Swirly Whirly Russian Girliez

AugustRose celebrated her 7th birthday this week. Gosh she is growing up so much. It seems like yesterday we were in Novosibirsk in the midst of a blizzard trying desperately to pack on short notice.
We were only in the region for a couple of days after court and headed to Moscow in a flash. August was stick thin, but tall as a beanpole. She was walking, but because none of her shoes fit, I carried her for most of the trip.
My mom, my sister, Anni, and myself stayed in an apartment in Moscow, and although there were several meltdowns by all of us on various days, we enjoyed pretending to live in the big city..

Our airport experience is always horrible in Moscow.
One piece of luggage was 3 or 4 pounds over, and the other piece was 10 or so pounds under. Yet they made me switch out items so that both items were weighted evenly.We hit the jackpot upon getting to our seats on the plane. The "stu" told my mom and sister to take the seats in front of our own. So we had our four seats in the middle and four more seats in front of that.
We were all suffering from a bit of jetlag so an hour or so after take-off, Mom and my sister spread out and went to sleep. I remember it being too warm on the plane, and both girlz were sweaty in their snow clothes. I got them stripped down and spread them out on our seats and we had the most glorious naps. It was the best flight. We got stuck in the airport in NYC. We ended up waiting there for almost 10 hours beyond what we were scheduled to wait. When we finally got on the plane it was one of those puddle jumpers. I had what I think was my first real panic attack. Leave it to my sister to have valium or xanex..I spent that whole flight with my head between my legs. There was just so little room, and we were the last onto the plane so we had to hold everything. Including August. (At that point she was young enough to fly in my lap)

Regardless of the details, my memories of Russia are blissful. I enjoyed life with my "Adoption-Colored" glasses on. My time in Russia was the highlight of my life.

And this week, my little one, my spunky child turned 7. She is just a silly willy mess and I love her more than my luggage.

 Poppy giving Auggie her birthday shirt! Very soon, we won't be going to get the yearly Gymboree shirt. My little one is growing so much!

Pre Birthday balloon and cake time. For the record, the balloon went outside and lasted all of 4 minutes. Glad I have this picture!

 

 

 

 

So the week ended with love in my heart for the gal I found in central Siberia. My soviet princess, my darling, my love, my angel, you have forever changed me. You have given this momma's heart a reason to beat a lil' bit harder. Happy Birthay Auggie Lee! Momma loves and adores you.