Johnson Household

I know, I know where have we been? As I mentioned in my last post I have a cold. It has really taken until now where I can say I feel better. I can’t remember the last time I was this sick. Thank goodness for Craig, he ventured out and found some medicine for me, which helped greatly during the day. Nights are still tough but getting better everyday. With that said I was simply not in the mood to post. I am sorry. Craig has been busy working throughout the day and into the evening and I know the last thing he really wanted to do is write something. But, guilt finally over took us and we co-wrote this post.

Craig
Barbara and I have been here with Dagny for over a week now. And each day that goes by we are that much closer to becoming the family we deserve to be. We are enjoying our time out here in Moscow, and I think that this is the best thing that Barbara and I could have done for little Dagny. Each day we get closer and closer to her and she’s more trusting now than ever.

Something new that we have experienced with Dagny… She has started to reach up for us to pick her up. It’s the most cutest and beautiful site to see. To see that she has started to rely and trust in us is wonderful. We have made such great strides in getting close with this little girl.

But you know… our time here is starting to get to us all a bit. There is just so many things that can be done in an apartment in Moscow. And with the weather not cooperating there isn’t much outside that we can do as well. But, we are a family which is the greatest.

Barbara
Tomorrow is day 10! I can’t believe that she has been with us for so many days already. We are so grateful for these 10 day’s that the orphanage gave us. I think this truly put us ahead on the bonding curve. The fact that it’s just us three with no outside influences is making such a huge difference. We see changes in her everyday. The way she plays with us and interacts with us in general is changing daily. She is so sweet.

The new thing we found out about our daughter is that she LOVES music and loves to dance, well baby dancing. She will be sitting and if she likes what she hears she starts moving left to right and giggling up a storm. We are so happy that she is a music lover since we are too. 🙂 Another reason why this child is meant to be ours. The list grows everyday.

Dagny loves to stand and walk with assistants and not necessary ours. She will use anything that she can reach and walk around holding on. She has been blossoming in her motor skills far faster then we thought she would be. We think she will be walking in the next couple of months. :-O My baby is growing up so fast. Sigh.

Today Craig ran to the grocery store to get some more diapers while Dagny and I were finishing up lunch. When she was done I let her our of her stroller and she sat down in front of the washing machine while I was doing dishes. We have a bag that we use to collect the clothes that needs to be washed. Well, Dagny tipped it over and pulled out her little pants and shirt and then no joke she looked at me and pointed to the washing machine, I swear saying with her eyes “Mama, can we wash these?” So, I got all the clothes together while she watched and put it in the machine and started it up. She looked at it and was excited to see it spin. Then she crawled away. Lets hope she will be this eager to do laundry when she is a teenager. 🙂

I hope this makes up for the lack of posts and if in case it doesn’t then here are some photos. You can’t stay mad at the parents of this adorable baby! 🙂

Dagny watching cartoons

Dagny and Daddy

Dagny and Mommy having some fun

Dagny and Mommy laughing

Dagny and Mommy

Dagny and some of her toys

Someone’s ready for bed!

Today at 10:45am the Judge declared us a family of three; Craig, Barbara and Dagny.

We had our appointment at 10:00am but didn’t actually start until 10:25am. So, with that said it went very quickly (20 minutes) and it wasn’t very painful at all. 🙂 I was elected by my husband to do the majority of the talking, YEAH. To be totally honest I wasn’t nervous at all, which is totally out of character for me. I took that as a sign, that this child was meant to be ours and everything is going to be just fine. So, I was called up to the center of the courtroom where I was facing the judge face on and our translator right next to me. She asked all the questions that we have been preparing for. Then it was Craig’s turn and he answered his three questions and then the judge went into her chambers to deliberate. Not even five minutes pasted and she came back out and we stood and she read us our verdict that we are Dagny’s new parents. Tears were coming down my cheeks even as the judge was looking at us saying those words. Everyone smiled and the Deputy Director of Dagny’s orphanage came over, hugged and kissed us, and called us Mama and Papa. I almost lost it again.

Afterwards we went to the orphanage to drop the Deputy Director, the gifts, and donations off. We knew the possibility was there that we can get custody of Little Miss D but nothing is ever in stone during this long adoption process. After we handed out the gifts we were taken into the playroom where the kids usually play. This was my second time in that room and both the times the kids were sleeping (sorry Nichole – I couldn’t get any photos of Vera). They actually woke Dagny up for us to take. We handed them her new outfit and watched as she was being dressed.

We then headed home where we had our first family outing by going to the supermarket together. She was just soaking it all in and riding in high style in her new stroller (Thank you again Uncle Timmy). We then ate, took a nap and played. What a wonderful day