MOE appt and First Visit

Ok, so yesterday was the hardest day on us physically! That morning I felt great getting ready and then soon before we left I just kinda sank! Ha! I ate my luna bar before we were picked up at 2:00 p.m., because we had eaten a relatively late breakfast.

We first went to the Ministry of Education which I was initially stressed/worried about and definitely wanted to get out of the way. However, it really was a great experience. We met with the head lady in a very small office where she basically just talked to us and asked us questions (via our awesome translator!!) about why we want to adopt, how the adopted little boy will fit into our family, our employment, etc. It was a very pleasant conversation, and I think she liked us! She told us we were a very young and charming couple and she was sure the little boy would love us :)

That took about 30 minutes, and then we headed out to to the orphanage. I was a little surprised that we were able to go so late in the day. It was about an hour away, and our driver takes no prisoners!! The orphanage is actually located in another town outside the city. After you get out of Kras, there is nothing at all to look at but snow! Since that was the case, I closed my eyes to try and keep from getting motion sickness due to the driving, lights of other cars and having little to eat.

Anway, we got there and walked right in to the director's office which was very nice. She had a whole wall of photos behind her of children, and she seemed very professional. She told us (again through our translator) mostly a lot of the same information we already knew about the little guy and how he got to the orphanage. Then, they brought him in for us! He had been woken up from his nap an hour before we got there, b/c they thought we would be there at 3 instead of 4. And the poor little guy is teething and didn't feel well at all. However, he did awesome!! He played with us, but mostly just wanted to go back to sleep!! He fell asleep on me once, but they encouraged us to play with him while we had him. So, we woke him up and played some more. But, after a little bit longer he explained to us that he was too tired to play :) He fell back asleep and was totally out! They said that since he had been woken up early to let him sleep - it was SO precious!!!!

We go to the orphanage at a much earlier time today, so we hope to catch him while he's awake and not just woken up. After our visit today, we have a notary appointment. We should get back to the hotel by about 5:00 which will be nice.

I have to admit that although this might sound horrible, I wasn't very emotional yesterday. I think b/c my body was in such a "zone" so to speak that it was almost as if I was going through the motions, but not getting to experience it all emotionally. Don't get me wrong......it was awesome and exciting, but I hope to enjoy our time today much more. I'll be in more comfortable clothing and in a better state of mind. I stole a bread roll from our breakfast buffet to put in my purse for later in case I need it (in addition to our cliff/luna bars). I thought I might need something plain.

I can't post pics of his precious face until he's officially ours (after court on 2nd trip and after 10 day wait period), but here is a precious shot of his little boot in his booties. I couldn't get over them!!!