Passport pictures today!

July 26th, 2011
Well today Dianne and I braved the subway (metro) alone. I had been riding it long enough-nearly a month to know the stops now and we did fine. We met Anatoly at the gate to the orphanage and walked to the building. When we walked in we were met by the girls greetings-"mama, mama!" They came running but today they were all dressed up for their pictures in pretty little dresses and the big Ukranian hair bow. They looked absolutely precious. They were so excited to be going for a ride in the machina (car), beep beep.

Once in the car with Dianne in the front and the girls and I in the back we were off. Vika was a little nervous but Marina just thought it was fun. Well they were all hands. Puling everything out of the pockets of the seats-newspapers, empty water bottles, a toy etc. Marina asked for the hellos (toy phones) so I got them out and they each had one. They talked and talked and tried to continuously get into everything.

Well we made it there without too much damage to the car. We got the girls out--carefully, again vika was afraid to step out. Once in the building Marina was very anxious and just wanted to leave. She would go up to total strangers and pull on them and say things. I'm not sure if she was asking to leave or what. They took us to a room or rather 2 connecting rooms where once we were alone in there they calmed down but once again were trying to get into everything. We had to correct them a few times and they knew we meant it. Marina needed to go to the tualet (toilet) of course. We waited and waited and were told that the government men were getting their pictures taken so it would still be a few minutes. We are here with Anatoly and no Irina so no interpreter. Luckily one of the ladies spoke a little English. Both of the ladies were very nice. I went into the picture taking room with Vika first and Dianne took Marina to the bathroom again. They had to t0 put several thick books on a chair to get Vika high enough and she was afraid to sit up there. She would only let "mama" lift her up and I had to hold her hand the whole time. She cooperated nicely and they took 2 pictures and we picked the best one. I then signed papers and told them their names. Next Vika went out and Marina came in. Once again Marina was nervous and would only let "mama" lift her up to the chair and I had to hold her hand. They took a couple pictures but asked if I wanted them to try again. So one last time and they actually got a smile. We were finally done and off we went back to the car. We had to wait a while in the sun for Anatoly but we were finally on our way. We were driving along and Irina called so I had to talk with her. While I was talking to her I suddenly heard the door and looked over and Marina had opened the door. I grabbed onto her and screamed that the door was open and then I told Marina "no No!" I scared her and she grabbed on to me and cried. She does not like it when I am angry with her. We pulled over and Dianne got out and shut the door and then Anatoly locked it. A little scary. We got the girls back to the orphanage and took them in to get their clothes changed and then outside we went to play. We played for almost 1 1/2 hrs and were sure to hand them right over to the caregivers. (they claimed we hadn't done this the day before but we had). Anatoly said not to worry about it.

Anyway we made it back on the subway without any problems. Once back at the apartment we cooled off and decided to go to lunch. We went to Fridays and had appetizers. We then went to the store for a few things and back to the apartment. I called the embassy to ask about how to fill out some of the paperwork and found out we were missing one of the forms for each girl. So they said they would email it and Tim needed to fill it out and sign it and email it back. I skyped with Tim and the kids. They are getting bigger I'm sure. They are so excited that I will be home on Saturday. Talked with Irina again about paperwork and discussed that her husband Igor will be here tomorrow to translate when we sign the papers to take the kids out of the orphanage. He will also be with us Thursday for our embassy appointment. He will also help with some of the paperwork.

So I think everything is falling into place. Just a few more days and we will be on a plane with 2 precious little girls who can't keep their hands off anything and can't sit still for 2 minutes. Please pray that they are not anxious, that they stay calm, that they don't try to run off and that they sleep. Pray for the embassy appointment to go without any problems.

Pray for Irina's safe return on Friday. It is almost over--I have so many emotions and feelings and I will talk about them in another post.