A Call From God

A Call From God...

We've all heard of religious leaders getting a calling from God ... but have you actually seen one?

Below .. A Georgian Orthodox Monk on his mobile phone.

Caller ID ... OUT OF AREA ... "OH GOD ... Is that you?"

Today was Independence Day in Georgia.

While there were many celebratory events planed we were advise to stay clear as there were protests scheduled and in fact did occur as we saw on the local news this evening.

There was a large parade which would have been interesting as while we in the USA are used to the Rose parade and Macy's Thanks Giving parade this parade today involved the military.

A show of National pride, military strength and celebrating their Independence. It would have been a once in a life time experience for us but with little Tamara it would have been a risk we simply weren't willing to even consider.

~

Since many of the main streets in Tbilisi were closed today our agency staff here in Tbilisi suggested we leave the city and head to SVETITSKHOVELI about a half hour outside the city.

Since this is Georgian Independence Day and SVETITSKHOVELI has played such a huge part in their history and culture which ultimately has contributed to their survival and Independence I thought I'd focus on the importance of SVETITSKHOVELI.

We in the USA are always in awe of anything more then a few hundred years old as our country and culture is so young compared to the rest of the world.

I hope you enjoy this brief glimpse back in time as much as we did.

Truly fascinating.

~

SVETITSKHOVELI

Svetitskhoveli is the most important monument of the Georgian culture, art and architecture. The cathedral differs not only in it's artistic value, magnificence and harmony, but in the special role it has played in the history of the Georgian nation.

The period of the cathedral construction commencement (the begining of the 11th century) coincided with the most difficult and interesting epoch in the history of Georgia. Feudalism was at the summit of its development then. The combat for the unification of Georgia has successfully ended. The political and economic success coused national, spiritual, cultural, literary, philosophical, creative, architectural elevation and was marked by highly developed painting and goldsmith art. The architecture of cathedrals of a cruciform type has reached the highest level of development. The origin of it's national style has been generated by Jvari (CROSS) Monastary of Mtskheta (the 6th -7th cc.), which is the first completed and classical sample of such architectural form. It was in that very period that the most remarkable monuments of the Georgian architecture were built, such as: Alaverdi, Bagrati, Samtavisi, Samtavro, Nikortsminda, Manglisi, Ishkhani, and many other churches and cathedrals. Svetitskhoveli is the most special among the masterpieces of the Georgian architecture.

The history of Svetitskhoveli cannot be separated from the heroic past of Georgia. Construction of of Svetitskhoveli first building is connected with adoption of Christianity by the Georgian Kingdom at the beginning of the feudalism formation. Further on, as a result of a devastating raids of numerous enemies, various invaders tried to raze it. But due to the unbending will of their antcestors, their artistic energy and spiritual strength, the Cathedral always regained it's magnigicence, always remained a symbol of vitality, unconquerable nature of the country.

Svetitskhoveli, first of all, has been a religious center of Georgia, as it was the patriarchal cathedral, and residence of catholicos-patriarches, heads of the Georgian Church, weddings, christenings of the Georgian princes took place, it is also a burial place for Georgian kings, queens, princes and catholicos-patriarchs (some of the graves have been reserved in the Cathedral by now). When various invaders raided Georgia, Svetitskhoveli with its richest library has been an impaortant center of letters promoting spread of literacy. There exists evidence that the books were kept in special depositories, built in the walls, together with treasures.

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral preserved now is dated 11 th century.

At the begining of the 4th century East Georgian Kingdom offically adopted the Christain rligion. This resulted in commencement of the construction of churches. The first Georgian church was built just in the "holy grove", i.e. the royal garden, located in the place Mtkvari and Aragvi confluence. It was built by order of the first Christain King of Georgia Mirian in the 30's of the 4th century. This wooden construction was a small size, which is witnessed by the archaelogical excavations conducted recently of the cathedral. The remains of wooden pilasters discovered there were dated by the scholars as of the 4th century. This enabled to say for sure that the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral built by King Mirina's orders was a wooden construction.

