A six month update

Well, we are home just about six months and wanted to update with pics.

The girls are doing really well. See for yourselves!


xoxo

POSTED PICS!!

So, I know that many of you could not get into this blog. This was done for a few reasons, but mainly because we wanted to get through the entire process before posting anything public. It is official, we are now an AMERICAN FAMILY!!

Enjoy the pics.

xo

Gotcha!

Hello!

Well, I know we have been delinquent in writing, but as you can imagine, with two girls we are busy busy! I still will wait to post pictures, but all has been good so far. We have alot of adjusting to do. I just wanted to check in and tell you everything is great.

Our Last Weekend of WAITING!

So, we are almost 12 days into this trip. We can't believe how fast this has gone. We have been having an incredible time. I know we haven't written in a while, so I will do the same as last time and recap some of the highlights of the last few days.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday - We visited the girls on each of these days. With each visit, they became more familiar with us. Trisha is calling me "Mom" and Joanna is recognizing me as "mama". Both are true Daddy's girls. So adorable! They love shoes, clothes and when I play with their hair. The next time we see them, we will be picking them up. WHOO HOO!

Tuesday we went to the beach with our coordinator. It was a great day. We love to see the city where our beautful daughters were born and we have taken some beautiful shots. On Wednesday we were upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a kitchen, so we "moved". :). On Thursday, Tom went with a few other husbands into town and did some food shopping. I have been cooking every night since, so it has been GREAT! We have met so many incredible people throughout this process, but continue to have a special bond with Hunter and Michael (and their little man). We are going to seriously miss them, but we will keep "selling" Long Island...he he.

Every night is basically the same. We eat with Hunter/Michael/Logan and then we meet with the other families in the "White Rabbit" which is basically a rec room. To all of the families going through this in the upcoming months - you will have a wonderful time. We feel very comfortable and happy here, as I am sure you will.

Tomorrow, we are venturing into the city with 3 other couples to the Italian Restaurant and to explore. We are thrilled! Monday we will "get ready" for the girls arrival on TUESDAY!!!!!!!!

We can't wait until you meet our little angels. We will post pics on Tuesday or Wednesday!!

What a great week so far.

So, we are about closing in on a week of travel already. It has been absoultely amazing. After court on Friday, we were able to see the girls. However, do to the 10 day required waiting period, we have to want until Septemebr 1st for them to be with us. The two other couples with us were able to get their babies early (it is up to the orphanage, and we are at a different one). We have been making the best of it. A little breakdown of our time here:

Friday night, we we celebrated with the two other families, as they only picked their children up today. We had good food, wine, vodka and cheered to the fact it was all winding down for us.

Saturday, we went to the baby store and food store in Vladivostok. It was a lot of fun. We even got to stop by a Russian Mall - how cool is that? When we got back, we walked, relaxed and ate lunch with our new friends, Hunter and Michael (amazing people!!).

Sunday, the four of us went to the beach and the convenience store up the block. The beach was beautiful, you can actually see China from where we are. The weather is gorgeous and we feel like we are on an exotic vacation. The Vlad Inn (where we are) is not only where adoptive parents go, but also where the very wealthy hang out on the weekends. There was a huge wedding, complete with fireworks, here on Saturday. Sunday lunch was great. The people are all beautiful and dressed impeccable. We ended the weekend with a movie night with Hunter and Michael in the "White Rabbit" room (basically a game room) and watched Juno. Great night!!

Today (Monday) we went to visit the girls. We had a lot of fun with them. It gets better and better. We were with them for about 2 hours and then they ate lunch. We will visit them 2 more times before we pick them up next week. After the orphanage, we went to lunch with our coordinator and then to the beach. It was GORGEOUS!

Tomorrow is a rest day and Wednesday we will visit the girls and go to the beach in the afternoon with our cordinator. We are loving this experience and looking forward to every day!

Off to take a nap before heading up to meet our friends and their new beautiful Son.

Miss and love you all.

The verdict is in!

We are new parents to two beautiful girls!!! We know we have been keeping posts vague, but we plan to keep itthis way until the adoption decree is in our hands on Septembder 1st. What we will say is that is wasn't too bad and we are the happiest people alive. We will write more this week, as we have a 10 day wait until they live with us.

Love you all for your support throught this process! xoxoxo

Reunited.

Today we were reunited with our little girls. They looked different than three months ago! They were so happy to see us and greeted us with huge hugs.

Tomorrow is court, so we are eager to get through and make it official! We will write more tomorrow.

xo