Booster is Coming Home!!!

The new addition to the Holl family!!!
Our precious girl
She is still wearing 6-9 months clothes and this one is pretty baggy on her
In the "pink marshmallow suit" getting ready to go out in the cold with Allisa our translator
With Dr. Ludmilla the orphanage director

Well, the big day is finally here after all these months of waiting. We left Kemerovo at 8 AM and were driven thru the countrysides of Siberia for 3 hours to get to the orphange. It was so cold outside the windows all had major frost on them the entire way so it was hard to see much. The windshield was only about 1/2 defrosted, and we were in the back seat so all we could see was lots of snow.

We arrived at the orphanage at 11. Dr. Ludmilla (of the infamous blue eyeshadow) again went over all of her records. They told me last time she had a milk allergy, but now she supposedly has never had any allergies, so who knows. Then the magic time finally arrived when they brought our daughter into us. It was so wonderful to see her again and to know that this time she would be coming home with us...also kind of overwhelming to think that we are now her forever momma and daddy. She really hadn't changed much at all in the past 4 months except she has a little more hair. In fact they brought her in in the same outfit she had worn when we visited in September on the second day. She still isn't walking on her own yet either, which I really thought she would be by now. We stripped her down and put the clothes we had brought from home to take her out in. They are 6-9 months size and the shirt is too big for her, but the pants fit fine. We put the pink marshmellow snowsuit on her. For those who don't know, the marshmallow suit is a really warm, cute snowsuit that we are passing to adoptive moms who are going to Siberia in the winter. We are the 3rd family to use it, and I will pass it on to another adopting mom. It still looks brand new and it has attached gloves and shoe covers. The last baby who had it evidently hated it, but Haylie didn't mind it at all, at least at first. The Russian folks are very, very adamant about making sure you've got your baby wrapped up like a mummy everytime you go outside, and heaven help you if one inch of skin is showing on a leg or arm. Total strangers come up to you on the street and tell you all about it, especially if the hat or hood has fallen off--look out they will really let you have it!!

We then made the 3 hour ride back to our hotel again. Haylie was soooo good, she didn't cry at all. We did feed some cereal in the van and she ate great too. When we got back to the hotel, we put her on the floor and she played with some toys we brought for over an hour by herself without complaining. Even though she's not walking, she crawls and pulls up and walks all around the furniture and really gets around fast! We had a crib in the hotel and I put her to bed at 9. She sat and played for like 2 hours in the crib all by herself. We finally ended up putting her in bed with us and she immediately fell asleep (I know, I know it's a big no no, but until we get her home we're just going with the flow).