In the second half of the 5th century, in the period of King Vakhtang Gorgasali's reign, the Georgian church gained independence, i.e. it became autocephalic (before that it had been subject to the Antioch Patriarchate). From that time on Matskheta has been declared a patriarchal residence with the cathedral in Svetitskhoveli. The city in that period was a center of Christianity nit only for Georgia, but the entire Cucasus. A small wooden church had no longer corresponded to the increased role and authority of the Christain religion, that was why the end of the 5th century King Vakhtang Gorgasali ordered to construct a larger stone construction of three-naved basilica type. It measures much exceeded the famous churches, such as Tsilkani, Bolnisi, Khashmi, etc. Nothing is left of that building now, as it has been greatly damaged over the centuries and it had to be reconstructed by the end of the 11th century.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction works were haeded by Catholicos-Patriarch Melchisedek I. By his order an architecct Arsukis-dze, at the begining of the 11th century, reconstructed an old basilica, into the cruciform construction. This marvelous masterpiece by Arsukis-dze, has been preserved by now with some alterations.

In the 11th century the works for constructing Svetitskhoveli commenced in the priod of the first King of Georgia Nargrat III (1001-1014). The main works were constructed in the reign of King Giorgi I (1014-1027) and the Cathedral has it's completed form in the period of King Bargrat IV (1027-1072). As a result of comparing different data it has been specified that Svetitskhoveli Cathedral was built for 19 years (1010-1029).

Svetitskhoveli occupies a central place in the composition of Mtskheta architectral ensemble. The Cathedral represents a cross set in the elongated quadrangle, finished and pyramidal, sixteen windowed dome from which the cross arms are stretched.

Above the caretakers... A Monk and Monkette...

tried to get a better picture but we didn't want to be rude.

OK.. back to your history lesson. ;o)

A tragic history of Georgia had it's heavy aftermaths on the Cathedral dome: as a result of devasting earthquake in Georgia at the end of the 13th century (1283) the dome fell down, it was repaired by Giorgi the Spendid in the first half of the 14th century. For the 2nd time the dome was destroyed by Tamerlane's (Timur Lenk) warriors at the end of the 14th century.

The Middle Asian conqueror had raided Georgia eight times. During one of his campains he ravaged Svetitskhoveli as we know from the chronicler. By some evidences, this raid took place during his 2nd campain in 1387. Tamerlane's devasting attack has been considered the most destructive among other numerous raids on Svetotskhoveli. Tamerlane's horders destroyed the Cathedral stone fence, plundered the gold decorated font, valuables and library books preserved in caches. They also decided to destroy the Cathedral itself. With this aim in view, by Tamerlane's order the Svetitskhoveli piers were broken, but the Cathedral it's self was not destroyed, onlt its dome fell down.

Alexsandre I restored the piers but had them m thicker to reinforce the construction, so that they lost their original beauty. Even today it's clearly seen how much the piers of the 11th and 15th centuries differ from one another. In the 11th century the arches were higher, the pier more refinded and beautiful. Out of three arches of the western arm, only two were left. So if the distance amaong the arches was originally equal, after the 11th century restoration the step of one of them twicw exceeded thet of another.

We can understand why it became necessary to thicken the piers for making them firm, if we take into consideration that each of these piers should bear 700 tons from the upper part of the Cathedral.

Mohammedan King Rostom of Karti (reigned 1632-1638) took great care of Svetitskhoveli. It was due to the virtue of his wife, Miram Dadiani, a true Christain and of great learning and wisdom. They had fundamental restoration works conducted for the damaged Cathedral, dome and contributed a great number of peasants. The contribution from the villiages was collected both in money and in kind (bread, wine, candles, cloth, etc.).

At the end of the 17th century Svetitskhoveli owned 1025 families of peasants and 237 villiages throughout Georgia.

Tamara ... Are we having fun yet?


Although a very interesting spot filled with history and culture it really wasn't a big hit with Tamara as you can see. There really aren't too many things in Tbilsi for little ones Tamara's age and size. :o(

