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.