Remember me??

Wow! What a whirlwind! Why didn't anybody tell me how amazing it is to meet your child for the first time?! Why didn't you tell me that it was possible to fall totally and completely in love with a little girl in just 9 1/2 hours? Why didn't you tell me how she would fill that little place in my heart that I didn't even know was empty? And, why, oh why didn't anybody tell me how it would feel to have to leave her there after such a short time? Okay, okay, all of you that have been through it have told it, but I just thought you were a bunch of drama queens :). I didn't think it would be like that for ME!

Our little girl is just precious. All the things we were warned about - not liking men, not wanting to be held, not interacting the way you would expect - didn't happen. She did take a good long look at my husband but quickly decided he was OK in her book. She smiled and laughed when we talked to her. She was really content just sitting in our laps reading books, playing patty cake or just snuggling. She fell asleep in our arms at the end of each visit. If I could have placed an order, I wouldn't have dared to ask for so much.

We were impressed with the baby home and the caregivers. The first 2 days we were in a reception area outside of the rooms where they spend most of their time but we could hear the happy chatter and singing. When we asked if we could leave a blanket,a lovey and a disposable camera they asked if we wanted to leave the photo album too.

We had secondary goals of sightseeing, buying souvenirs and absorbing Russian culture and we failed pretty miserably at those. Maybe we'll do better next time. But, if we come home with our Creecher, I think we'll count our trips as success if we never see another matryoska doll or eat a bowl of borscht.

By the way - I apologize for the delay in reporting in but we've had a steady stream of company since we got back and the computer's in the guest room AND I've been swamped at work trying to dig out from being gone for a week. UGH!

And NOW...I'm scrambling to get the last bit of paperwork done so we can file for a court date. Can you even believe that they've waited until NOW to decide that we have to do the 8 doctor medical form? UGH again! But, if that's what they say do, then that's what we'll do. In between, I've just GOT to catch up on what all of YOU have been up to!