We have also noticed that Tamara gets a little worried everytime we take her for a car ride. I think she's afraid we might take her back?

~~~

Lays... You can't eat just one...

Lays .. you can't eat just one.

Little Miss Sunshine woke up in a great mood again this morning.

We ran to the potty, washed up, combed our hair, brushed our teeth and headed for the kitchen.

For breakfast she had a fruit yogurt, cereal fruit bar and a few cookies. Yesterday we tried mashed banana which I thought every kid liked? She didn't?

So this morning in an effort to a find healthy alternative to cookies...lol. I thought I'd try a banana again. But it occurred to me she might eat it whole or sliced.. so I asked her. "Tamara would you like a banana? Ban-an-a?"

And I hear her say "Ban-an-a". Wow... I almost fell over.

Who would have thought her first real word would be banana? lol

And no she didn't eat it. She fed it to me. What a character.

~

After breakfast I gave Tamara a bubble bath. Which again she loves. Amazing little girl she doesn't fuss when it's time to get out. Guess it's the no nonsense training she's had in the orphanage and foster home setting?

Soon Anna arrived with our lunch.

She brought a delicious bean bread that her Mom made for us. It's a re fried bean type filling inside a Filo type dough. A salad and was making home made chicken soup. We ended up having the yummy soup for dinner as we had gotten a call that we needed to have Tamara's passport photos taken and were being picked up in 20 minutes.

After the photo shoot we decided to go to the Tbilisi Zoo. For those who live in NJ it's about the size of Space Farms. Daddy bought Tamara a Barbie Helium Balloon 8 Lari about $6 ? This is the type of balloon you would find at a dollar store in the USA. Little extras are very expensive here. She loved being strolled around and seemed more interested in the other children then the Zoo animals. We tried putting her on a ride but she wouldn't have it. :o( After coming home.. late for her nap again... bad mommy. I cleaned her up.. gave her a snack and put her down for a power nap.

During the nap I decided to do some laundry... by hand.. yeah... like my manicurist is going to love me when I get home. lol

Why by hand? Well Bruce put a load of towels in this morning and at 4pm they we still spinning? Came out dripping wet but clean. I figured by hand was quicker. Luckily I brought some traveling laundry detergent & Woolite. So it really wasn't a big deal. "BRUCE where's the dryer?" ... "We don't have one"

Yup there's a drying rack on the balcony. Guess I didn't need to pack the fabric softener dryer sheets? :o) lol.

Below is our Baby Girl waiting for the washer to do something... anything... it just sat there for over an hour. Luckily she didn't but she did check it every 10 minutes or so. She kept bringing Bruce to it as if to say "fix it Daddy".

Tamara has gotten into the habit of bringing reading material in with her when she knows she'll be a while. This picture was not staged... she really does this.

Too Funny!

Tamara found the bag of lollipops for the orphanage.

It was suggested that I bring 300 so I did. Looks like we're buying disposable diapers for the baby house with the fund raising money. It's going to be a huge number of boxes... I think we're going to need a truck? lol...

Lays.. You can't eat just one.

After dinner Bruce went down stairs to pick up a few things. The small grocery type store has a little bit of everything and is the size of... hum... no it's smaller then a 7-11 in the US. But very convenient. Wish we had one on our block. Anyway... I told him to pick up a snacky something.. he came back with a bag of Lays potato chips. Left them on the table where Tamara soon found them. She brought the bag to me and gave me that "Please Mommy" look. Yeah you know the look... it's the one little girls use in toy stores and Malls back home... yeah.. she's got it perfected already...lol. Anyway I gave her one to try. She loved it.. when she wanted more I said no. Don't want her getting hooked on junk food. Then Daddy came in the kitchen. Again with the look "Please Daddy" Bruce looks at me and says one more? lol. Then he says to her but you have to sit in Daddy's lap and he motions for her to sit in his lap. She hadn't done that yet. But she agreed. And then I heard Daddy say. "AS long as you sit in Daddy's lap you can have as many as you want" lol... oh boy... she's got him so wrapped around her pinkie. lol

Later as we relaxed in the living room. Tamara and I were on the couch and Bruce was sitting in a chair reading the "SURVIVAL GEORGIAN" book cousin Liya had recommended. (Thank You Liya). Tamara had the TV control we were watching BBC news and I wondered if they had something child like on instead but I couldn't get Tamara to give me the control. Then Bruce said " Lee say "gah-ee ka-veet" so I did and she gave it to me. "What did I say" I asked. Please share he said. Wow I guess I pronounced it correctly. lol. Then he says.. say .. mind you he's spelling it to me. "kahr-ghee go-go khar" so I do. Tamara's face lights up like a Christmas tree. What did I say? Good girl he tells me. ;o) OK.. lets try this one... he says laughing. "mah-koh-tseh" so I do and Tamara puckers up and gives me 3 kisses. What was that I asked. Bruce is laughing.. and says Kiss me. He then says.. We must have the only kid that comes with an owners manual...lol. Pretty funny stuff no? lol She is so so sweet and smart. She's amazing.

~~~

Another Wonderful Day for BLT

Another Wonderful Day with Tamara.

