Photos from our third and final visit from our first trip

I apologize for the delay in posting- Thanksgiving came so fast, and then we had some sickie bugs go through our house- Justin still isn't quite up to par yet.  Crossing fingers he will be fine tomorrow for school- he seems to have a rough start with a headache and feeling crummy... then goes back to bed for a couple hours and wakes up "All better, Mommy!"  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Before I get started in picture overload- I want to remind you that our current fundraiser is wrapping up- just a couple short days left to order from the Vintage Honey Shop and give 20% of your order to Lina's grant!  This ends Nov 30th- this Wednesday!!  Please check them out and consider doing some of your holiday shopping at their site while helping Lina at the same time!  Be sure to enter "BUTTERFLY" in the note to seller at check out to give Lina the donation.  Thanks so much! <3

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Our time with Lina went by entirely too fast.  We only had three visits over three days- the first only being about a half hour with her in a room full of people, and the last two were only an hour and a half.  Not nearly as much time as we would have liked, but you take what you can get!

On our last visit (Wednesday, Nov. 16th) we arrived a couple hours earlier than the previous two days- leaving our hotel at 8:00 am instead of 10:00.  At 8:00 am in Lina's region- it is still VERY dark outside!  We saw parents walking their children to school as we left the city to journey into the VERY rural area in which the orphanage is located.  By 9:30 when we pulled up to the orphanage, it was just getting light- the sun didn't start to rise until after 9:00.  We walked into Lina's groupa and she came right with us to walk up to the psychologist's office.

Several of these pics turned out blurry because the camera was switched to the wrong setting by accident-  I asked the psychologist to snap a few pics with my camera since she was taking a few of her own. :)

Look at the camera, Lina! :)

Oh you people are always taking pictures of me!

We gave Lina a Scentsy Buddy- stuffed animal with a scent bar inside- the scent I chose was baby powder. :)  Really really wish I had realized the camera was on the wrong setting- these would have been SO cute!!

Especially THIS one!! <3

Lina colored more with the crayons, putting them back in the box herself and then putting the book back in my backpack when she was finished.  She did NOT want help, either! :)  She then handed me my jacket and was trying to carry the backpack herself- it was very heavy.  I was worried she wanted us to leave!

Tracing Mommy's hand

And now giving Mommy her coat and trying to carry the heavy backpack!

I later realized that since we were visiting earlier today- she was missing her "light breakfast" meal, or snack. She was always finishing up when we came the previous days, so she was most likely hungry and wanting to get back downstairs to eat.  So sorry, babygirl! <3

The psychologist peeked in and distracted her by plopping her back into the ball pit. ;)

awwwww taking care of the little flamingo

She then crawled out and we looked through her little photo album again- she loved pointing to Kaylin, Justin, and Evan, and listening to me name them. :)

 She had no problem making herself comfortable. :)

Pointing to Mama in the picture

 Back to lacing cards- she has wonderful concentration and fine motor skills.

I didn't want to smother her during our first two visits, but on this last visit I started showing her some more affection- gently rubbing her back from time to time, and toward the end of our visit- gently kissing her forehead.  She didn't seem bothered by it at all. :)

Such a doll baby!

Back to coloring...

 Passing crayons back and forth to the crayon man who keeps them safe ;)

 And putting the crayons back when she was finished.

Back to the pictures!

Our 90 minutes went by wayyyyy too fast. :(  We gathered our things and Lina went right out to get her shoes back on, but noticed an older child working with the psychologist just outside the room we were in.  The psychologist was giving the older girl directions to follow- to hold up her arms, lay down on the couch... Lina laid right beside her on the couch and began following the directions also!  It was SO cute.  We finally convinced her to come walk with us back down to her groupa- she insisted on walking by herself this time, down the hall as well as down the stairs.  Such a big girl! :)  She sat right at the table when she entered the room- I am sure she was very hungry for her snack.  We said our goodbyes, she waved as we went to the door and said "paka" or goodbye. :) *sighhhhhhhhh* 

Back to the car and our long, bumpy journey resumed back to the hotel.  We met with our facilitator and translator there to go over next steps, and then continued on to a notary public to sign official documents stating we wish to adopt Lina- one goes to an administrator and one goes to the judge in her region.  We now anxiously await a court date while we gather documents for court.  We are crossing our fingers for a date in January- hoping to get her home by February.  We are grateful for your continued thoughts and prayers that this process continues in the smooth and timely manner that it has been thus far!

And if the photos weren't cute enough...

Here's a little video!! :) From Day 2- I apologize for the poor lighting since as I said before- the room is very dark, and the roped lights come and go, blinking at times.  Please bear with it! :)

Pictures from Day 2 :)

I just read through my journal notes from our stay in country, and forgot to mention our appointment with the government agency in which we had to request permission in person to meet Lina before our first visit on Day 1.  We were advised the appointment would take about 15-20 minutes, and we would be asked questions regarding why we wish to adopt etc.- items that are in our home study.  Well we walked into the kind woman's office along with our facilitator and translator, and must have walked back out about five minutes later! She was SO sweet- she spoke very good English- only needed the translator's help once, and expressed her thanks to us for pursuing our adoption.  She saw how excited we were as soon as we walked in the door, and we also recognized Lina's photo hanging on the wall behind the woman's desk, along with another couple cuties adopted not long ago from the same region. :)  We signed her document and off we went!  No questions asked. :)

On to Day 2's visit!  I was feeling much better after a full night's sleep- the only full night's sleep I would enjoy the whole week!  I had been fighting some congestion, and since we had been struggling to get to sleep before 2:00 AM I decided to take some nighttime cold medicine- and that certainly did the trick!!  Ahhhhhhhhh....

