GOTCHA!

Gotcha day: a monumental day in any adoption. The day that you get to walk through the orphanage gates, child/ren in hand, never to return. It is a day that you dream about and you wish for it to come sooner.

TODAY IS OUR GOTCHA DAY!!!

The weather was a strange mix of sun and rain. As we walked to the orphanage, it was drizzling. We trekked the short distance with 2 strollers filled with champagne, chocolates, cookies, and of course diapers and clothes. We stopped by the orphanage lawyer's office and dropped off a box of chocolates to thank her for her help with paperwork, and then we headed to Ana's room. All of the kids were still asleep, but they woke Ana for us. We dressed her in PJs for our long train ride in the evening. We left champagne and chocolates for the nannies and convinced them to trade us shoes. The ones I brought for little miss chunky toes were too small :) The nannies were very sweet and bid Ana good-bye with a few "paka"s and some blown kisses.

Next we headed down the hall to Sasha's room, where his groupa was also still asleep (nap time was scheduled to be over in 5 minutes--it wasn't like we came in the middle of nap if you are wondering). They woke Sasha to bring him to us. He was groggy and whining, but when he saw us in the doorway his whimpers turned to smiles and laughter. He immediately sat down for us to begin dressing him (also in PJs). Right before we left one of our favorite nannies walked in for her shift. She kissed him good-bye, and we left the champagne and chocolates for the nannies and the cookies for the kids. One nanny chased us out the door with a snack for the road for Sasha...so sweet :)

We walked outside to find the rain had disappeared and sunshine had replaced it! We hurried through the gates (secretly hoping the guard would try to stop us) and walked back to the apartment.

First order of business: a bath. That orphanage smell HAD TO GO!!! I expected the bath to be a disaster, but they both loved it! After bath we had time for a quick snack (yogurt) and a few moments to play with Malika and Justus (our underage roomies). Then Roman arrived to take us to the train station.

We are presently en route to Kyiv with 2 knocked-out kiddos :) For the record, Ana is a tummy sleeper, and Sasha sleeps with his fingers clasped, eyes slightly open at times.

I'm looking forward to learning everything about them, not as some lady who shows up during visiting hours, but as "mommy".

Love from the Ukrainian countryside!

Lindsay