The court decree is signed... they are officially ours!!

Tomorrow is the big day, we get to bring our babies home with us!!  We could've gotten them today, but our coordinator had 800 errands to run to get our passports ready tomorrow.  She started this morning picking up the court decree, then she went to the police station, then to the passport office.  Mind you, all the things had to happen in three separate towns!  We signed power of attorney after court, just so she could handle all this without us.  Since we have Jackson here with us, it's been a Godsend!  She does all the boring busywork, we get to do the fun stuff... works for me!!

We leave at 9:30 to head to Fryazino for the last time.  It takes about 90 minutes to get there, sometimes a little less if traffic cooperates.  We won't be spending a long time there, it should be like a hit and run!  We took our orphanage donations and the gift for the director on Monday, so tomorrow we're bringing a cake and the gifts for the caregivers.  Everyone stresses about gifts... please don't!  It's more like a pleasantry, sort of like bringing wine or flowers when you are invited for dinner.  We bought different things for our driver, translator and in-country coordinators, but got all the same things for the caregivers.

I bought gift bags for 59 cents a piece at our local party store, along with a  big pack of tissue paper.  For the caregivers I bought strong, durable reusable shopping bags that fold up nice and small.  All of them live locally and take the bus, so it seemed a good gift.  Also, EVERYONE here carries a plastic bag with them, everywhere.  You have to pay for bags at the grocery store, so a good bag is kept as long as it will hold out.  We added some Godiva chocolate bars and some good hand lotion to the bags to round them out.  Each gift ended up costing under $8 a piece, and we brought 12 total... not including the director, etc.

We were blessed to see the boys a total of six times this trip.  We were amazed every day by what they do for these children.  Our kids are fat and healthy, we fed them lunch every day and found the food to be filling and nutritious.  We were able to see all the kids in the boys groupa, and most of them were strong and well fed.  Obviously there were some sick kids, but by and large they are physically well cared for.  On three of our visits we were greeted by large piles of donated diapers in the lobby.  The baby house in Fryazino has patrons that make regular donations, they say they're very lucky to have such community support.

On Friday, we got there and Cooper wasn't there.  He'd gone to the lake with several children from his groupa and they were able to ride/pet some horses.  He came in for lunch, smiling, bug bitten and happy.  When we were here on trip one,  a bunch of children went to a festival.  They do everything they can to get them out in the community.  The director of the baby home is a very kind woman with a good heart.  She was so grateful for our donation, when we handed her gift to her, she waved it off and said "No, you have done enough."  We gave it to her anyway.  :o)

Back to the boys... we've finished baby-proofing the apartment, gotten the portacribs set up and laid out their clothes for tomorrow.  We have little people food, dishes, bibs, diapers, wipes and toys by the dozen!!  I can't believe it's really happening!!

Next post... their beautiful little faces.  Trust me, it's worth the wait!