July 7, 2008 - Back from Russia (1st Trip)

We got back from St Petersburg ("Peter" as the Russians refer to it) yesterday late afternoon. We awoke at 2:45am Peter time, Sunday, and arrived home at 2:30pm Dallas time - basically had a 23 hour day after all was said & done. We were barely able to make it with just the 2 of us...can't imagine the trip with a 2 year old as well! We met Nicky at the orphanage (Baby Home #1) on the afternoon of the 3rd and spent a few hours more with him on the 4th...it was so amazing I can hardly put it into words. He is super cute & seems to be very well taken care of! He is already potty trained (yeah!), and has a very healthy diet. We'll most likely be going back to pick him up in September, and that will give us more time to prepare. He speaks Russian - not too many words/phrases, but enough for it to be frustrating for all of us! :( Still so worth it! Anyway - here are some pictures of us at the orphanage the first day. He had just woken up and after a snack we were able to take him outside to play some. They have a pretty nice playground and have little bikes, etc for them to ride. As you can see, Nicky sticks his tongue out when he's enjoying something (just like his Pop!).

This is the look we got when we 1st told Nicky we were leaving...

Paka Paka (bye bye) little guy...we'll see you soon!