Tamara is an amazing child. She woke up this morning slowly. Stretching, yawning trying to focus on her surroundings. To be honest I was afraid she'd wake up... look at me and cry. But no not our little girl. When she finally focused on me... I just said Good Morning Sunshine and she smiled got up and put her arms up for me to pick her up. So Sweet.

She woke up a little earlier then I had thought and hadn't dressed or showered yet myself. But we took her to her potty, changed her pull up, washed, Brushed our teeth and she was good to go. I then made made French Toast with fresh strawberries which she loved. She drank milk.. and wanted to play. Tamara likes to play in water.. so much so she will intentionally do things to have an excuse to wash her hands. Very cute... she has the cleanest hands in Tbilisi..lol.

She also likes to brush her teeth and she has great little teeth. Still haven't managed to count them all cause she thinks mommy is so silly she giggles through it which makes it near impossible to do.

Around 11 am when the kitchen was clean again and Tamara was attached to my hip..literally I realized I was still in my robe. Still no shower? Hum... I told Bruce now I understand why young mothers say it's a challenge to shower. Now I get it ;o)

I finally did catch a break when Anna arrived to prepare our lunch. Tamara is very fond of her and she watched her so I could get my act together.

After lunch we walked to the neighborhood park. A nice walk although one that I couldn't do one my own with Tamara. I've mentioned the traffic / driving before. It's very confusing at the intersections here. Being a pedestrian is rough.. one with a stroller is a little bit too crazy. How ever the path to the park includes a underground tunnel that goes under the intersection. But it involves steps so Bruce and I carried Tamara and the stroller up and down several sets of steps. She loved it.. it wasn't that hard with two people but would have been a hazard with one.

The park was nice but it really didn't have very much for a child Tamara's age to do.

There was an amusement park for children 5 + . Spinning tea cups that went too fast and were too small for an adult to go with her, bumper cars and such. Maybe 6-8 rides?

The playground equipment was for older children as well. Monkey bars, a see saw, a twisty slide. No swings? No lawn in the park... but a pretty walk and lots of locals.

At the park... pretty no?

Fresh fruits and veggies stand on the way home.

When we returned to the apartment we played and played and we had dinner.

Tamara having a cookies and milk break with Daddy.

She likes to play a game with him where she gets cookie crumbs on her hands and he wipes them off. Very cute seeing the two in action together.

Dinner

Georgian Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with dill, salad. Tamara ate very well.. cleaned her plate. After dinner Daddy went down stairs to a local mini mart type store and bought some ice cream. He said he had two choices. Vanilla or chocolate. He paid about $14 for a pint? Not even Haagen Daz? But it was very good. Tamara enjoyed it. It's interesting in some of Tamara's older photos she has bright red cheeks. I was told she was allergic to Chocolate and oranges? She's been eating chocolate since we met her. First at the foster home and then here. No red cheeks?

Tamara missed her 2 pm nap today due to the park trip.

I know what your thinking... bad mommy... I was out voted. And it did effect her. By five she was falling asleep to a baby Einstein tape. Tried to put her down for a power nap she wouldn't have it. Then at 8 I thought I'd put her to bed an hour early ? Again she fought it and didn't fall asleep until after 9 pm.

One of Tamara's many potty trips today. No mistakes... just a wet pull up in the morning.

She did start something interesting today. pulling her pants down when she needs to do #2? All of a sudden she calls me and has her pants around her angles and tries to run to the bathroom. lol. Very cute seeing her tiny tush running but we need to address this before the trip home. Not something I want happening at the airport.

She also stole Daddy's heart today... she gave him a kiss. Yup... he's a goner...lol

yup... I got one too.

Very Cute.. sweet and so very smart. I started teaching her the alphabet today.

So far we've got an "A" lol

Tomorrow we work on "B" lol

OK.. better go... Thanks for all your great comments... Appreciated as always.

Kisses

BLT ;o)

What a Wonderful World

What a wonderful world...

Today went extremely well... we were picked up and taken to the notary to sign documents for Tamara's birth certificate and visa and told she has a Western Drs. appointment Tuesday.

A checkup by an embassy appointed Dr. is a requirement to obtain her visa to enter the USA.

Then we went to the US embassy in Tbilisi. For those who haven't been to a US foreign embassy it felt like home base. Remember when you were a kid and made it to home plate? The feeling "I'm safe" lol.. yeah sort of like that. We had to show our passports and say who we were there for. Then the security screening. They checked my purse.. a rather small one compared to what I use at home but in it they found.

