Thankful Thursday

The word for the day:
My book phonetically spells it: Pa zha lus ta, but I think it sounds more like pa-ja-loo-stah (short O sound... like at the doctors) It means Please, and it is another word I say every hour.

Today's Update...
We made a quick stop at the US Embassy this morning to make sure we had all of our i's dotted and t's crossed before Ian heads back to the States. We got the thumbs up and headed out to see our angel. Ana seemed somewhat surprised to see us and started off very tentative. She even had a tear at one point. I fed her lunch, and Ian also took a turn. We just loved the great eye contact she gave us. Man, she can hold a stare a long, long time. This is progress on the road toward attachment. We then put on her hat and took her outside. Her favorite place. The first hour or so, we put her on the swing, we held her and we walked around holding her hand. It took time to get her to feel comfortable, but eventually, she warmed up to us. By the end of the day daddy even got many unsolicited kisses. Have I said yet that she is daddy's girl? She says Papa, (no Mama). She reaches for papa (ok, she reaches for me too) and she now has given the first kisses to papa. (My girl is S M A R T!) It was incredibly heart warming seeing them together. We would also family hug. All 3 of us would hug together. I would give Ian a kiss then kiss Ana's cheek and Ian would do the same. At first she wasn't too sure about this. But after a minute or two she was all for it. She even smiled when I got a kiss from her wonderful daddy. ( I have to admit, I expected her to be mad) We got lots of giggles today. When Dasha came out the two of them ran around together. Ana would try to run away from us and we would chase after her and she would giggle!! Double Trouble (Dasha and Ana) tried to escape at one point and Ian got to play goalie turning them around and pointing them back into play towards me and the caregiver. When it was time to go, I said bye bye ( Paka, Paka) and let Ian take her upstairs... I had a feeling she was going to cry, and I was right. That was our first experience of her tears of separation.

After we left her, we ate McDonald's. We both figured that we had done a fabulous job of being willing to try all different kinds of Russian foods. So it was time for a treat from home. Can you say Big Mac and Fries? Exactly like we eat them. Then we walked next door to a store for children and finally found some "reasonably" priced toys for kids. We got an electric toy that has the Cyrillic alphabet. You push the letters and it says the sounds... OK, this is really for me so I can read Cyrillic. I got her a few books because she had a blast turning the pages of my Russian Translation book. We picked out 2 pull toys and 2 Cd's that have Russian fairy tales. In truth, I thought it was music, so I am still hunting for songs. You will know when I find them, I will make a play list for my blog. I found diapers that fit and then we headed home.

I napped most of the way and still fell into bed as soon as we got here. Ian enticed me with chocolate up to the concierge lounge where we met 2 adoptive families from Lighthouse Adoptions in Michigan. Once again, Lighthouse delivered beautiful girls to lucky American families. This is the second trip I have met Lighthouse families and they all have such positive things to say. They adopt out of Moscow City whereas CSS works in the Region. I know other agencies work here, but for some reason I only run into Lighthouse families. We talked and I oogled for probably an hour before Ian and I set off to find the apartment I will move into after he is gone. It is just down the street in a wonderful, wonderful location. It is next door to My My's (remember, it is pronounced Moo Moo's)which is absolutely dangerous. A Sparro is across the street and a grocery is around the corner. It might take 7 or so minutes to walk down to the Kremlin, so it turned out to have an amazing location. I hope the inside lives up to the outside.

We did stop in the grocery store and grab some Pringles, a Snicker's bar with peanuts instead of hazel nuts (read a previous post) and a coke light. We really did it so that I could check the place out. I think we will do some serious shopping out at Globus before we bring her home. But once we leave the orphanage with her, there is NO WAY I am making that drive again, so the store around the corner will be just fine.

I hear it is going to be 98 degrees this weekend. I am SOO glad I moved to the Marriott. Really, the Hyatt was the top of luxury. Heck, when a room costs $18,000 a night and is being lived in at that rate, service is premium. The only negative thing I had to offer was that our room was on the warm side. Not hot. Just warmer than we like. Russians like it warm! They bundle their kids up until they sweat. And, they heat their homes all winter. But in the summer most don't have AC. So, while I sweat in the back seat and the heat adds to my car sickness, Alucia is freezing up front with the AC on level 1 or 2 out of 4. I am roasting. He is freezing. When Tanya said something, I told her I would be happy to let her sit in the back where there were no vents and it was hot, and I would sit up front with the vents... surprise- I got to stay in the back :) AND the airspeed got turned down. I even told Al I would drive. Heck, my 2nd job is being a chauffeur. I shuttle my kids all over the city all afternoon. But, Al was a 'no' go. I have learned, and I do carry a battery powered fan with me, but it just wasn't cutting it at all today.. I can't even begin to imagine how bad Saturday will be. I will suck it up only for Ana. Isn't it amazing what we will do for our kids? I am already sick to my stomach that I won't be seeing her Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Al has plans Sunday and Monday. Tuesday they need to go get my mother and our passports will be confiscated as we get registered in the apartment, so we will be stuck for a while. I can hear Ondrea saying " bathe alone. Sleep... you only have a few hours left before it ends forever!" I am going to try to take her advice and see the glass half full.

Ian is snoring away next to me.. I guess that is my signal.

Paka,
Michelle