We left our hotel at 10:00 am and trekked the hour and a half drive out through the country to the orphanage.  When Mike and I walked into the room of Lina's groupa, a little boy took her hand and immediately brought her over to us- they knew who we were here to see! :) Some others who were climbing on us yesterday again raced over for some attention, so after a couple minutes we took Lina back up to the psychologist's office for our alone time.  Lina came right with us, holding my hand again as we walked through the building and up the stairs.  Our translator wasn't with us today, so the assistant director whom we just met when we arrived today- offered her help since she speaks some English.  She was very kind also, as everyone was whom we met inside as well as outside of the orphanage.

Lina opened up quickly and was very verbal today since there was no one else around speaking lots of Russian to her.

 She bent her head down so I could fix her hair bow. ;)

I traced her hand and her foot in my little notebook, and she insisted on coloring each one. :) Then she wanted to trace Mommy and Daddy's hands. :)

  She could seriously color all day long.

 Passing Daddy the crayons after she's done with them... only to scoop them all back up moments later. :)

Look at those beautiful brown eyes!!

She did an excellent job with the lacing cards- she had no problem at all working the string through the little holes.

This next pic was my favorite photo, but it's a bit grainy since it was from my phone, and I was using the side without a flash so she could see herself.

Our visit was about an hour and a half- which felt like about 10 minutes- we were shocked when it was time to leave already.  We weren't ready to go!  

Pictures!!! Our First Visit :)

I think I am finally starting to feel a little more "normal"- jet lag really hit hard yesterday and I'm still not quite back to 100%, but at least I haven't had the need to lay down yet.  It took us a total of 34 hours straight of travel from leaving the region by overnight train- 12 1/2 hours back to the big city; 1 hour drive to the airport; first flight just under 3 hours to Frankfurt, Germany; and then rush to our second flight home to Dulles International- about an 8 1/2 hour flight.  Our train departed at 6:00 PM local time Wednesday, the 16th (9 hours ahead of the east coast back home), and we arrived home around 7:30 pm Eastern on Thurs. the 17th- which would be 4:00 AM Friday back in region.  We got VERY little sleep at all the entire week we were away- between the time change and our bodies refusing to cooperate- we were on the go a LOT, but when we did get a chance to lay down and catch a break- our bodies simply wouldn't let us fall asleep.  We would lay in bed for hours trying SO hard to just fall asleep- usually our bodies relenting around 2:00 am.... then we usually had to be up around 6:00 am to begin our day. So. Exhausting. But OH SO worth it!!

First, I'll begin with the two photos we received just a couple weeks ago- right before we departed to meet our precious girl.

  I am guesstimating she is around a year old in this photo

At age three

We still have to be hush about her birth name, and we are keeping it for her first name.... but I have been given permission to share her nickname!! We will be calling her Lina. :) And let me tell you- Lina is such a DOLL!!

When we arrived at the orphanage on Monday, the 14th, we were taken straight to the director's office.  We were given a chance to ask any questions we had- the doctor was brought in to address any medical questions, and then we were taken down to Lina's groupa- the room where she spends the majority if not all of her day.  As we entered the room- several children came right over and were all over us! They were so adorable, but it was quite overwhelming!  As soon as we walked into the doorway we recognized Lina right away- sitting in a chair eating an apple.  I immediately was overcome with emotion, but was able to keep it together without crying.  We made our way over to her and she was a little hesitant at first, wondering who we were and what we wanted.  We were told that Lina is more independent, preferring to play on her own and do things by herself.  I wondered how she would react to us and how comfortable she would be.

Since the other children were smothering us (I would so love to bring all of them home with me- they were SO precious) we took Lina upstairs to the psychologist's office- the photo above as well as all the other photos I have of Lina are all taken in this room.  The quality of the photos aren't very good since it was dark- the room was very warm and cozy- dim lighting, soft music playing, soft play mats on the majority of the floor as well as the ball pit, small slide, papasan chair, and a couple other chairs.  There were roped lights that blinked on and off in different patterns, and other textured little mats on the floor to offer different types of stimulation.  Lina was very comfortable in this room- we were told she comes here once a week to work with the psychologist.

I had to share this photo- Lina is full of all sorts of facial expressions!! She is so darn cute.

Lots of fun rolling back and forth on this big bouncy ball!  

As you can tell, there were several other adults in the room, and the psychologist in particular was speaking a lot to Lina.  It was a little difficult to interact with Lina at first, but at least she could see that we were ok. :)  Eventually the others backed off and Mike and I were able to interact more with her.

Lina putting the lights around me- she had them around herself at first.

What are all these people doing in here??

The magnadoodle was a HUGE hit- we were told by the caregivers that she loves to draw as well as look at books.  The moment I got the magnadoodle out of my backpack- she stopped dead in her tracks, looked at me take the pen out, and rushed over to grab it and immediately start to draw- she knew just what to do! And on top of that- she knew how to slide the lever across to erase the picture!  We were quite impressed.

Our visit ended much too soon- we only spent about a half hour with her the first day as not to overwhelm her.  But Lina wasn't ready for it to end either- she wanted nothing to do with letting go of that magnadoodle! We told them it could stay here, and initially they were going to keep it in the psychologist's office so the other children wouldn't fight over it.... but Lina was standing her ground!  She clutched it tightly, so they let her bring it back down to the groupa.  We walked her back down (she held my hand both ways) and brought her back into her groupa- and she was quick to push the others away if they tried to get the magnadoodle.  She sat on the step to a little loft in the room, and if anyone dared to disturb her while she was drawing, she lifted that little foot of hers and pushed them right away!  We said goodbye- "paka" and she waved back and said "paka" in return.  Back to the car for the bumpy 90 minute ride back to our hotel.