2 mobile phones.. one from home and the other for here.

lipstick, make up, chewing gum, hand disinfectant and a bunch of other stuff that wasn't allowed. So much so I took my wallet and travelers checks and told them to hold on to the rest of the purse..lol Then we passed through that building and proceed through a nicely landscaped court yard... to the next building. Had to get buzzed in and go through another briefer screening.

It was interesting. We have to bring Tamara back after all her papers are complete as well as the Drs. visit. They want to meet all the children.

Now here's the good part... they had everything they needed... woohoo!!!

Tamara is coming home!!!

~

Tamara's Foster home is on the 9th floor or Top floor of this building.

OK.. I know you're all dieing to know what happen. Well right after the embassy we went to pick her up. The foster mom was instructed not to be home. Just grandma and the other children.

Tamara was excited as she was wearing a pretty new dress that our facilitator had given her and she knew she was going out to have some fun. Our nanny / cook was with us as was our translator Nina. We all went upstairs. 9th floor and it appeared that the elevator was broken. Grrr... but after 3 floors we found out where the elevator was so we hopped in. Yeah I know... crazy but it worked. Took us up the rest of the way.

Tamara was very happy to see us all and we had Anna carry her out as she's known Anna for months and likes her. Grandma is a very sweet woman. With tears in her eyes she kissed Tamara good bye and told me "you're a good woman.. you will be a good mom."

It meant a lot to me to hear that from her.. as it was heart felt.

Tamara was wonderful on the ride to our apartment.. taking everything in quietly.

We had decided to not do the park yet but rather go to the apartment to see how she might react.

When we arrived she was fine and then Anna left to go pick up a crib for Tamara and Tamara had a melt down. It was heart breaking but we had to do it. If you ever see Tamara cry it will melt your heart. She doesn't like to cry so when she does you know she's upset.

She cried for about 15 minutes and I was able to console her enough that she sopped crying and started to listen. I told her I loved her repeatedly and with each I love you you could see a change come over her. Another half hour went by before Tamara let me hold her. I started to bring her some gifts. Her first baby doll and some doll clothes. A few of the dolls dresses had matching dresses for Tamara. I was showing the matching dresses to the translator and Tamara wanted to try one one.. so we did and then we dressed the doll to match. She liked it. My girly girl then followed me into the spare room where I had her wardrobe laid out and she noticed the new shoe collection. Yup I got her size right. 7 pairs to match all her outfits is what she saw.

She picked up a pair of black Maryjane's and wanted to wear them. I looked at them and said.. they don't match baby girl. OK.. if we're going to wear the wrong shoes for the outfit lets make it fun ;o) And showed her her Disney princess light up sneakers. Wow.. it was like Christmas. lol

She immediately sat down on the floor took off her shoes and held her feet up one at a time so I could put them on. How cute is that? She started running around the apartment so proud of her new shoes. It was adorable.

Then after a cookie and apple juice break (doesn't seem to like milk or sippy cups) She likes the cup but has me screw the top off to drink and on when she's done.

Then I gave her a necklace I had purchased for her with a little angel charm and a little charm that says Mom. I had the translator tell her this was for her because she's my little Angel and she told her the Mom charm was because she now has one. She loved it. Let me put it on her and wore it proudly. Really adorable. ;o)

Then I brought out the coloring books and I told Bruce to sit down and color with her. He did and again she loved it. Daddy took turns with her. She would make a line and then daddy would. It was cute. From a far it looked like they were playing tic tac toe...lol

After coloring she walked back into the spare room and found her hair accessory and sunglasses collection. Yes my daughter wears sunglasses.

Is she cute or what? lol

Behind her is Anna making dinner.

This picture cracks me up. She wanted me to stop taking pictures. She reminded me of one of the Hollywood starlets when they get fed up with the photographers. So funny.

I had Anna make scrambled eggs and french fries for dinner my personal comfort food favorite from when I was little. Tamara loved it. Ate two helpings and was very happy to be sitting with Mommy and Daddy during dinner. At the orphanage and foster home they would put her in a quiet room by herself at a kid size table. She would gobble her food up in 10 minutes. Tonight she took her time. Asked for more and giggled through most of it.

Our first dinner together... Tamara has excellent table manners. I would not hesitate taking her to a 5 star restaurant... seriously... she was that good. And extremely funny.. she has a great sense of humor.

