It takes a village to raise a child!

So many people have pitched in and helped my family since returning home with Katya. I cannot thank them enough. I have wonderful neighbors and friends who stop by when walking their dogs and invite Katya to come along. Katya adores animals and loves to walk dogs. Our dog Christy is 15 years old and cannot walk far so Katya loves walking a dog that is lively and energetic like her! Today she is being picked up by two high school girls from church, one of whom speaks Russian. They are taking Katya out for ice cream. Our friend Randy has become Katya's droog (friend) and asks everyday if she can ride on his motorcycle! Katie has been the best big sister ever, and Katya wants to spend every waking moment with her. Katya has moments when she misses her friends and teachers in Russia but her homesickness will fade as she makes new friends and learns to speak English. I appreciate the support and help we've received and I thank everyone for their kindness.

Katya the Biker Chick!

Our wonderful friend Randy, and I do mean wonderful, came by today to give Katya a ride on his gorgeous Harley! Randy is our friend I mentioned in an earlier blog who is responsible for me going to Russia for the first time in 2001. We had a very difficult day on September 10th so we took Katya over to speak to him that evening and he was wonderful. Katya was experiencing some homesickness for her friends and teachers at the orphanage so Randy helped her through it with his perfect Russian. She just needed to talk for awhile and vent her feelings to someone who understands, literally! Katya has been fine since that bad day, I think something must have triggered her sadness. Her new and improved mood might have something to do with the cat we brought home from the animal shelter yesterday! NEVER SAY NEVER! I always said I would never own an animal that does its business indoors, but that's exactly what we have now! Katya LOVES Princessa (Russian for Princess) and she is a good-natured cat that tolerates being carried around all day!

Tonight Katya is spending the night with Katie! Katya adores her big sister! When Katie asked Katya what she wanted for dinner she said French Fries so Katie found a place that has unlimited French Fries with dinner. She did manage to eat a hamburger too! The last time I spoke with Katie they were making cupcakes so they are having a wonderful time together. Thank heaven for big sisters!

Getting settled in

IT IS SO GOOD TO BE HOME!! Katya and I have been getting unpacked and settled in. She is extremely happy and is discovering the joy of family. She loves her new room and all the girlie stuff my sister and I picked out for her. She is very inquisitive and never meets a stranger. We spent two hours in the Social Security office on Friday and she was carefully checking everyone out, or more to the point, staring! For those of you who haven't been in a Social Security office in the last few years, it a truly a melting pot! I think I was the only English as a first language person in the whole place! She lacks some essential social graces, meaning when she saw a very fat person she pointed and said loudly, Oh Mama, BOLSHOI! Bolshoi in Russian is BIG! I wanted to instantly disappear! She saw a black policeman in the Atlanta airport and went up to him and rubbed her fingers on his face, then looked at her fingers. I thought I was going to faint. I told the policemen that she loved policemen and always wanted to touch them! I got out of that one! Most of the orphans have never seen people of color. She now knows never to point at people, now I have to get her to stop commenting out loud. At least her comments are in Russian so I am relatively safe for the time being.

Katie came over today and she and Katya made jewelry and just hung out together. Katya loves Katie's nails so Katie took her for a manicure today. She felt so special and grown up! Katya adores Katie, and she told me after she left that she wanted Katie to move into her room with her!

Tonight my girlfriend and her husband took Katya to McDonald's and to miniature golf, which meant Fred and I could go on a date! Darcy has known Katya for three years so Katya was thrilled to be going out with her. It was nice to have a little break but we found ourselves missing her a lot!

Tomorrow is church, which will be a first for her. I'll let you know how that goes!!

We're Home!!

Katya and I made it home last night at about 8:45 PM! We were tired from the long journey but thrilled to see all the smiling faces waiting for us at the airport! Thanks to all of you who came to welcome us home!

I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am to be home with our new daughter! I missed my family immensely, which made the wait in Russia even more difficult. All the steps to make Katya ours were overwhelming, including multiple visits to the Ministry of Education, courthouse, consulate, passport office and US Embassy. Katya became an American citizen yesterday, but I don't think she quite understands it yet!

The first thing she wanted to do is get her ears pierced! She said that no orphan girls can have their ears pierced so this was very significant to her. She also said orphan girls cannot have long hair so she wants to have very long hair. It has never been professionally cut and it’s about 100 different lengths but I'm not going to even try to talk her into a trim yet. I have to pick my battles very carefully!

Thanks for all your well wishes and support these last nine months. It's been like a pregnancy, the last month being the hardest! I'll keep blogging to fill you in on her new life in America. There's nothing like spending a month in Russia to make you appreciate how wonderful our country is and how fortunate we are to be Americans.

Guest Blogger Fred - One last night

Sheila left me a message today saying they had finished all the visa paperwork and would be on the plane tomorrow. They wake up at about 11PM tonight our time to start the journey home. See you all at the airport tomorrow night!

The countdown continues

Sunday night....Moscow

Only two more days....and we are outta here!

Tuesday - US Embassy and Russian Consolute

Wednesday...."leavin on a jet plane...don't know when we'll be back again!"

Almost to the finish line!

Hello from Moscow!

We are on schedule to fly home on Wednesday, September 5th! Thank God!! I have my interview at the US Embassy Tuesday at 2 PM, and if I answer all the questions correctly they will give me Katya's visa and we are out of here! I am MORE THAN READY to get home. This waiting period is rediculous, and such a waste of time.
Katya is doing well, and is anxious to come home too!

I'll see you all at the airport!

Dosvidonya