Day 3 in Biro

Yesterday was a pretty busy day.  Started with medicals in the morning, blood tests (I ended up with a blown vein and consequently have a very large and swollen bruise on one arm), urine tests, ultrasounds from our necks down to our waists (that was a bit interesting to say the least), tried a few restaurants, bought Valentina hair clips at an open air market (also an intersting feature in Siberia in the winter) and finally got to visit with V.  The visit started off rocky, they woke her from a nap and brought her down to us and she got pretty scared and started crying.  I don't think she thought we were actually there and that is a lot for a 5 year old to take in especially after sleeping.  It took her about a 1/2 an hour to wake up and within an hour she was running full blast with Chase who was thrilled to see her.  He deemed yesterday the  "best day EVER mom" and although they were soaked and exhausted - very hot in the orphanage - he can't wait to go back today.  He was so tired he fell asleep at dinner and did not wake up until this morning.  We started off as Momma, Pappa and Chase and by the end of the 2 hr. visit we were "Her Momma, Her Pappa and Her brother" to anyone who asked. She gave John and I both hugs (but told Chase, Nyet) and kisses when we left.  She did let Chase join in with a hug with all of us though.  The reason was he was too "wet" aka sweaty.  She had given him a hug earlier and told us all that he needed to be dried off.  She also asked us towards the end of the visit what took us so long to get there and if we would come back to visit.   We are not discussing the adoption with her yet, not sure if we will today either.  She needs time to get to know us again and is pretty overwhelmed right now.  We were all so happy to see her.  The orphanage was much nicer than we expected and we could tell she has been well loved there.  We met the orphanage director, the social worker and several of her care givers and you could see how much they care about her and how much she cares about them as well.   One thing that was very surprising to us was that the orphanage has over 100 children and we did not hear them at all while there, nor did we see any other kids while inside - only a small group outside when we left.

Today is Chase's birthday and I need to track down some sweets for after dinner, he wants cake but I don't know if I can swing that.  I think I found eclaires so hopefully those will do.

We miss home but are very happy to be here and spending time with V.