Good News (but not THE news)

Guess what?!?! On Thursday, I received some news from Russia. Our translator was able to score some updated current pictures of our little guy! As I opened the e-mail, simply called “Surprise for Sunny Sarochka” (That’s me by the way….) I saw my little angel again, 6 photographs in all. It was a relief as much as it was heart wrenching. In two months, his cheeks have gotten a little fuller and his hair a little less blonde. I noticed the tiny gap between his front teeth was a little less pronounced. The warmer weather outside has obviously been good for him- he looked cheerful and rosy playing outside in his little hat. One of the pictures was him sitting at the little desk we spent a lot of time at during our visit, he was writing on a piece of paper, blue highlighter in hand (right hand, should have been left) and the amazing thing was he was holding it like a pro, like he was in grade school already! That one particularly broke my heart because he looks so much older than his 26 months. In my mind I could hear his caregiver saying “now show mama and papa how you can hold the marker”. I put it beside a picture we took of him at that same desk two months ago. He looks so much more healthy now! It’s so obvious he is being so well cared for. In every picture he was in a very nice outfit, he looked clean, happy, and healthy. I was so relieved to see the gash across his check present throughout our first visit had totally healed. It was so red and angry before, I was worried it would leave a scar! His dry skin (from the extreme warmth indoors during winter) had gone away, showing beautiful smooth, pale skin. I noticed he was still wearing the same pair of shoes during the majority of our first visit, It gave me some relief that the shoes he has waiting at home might still fit. I studied those photographs for hours. I felt the same emotions I have felt throughout these last two months, only intensified: Gratitude and comfort knowing he is being so well cared for and has plenty to eat. Anger knowing that no one is a replacement for a mother and father. Sadness that he is not here with me. Bitterness over our poor timing. Reassurance that God’s timing is perfect. Peace that he does not appear to be longing for us the way we are longing for him. Gratefulness for unlikely friends in far away places. But I am so thankful for that wonderful surprise. It has given me more peace about our current situation.
On a side note, It was a very busy weekend, I think it deserves it’s own post, my sister threw a baby shower for me on Sunday, but until I get that one done I just wanted to let you know our good news with the pictures. Also- I found this article today about the next step in the adoption talks:
“The next round of Russian-U.S. consultations on a bilateral child adoption agreement will be held on June 14-16 in Washington, a U.S. State Department spokesperson on consular issues told RIA Novosti on Wednesday.
Two rounds of Russian-U.S. talks on the inter-governmental child adoption agreement were held on April 29 and May 12-14 in Moscow.
"In May we received our "homework" and now we want to see how it was done in order to meet in mid-June and continue discussions on the draft treaty," Alina Levitskaya, who heads Russia's education ministry's social protection department, said earlier.
"According to the Foreign Ministry's information we will receive the draft agreement from our U.S. colleagues tomorrow [on Thursday]," she added.