Bath time... Tamara loves water and she went nuts with her first bubble bath. Again she was awesome.

Bedtime is 9 pm at the foster home so we're trying to stick to that until we get home. She'll have to adjust to the new time zone anyway so we'll get her to bed earlier and up sooner as she will have pre-school in September. She sleeps 9 to 9 and a 2 hour nap at 2 pm. After her bath and brushing her teeth which she loved .. amazing kid no? I put her to bed in her new crib and she got up and raised her arms up. So I picked her up and rocked her. This happen about half a dozen times. She finally went to sleep at 9:30.

Still asleep.. now 12:45 am. She's an active sleeper. Kicked off her covers a few times but she's an angel.

We also tried out the stroller in the apartment she likes it but not the harness. We'll try again tomorrow. Have to get her used to the harness before we travel anywhere. Not just the stroller but the FAA approved CARES harness for the plane and when we return the car seat.

OH and one more thing... I received photo Id's of both birth her parents. So not only does she have their identity but their pictures as well. That's a really big deal for international adoptions. Woohoo!!!

Ok.. Mommy needs some sleep...

Awesome Day!!!

Go here go there

Go here.. go there.

That's what our morning / afternoon is going to be like.

Georgians are not morning people as we're finding out.

Still waiting for our lunch to arrive...just informed Anna's sister is bringing it today?

Haven't met her sister yet..but I'm sure she's nice.

Anna is running our paperwork around and our facilitator is waiting to hear from the orphanage director to find out what the children need most as we have the fundraising money and our donation money to shop with. Hopefully we can pick that up today.

Yes we will have to do that one day soon. Visiting the other children will be another heart breaker.

Today we still have to go to the embassy, notary and then we will pick up Tamara.

Being that "nothing" seems to happen before noon here.. that is unless your job involves a jack hammer (yup the boys downstairs are still banging away..lol). Our early morning start and trip to the park isn't happening.

We should have our daughter around 5 pm our time.

~

Also need a potty and a crib... nigher one was here when we arrived.

Since Tamara sleeps in one now ..we do need to have one available.

I'm hoping she'll be comfortable enough to sleep with us. King size bed.

I did bring a traveling potty seat .. the kind you put on a toilet but she's used to sitting on a big cup. Very cute. So we need one to transition.

~

OK.. That's the Morning update... thought I'd post now as I think I'm going to be a little bit busy tonight. ;o)

~

Thank You all for all the wonderful comments... they really help and are very much appreciated.

~~~

DING DONG... the door bell rang... lunch and Potty chair are here. So Cute!

~~~

Our day in Court

Our Day in court ...

Our day in court started out with some confusion.

We knew we were scheduled for a 12 noon court appearance so we were dressed and ready to roll by 11 am. Then a knock came at the door and it was our facilitator who informed us there was a schedule change. Our judge apparently had a criminal case that was running over time and we were to appear at 4 pm. Would we like to do something else?

Our first idea was to go see Tamara but she was a half hour away in the suburbs of Tbilisi and we wouldn't have enough time as we needed to change out of our court outfits and therefore would need time to dress again as the court house was about another half hour away. That would have given us maybe an hour with our daughter. So we decided to go site seeing and visit her after court figuring we'd have more bonding time.

The thought of not seeing her at all today was heart breaking especially since I promised her we'd be back to play today.

~

So we went site seeing and visited a few of the beautiful Churches in the area.

The first was an adventure just getting to it. Our drivers car wouldn't make the steep climb up the cobblestone narrow street so we started out walking and then Anna our cook / nanny managed to flags down a very courageous taxi driver who barely got us there. The street reminded me of the famous one in San Francisco except you add in the cobblestone, some very impressive pot holes and no turns in the road to break it up it was strait up. Yeah... I know where is the video? Well I was holding on for dear life and we really didn't think it was going to be such impressive driving...lol

Anyway when we got to the church we strolled on in and I was stopped for not having a head cover. Something I haven't had to think about in years in the USA.

I was handed a scarf and then informed if we weren't Georgian Orthodox we weren't allowed to take any pictures. Bruce had the video camera and the woman wanted his disc even though he wasn't filming inside. Anna said no and we left.

Next church we knew the drill so I covered my head coming in... when in Rome do as the Romans do... I can appreciate that. This church didn't have a problem with photography but I thought it would be disrespectful to all the people that were praying so I didn't. Flash and all.

