IT IS WITH GREAT JOY THAT I INTRODUCE....

VICTORIA IRINA RAE ELBE

Born July 29, 2005

Adopted April 17, 2009

Today was a GREAT day and a very busy day!!! Victoria is here at the hotel, finally, and things are going really well, besides almost every piece of clothing being absolutely big on her. She is even having trouble keeping her PJ pants up!!!

This morning Irina came at 9:00 to pick up Justin and me. We ran lots of errands…vital records office, passport processing and well, just lots of places that needed my signature. I was told we would leave to get Victoria at 2:00, but when we finished paperwork Irina called the orphanage to tell them we were on our way. We stopped at the hotel, picked up mom, dropped off Justin and we were off. She was asleep when we arrived. We waited down stairs; the clothes were taken up stairs. Shortly, she arrived. We took a few pictures and we were off! On the car ride back to the hotel things seemed very serious and she was mostly eager to look out the window.

We arrived at the hotel greeted by Blake, Heather and Justin. We visited for a bit and headed to our room. We had a snack. Victoria had crackers, cheese and milk. I called Dylan and talked with him for a bit. He talked to her, she listened….she did say paka paka (bye-bye) in the phone. After talking with Dylan, she just enjoyed the room and exploring for a bit. I showed her pictures on my laptop of Dylan and the dogs. When she saw the picture of Lucky, my larger dog she said, “Sobaka!(dog)”….I guess she doesn’t think Charm looks much like a dog! She really has been talking non-stop since we have been here (in the room more so then around others). I have never heard her talk so much.

She needed a bath and hair wash and that is just what she got. She really enjoyed it, I was pleased. I put some toys in, of course, and she had lots of fun filling and pouring and so forth. I was relieved she enjoyed this, as I have heard different stories. I used the blow dryer to dry her hair, this was new to her. When getting dressed for dinner, she really tried to help and do this on her own. I am sure that, of course, is from learning to be self reliant.

We went to dinner and she did such a great job during dinner. She sat in a booster seat, never tried to get down, had nice manners. It really was very impressive. Is this the calm before the storm? Haha! She does not know how to drink from a straw very well yet, but we will work on it. After dinner, we went to the upstairs dining area to visit the other families. She played a bit, mostly with Blake. Blake came over and gave her a big Ol’ kiss on the lips!! Hey, that’s my girl!!! We also had dessert with the Overstreets tonight to celebrate having both of the kids here at the hotel with us.

We went back to the room, got our jammies on and played for a bit. We have a crib in the room. The side is lowered, but it really is about the same size as the beds in the orphanage. I put her in the crib just when I started writing this. She is just laying down in there whispering to herself, in Russian of course. =)

Tonight was the first time she verbally called me “Mama”. Also, I can’t even count how many kisses I have received tonight….first time too….always have just been given hugs! Her pants keep falling down, so Grandma says "Ay yai yai!" Now Victoria has been walking around saying to both of us, "Ay yai yai!" Wait, I think that is Italian???

Seriously, my daughter is very well behaved! In the international adoption world you hear of the “Day 3 Melt Down”…would I be so lucky as to bypass this…..that sure is a good thought! Tomorrow is a new day…I hope we sleep well.

Quick update, this was her at 9:30. =)

Busy Day....

Irina called the front desk at 12:30 to let us know she was on her way. I got ready and headed out the door when her second call came saying she had arrived. I thought we were going to the orphanage, but instead we were going downtown to get airline tickets for the courier. We did that, made some other stops regarding documents and then headed back to the hotel to pick up the Overstreets. I was able to talk to Irina and get a better feel for how our visit would go this afternoon. Everything really was fine.

The Overstreets visited with Blake in the visiting room, also changing him and preparing for him to leave. The visit with Victoria was in the orphanage gym. When I first went to get her from her living area, there were adults in the doorway between us. I bent down so she could see me between legs. She did catch view of me and worked her way through, giving me a giant hug!

We played in the gym. Initially, I did sense that she knew something was up. After a bit she seemed fine and began to play. Of course she wanted to look out every window. Her tights no longer had elastic in the top, so she was pulling them up every couple of seconds. Mom finally took them off of her, which was fine. We needed to kind of look her over because two of the kids at the hotel have scabies, which they brought with them from a different baby home. Just wanted to make sure she did not have anything going on like that. Looks Ok for now! She loved running around and playing barefoot. It was also very cute to watch. Of course she drank lots of water again. She brushed her hair a bit and then she brushed mine. It was very sweet. We had a nice visit, but shorter than usual. Irina came up to let us know it was time to go and the Overstreet’s were already in the car. Irina talked to Victoria to let her know that we would be back again tomorrow and she will leave. Tomorrow is the day!!! Finally!!!!

We came back to the hotel and I had to work on some paperwork with Irina and Lana for immigration. Also, we went over the schedule that Victoria normally follows and the diet she is used to. I am looking forward to tomorrow. It will be exciting to finally get her in the car and bring her with me! We plan to have dessert tomorrow with Blake and his family. We will see how the evening unfolds. Blake was having a great time here tonight. He will be excited to see Victoria here tomorrow. I will be excited to finally have her here!!!

Tomorrow is another busy day. Justin and I will go downtown to take care of documents, I think passports. I will go to the orphanage at about 2:00 pm, not to PLAY, to change her clothes and GO!!!! Final trip to the orphanage….Woo Hoo!!!!!!

Barefoot Baby Girl!!!!!

Vladivostok Harbor

Change of Plans...

Change of plans this morning. I think all of us here have really learned to go with this flow regarding the entire adoption process!! Irina came to pick up the Martins to handle paper work downtown and told us we will leave at about 2:30, instead of noon, to go to the orphanage. She also said that she visited the orphanage on Saturday to take Victoria and Blake’s passport photo. Victoria cried when Irina was leaving because she thought that Irina was there to take her to the hotel. Irina promised her that I will be back and she will leave the orphanage soon, just not that day……=( poor sweetie. I know this has to be so confusing for her.

I spoke with Irina about my concerns with visiting Victoria today. Irina said we will for sure explain to her as best we can. I did know we would explain to Victoria, I suppose I was looking for more of an idea as to how this will all play out. Sandy and Heather both heard me talking to Irina and came over to comfort me. I was really ok, until I saw they were both teary eyed, so sweet of them. It will all be ok though. I am excited for Heather and Justin; soon they will have Blake here.