April 10th was the one year anniversary of meeting the wonderful Miss Delaney! I took the day off and we rode the ferry to Pier 39 and had lunch, rode the caurosel (she calls it the "Up and Down", and had ice cream. Delaney loved the ferry ride and now whenever she sees it, yells, "Mommie, boat, fun!"
Here's an excerpt from my journal of our first day together in Russia:
"Today I met my baby! .....We arrived in Novokuzetsk after the overnight flight from Moscow and went to the hotel. Before we met the kids I was given an information sheet with her information on it. Until then I didn’t even know her age, name, nothing. Our rep here in Russia told me she was beautiful and had dark hair and green eyes and that she was healthy. I looked at the sheet with her name, age and medical information, and read it again and started crying in the middle of the hotel lobby! I knew then she was mine and hadn’t even seen her! I went up to our room and was crying with that sheet in my hand and my mom thought something was wrong! As I was crying I tried to tell my mom her name and that she was 14 months old and that Natalia had said she had dark hair and green eyes. Later that day we went to see her, I was just kind of numb when they brought her in to me. My mom stated to cry and a little boy with one of the families we were with said, “Oh Cyndi, she’s cute!”. I just looked at her and tried to talk to her and make her smile and get her to interact with me. I didn’t cry at that time or anything, there she was, it was very surreal, after a year of starting this process, she was standing right in front of me and I seemed to now not even feel anything, guess it was shock! I asked her doctor if she would cry if I pick her up and she gestured to me to go ahead, so I did and then they said let’s go to the play room. Delaney (Yulia then) didn’t cry or anything, she just looked around and looked at us and went along. Once we were in the playroom and I started giving her the toys and treats we brought she was playful, loving and funny. It didn't take but a few moments for her to figure out there were toys and treats in the bag and she got excited every time we reached into it!....I can't believe this trully beautiful child is going to be mine....okay I am crying now...."
3 comments:
I can't believe it's been a year! Happy 13 months.
Hi Cynthia!
I don't know why I didn't comment here before! I too can not believe Delaney has been home a little over a year!!! I just smile when I see you guys together!!!
What a wonderful memory! I remember the same feelings...very surreal...very much a shock, especially after we had just lost a referral a few hours before..
On the second trip we also took a bag of toys..and we have many pictures of Hannah's head in the bag looking for more! These kiddos catch on fast..and when they see their Mama I think they just "know" it!!
Congrats on one year home!
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