Day 4.1

The OCD side of me needs to wait to the end of the day to blog to keep things consistent (look... it is what it is) but the excited side of me is about to burst!!

You couldn't wipe these smiles off our faces if you tried!

I did NOT sleep last night. At all. I wasn't that nervous at the time, but my mind just would not hush. I fell asleep at 6:47... the alarm went off at 7. I did doze until about 8 (we had allowed plenty of time to get ready and make sure we had everything without being rushed).

Niko got here at 9:30. We went with two other (RR) families. Our fellow Tennesseans went first (Andrey) and had no trouble at all. They barely spoke, I believe. Our facilitator does most of the work.

We were next! We were big heaping bundle of nerves, but trying not to be. We walked in and sat down and they asked to see our passports. 

The lady (I'm not sure of her title/position at the DAP) immediately asked us why such a young couple was adopting. And then- why would we want to adopt here?

I think she liked us, she smiled a lot :) She then asked if we were there to adopt _______ (her real name). Since we'd never been told her real name, I asked her to repeat it because I wasn't sure what she said. They clearly panicked a little and thought we were the wrong couple. They started matching all the files really quickly before Yulia turned to us and said, "You don't know her name, do you?". When we said no, they started laughing, realizing why were we unsure who they had asked about. We, of course, said YES we want her! And they showed us her file/picture. The picture they have is actually the full-length version of the one we already have. We've seen it before, but something about seeing it there again, attached to her file with our name on it was pretty overwhelming. I teared up, Nathan just had THE biggest grin and pulled it in closer.

They said she's a very quiet baby :)
Technically, I can't post her birthdate here publicly... but I can tell you that she is EXACTLY 11 months old TODAY :)

We had one slight moment of panic when she called her orphanage to verify she was there and available (customary). Apparently, it took them a few minutes to answer that question. We could tell both the DAP lady and Yulia were starting to worry. Our hands held on tighter. I don't think either of us were breathing there for a second. Finally, they said she was there. They also had to ask if any Ukrainians were interested in her, but Yulia even laughed that one off because Ukrainians don't adopt children with DS.

And that was it! We were done!
We will pick up our written referral tomorrow between 4-5 and then we will take an overnight train to her region :) We will meet her on WEDNESDAY!! That's 48 hours from now!!!

We're coming, dolchka!! (daughter)