Gotcha Day!!!

Vanya's Gotcha Day was Wednesday, July 6th. We had been told we would pick him up in the afternoon but, as things turned out we picked him up in the morning. We were so confused. We thought we were just going to get him to have passport photos done. When we got there, they took us to our usual visiting room and brought Vanya in. We were perplexed. I tried to call our translator to get her to talk with the orphanage staff about what we were supposed to be doing. However, as luck would have it, I couldn't call out on my cell phone. Turns out that one of the many text messages I had received in Russian was informing me that we were out of minutes on our phone. Eventually, some one comes in and says we are waiting on our lawyer. When Natasha arrives, we find out that we were going to bust him out for good and then go get his passport photos done. I waited at the orphanage with Vanya while Andy and Natasha went to the bank to close out Vanya's account. While they were gone, I took off Vanya's pink footy PJ's and got him dressed in BOY CLOTHES. YAY!! No more pink for my little man. Then he fell asleep. So, in his Gotcha photo, he is asleep. It was raining, so no photos walking out the gate.

Then it was off to get the passport photos. This was quite humorous. Natasha was holding Vanya and we were behind the cameraman trying to get Vanya to look in the right direction. The orphanage gave us a list of what Vanya is used to eating, so we stopped at the baby store and Nick helped Andy pick out the right formula and then we headed home. Vanya was DONE by this point and he wanted his bottle and a nap. So, that's what we did. While Vanya was napping, Andy went out to get our last pizza in Kirovograd.

Introducing......

Ivan Alexander Smith

These pictures are from our visit this morning. We didn't get to see him this afternoon because court was during our normal visiting time. However, we will be busting him out of the orphanage tomorrow afternoon. He plans to pose for plenty of glamour shots sporting clothes that are not pink. It is not easy to see but, yes, he is wearing a pink sleeper :)

The next few days are going to be CRAZY. We will leave for Kiev sometime very early Thursday morning. I have heard times ranging from 3am to 5am and I am in denial. Our appointment at the US Embassy is at 10:30am, so we have to be in Kiev by then. We are hoping to fly out of Kiev on Saturday. We are waiting to hear from our travel agent about flight availability. We will be home soon!! We miss Ben and Abby soooo much.

Day 11 in Region - Tomorrow is Court!!!

Tomorrow at 2pm we will stand before a judge and ask him to declare that we are Winston's parents. We don't expect any surprised but we are still a little nervous. We can't wait to be able to officially call him our son and to announce to the world his name. If all goes as planned, Gotcha Day will be on Wednesday and we will head back to the capital very early Thursday morning.

We enjoyed our visits with the little man. He was as smiley and giggly as ever. He also rolled over today from his tummy to his back!!!!! It was very exciting and there was much celebration. He thought it was hilarious. And we had another first today. I had nade a comment earlier in the visit that Winston had never pooped while we were visiting. Well, after lunch and right before it was time for us to go, he got that look and presented us with our very first pupka. I'm sure there will be more :)

After our second visit of the day, we went to the notary to do some paperwork and then we met with our lawyer to discuss what will happen at court tomorrow. When we were all done, we had Nick drive us to Kamelia's (or something like that). That is the other restaurant in town with English menus. So, we did not have pizza for dinner tonight.

Day 10 in Region

We are definitely in the Groundhog Days here. We had are usual visits with the little guy. He was a bit out of sorts this morning but was back to his usual smiley self this afternoon. It is hard when I know he is hungry but I can't do anything about it. Not much longer. He took a nice Winston nap during our afternoon visit. That boy was sawing some logs. It was so cute.

Got official word that court is Tuesday at 2pm. We have some paperwork to do tomorrow and we will meet with our lawyer to talk about court. I am so excited to be so close. I can't wait to be able to provide what Winston needs when he needs it - feed him when he is hungry, change him when he is wet, help him sleep when he is tired, and comfort him when he is upset. Oh my baby. I leave a little piece of my heart at that orphanage every day.

Do I even need to write what we had for dinner?

Cherries are in season here. There are cherry trees all along the road on our way into town. Every day we see the same cute kiddos perched perilously in a cherry tree eating and chatting.

Day 9 in Region

We had some more great visits with the little guy today. This afternoon he was just wearing his pink onesie, so we got to see his cute chubby baby thighs :) He is playing more and more each day. It is amazing to watch him blossom right before our eyes. It is getting harder and harder to leave him each day. He is like a baby alarm clock. Today, he started touching his fist to his mouth repeatedly. We looked at the clock and, sure enough, it was 2pm. Lunch time!! He wanted his food. The nanny came to get him to give him his lunch but said she would bring him back. He was a content baby when he returned with a full belly. He fell asleep in my arms not too much later.

We walked into town to get some dinner at our usual pizza place. One of the waitresses there now knows us, so we don't have to ask for the English menu anymore. We really need to figure out where the other restaurant with the English menus is.

Day 8 in Region - Handsome in Pink

Yes, today my boy was all decked out in pink. I thought he pulled it off nicely. He was very active this morning and played for almost our whole visit. He has discovered the joy of Daddy's flying games. He passed out in my arms just a few minutes before they came to get him. I didn't want to let him go. He was all snuggly and comfy.

Here he is enjoying some Daddy love.

In case Winston is scared of stuffed animals, we will know why:



After our morning visit, it was home to do laundry

At our afternoon visit, I had the translator ask if we could feed Winston. He always seems hungry during our visit and I thought this would be a great way to learn more about his habits. I had assumed he was getting all bottle feedings. The doctor gave us the okay to feed him at his next scheduled meal - 2pm. No wonder he has been so fussy during our afternoon visits. His usual mealtime is right in the middle. Poor guy. So, at 2pm, the nanny brought in a tray with a teacup full of mashed potatoes and gravy and another with a mashed up meat mixture. He ate like a champ. I didn't know that much food could fit in a baby.

We walked into town this afternoon for our usual meal of pizza. We really need to figure out where the other restaurant with English menus is. After dinner, we walked around and went into some of the shops. We also walked down to the river and through the park.