Our Little Russian Peanut

I've updated the blog! I was tired of it already and since the blog has been viewed 1,000 times I figured you all might be tired of it too! The real story is that I was procrastinating and found that updating my blog was MUCH more fun then the cleaning, bill paying and the laundry I could have been doing. Hope you like it. If there is anything glaring that annoys you, let me know. I don't think I'm done tweaking it... not too set on the background color.

Anyhow, hopefully you've noticed the Russian map up above and all of the little red circles. These are regions that CHI works in/has worked in. Some of the regions are not processing adoptions because of the lack of accreditation but others are. The ones I've heard most people talk about are Vladivostok (bottom right of the map), Tver (up near Moscow) and Astrakhan (towards the left next to the Caspian Sea). Quite a few people from my agency are waiting for/going on their second trip to Vladivostok to pick up their little ones! I stalk read their blogs 90 times a day... I swear it's like waiting for an author to finish one of the best books I've ever read.

So where are we going?? We have no clue until I get this flipping paperwork done!! If I was a betting girl, I would guess that Vlad would be an option as well as Tver. Luckily, I don't bet. As you can see, the regions are all over the map - literally! Moscow is a 10 hour flight from here. Vladivostok is another 10 hours(ish) flight from Moscow. Tver is a 3 - 4 hour drive from Moscow. As for Astrakhan, I'm not to sure how far that is! I know I'm so ahead of myself wondering where we are going, but that's okay... I like to be prepared.

By Monday, I should have all of the documents I have signed by both Keith and I and notarized. Then I'll fax them to the agency to be reviewed one more time before I get them apostilled. Anyone know of a real estate agent in Georgia that will sign my Statement of Legal Residence?? I'm lacking one of those right now! :-)

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This weekend was great... we spent Monday afternoon on the lake. Alex and his friend Ty tubed. Keith did as well (I had the pleasure of tossing him off twice!) and I took a leisurely ride on the tube around the lake until I got a bit too far to the front of the tube and sunk myself! So much for not getting wet! Here are a few pics:

... well, it's near for SOME of us! Alex is finishing up school this week. Keith and I are about to wear our gold medals for successfully parenting a 15 year old for an entire year without killing each other, killing said child or going completely gray. If we can get through the next three finals, we can all take a DEEP BREATH!

I don't have much of an update to post, which can be a good thing sometime. Our home study was put in the mail to USCIS on Monday! Woooohooooo!!! We have a minimum of 4 weeks before we'll receive some kind of response from them. As for our dossier paperwork, we only have our medical left to be completed. We have a few small snafus to get through with the medical, but I'm hoping we'll get that done by about the same time we receive our USCIS approval. If not, oh well - everything happens for a reason!

One thing that has been frustrating me lately are all of these talks on the message boards about "wait times". The wait time most people talk about refers to the amount of time between submitting your dossier to Russia and receiving your referral. CHI's "official wait time" (their wait time is from dossier submission to trip 2) for a boy under 18 mths is 10 months. So, in theory, if our dossier gets submitted in August, we should be in court by June of next year. Now, to confuse matters more, if Russia re-accredits agencies, that wait time could be MUCH quicker.

I guess what I'm getting at is, when you're pregnant, you know you have 9 mths give or take a week or two. You know how long you have to get things together and mentally prepare. With adoption, you have to be prepared to fly 10 hours in less than a week and then be prepared to wait 1, 2, 3, 4 maybe even 5 months before you can go back again and you don't know when that is until about a week before again. I'm watching some families go through the dreaded wait between trip 1 and trip 2 and I am absolutely amazed by their strength. Once you meet your child it has got to be pure torture to know he/she is growing up while you're half way around the world waiting and waiting and waiting. I hope I have 1/4 of the amount of patience that they have when it becomes my turn.

Hope everyone has a great long weekend! We're hoping to go out on the lake and RELAX. Ohhhh... Alex has a party to go to on Saturday.... at a GIRLS birthday pool party!!! :-) My how they grow. I think the sophomore year might be more difficult than the freshman year!

Hugs to everyone! Have a great weekend - be safe!
Love,
Becky

I am happy to report that my husband doesn't have a record! :-) His GBI report came back today and we are good to go! The home study agency should be sending me my copy of the home study along with everything I need for my dossier by Friday. I'll then turn around and send copies to USCIS to complete our I-600A application. And then we wait for a month or two or worst case, 3. My fingers are crossed for 4 weeks. Maybe we should start a pool to see who can get closest??

I did paperwork all day today. I'm happy to say that all but 4 documents are completed! Completed meaning checked by the agency, just waiting to be notarized. I typed up a nice cheery note tonight for my Dr's office. Included samples of the form, instructions and all of that good stuff. With any luck they will just sign them and not give it a second thought. I know I'm dreaming, but dreams do come true!!

