000 miles to get fries and Chicken sandwich? As silly as this sounds it was neat because it was in the town that she was born in. Maybe her birth mother eats there? Who knows. Katie says it tasted the same. O.K. now about her. We went back to the baby home late yesterday. She had just gotten up from her nap and we got to spend about 1 1/2 hours with her. She really went to Katie and didn't push away like she did the first day. Her smile is incredible. She "babbled" more and showed interest in the "elmo" doll and the big funny "chicken" ! We met her caregivers and they were very nice. They said she "became more alive" after our first visit. We got to see where she sleeps. It was hard to give her back yesterday. We know that the caregivers are taking good care of her...one of them has been at this home for 20 years. Two hours back to Moscow in the car with layers of truck exhaust...cough cough!

Katie here-the one thing I will add is that the caregivers are wonderful. I was struck by how appreciative they are of us. It's funny to me, because I owe them!! Today is another big day. We will write tonight. (By the way, B & I have officially adjusted to the time change. Just in time to come home.) Also, we will try our best to get a picture on here.

Finally we meet

After all the months of waiting, we finally met her! It's funny to say "her" instead of her name, but we haven't formally named her. We were given 3 pages of information about her, which, is more than we thought we'd get. While the director was giving us information about her and telling us what a great sleeper she is, she suddenly stopped, got up, and left the room. A minute later, she walked back in and had her in her hands. The director remembered that she was about to take a nap and jumped up to make sure we saw her before she went down. WOW! She is gorgeous. (No pics today! Sorry) The medical report said she has "light" hair and "grey" eyes, and I think she has blue eyes and not enough hair to report. She could be more like D's color, but who knows. We ended up staying for an hour and a half, then she had to sleep. She appears perfect! She warmed up to us and actually liked Bryan. That is pretty amazing since she probably hasn't seen many men before. We'll update you more later. What a day.

From Russia, with love!

We made it! 16 hours of airports later, we arrived, safely, with our luggage!! Neither of us slept much on the plane. We were met by our translator and driver at the Moscow Airport and driven an hour to our hotel without seatbelts. If you have driven in Moscow you know why that is scary. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow. It is now almost 1am at home and we are just beginning the day. Today is the day we will meet our daughter. We'll write more later....

We're leaving today

Today is the day! We are leaving for Moscow. We've been dropping kids off all over the place and now (1:15pm) we are off to the airport. We've been packed and ready since the day after we found out, but it's hard to leave the boys. Please keep us in your prayers. We'll try to post from Russia.

We got the call!

It finally happened. We got the call we've been waiting for all summer. We are going to Russia on August 26th!

We do not know much about the baby except that her name is Anastatia and that she does not have Hepatitis, HIV, or Syphillis. We are not even sure of her birthday. I can't wait to get there to find out more!

Since I thought this day would never come, I have a lot to do to get ready. For tonight though, I am going to enjoy the fact that in less than 2 weeks we will meet our daughter.