Almost Time.....

Tomorrow will be our last full day in Vladivostok. I am looking forward to getting home. Today we walked, of course, to the beach and store twice. The weather was nice again, in the low 70’s. It is amazing how much the tree growth has changed just since we have been here. When we first arrived everything was just brown and dead, also some sporadic ice patches around. Now, the trees are budding and blooming and we are beginning to see lots of green. There was more thunder and lightning tonight and it rained for about 10 minutes.

Today we met another couple here from Long Beach. They were able to bring their son back to the hotel this afternoon. He was not able to be with them for the 10 day wait. Also, Heather and Fred (from Canada) were finally able to get their daughter from the orphanage. They came by and visited our suite tonight. Nadya is 14 months old (I think) and a very happy little girl. She will be meeting her 6 year old brother when she finally arrives home. Tomorrow Ken and Gloria will be arriving. I have not met them yet, but they got in touch with me through this blog.

As you can see, my list of blogs I am following has expanded. When I left home, I had one family on the list that I met on my first trip. Now I have added a few more to my list, just from meeting people here or from people getting in touch with me because they have either already been through this process or are currently going through it. It really is pretty amazing to learn about other peoples experiences, journeys and to see how their children are developing and progressing after they arrive home. I welcome the friendships.

I may have shown Tori a YouTube clip of “Five Little Monkeys” today and yesterday one too many times! She is now jumpin’, jumpin’ jumpin’ all the time! Also, after reading the Overstreet blog and learning that Blake had an ice cream, I thought I might dare give Tori ice-cream today…

OK, so here is the deal…..my child (as with everyone else's) came with instructions when she was handed over into my care. Part of these instructions included that children must not have anything cold. “Cold is just bad for their glands!” Seriously, milk is served at room temperature, no ice, no cold water, no cold food (ice-cream) and so forth…strange, I know. In the room we have been giving her cold stuff. In public, the Russians don’t have a problem with letting you know what they might think you should and should not do with your child so, I have been following “the rules” while in public. Not today though. We walked to the store and ate an ice cream on the way home. =)

Jumpin' jumpin' jumpin'......Ok I will even admit it...yes, she has also been jumpin' on the bed! =)

Dogs

Today was really just a beautiful day in Vladivostok! The sun was shining, lots of people out and about. We walked to the beach this morning after saying goodbye to Amy, Randy (Amy’s dad) and Walker. Amy is a second grade teacher in North Carolina. She is also a foster parent of a little boy back home, that we enjoyed hearing so much about.  She in now the parent of Walker, a 20 month old. They are now headed to Moscow to finish paperwork and then finally head home next Saturday. The people I have met and connected with on this trip have been amazing and I am grateful for that.

We walked down to the beach, parked the stroller and walked. We had a pretty long walk for a little pair of short skinny legs, but of course she was an active participant. We came back, had lunch, played for a bit at the hotel and walked again. This time to the beach and the store. Victoria certainly has no fear of dogs at all! This is good, as I have two. I was a bit worried about the dog thing. Now I am just worried about her approaching a dog that I know nothing about. At the beach, a girl was throwing a stick to her dog and of course joining in was Victoria, chasing the dog. The dog was lucky enough to just miss her grasp each time she reached for it….Ugh!! Sounds cute, but for the rest of the walk, I made sure when we were approaching a dog she was holding my hand or I was holding her. I guess I did not expect her to go after them. Lots of people bring dogs to the beach here, which is great! Honestly though, no leashes and such. They all seem pretty well behaved, but that is observing them without the threat of a 3 year old yanking on a tail. Trust me, she has no fear and really goes after them. I just felt I did not want her to develop any sort of fear, if possibly one (dog) decided they did not like the attention she wanted to give, before she even got home to meet Lucky and Charm. Oh yes, and meeting all the other dogs in the family!

We had 10 or 15 minutes of thunder and lightening tonight. No rain as of yet though. Victoria was already asleep when this happened. She sleeps very well. I cut out the nap altogether and she seems to be doing just fine without one. She goes to bed around 8:30 or 9:00 and gets up at 8:00 or so. She usually wants to have a big drink of milk or water in the morning and then has been crawling in bed with me cuddling. =)

I pray all goes well tomorrow (Monday here) at the US Embassy with my paperwork. I am really eager to get home and don’t want anything to hold that up. I miss Dylan, my dogs, my bed and just want to get Victoria home too! Oh and by the way, I call her Tori when I speak to her, just Victoria when writing here….I suppose I can change that….

She loves having a bath!

Oooops! Right on the "living room" floor.

Hotel playground, yesterday...

Happy Girl!

I really have been blessed with a very happy girl! She just seems to have a good time no matter what! That works for me. She gets up in the morning and is ready to go. Today we could not get out of here fast enough to suit her. She got up, got dressed and was ready. She let us know by getting her jacket, hat, pale, and shovel. I guess we were heading to the beach again. We had a nice walk on the beach and collected treasures. She accidentally backed up into the water, but that was Ok with her, just her shoes were wet. Of course we made a visit to the little market to get some juice boxes. She has mastered a straw. The first night at dinner she did not know how to use one, now she wants a straw in everything she drinks.


















We played in the hotel room for most of the afternoon, while working on changing our flights. Yes, we succeeded! Then out for another walk. Again, when she figured out what we were doing, we could not go fast enough. She got her stuff on and even got Babushka's sweater for her. We headed out the front of the hotel and it was raining. Oh well! I was not staying inside anymore and neither was Victoria. We headed to the playground and she tried all the playground things she tried yesterday. After a little play at the playground, we walked. It sprinkled pretty much the whole time and no body was bothered by it…well at least it did not bother Victoria and me. =)

We were scheduled to come home next Saturday, the 9th. All paperwork will be back in Vladivostok on the morning of the 6th, Wednesday! We changed our flight to Wednesday evening. We are ready to go home. I have been away for too long to suit me that is for sure! We leave here at 5:30 in the evening on Wednesday and arrive at LAX at three in the afternoon on Wednesday….talk about our internal clocks being messed up!









I have had Victoria with me since Tuesday and so far things have been just great! My niece wrote me today and asked about the “3 Day Meltdown” I wrote about on an earlier blog……nothing’, knock on wood. I really should not be knocking on wood, she is really just an amazing little girl with such an easy going personality. She talks and sings all day long. It is so sweet to hear her just sing away! I continue to get hugs and kisses all day too! I am so blessed to have her as a daughter!!!!







































Good thing we have lots more bubbles at home that Grandpa and Grandma Jones gave Victoria at Easter, she even slept with the bubble bottle last night!

New words for today:car, dog, cat, flower, ball, duck, yes, hello...she counts a lot, in Russian....
This morning she also said, “Brush your teeth!” Sometimes it sounds like she is repeating phrases that she hears. I am sure she is doing that some, but this phrase came out very clearly. She does loves to brush her teeth and can’t get undressed for a bath soon enough. She just starts tearing off her clothes and plays for a very long time in the water. I am amazed by how much she understands and I suppose how much I understand...haha! =)

Apparently, someone has taught her to bring reading material to the restroom with her.