without further delay...OUR LITTLE GIRL

More pictures will be posted over the weekend as some may say the process is not technically over. Although our contacts here in Moscow certainly believe it is. So without further delay, may Kelly and I introduce you to Katerina.

Some pictures - including a teaser

so this one is a view of Moscow from the hill near Moscow University.

I had to post this little park off the Moscow River. It looks like nothing but it is actully quite famous. All of you know it as Gorky Park.



This is Moscow University. It is the highest building in Moscow due to its height and location on the only real hill in Moscow I think. The picture does not do this school justice.


And lastly, a little teaser. We can not post any pictures with classifying characteristics. So instead I give you a very happy and cold mom with her daughter.

We are parents!!!

Our little princess is sitting on the bed with Kelly playing with a toy. I waited in a room while Kelly went down to change Katerina and pick her up from her room. Kelly will post something later about the process. She said that Katerina smiled at Kelly when she entered the room. Kelly felt good about that. Then said goodbye and received kisses from the care givers. Kelly said it was sweet.

More posting later after we have had more time with her.

I will add, Cindy's hat fit her (a little big) and she looked adorable in it.

Final for the night - Itinerary

The lost day will mean we lose our off day. This is not the end of the world considering the weather would prevent us form doing a lot of the things we might have been able to do outside. So Tuesday we will go to get Katerina's passport then go to the orphanage to get Katerina. She will eb with us for the remainder of the week until we fly home.

Katerina's doctor's appointment has been rescheduled to Wednesday which was our originally scheduled off day. Everything else stays as scheduled. So given the time right now here in Moscow, we are probably about 8 or 9 hours away from getting our daughter. WOW!

As I have told a few people, I am as nervous as I am excited. Despite already being parents as the legal proceeding has been final with no appeal, it is about to become real soon. Hopefully I will have time to post later this evening after we pick up Katerina.

Update

It has been awhile since I posted; or what feels like a long time (even though it has been less than a week). So I figured I would post a bit.

We are now all set for Katerina to come home. Her room is fully ready to go. The last necessity was a monitor which a friend graciously gave to us as a gift.

We are quite excited. It is hard to believe that the process has moved so quickly (thank you Adopt-A-Child, Inc.). The timing turns out to be great for Kelly and me. Soon our little girl will be home.

She will have to learn what a kitty cat is. And what fish are. And what to do with all the toys in her room but we think she will be okay with all those things. I am sure our cats will grow accustomed to her and love her in time. Although it may be a few years from now when she does not pull on their tails.

For now it is just setting everything up for this visit. The I-600 form. Travel for Katerina back to the USA. Making sure we have everything we need for a child. We are going on a trip, packing for a child we will not have until we get there. Seems weird and exciting and definitely nothing we have ever done before.

And while we are Katerina's legal parents (Momma and Poppa is how we were greeted at the end of the Court hearing), it still has not fully sunk in because she is not with us. I am sure it will sink in that Monday night when she is and we are trying to find out what is wrong when she cries the first time.

Here is to our last, and best, trip to Moscow for awhile.

Two visits today

We get to have two visits today with Katerina. We are also much closer to the orphanage which means we can come back to the hotel after the first and have lunch and relax on this overcast but warm day in Moscow (high of about 34 today).

Here we come again!!!

We are shortly to be on our way to see you Kat. Step 2 is here and soon you will be home! We can't wait to see you Wednesday.

Wednesday's visits

More of the same. It is difficult to give her back when it is nap time and feeding time which are our exit times. We get to see/play with her from about 12 - 2 when she naps. Then we get to see/play with her when she wakes up about 4:15 until feeding time at 5:00. Not nearly long enough for us but that is the way it goes.

She was cooing a little bit more. She smiles a lot but we got her to giggle for the first time. Got her second giggle on video I believe. If any of you watch the TV show Bones, we used the dancing phalanges (moving fingers) to get her to smile a lot. The books that I have read said to make contact through a lot of skin to skin contact. We weren't sure how she would reacted but she likes when we touch her chubby cheeks. We are quite lucky she is such a happy baby. We try to read to her little books but she just wants to put them in her mouth. As most of you parents probably know, and doctors too, it apparently helps with the teething process to chew on things. (Kelly explained the evolution/science of this to me. We always knew she was the smarter one). It does not matter whether it is our fingers, hard toys, stuff animals, or books, in the mouth it goes. Although she like our fingers the most. I guess they are easier to chew without hurting her gums as much as plastic might. With her two bottom teeth showing, she can actually do some damage with them.

We hold her and try to get her to crawl. She tries pretty well. The little legs kick out while her arms hold her up. She just does not get anywhere yet. With the minimal attention she does get, the ability to be held or even tempted to crawl to toys or things is difficult to come by. So while she will be ten months old on Christmas day, her motor skills are a little behind. We knew this would be the case though. It is common. We have read that experts say the delay is about 1 month for every 3 months in an orphanage. So combining the 3-4 months at the time we take her home, plus the fact she was 3-4 weeks premature (out doctor hit this nail right on the head from the video and birth data), she will be about the equivalent age of a 6-7 month old.

This will be made up quickly once she gets all of our attention at home. We are a bit jealous of the families we have seen in our hotel that are able to bring their little ones home in the next day or two. I think one of them flies out today to Ohio.

E-Mail issues

Having some problems sending email from my business account which is a bit annoying. I was asked to pick something up for someone but forgot what it was. I walked by the store but was not reminded about it until afterwards. Now I will have to find another one or get back to that one. It was kind of close but not that close.

Stupid email.

Oh well...better things to worry about. We got the call earlier this evening. We are being picked up at 10:30 am to start the process. We are looking forward to it. Finally seeing Katerina tomorrow morning.