Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Today went very well. Yesterday after we used the internet room, we went back to the room and just relaxed. The other couple we met here from our agency were exhausted and wanted to rest. I ended up falling asleep around 9pm and woke up at midnight. The sun was just setting at that time. I couldn't get back to sleep until 4:30 am. I woke up again at 6:30, and because I was afraid of not waking up on time at 7, I stayed awake. We ate breakfast again at the little cafe on the same level as our room. We were downstairs waiting when Aliona came to get us to go to the orphanage.
When we arrived, we went into Dr. Ludmilla's room again, and she updated us on their health and to see if we had any questions. Grace was healthy. They brought her out first, and she cried when I took her in my arms. The crying didn't last long, however, when Brian brought out the balls she liked to play with yesterday. After they brought Jacob out for Beth and Jason, we were taken into the play room. We got two hours with her today. She was really starting to warm up to us today. We started out holding her and playing with the balls and the crinkly book. We showed her the monkey, but at first she was scared of it. Eventually, I took her hands and stood her up and she started to walk around the room. She led me where she wanted to go. She actually walks pretty well with assistance. It won't be long until she's walking by herself. Perhaps when we are here for two weeks next time we can work on that so that by the time she's in the US she'll be walking alone.
We took a lot of pictures and videos. I was giving her lots of kisses, and twice she gave me baby kisses. I was so thrilled. We started using the name "Grace Tanya" for her. Tanya is what they call her at the orphanage, and of course we are changing her first name to Grace. She was using her voice a lot today. We couldn't tell sometimes if she was unhappy, or if she was just baby talking to us. Finally, noon came, and the caretakers came in to take the children away. We each gave her kisses and hugs and said our good-byes. It was heart-breaking to let her go, but we know that we have one more day with her.

Aliona then took us back to Dr. Ludmilla's office, where we had to sign some papers accepting her as our referral and agreeing to continue with the adoption. Another form stated that we agreed to all the paperwork we'll have to fill out after the adoption to allow the Russian government to check on her, and the last was a form that would tell them what name should go on her birth certificate. It was so nice to write Grace Tatyana Reynolds for the first time!

After that, we were taken to a small souvenier shop, where we purchased just a few items. We then went to a cafe near the hotel for a late lunch. Brian had a sweet and sour chicken dish (very good, but not the same as you get at Chinese restaraunts), and I had counrty fried potatoes (round new potatoes fried in butter and onion) and pelminis, Ravioli stuffed with a mixture of pork and beef with sour cream. They were very good.

Aliona told us that there was a mall across the street from the hotel and we decided to go in. I wish we hadn't. It was like a flea market. We were in there for maybe 10 minutes.

Tonight we are hoping to stay up a little later and get some good sleep. I am exhausted. Tomorrow we will have our last day with Grace. Yes, I can call her Grace now. We asked the interpreter if there were any cases where a couple were called to court and the judge said no, and she said it's never happened. She said that if the judge is going to say no, he'll say so before the second trip. I also asked if it were common for a couple to go on the first trip and not be invited to court, and she said no. So, we don't have many concerns there.

After we visit with Grace tomorrow, we will present Dr. Ludmilla with our gift of clothes. She seemed quite pleased with the fact that we were spending an extra day here to get to know Grace better. She also told us that we should expect to be back in four to six weeks for court. She seemed very pleased with the way we were acting towards the children.

Thursday morning we will get up at the crack of dawn (literally-the sun starts to rise at 4am....it sets at midnight and rises at 4) and be ready for her to pick us up at 5:30 am. We will be taken to the airport to begin our long journey home. I don't know if I'll post again tomorrow.

I can't wait to get home so I can show some of you our pictures and video. Pray for us as we begin our journey home on Thursday. Start praying on Wednesday because that will be our Thursday....