Pictures & Video

So many of you have asked how we are coping with having to leave Alina behind in Russia. Well, it certainly isn't easy, but it has helped that we have been extremely busy getting paperwork together for the courts plus pulling together her room at our house. We also bought Brandon a new vehicle this weekend and sold her Beetle. It was a very sad day in the Rice household as Brandon loved that car, but it just wouldn't have worked with a toddler. So we bought a low-mileage, "pre-owned" 2005 Honda CRV.

The other thing that helps is that we took several pictures of her and about 45 minutes worth of video during our visit. So we look at the pictures pretty much every day. Her adorable face already occupies several select locations around our house, plus each of us has a small photo album that we carry with us (Brandon's in her purse, and mine in my laptop bag.....fine my man-purse).

We showed the video to my Mom last night and she mentioned that I seem to be on camera with the baby more than Brandon is. I think it's because Brandon is not a huge fan of being video taped, but she and my Mom concocted a story that makes me sound more like an attention hog (what, me?). I did get back at her about her camera-work, which can only be best described as very "Blair Witch". For those that didn't see that movie, the camera is all over the place and by the end of it you felt like you had been on a roller-coaster ride you were so dizzy. So great that we will keep these memories and share them with our daughter so that some day she can make fun of us, too.