Potluck!!

Victoria brushing Mommy's hair.

Well, Victoria slept until 8:00 am this morning. Now that was a pretty good night’s rest. It was another busy day; mostly this morning. I am starting to have trouble keeping track of where we are going and what we are doing. I did get Victoria’s passport today and she also had to visit a Dr. This Dr. makes a report for the US Embassy. She did very well with the doctor, but of course did not talk. The Dr. asked if she talked and then asked her, “Why don’t you talk to me?”…..Nothing. She does talk A LOT in the hotel room and is also talking a lot around the other families. During the car ride the kids were very serious and she wanted to look out the window as much as possible. And yes, that is possible here, no child car seats at all!

Victoria did fall asleep for about 10 minutes on the ride back and that was about it for any sort of nap. We played in the room and then went for a walk to the store. Sandy had a great idea for tonight, she suggested that we have a potluck and all bring something to share. It really was a lot of fun. There were 5 families total. The idea of the whole thing was to just sort of put something together that you got from the market, grocery store or really just whatever you had. Also, it was the Overstreet’s last night here, as they will leave in the morning to Moscow and eventually home. It was fun to get everyone all together, though it does seem we all sort of hang out in the morning now too! We had our potluck in the upstairs dining area, which is called the “White Rabbit”. I am grateful that I was able to meet the Overstreets on this trip and get to know them. I will miss Heather, Justin and Blake and am also envious that they are traveling on.

Potluck gathering.

Victoria ate A LOT today! I am not sure where she is putting it. It really is a fine line, I want her to know there is not a shortage of food and that she can have what she needs and wants. The other side of it is that I don’t want her to get sick. Like I mentioned in a previous blog, this issue with food is not uncommon. It is also not uncommon for a child to stuff themselves until they throw up. Bodi, Sandy and Ryan’s little boy, had the nickname “Baby Bird” for a few days because anytime there was food nearby he had his mouth open ready for someone to poke some in for him. Visualize a nest of baby birds waiting for the adult bird to return to the nest with a worm. He would also have a little melt down (cry) when the meal was over. This is improving. It sounds very cute and we all joke about it here, but the reality of it is really sad to think about. I have been trying to let her eat as much as she wants, mostly monitoring how much she puts in her mouth at one time, so she does not choke. I really just have to take something away until she clears her mouth by chewing and swallowing then it is given back, sometimes one piece of something at a time. Tonight though, I did feel that I needed to cut off the food when I really started to think about the whole day and how much she had eaten. This will subside soon, I know for sure.

Trying to get a pictures of all the kids....Walker, Victoria, Blake and Bodi.

Again, I received all kinds of hugs and kisses from Victoria, mostly in the evening though while enjoying the potluck. We brought a lot of items to the potluck, because we had to bring our own dishes and silverware. Also, I had my laptop there for a picture exchange. I moved Victoria over to sit on mom’s lap and told mom that I was going to make a trip downstairs, bring some of our stuff, would return for the other stuff and we could all go down together. I went down, came back up and Victoria was just sitting there crying. Heather (from Canada, not Overstreet) and mom were both trying to console her, but of course in English. This did not work. Her little heart was broken when I left the room. She did continue to cry when I held her again, letting me know that my behavior was just not OK. This was the first time I had actually seen her cry, besides the first visit when she was told to play because we would be leaving soon. Like I said, I did feel bad for her, but I for sure think that is showing signs of attaching and I think she kind of likes me. =)

Watching Dora (Russian name is Dasha. Yes, she is popular here too) on laptop.

At orphanage the day we were able to take Victoria and Blake outside. 

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