EE Mission Day 34 - Gotcha Day for Mila

Corey and I traveled back to Mila's region on 1/11, and arrived around 11:00 at night. The following morning we were picked up by our facilitator and her husband to complete paperwork that would enable us to take Mila from the orphanage.  Here's a list of what offices we had to go to and paperwork we still needed to complete/finalize.

• Go to court house to pick up court decree.  It wasn't quite ready, so we went to the orphanage which wasn't to far away. 
• We were able to visit with Mila for a short time while our facilitator tended to some business, and went back for the court decree.
• Records office - we went here to obtain a new birth certificate for Mila with her new name, etc. 
• Legalization - necessary for U.S embassy to obtain Visa
• Notary office
• Obtain tax ID number
• Back to orphanage to get Mila
• Passport application/Mila's picture taken
• Go to our apartment, and done for the day.

While we were driving to the orphanage to pick up Mila for her passport photo, I couldn't believe that we had finally made it to this day.  We were going to walk into her orphanage, have her dressed in her new clothes, and take her with us for good. 

When we arrived at the groupa, we gave the caregivers her new clothes.  They dressed her, and I could hardly stand the anticipation of waiting for her to come out.  She was so completely adorable.  Next, they put on her snow pants and coat.  She, of course, was swimming in the 2T coat I brought for her.  Before leaving I asked the caregivers if I could take their picture with her, and they agreed.  I took the picture and we left.  Just like that, it was done. 

When we first arrived at the passport office, I immediately felt overwhelmed.  There were people standing everywhere.  Our facilitator told us to wait, and before we knew it she returned and motioned for us to follow her.  I think it took four tries to get Mila's picture.  She did amazingly well. 

Finally, we were done and driven back to our apartment; where we settled in for the remainder of the day.

Our next blog post will be about our meeting on Friday (1/13) with Mila's birth parents...