Day one, Novosibirsk...The road to my Gracie

Well, yesterday was a good day. It was a busy one to be sure. And if it was a good day, then last night was a drop your clothes on the floor, let them lay because you are already asleep and fall into bed kind of night.

Day one....The physical

Well, we (Dan and Amy and I)were instructed to be downstairs waiting for Genrik and Karina at 10:30. So, at 10:25 I made my way down from the 12th floor room I have to the lobby. And we waited and waited and waited some more for them to show up. When they did show, we all packed into the car and headed to our physical appoint. The long dreaded, hard hitting, ever important physical. At none other than the Russian version of the DMV!!! I was a bit taken back by this until it was explained that for someone to get a driver's license here they have to have an evaluation by a psychologist. Well, we got two of them. The first one was fairly easy. Had to do the sesame street "three of these things belong together" game (and don't worry, Amy the other adoptive mama missed the same one as I did lol) but when you see an empty spool, a button, a hook (like hook and eye kind of hook) and a belt buckle, it got a bit challenging to tell why those things are similar and one is not. My answer made sense (the button, the hook and the belt buckle all had jobs to do and the empty spool was done with it's job WRONG ANSWER!!) The correct answer is that you would find them on clothes. But obvious answers aside, I passed that part of the test. Then came the next lady. She asked some very hard questions. I think the hardest one was "What are your plans if she becomes too hard to handle? Do you have plans to bring her back to the baby house?" I wasn't expecting to hear referrence to that event, so it took me off guard. I simply said that my committment to Gracie is a life-long committment and if we encountered problems, we would work them out. That worked apparently because I got her seal of approval too. Then we drove for another 10-15 minutes and stopped at an unknown building. There I went in (I always went first. I guess I got elected to be the guinea pig) and sat down and the lady asked me if I had any history of virus'. Yep, I had chicken pox at age 8. Ok, I passed that one too.WHEW!

Then off to the next place which I found out was a hospital. The kind that doesn't keep patients but just diagnoses them. Their version of a clinic I guess. There I got to see a: Neurologist, Pulmonologist, Infectious disease doctor, Cardiologist, Radiologist and an Oncologist. I did get cautioned about my blood pressure. It was 140/90 and this did not make this doctor happy. She wanted to know what it usually runs Of course it's usually 120/70! Of course lol. But considering the gravity of this appointment combined with no sleep for the last several days, the pain I was in from being a human bobble head in the back seat of my driver's car and the fact that I really did need to eat something, I am just happy it wasn't 190/100 or something like that. WHEW, another test passed.

Several hours after we started, we were done and we have the Russian medical community's seal (all 9 of them) of approval. I also got to teach the Dr and the others involved how to convert inches into cm and LBS to Kg. I thought that should have gotten me at least a couple of brownie points, but it didn't. Then we went on to lunch. It was about a 15 minute drive. It was nice to put some food in my stomach. I was nice and sleepy by the time lunch time came and Genrik looked at me and said something about being tired. I just said "yes....Naptime!" He just laughed and said "Vera won't let you nap!!!" Then he just laughed.

Upon arriving at the baby house, I asked Karina to take video and pictures especially of the moment that Gracie saw me. I really wanted to record her reaction. I knew that she probably would not remember me since it had been so long, but I still wanted to have it on video. My hope were sky high as she ran towards me with her arms reached out. She was excited and between the giggles she was shouting "Mama". Then, she ran straight past me to Karina. I should have expected that. She has seen Karina several times since I was here last. Fortunately, it didn't take long for a good redirection and I am now Mama to my girl. She's grown since I saw her last and seems quite a bit taller. And can you see in the picture? She's lost a tooth. I asked why, and they just said "she is 5, it's time for that to start".

We had a great time playing outside. She is (true to Russian form) bundled in two coats and has her hood up. She's got pony tails sticking out all over her head and her bangs are in her eyes! I didn't get so see much else of her....lol

She loved playing in the sand which there was plenty of, had no problem picking up a stick or any toy or even a piece of trash to use to help her improvise as she played. Then, she spotted Genrik's car. After watching her, I don't think it will be a problem getting her to go for her ride to freedom. She loved it! In fact Genrik had to tell her "You want your mama to take you home?" to which she of course replied "DAAA" "Then get out of my car" LOL, she did it right then and there. :) My girl is pretty smart!

Well, it's time to take an early morning nap. It's 5:30 and I've been up since about 3. I'm starting to get a bit sleepy again. Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and well wishes. Sorry it took me a couple of days to post, but have just been so so tired. I'm catching up though.

Court is tomorrow. I am nervous and at peace all at the same time. I go first (before the MN couple) at 2 pm. Should be done by 3 because that is when they are scheduled. I am told there may be a possibilty the 10 days may be waived. Please pray for that!!