Home again Home again Jigitty Jig

We have been home for a few days now trying to get over jet lag but I'll try to recap our travels since we had unreliable McDonald's Internet access in Moscow and too much other things to accomplish in just one rainy day. Canadian Embassy, Old Arabat street for Christmas presents for family and friends as well as a trip to Red Square to capture Annika with some landmarks on film. I enjoyed the many gorgeous, tall Christmas trees set up all over the city. Our agency director surprised us at our apartment with 3 white roses. We both had to travel to a different continent to meet for the first time, life is so funny.
Our flight from Kabarosk to Moscow was long but Annika did very well. We were armed with nose drops to help her sinuses for her cold and benedryl to help her sleep if she needed it. She also takes a soother and bottle which was great for take off and landings. She had her first taste of McDonald's french fries and sucked them like noodles as everyone looked at us for not having her over dressed and feeding a baby fast food. We kept her on her schedule in Moscow which meant she was sleeping 3pm to 1am and we were off to the airport again at 3:50am for our flight at 7am to Frankfurt. Awake at 1am Moscow time and finally got to sleep at home at midnight = 33 hours of no sleep and running on adrenaline.
All of the flights home were simple, on time, helpful with baby in tow and surprisingly relaxing and spacious. Thanks to Air Canada we were able to catch up on our movie watching. There was enough empty seats on the plane Annika was able to have her own seat and watched a little "Rolie Polie Olie". She is such a happy baby and due to her developmental delays she was not needing to run around like most 14 month old toddlers. We met a little girl who was 19 months old also named Annika on that flight doing her laps of the plane.
During this journey God has connected us with so many great people, some encouraging and some full of questions. Although sometimes we felt like we were being interrogated we have been very open about our journey in the hope to help people understand how, why and the myths about adoption. We didn't decide to make a life long commitment to a child as a charity or a tax deduction. Just as women do not make an adoption plan for their child on a whim or out of convenience. It takes a very strong women to go through a pregnancy and choose a better life for her child than she can give. The prosecutor in court asked me if I had heard about child abuse and I had to tell the unfortunate truth that it happens far too often in North America by the child's own "family" that should have chose adoption and the children end up in foster care instead of a permanent loving home.
As our last flight landed I started to well up with tears, partly from lack of sleep but mostly of the realization that this very difficult journey of mountains of paperwork both in English and Russian, medicals, the 4 different currencies in my wallet, the 14 flights, the re-mortgaging of our house and the agonizing waiting was coming to an end. Don't get me wrong we are going to be paying for this journey for a long time to come but seeing her look you in the eye and smile knowing everything will be ok as long as we are together makes all the hard work melt way. It's like labour and delivery you never forget it and you make sure they never forget the story but you wouldn't change it for the world when you get that first baby open mouth kiss. I must say that the toilet paper felt like an epesiotomy and the food was much like hospital food, we are glad to be home.
We started down the stairs of the airport to be welcomed by family, friends, flowers and signs! Annika was a little overwhelmed by all the new faces but had no problem pulling her big brother's hair while posing for our first family picture. We enjoyed sharing some pizza, cake and stories at home followed by a much needed shower and sleep. She eats really well (nothing dry like arrowroot or Cheerios yet) and sleeps really well. In fact I think she has switched days and nights better than we have. Our dog Lady is having the most problem with the adjustment and looks for any opportunity to sit on my lap that she can. Nathanael has been a very good big brother helping with feeding, getting blankets and toys and singing her songs. He as been wanting a little sister or brother for over 3 years and with the age and sex difference the competition for toys is not an issue. He knows that he gets to do things with mom and dad that she can't yet, like movie nights and mini golf.
We also have had our first visit with a physiotherapist and although it is not a complete assessment, at 14 months of age she is physically at 6 months and socially at 8 months. She may have some problems with her right arm as well. This is not the norm for Russian adoptions most children are close if not on track developmentally which is why she was given the "possible CP" diagnosis and why we had our 10 days waved. Although she is not "perfect" she is perfect for us and our family and most, if not all, of her delays should "catch up" by school age as she shows no signs of CP. We are willing and looking forward to helping all of our children through whatever struggles they have in life as our parents helped us through ours.
We would like to add a special thank you to all those who made this possible. It takes an army to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together at just the right time. Thanks to God for opening our hearts and arms and working a plan to have just the right child be placed in them. Thanks to those working in both countries who's knowledge of the process was more than priceless it was comforting. Thanks to family and friends who asked daily for "any news" and was supportive even when the "news" wasn't all sunshine. Thanks to our son who kept us going to enjoy every minute of the waiting and to keep the promise to him that hopes and dreams do come true if you want them bad enough.
We will post pictures soon we just have to figure out how... so please stay tuned!