Day 27 Happy Birthday/Gotcha Day!!!

Today has been one of the happiest days of my life, but I am so tired.  I have so much I want to write, but some of it might have to wait because I don't think I can do it all tonight.  Things could not have gone better today.  Everything fell into place and went off without a hitch.  We started the day at 7:45 am and headed to the courthouse to pick up the court decree and copies.  Then onto the baby house to deliver one of the court decree copies and pick up Dasha's original birth certificate.  While we were there, Sasha saw Dasha and wished her a happy birthday.  The orphange staff didn't even know today was her birthday.  :(  As we were pulling away, I saw her in the parking lot and yelled out the window, "Happy birthday, Dasha.  I'm coming back for you today!!"  She was waving at me.  Next we went to Kramatorsk, the city where Dasha was born.  It's about 1.5-2 hours north of Donetsk.  We needed to have her birth certificate changed to her new name and have us listed as her parents.  This typically takes at least an hour, often longer.  Today we got it done in about 20 minutes.  Then it was back to Donetsk to notarize some paperwork and get her passport (again, thank you God for the one day passport!!).  Next was the bank where we closed her account.  Finally, we arrived at the baby house and picked her up!!  I had to give them clothes to dress her in and they brought her to me dressed and ready to leave.  We were in the director's office and she walked in and sat on my lap.  She started to wimper and looked like she was going to cry as everyone was telling her she was leaving, but she never did start crying.  Sasha helped her into the car and there were no problems.  She sat next to me the entire ride and looked out the window. As soon as we got back to the apartment, she started exploring everything she could find.  I had packed over the weekend and she completely unpacked me.  :)  After Skyping with her brothers, we went to McDonald's for dinner and then stopped by the supermarket for some bananas and yogurt for breakfast.  When we got home, I gave her a very good scrubbing in the bathtub and she loved it.  We even washed her hair!  At first she didn't want to sit down, but eventually she did, although not for long.  I gave her a cup and she had fun dumping water on herself.  She brushed her teeth about 6 times tonight and I think she would have eaten the toothpaste had I let her.  I let her watch 10 minutes of a Baby Einstein dvd before bed and then it was lights out.  It took her about 2 minutes to fall asleep and I discovered she sucks her thumb.  So sweet!  I truly couldn't have asked for a better day or a smoother transition tonight.  Dasha is so adaptable and really just goes with the flow.  I feel like I have won the lottery and I am so very grateful for this little girl.  Today the orphanage director told me that people here don't understand why, when we have 3 healthy biological children, we would come to Ukraine and adopt a child like Dasha.  I am so sad for people who would feel this way.  They are really missing out on something special.  For us, Dasha is the realization of a dream.  She is the answer to so many prayers.  Even though she was born in Ukraine, she was made for our family and we would have traveled to the ends of the Earth to get her.  We are so blessed!!

From left to right-assistant director, head teacher, me and Dasha, director

In the car...kind of nervous, but not crying

She turned every light switch on and off about 100 times (at least).

Trying to pull the stickers off the TV.

Opening her birthday present.  She had no idea what a present was or what to do with it.

4th Birthday dinner at McDonald's.  She had chicken nuggets and liked them!

In her new pajamas after her bath.  She wouldn't take off her hat or shoes.

Watching Baby Einstein before bed

Sound asleep...the most adorable thing in the world if you ask me.