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We made it home......

Made it home and Nadya is doing great!!!!!!!! She LOVES school and is adjusting really well...... Just thought you would all like to know......

Just a few more pics from the days I didn't post.

Nadya seemed to enjoy the rides more than the animals at the zoo.

Flowers for Babooska....

This was on the menu at a restaurant we ate at. I have no idea what it was, but it works like a bong.

Today was a good morning. Nadya woke up and got herself dressed, brushed her teeth, did her hair and then looked at us and said, “Parrk” complete with rolling R’s. We looked at our watches and pointed and motioned in a few minutes because we still had to get ready ourselves. She seems to really love the park and already knows the way by herself. (although we don’t allow her to go alone she will run off in front of us but stops and waits at corners and turns).
She is eating really well right now. She seems to be craving protein. It is funny to see what she can eat in comparison to our other children. She is very independent and enjoys getting her own food out and preparing it.
We just got back from the embassy where we got Nayda’s visa and met other American couples who have already adopted and were getting their visas as well. I think it was great for Nadya to see she is not the only child going thru this currently. We also told our coordinator that we would register Nadya at home and this is allowing us to leave one day early. So, we have changed our tickets, again, and will arrive home tomorrow night, Tuesday at 8:24 assuming we make our connection, so be praying for that. If we do get hung up in Atlanta, we will try to post to our blog and let you know.
I can’t wait to be home, to see all of our children together and to see just how the dynamics of our family have evolved. I am a little nervous for Nadya, but I am sure she will find some comfort in seeing Tanya again soon (another little girl from her orphanage who was adopted by some friends of ours from church recently as well.) I also think her brothers and sister will be great for her.

A day of Walking

Well, we did a lot of walking today. We visited the zoo where Nadya did more people watching than animal watching. She started to warm up towards the end and was watching the animals more. We also found a park today as we were walking and Nadya was very excited about that. She seemed to love the swings and the slides. As we are outside she is still pretty quiet and bashful but as soon as we walk in our apartment door she is very comfortable again. She ate really well today and is still drinking a ton of juice, milk and yogurt. We sat down today and worked on some of the alphabet letters (practiced saying them and writing them), she did really well with it. She also did some math and did really well with basic addition and subtraction. I still am in shock with how well we are able to communicate. We are all getting pretty bored of being here in Moscow. Tomorrow we plan to take Nadya to the Kremlin, St. Basil's and Arbot street. A few more tips for any future travelers...
1. Take Kleenix. They are no where to be found......
2. Pay attention to the water you buy or you may end up with carbonated water. I finally have that one figured out.
3. If you want to lose weight, I highly recommend a trip to Russia. Thank goodness our apartment has a kitchen and we are able to buy things that we can recognize at the grocery store. (sort of)

Update

The over night train to Ivanovo was good except we didn’t really sleep. This made for a very long day the next day. We drove about 1 and a half hours to the orphanage and Nadya walked in nervously with a smile on her face. She has gotten a bit taller and actually looks thinner. She was quit shy, but warmed up although she didn’t talk much she would answer our questions. Our visit at the orphanage was actually a lot longer than I expected, because of all the adoption formalities and Nadya was a sport. So patient, and left a few times to go check up on her friends, but was always back quickly. That night we met up with Tanja, our friend, and had dinner. We also saw Katya briefly. It was a comfort to see them as we are both missing home. The next morning we arrived at court and Nadya was waiting for us. She gave me a hug immediately, and didn’t really want much to do with papa. The court hearing went actually pretty quickly and there were really no surprises. Then they waived the ten day waiting period and made it all official. Nadya seemed nervous and scared and wouldn’t talk much at first. Typical kid. She was very attached to me at first but after shopping at the mall, (where she wanted everything!!!!!!!!!!, but was able to pick out only a few things and was really good about it.) She learned that papa is the man who buys everything and does all the opening. The Johnson household is now going to be poor, because I am afraid that Nadya can out shop me. She walks around taking in everything and wants to go in every store and looks at everything. She picked out a new outfit, a new doll and two children movies in Rusian. Hopefully we will get her passport quickly. As I am typing Nadya is doing my hair. She looked at pictures and she can say Hallie and Alex. Carter is a little different because she is rolling the R’s but it still sounds similar. She is talking up a storm in Russian and Doug and I just look at her and throw our arms in the air and she just smiles. We are looking forward to being able to understand her tonight when we meet up with Tanja for dinner.




We got Nadya’a passport in one day which is great, but it looks like we still can’t go home until Wednesday. After we see our coordinator tonight to verify we will call and try and change our plane tickets. The apartment that we are staying in is great. It has wireless internet, free international calling satellite TV, air conditioning and a washer. This makes our stay a little bit easier. Our hotel in Ivanovo didn’t have air conditioning and it was HOT.
Nadya doesn’t seem to be eating much but she is drinking a ton of juice, drinkable yogurts, and strawberry milk. I guess it is a good thing these all have a lot of calories. We saw the doctor today and he said that Nadya is doing well, she is thin and has long fingers and toe nails and although she is small he expect she could grow like a weed and may actually be tall.
Nadya seems to enjoy her Russian cartoons and channel surfing. She loves to tease her papa, maybe a little too much, but this is what they did in January and he now has a different role. I think that when we get home and she can see Hallie, Alex, and Carter interacting with him as a father, she will start to understand. We are waiting for our laundry to finish washing so we can leave and go out walking perhaps visiting the zoo.

Back In Moscow!

A really quick update with a promise of more to come. We have Nadya, we are back in Moscow, very tired from the car road, and Nadya is doing well. She is taking everything in. EVERYTHING is new to her. It is amazing how many firsts we missed out on, but how many firsts we are witnessing. First thing she wanted to do when we got to our apartment was take a bath in the big tub. More to come in about 10 hours when it will be morning here.