Our story....part 8

June 17, 2008, we touched down in Russia for the second time in our lives.

June 18, 2008, we were reunited with our children for the first time in four months.

June 19, 2008, we were granted our petition to become the parents of Addie Zhanna and Will Roman.  What a happy birthday present that was for me! (It was actually June 20 in Vlad, though.)

And then the fun began.

We were granted custody of Addie right after court, but had to wait out the ten days to get Will.

That was a rough ten days.

One hour after court was dismissed, we drove to Addie's baby home to pick her up.  She was playing outside with all her little friends and came running when she saw us.  She was jabbering on her little toy cell phone a mile a minute.  That hasn't changed.  The little girl who supposedly couldn't talk, talked non-stop.  And hasn't quit in 2 1/2 years.

The baby home actually allowed her to keep her cell phone.  We have it in her little box of Russian stuff.

Getting in the car was a little scary for her.  The last time she had been in a car was when she was brought to the baby home a couple years before.  She was terrified as we cruised back to our motel.

That first night went great.  The second day/night were rather rough.  To the point that we questioned whether becoming our daughter truly was the best option for her.  She was terrified of us.  We'd get too close and she'd scream.  Really, those first few days were spent holding her while she screamed.  And pinched.  And bit.  And kicked.  Not a pleasant beginning to being a parent, I guess.  We were all beyond exhausted.

Day eight or so after we had Addie, my parents flew into the Vlad airport.  Til then, Addie was becoming slightly more relaxed.  Day nine we went to visit Will at his baby home for the first time since court.  Day ten the official court order was issued and we picked Will up.  We were officially a family of four.

The ten day waiting period after court was a little nerve-racking, though.  In that ten days, the judge, the prosecutor, the family of the child, any Russian family really, has the opportunity to change their minds.  If they decided that we weren't the best option, the court order would be reversed.

After 26 long days in Russia, we were finally able to come home.  We left Vlad on July 12.  Supposedly we were to make it home around midnight that same night....but while waiting in line to go through immigration in the Atlanta airport, we missed our connection home.

That was a long night spent in the seats at the airport.  Nobody could sleep as we were on Russia time....15 hours ahead. 

Never had we seen such a wonderful sight when we walked toward the exit of the airport when we arrived home the next day.

The morning of July 13, we finally walked through the front door of our new home.  (Our family and friends had moved all our stuff from our old house to our new one while we were vegging in Russia)

An all new chapter of our lives had begun.  New children, new house.