One Year Ago TODAY...

Dear Roman and Maxim:

I waited til today to write our 11th month letter because today was a VERY BIG deal for me and Papa a year ago. Today, March 5th was the day that we got the call from WHFC that they had a referral for us .... I can still remember what that call was like and that once we spoke with Vica we got nothing done except to call friends and family and tell them about the two little boys we had been matched with!!!

I remember being in my office and meeting with my friend/colleague, Roberta when my cell phone rang ... it was Vica who was calling to tell me that she had a referral of two brothers and she EVEN had pictures she would be sending us!!! Getting pictures and even knowing anything about a referral in Russia is very rare so we were very blessed to know you were boys and to even know what your little faces looked like! I couldn't believe it!!! As soon as I got off the phone with Vica I called Papa ... he was at some job site ... I could hear the noise in the background so I asked if he could talk and he said in just a second he would be able to ... Papa went to sit in his car and I said "Are you ready for some good news ... IT'S BOYS ... just about to turn 1 and 2 years old"! Papa was very excited (secretly he wanted boys... so it was a VERY lucky day for him)!! There were just NO words to express how excited we were ... we had waited for this day for a LONG time and now it was here and we knew we had 2 boys!!!

Vica said she would be sending us some paperwork that day and she also had PICTURES... we would know what you looked like before we arrived in Russia!!! We couldn't wait and once we got the email with your little faces we knew who you were and we started sending them to Grammy, Auntie Sara, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Richard and Auntie Joanna! Everyone was SOOOOO excited to see who you were and couldn't wait to hear more about you!

It seems to surreal that just a year ago we were hearing about you for the first time and TODAY I was eating breakfast with you ... AMAZING!!! You continue to make us laugh and brighten our day each and every day we spend with you!!!

Roman ... you have become quiet the chatterbox these days and you are speaking in short sentences ... you make us laugh when you walk around chanting "GO MAMA... GO MAMA... GO MAMA" whenever I am doing something no matter how big or small the task is!

Maxim ... you are saying more and more words each day ... this morning, everything was "OK" with you ... and you laugh at just about everything and you LOVE LOVE music and just dance whenever you hear a song with a good beat!!!

A year ago today you were just two little faces in Russia that we couldn't wait to meet and today you were two little faces that greeted me with "Good Morning Mama!" ... what a year it has been!

We love you,
Mama and Papa


Roman's referral picture


Roman TODAY ... making faces for the camera


Maxim's referral picture


Maxim TODAY ... saying "cheese" ... look at all that hair!


Brothers Together Today .. hamming it up for the camera!