Day 47

Today we were surprised at the orphanage by Danila's birth mom!  Yay!  We haven't seen her since our first and only visit with her and his birth father, and we were kind of wondering why we hadn't seen them again, but we found out today that they can only visit on the weekends, and we have been taking Saturdays and Sundays off because of our driver's schedule. 


Our wonderful driver, Kirill, helped us translate a little, and then we spent the rest of the visit outside with her and Danya.  I know I've said it before, but I love that she loves him so much.  She showed us pictures and movies of their recent visits, and even had a baby picture of Danila to show us today.  I'd love to have a baby photo of Danya to keep for him later...will have to ask her about that later when we have a translator :)

After we got home from the orphanage, Nate came to pick us up in his car (which has been in the shop for the entire time we've been here!) and took us to the giant mall (Karavan).  We found a warm up suit for Danya for 125 grivinia at the giant supermarket there, which was absolutely the best priced clothing that we've found.  The supermarket at the mall is kind of a cross between a Sam's and a Walmart.  We only brought one pair of pants for Danila, thinking that we would be returning home during the summer (ha!), so we needed to find some additional warmer clothing before gotcha day!

Just outside the mall is a giant outdoor produce market-type-place.  With Nate there to translate, it was easy to buy some really awesome fruits and veggies for great prices.  Now I think we could probably do it on our own again :)

Finally, our busy day ended with dinner at La Cucaracha (I know it means "The Cockroach," but they have the closest thing to Mexican food here AND Wifi!) with the Laynes and Nate and Diana.  ...and of course, gelato :)  Good times.

Difficult moment of the day:  Back at home, we found out that Ian had misbehaved and we had to talk to him and give him a consequence via Skype this evening.  It's hard when you are a half a world away and need to do that- to sternly correct a behavior, but not be there to give him a hug and physically be there to let him know that he is still loved, and to be able to comfort him when he is feeling bad.  I know that Aunt Sue, Gaga, and Tiffany are all there to fill in that gap right now, but I just wish that it could have been me there.



Appeal update:  Um, no court date yet.  I guess that means it will not be tomorrow.  *sigh*