A Low-Key Week that Finished with Some Real Fireworks…

Hello everyone! After the seemingly non-stop excitement of last week, we wanted to keep this week a little more on the calm side. We completed one of the final milestones in Victoria’s US citizenship this week, when we received her US Passport. The picture is completely adorable!! We need only register her adoption with the state and file for her state birth certificate. Of course, we still have our 4 post-placement reports that we will need to complete. As a result, our last official order of business related to this process will be due on March 18th, 2012 (3 years from our date in Russian court).

For a change, this week was short on doctors visits (only two this week, which was nice). The highlight of these visits was her last (of three) visits to the dentist to fix cavities from 6 ½ years of, likely, subpar dental care. She seems to really enjoy brushing her teeth now, so here’s hoping that she is now on the path to healthy teeth (so, she can keep flashing that beautiful smile!).

The three of us enjoyed a nice visit with Victoria’s “Auntie and Uncle” (one of Mommy’s best friends) this week. This was the first time that we have been able to see them since they welcomed home their newborn baby boy. Victoria was very interested in their little baby, their cat (of which, she is clearly still a little afraid) and the trains that she could see from their apartment window. During this visit, Victoria also got to spend a lot of time coloring in some awesome drawings made by her uncle (one of which was a portrait of her). With respect to the cat, she was still a little hesitant, but was confident enough to give it a snack (at arm’s length) by the time she left.

Our town had its 4th of July fireworks this weekend, so we finished this week off with an awesome fireworks show on Saturday night. In order to get over to the show, our town sets up school bus shuttles from the area schools. Victoria has been saying for weeks that she wanted us to ride the bus with her when she goes to school. Of course, we won’t be able to ride with her then, so it was great that we got this chance to ride with her. She loved the bus and was waving to the multiple thousands of people that were on their way to the show. Once the show started, Little Miss absolutely loved the fireworks…she was laughing and giggling the whole time. She also had a blast with her glow sticks necklaces and playing on the assorted slides/games that they had set for all of the kids. Needless to say, Victoria was wiped out by the time that we got home, but continued to talk about how much she loved the fireworks throughout the next day.

Here are some pictures from this week…

Making Mommy lunch in the play kitchen:
Helping Mommy feed baby at her Auntie and Uncle’s house:
Victoria coloring the portrait that her Uncle drew of her…She made sure to get all of the colors right:
Riding the school bus with Mommy and Daddy:
Ready to tackle the big slides before the fireworks show:­On her way down the slide…she had no fear, she literally jumped from the top:
Seriously, do you think that she was having fun?
Shooting some hoops in the “Dunk Pit”:
Waiting with Daddy for the fireworks to start:
Sitting with Mommy as the show was about to start:
Taking her position to watch the fireworks:
It was a spectacular show!