Leaving Church # 2 we ran into another family that was there to adopt a 9 month old little girl.

Very nice couple from Georgia a (our state).

OK.. time to race back to change for court... first a quick trip to a notary and then we drive to the court house.

At the court house we had to wait for well over an hour. Outside in the car. No court house lobby? Not allowed in until you're called. The other family went in first. We waited and waited. Then I needed to how shall I say? Powder my nose? Still in the waiting mode in the parking lot.. I'm told we can't use the court house bathroom by one of the translators. The driver and translator drive us to a western restaurant and that agrees to let us use their facility. Later I am told by the other American adoptive mom that the bathrooms in the court house are Asian style. So I'm thankful we were taken to another location and then realized it wasn't that you can't as in not allowed but you can't as in you really shouldn't try this in a dress with pantyhose. lol Yes Filomina I can hear the giggles all the way from Georgia so stop that..lol

By the way.. Filomina can you email me one of Dominic's pictures. People are asking to see him. ;o) Flag the email so I can find it.

Our court hearing went very well but it was a little nerve wrecking as we really had to rely on the translator.. who was very good.

We are officially Tamara Katarina's parents. And our wait time was waved thanks to the glowing recommendation from the Ministry of Education's representative and our lawyer who were both very nice.. Woohoo!

Tomorrow we have to go get some things notarized and visit the US embassy in Tbilisi as we still have the missing finger print issue? If we can straighten that out we'll be coming home early if not we have to wait until it is straightened out. Could it run over time.. yeah it could.. so at this point we have no idea.. really... but she's ours.

~~~

We did finally get to visit Tamara. We left her on such a positive note yesterday I was expecting to have a nice visit. Tamara was again so shy and wanted nothing to do with us until the end... when she tolerated us. Problem was yesterday her foster mom wasn't home... today she was. Tamara is very bonded to this woman and I can tell she is very fond of Tamara.

She tried but I think couldn't help herself from taking the nurturing role. When I tried to feed her she took over after the first fork full, when I tried to talk to her there were about 6 people talking to her. At one point they left the room but there was an open door and Tamara soon ran to see what they were doing. When she put her to bed and Tamara cried... I asked for her glow worm sea horse so I could comfort her and the foster mom and daughter ran in and took over.

Tamara at this point was exhausted an hour past her bedtime.

Tomorrow morning we hope to take her and Anna to the park to play. After which we will return her to the foster home do our legal running around and return to pick her up.

It's going to be a rough ride I'm sure but we need to start bonding with her and after tonight I don't see how this will work at the foster home.

Our little girl is so popular even the neighbors starting showing up. At one point we had about a dozen people in the room. A nice informative visit however not helpful.

Our first night / nights together will be rough ones. She's very leery at this point.

She does understand every thing she hears... that's good and bad. I realized tonight that they've been talking about the transition in front of her. Not to her but about her.

Imagine you're 3 and you hear that you're leaving with these people you really don't know.

Imagine the only family you've known talking about your going away?

Yes.. It's going to be rough but after tonight's visit we really need to bite the bullet and do it.

She needs to bond and trust us before we leave. The clock is ticking so we have to move swiftly.

Yes it's been an emotional roller coaster ride day... I'm sure there will be many more like it in our future. But I also know that she will come around.. we just need to be super patient and understanding. Yes she will hate / fear us before she loves / trusts us. It's a fact of life when adopting a 3 year old. Old enough to feel / see the difference but not old enough to understand the difference.

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I've decided I'm not going to sugar coat this process as I know many adoption blogs are sugar coated. I was always grateful to those parents who shared such information as it's helped me to prepare mentally and emotionally to deal with it.

This process is not for the faint of heart. These are real children with real emotions.

It takes a tremendous amount of inner strength to handle it. Strength I wasn't sure I had until I met Tamara. She is worth every tear, every sleepless night. And in the end I know in my heart she'll be ok. She will be a loving, generous little spirit.

I finally understand what my mother meant when she said.

"This will hurt me more then it does you."

It took 40+ years but I finally get it. ;o)

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Below is a picture of Tamara and one of her little neighbor friends who came to visit.

So cute.. reminded me of my baby buddy Desi (read do you remember?)

If I could give one piece of advice to parents who are considering adopting from another country it would be learn the basics in their language.

A simple "I love you" can make a huge difference in your child.

I never imaged Tamara would understand as much as she does. Which is wonderful but it also puts more of a demand on us to communicate with her in Georgian. Especially during this transition phase.

For those who are not familiar Georgian is a very unique language. It is NOT Russian at all.

