Our First Visit!!!!

Yesterday we met our sweet son, Atticus Grant, for the first time!!!  It was a whirlwind of activity for sure.  We arrived a little late from Kiev by overnight train, and met our facilitator Marina at the station.  After hustling through the crowd, and stopping to use the bathroom-- a squatty potty at that, haven't seen one of those since China!!-- we loaded our luggage into the trunk of a fairly tiny car, squashed into the back seat, and off we went.  Marina gave us the details of our day-- meet with social worker, drive to orphanage, meet with head doctor, lawyer and groupa's doctor, meet baby, then off to other lawyer to draw up more paperwork, then she would head back to Kiev herself on the train to bring all the info she needed to submit our second referral for Masha.

Well, as always, nothing went according to plan, everyone was on their own time schedule.  So, off we went to the orphanage FIRST to meet our son!  Fine by me!!  I was very excited which helped alleviate the fact that we were all dog tired from very little sleep on the train and nothing to eat since the night before.  But once we met him, none of that mattered.  :)

We entered his groupa's room by the double doors and waited in the hall.  Marina was talking with the orphanage's therapist and she was translating for us.  Then in walked the nanny with our cute little bundle of love in her arms!  Oh what a sweetie!!  He looked even better than his pictures, so much better than we imagined.  I lost it of course as I held this sweet child I had prayed about for soooo long.  Finally, finally it was him and we were here and he was to be OUR child.  Thank you Lord!

He was so sweet and calm with us, loving being held and talked to.  He has such bright blue eyes, almost see through, they are mesmerizing.  And the cutest chubbiest cheeks, and light blonde hair--- he will fit right in with the rest of our family!

We took some pictures and video, loved on him for a short time and then we were off again.  Back out to the social worker first.  We had a great time talking with her.  We were very nervous at first and she commented to Marina that we looked grave and suspicious of her.  But of course we explained it was only nerves.  This lady HAS to like us or she won't stand up in court for us to say we should be this child's parents!  But we eased as we started talking.  She asked us many questions and seemed very pleased with our answers.  She LOVED seeing the album of pictures we brought-- loved that the children were so active and thought our house was lovely.  Also quite impressed at Tim's talent and how much of it he constructed himself  :)  So, a good and positive visit.  Whew!!!

Then off to the lawyers office to sign paperwork we went.  Then back to the orphanage where we waited and waited for the head doctor.  He also turned out to be a very kind man, also loving our pictures and quite glad that we were here to adopt a "Downs" baby, because the people of his country "will not have them."  I was happy that he was happy.  He and Tim also hit it off at the mention of motorcycles :) and construction too.  He said how nice it would be if Tim would come back over the summer and do some work constructing playthings at the orphanage, he would have plenty for him to do.  Maybe a mission trip in the future????  Who knows?!

Then we got to see our little butterball for a few more minutes, and then off we went with Marina and our driver to our apartment.  Finally.  It had been a very long day, we were exhausted and very hungry too.  They showed us the bus we should take to the orphanage, the supermarket, pizza restaurant and a Mc Donalds, then we were to the place we will call home for the next month or so. 

It is a lovely apartment, even nicer than our last and cheaper!  And, it is non-smoking which is a huge plus.  It has a very modern kitchen and bathroom and lovely large bedroom and living room.  Plenty for us and close to a lot of things.

We took the bus by ourselves today to visit Atticus again.  He continues to amaze us with his strength and his smarts!  He stands quite well, no floppiness on him!  He loves to smile when tickled and play games like peek-a-boo.  He already has a favorite toy out of my stash too-- an elephant that vibrates when you pull the string.  Loves it!  He is quite a cute little fellow and I simply cannot wait to get him home to his new brothers and sisters.  They are going to adore him!

Well, I will leave you with a few pictures of the day.  More to follow that we just haven't gotten onto the computer yet, and a video too!  Please keep praying for us on this journey.  We still have a lot of time here yet and still haven't gotten to meet our second sweet blessing.  I am still nervous and excited about that at the same time.  God has proven over and over though that He knows EXACTLY what He is doing.  We will trust and obey.



The group of RR parents waiting to get our referrals from the DAP!!  So excited!!!



Hallway of the train.



Our Cutie Patootie!!!  Love.



Me crying of course.  :)



Papa!!!




Sister!!!!





This one kills me!  Love it!!




Front of the orphanage




Some play equiptment outside