SHANNON: Good evening! We met our translator early this morning and headed to the birth certificate office. Our 15 day waiting period ended yesterday. Today I signed some final documents. Then they issued as an adoption certificate and new birth certificates for the children. We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing some gifts for the babyhouse staff, etc.
We can not leave Petro tomorrow as there is no flight until Friday morning. But it is great to be down to one day.
We went to the babyhouse at our normal time. When I arrived to Rachel's group today I could tell that she had been crying. I asked what was wrong as it really it not like her. I was told that one of her caregivers was joking around with her and told her that she was not going to let her leave with her Mama. I am sure she was saying it in a fun loving way, but Rachel thought she was serious and had a meltdown. Todd was very quiet tonight. He just wanted to be held. It scared me at first, thought he was getting sick, but he is just teething.At the end of our visit we took Todd back to his group as he will stay at the Babyhouse until Friday morning.
We bundled Rachel up and brought her to the hotel. She was as quiet as a mouse in the car. Then straight to our room and showered her with no protest. Then to the dining room. She ate soup like a pro with a big spoon and did'n't spill a drop. Perfect angel. Then back to the room for play time. Then at 8:45 I put her pajamas on her. She is pretty bright. We were in the living room and she shut the bedroom door and shook her head no (she knew what room bedtime would be in as the interpreter had explained upon arrival to the room). Major protest for bedtime. I held my ground. She is laying on her bed quietly with her Grandpa as we speak. There was about 10-15 min of crying and now she is resting quietly. Dad is filling in so I could post.
All in all it has obviously been a good day. It is a great feeling to know that our adoption is complete, everything is sealed and now we just wait for passports so they can leave the country.
MIKE: It is a great feeling seeing something like this come together for your daughter and her family. This is working because Shannon has put so much in to this. This place has other families and things aren't going as well, part misfortune and part lack of preparation.
Rachel has a personality that's really unique, and is somewhat stubborn. But she is up against ther best with her mama. I am anxious to get there Friday and bust him out of there too. He honestly is the babyhouse favorite with the caregivers.
During the meal, there was a large party in the other room with music and a large group in a circle with a traditional Russian dance and a lot of vodka. These boys folks can have fun.