Before I sign off as it's really late here and Mommy needs her beauty sleep badly these days. lol

When we were in Munich waiting to board our flight to Tbilisi there were some women chatting away in Georgian to a man who was answering them but I could understand every word he said but not the women? Weird huh? Anyway... I told Bruce.. I said this is weird I can understand the man but not the women. I got excited thinking wow maybe I do know more Georgian then I thought...lol. Bear in mind I was very sleep deprived after at 8 pm take off from Newark, flight to Munich about 8 hours, a 10 hour lay over. About 2 hours of sleep and at least a pot of coffee.

When we were boarding the man was behind us so I asked him what language he was speaking. Are you ready for this? Croatian...lol.. he was speaking Croatian and they were answering in Georgian. What are the chances of that working? Too weird.

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A Moment like this...

A Moment Like This ....some people wait a life time.

Wow.. What a day this was.

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I know many of you have been waiting for that 1st family photo...

Proof that this is truly happening. lol

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Like many adoptive first family photos and moments ...ours was no different.

Every parent would like to think that their child will some how recognise them as their parent and come running... arms stretched open and they would get that perfect family instantly.

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Truth be told I would have been a little concerned if that would have happen.

It would be a sign of a child that would have attachment issues.

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Tamara is 3 and although she was told we were coming I don't think she fully understood the scope of it all.

She is very attached to her Foster Family. And after spending the afternoon with them and it is obvious they are bonded to her as well.

Upon our arrival we found Tamara home with the Foster Grandmother and the two other foster children living in the home.

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The first picture is what happen when I scooped her up in my arms. Tamara is extremely shy around strangers. You can see the raw emotion of the moment.

A moment later she starts to settle a bit but is still extremely shy.

As I held her .. it took what felt like forever to get her to look at me.

The stuffed toy she's holding is the one we had sent to her with our pictures over a months ago.

She likes the toy and as the afternoon went on she actually brought me the photo album we sent her of us, our house, pets and family. Her way of saying... I know who you are.

I bought all the children a glow worm or seahorse.

Here she opens hers. Another good choice... she likes it as do the other children.

Tamara is very shy around men. Children in orphanages and foster homes don't see many unless they're Drs. so it will take a little while for her to warm up to Daddy.

On the other hand she already has him wrapped around her pinkie... super cute.

She has been checking him out though and he almost got her to eat a spoonful of his ice cream. It's just a matter of time until she takes his whole bowl. lol

About Tamara

Our little girl is extremely shy until she gets to know you. By the end of our visit she would put her arms up for me to pick her up and is a cuddle bug. Best Hug I ever had!!!

Tomorrow we have court... the next BIG Day!

Then we have to go to a notary, embassy and then visit our baby again.

It was a little bit of a heart breaker to leave her today. We have decided to leave her in the foster home for another few days. It will be less traumatic for her if she gets to know us a little better first. Besides we have a lot of official running around to do tomorrow. It just didn't make sense to take her away from her foster family and leave her in our apartment with the nanny.

So if all goes well we'll take possession the day after tomorrow. By then all the legal running around should be pretty much under control and we can devote all our time to her.

Tamara is a very sweet, smart, tiny little thing. She's a good eater and is very co-ordinated. She has rhythm... yup I think we have a dancer. She also likes to be clean and tidy.

A definite girly girl... can't wait to give her a bubble bath and dress her up.

So so cute. You're all going to love her as much as we do.

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On the country front.. today was Election day in Georgia and the losing party has already called for protests.. which is one of the few concerns we had before travel. So we'll have to keep an eye out and watch the local news.

We will also be here for their Independence Day which I believe is next week?

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The city by day could use a fresh coat of paint. But still very interesting and has an old world charm to it like many cities in Europe. There seems to be a monument and or fountain on every street corner. Well maybe not every but the way they drive here it seems like it. lol

We will try and get video of our driving adventure as well for you... somethings are just hard to describe on paper. This is one of them.

The people in Georgia are awesome!!! I haven't felt this warm and fuzzy about the natives since I left Aruba in the 80's. They the Georgians genuinely seem to like people. And they all seem to appreciate what they have and are proud of who they are. It's refreshing.

All in All a wonderful Day in Tbilisi. One we will cherish in our hearts forever.

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