Our Intent to Adopt Them Is Official!

We signed the papers today- we are going to be the parents of Liam Kenneth Danila Stacey and Sophie Kristina Stacey. I had Danila's name wrong. I thought it was Danil, but its Danila. We got their height and weight today. The measurements are from June- they are tiny!! Sophie is 22.4 lbs and 31.5 inches, and Liam is 29 lbs and 37 inches. They are obviously malnourished/underfed, as Sophie wants to eat everything in sight.

When we left today, they told Liam we had to go, and he cried :(. I think we are all bonding, which is great. We're concerned about the effect on them when we have to leave, but we want to make sure they are reassured that we are coming back for them.

We got to play with some of the other kids today, too. One little boy, whom I think has Down's Syndrome grabbed my hand and had a very strong hold. I felt so bad, not knowing what to do. Would it be confusing for him if I held his little hand and then he realized I am not going to be his mama? They call every man they see Dada. All their caregivers are Mama. Its obvious that the caregivers care for these children. This seems to be a very good orphanage with caring staff, and really pretty decent facilities. I'm going to try to get some pictures to show. I've not taken pics of their gruppa rooms yet, but maybe I will try to tomorrow. We usually are outside with them.

We're going to try to venture to Izmailova market today for souvenirs. I will post pics from today later.