Our First Visit... and Photos!

I was totally exhausted yesterday and had no energy to post. I am totally exhausted and hungry today but I have been instructed to POST THE PHOTOS as soon as I get home! So my dear NFD, this is for you. I haven't even eaten dinner yet- that's how much I love you...

The visit went extremely well. We spent about 2 hours with the V's. At first, they were a bit shy, as many children are when meeting new people. But they let us hold them. I brought a helium balloon for each of them (this was Valentino's request) and they played with the balloons the whole time we were there. You can see balloon strings in most of the photos. (I got the go-ahead from Greg to share photos. Just don't forward them to any media outlets! Only for us!)

Here is Valentino at the beginning of the visit. A little somber, but SO CUTE!!!



We brought a copy of the scrapbook I created for our adoption agency to leave with S and P, so that they could show it to the children and remind them of who we are. We also pointed out my mom, Dave's dad, and other family members. Dave and Valentino were looking at the book while I was holding Victoria on the other side of the room. I heard Valentino say, "Daddy," and looked up to see him pointing at a page. Shocked, I asked Dave, "Did he just say...?" and Dave nodded at me with a huge grin on his face. I asked, "Is he pointing at a picture of you?" and Dave nodded again. I was less surprised by the use of the name Daddy (S and P have been reinforcing this) than by the fact that he could recognize a photo of Dave. We had only met a few minutes before!

The children warmed up to Dave quickly. This was what happened the first time Dave held Victoria.



Later, Dave was holding Valentino, and Victoria wanted some attention too, so she came over to him and threw her little arms around his leg. He reached down and scooped her up.



Here is our first family portrait.



Victoria is so adorable! She likes to open the door of this TV stand and crawl inside. Then she closes the door behind her. It is just her size. He didn't try it while we were there, but S told us that sometimes Valentino tries to climb in there with her and she kicks him right out. It's HER special place! She is a little princess.



I did pretty well with the children too, if I may pat myself on the back.



And here is Valentino at the end of the visit, cute as ever, but a bit more relaxed. A lot of people are telling me that he looks like me in this picture. What do you think?