Gotcha!

What an incredible day! After court we came back to the hotel to change clothes and grab our bag of stuff for Alivia. Then we were off on a whirlwind of shopping for things to give to the orphanage. Alexey talked to the director of the orphanage who told him what they needed--mostly medicines and feeding supplies. An interesting side note--in Russia you don't need prescriptions to get medications. You can get pretty much anything you want as long as they have it in stock. Once we picked up the last of the items from the list we hit the road for Vishney Volochek.

The drive to the orphanage was much quicker today--no traffic jams! We arrived in good time and after we presented our thank you gifts and donations we were told to wait in the usual room while they finished getting Alivia ready. After about ten minutes they brought her in to us dressed in only a cute little onesie and a pair of socks. I was pleasantly surprised that she tolerated the change of clothes well today. It took only a few moments to undress her, put on a clean diaper and dress her in her new clothes for the trip back to Tver. I have to say I just love her in that hat!

After dressing Alivia we posed for a few pictures (none of which turned out well) and then began the long drive back to Tver. Alivia was an angel the entire trip and spent most of the first hour looking out the window at the changing scenery. She fell asleep for the last hour and slept through some of the worst roads you've ever seen. It was amazing. She woke when we reached the hotel and as soon as we reached the room she was ready to play a little. It was about 7 pm by then, so I got her dinner ready while Mom kept her entertained. Alivia ate her first meal with us very well--she loved the pureed pears and didn't mind the beef, beets and rice mixture too much. (I know she shouldn't be on mixed foods, but it's impossible to find single foods here other than fruit and a vegetable or two. The doctor at the orphanage said she could eat anything pureed at this point, though, and has been for the last month, so we weren't too worried.)

After dinner we gave Alivia a bath and she loved it! This little girl is simply amazing! We dressed her in some warm pjs and put her in bed and she played there quite contentedly for a bit while we ate our dinner (conveniently delivered by room service!) Then she wanted out to play again and was delighted to discover the baby in the full length mirror in the room. We played for an hour or so then I put her in the crib again and laid down in my bed beside her until she drifted off.

So far Alivia has proven to be quite the little angel! I know it won't last, but I'm enjoying it while I can! Tomorrow we have an appointment for passport photos in the afternoon, but the rest of our day is free, so we're going to take Alivia for a little walk up to the grocery store to restock our dwindling water supply. As promised, I've posted a few photos with this entry--one from our visit to the orphanage on her birthday, one of me changing her today and one of dressed in the beautiful outfit we chose to take her "home" in. Enjoy!

~ Jeana