I wanted to do a quick post...as you can imagine I am beyond exhausted! We went to the US Embassy today to get Ellie's visa. It was an almost surreal experience. First, when we got there we had to pass through a huge Michael Jackson memorial that has been set up. Apparently the Russians loved him and there were lots of flowers, posters, etc. We then went to into the embassy and waited, along with about 45 to 50 other families who are adopting Russian children, to have our interview and get her documents and passport with her visa in it. It was incredible to see all the other families with all the other children waiting to go to their homes in America. It made me tear up. The majority were boys, as there are many more boys available for adoption than girls. Jim was definitely not the oldest person in there and he was happy about that! :) I talked with several of the other mothers while we were waiting and it was very comforting to know they are all dealing with the same issues we are. The children have issues with food, afraid they aren't going to get enough, afraid to go to sleep, gas issues, etc. Thankfully we are making progress with Ellie. She does sleep through the night once you get her down. The last couple of nights she cried for a long time once I put her down. I am sure it is a combination of being afraid we won't be there when she wakes and that we were having fun (no one has played with her before like we do) and she didn't want it to stop. Tonight was much better though, and so I think in the next couple of weeks it will get better. She is having gas issues...actually has not had a BM since we got her Monday afternoon. I know she is miserable and you add teething molars to that and she has had a lot of meltdowns. I think I have the teething thing under control with infant tylenol and oragel, then today at the embassy a couple gave us Mylicon drops for gas and she was a much happier kiddo within 30 minutes of taking that. I hope it helps her, if not we have to do something before we get on that plane! I never thought I would be looking forward to a poopy diaper so much, haha!

They only asked a couple of questions at the visa interview, it was very short. They did make a big announcement to us all explaining what will happen at customs when we get home. They said that Ellie will always have Russian citizenship as well as US citizenship. She can renounce at 18 if she wishes. For her it is no big deal, if she has to travel there then she will need to use her Russian passport. If you are a male over 18 and go back they have the right to draft you into their military, yikes! So Ellie will officially be a US citizen when she lands on US soil on the 4th of July! So neat how God worked that out for her!

Jim and I are so ready to get home, get her into a routine and really watch our sweet girl blossom!

More tomorrow!

Love,

d