In other news, I let Alex drive to school today. On the highway. In rush hour. I'm becoming my mother's daughter. Apparently I was trying to use an imaginary brake on the passengers side of the car (aka the dashboard) while we were headed from the HOV lane over to our exit. My mother used to grab at anything she could find when I was driving. Once I had my license she would sit behind the drivers seat so she couldn't see anything. That is SO going to be me. I made an executive decision to not let him drive in the mornings unless I'm able to top off my coke with a shot or two of rum. I was SO unnerved by the time we got to school. That unnerviness (not a word, but it should be!) continued on once I got to work, backed into a parking spot and ummmm... yea... HIT the steel cables and concrete pillar. Please keep in mind - I DO have backup beepers that beep faster and louder as you approach things. I must have been on Mars because they didn't stop me from backing up until I heard a big "THUD". Fortunately those steel cables kept me from doing any major damage. I have one little dent in my bumper where I hit the concrete pillar. The other good news is that the parking garage did not collapse.

Kaylee (Alex's sister) came and spent Saturday night with us. Oh how nice it was to have a girl around!!! We went to target, bought some flip flops, made brownies, played some games and then decorated our flip flops with ribbon. It was so much fun! She was in great spirits and seemed to be doing really well. Alex was pretty good with her - had his moments where she got on his nerves, but that's what sisters are for! Here are a few pictures from the night (Pic 1: Kaylee licking the brownie spoon - someone is a bit of a ham! Pic 2: Kaylee and Alex. Alex has Kaylee's headband on, not by choice I'll have you know! Pic 3: Our flip-flops! Hint - I'm definitely not the one with the blue toenails! She wears a size 8 and I wear a size 6. Weird.)

Not much to report on... Doing paperwork - loads of it. I cannot say enough good things about our agency. The wonderful lady in the GA office has been so super responsive and knows what she is talking about. It's such a comfort. I have been emailing back and forth with her for the past week, sending her my completed dossier documents for review. She reviews them within a few hours and sends them back to me to update. I think the trickiest part about the dossier is the financial piece (medical comes in a close second). All of your finances need to match - your home study, your dossier and ultimately your 1040. With Keith being self employed, it makes it a bit trickier.

So, this week we'll continue doing paperwork. Still waiting for Keith's GBI report which is really slowing things down. Monday will be 3 weeks from the receipt of the new prints. I am tempted to call on Monday, but rumor has it I should wait 4 weeks. Thank goodness I'm a patient person (hahahahahahaha) We could have been 1/2 way to an approval from USCIS. Oh well, there will be delays along the way and hopefully (fingers crossed) this will be the worst of it!

I think our timeline has been pushed out a month - I'm guessing that our dossier won't go to Russia until end of July/beginning of August. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the Russians) they shut down for a month for vacation. I think it's September. Wouldn't it be great if we did that in the US???

I'm a superstitious person. It's actually quite annoying. I refuse to buy anything for the peanut until right before trip one (clothes and toys only) and no furniture or decorating until between trips one and two. Those are the rules and I'm sticking to them. Kinda.

Mandy's best friend Alisha (hi Alisha!!), her husband and her baby are coming to visit in about a month from New York. Wellllllll... they just happen to need a pack and play and a high chair. Time to take one for the team, right?? I'll have to give in to my superstitions and buy them - for her to use of course. Not because I'll need them anyway. Nope. Not at all. And since I'm buying them for a specific purpose (totally NOT for the peanut) then I'm not breaking my rules, right? Right. This is just like chocolate being part of the food pyramid. Just let me run with it, okay?

So, I've ordered Consumer Reports Baby Book and Baby Bargains and will be picking out what I want (for Alisha to use, of course). Any recommendations/suggestions are absolutely welcomed!

Today was our appointment at USCIS to get fingerprinted. YIPPEE! These fingerprints are for Immigration so that they can approve our I-600A which allows us to bring an orphan into the US. Not to be confused with the state fingerprints which is needed for the home study. And the home study is needed for Immigration. The hip bone is connected to the leg bone!

Still haven't heard back from the GBI on Keith's second set of prints. I'm hoping no news is GOOD news. We could use some good news! Our social worker has the home study ready to go - it's just waiting on the prints!

On a side note, Alex is back in school and is doing great. Poor kid went back to 8 tests, lots of homework and 2 projects. We had a bit of a stressful moment until I whipped out the flip chart paper (yes, I have flip chart paper and it has the sticky stuff on it like a big HUGE sticky note). I hung the paper on the wall in the kitchen and the three of us mapped out a test taking plan and tried to destress a bit. I'm proud to say, it worked. Flip chart paper makes the world go round and soothes the soul.

Kaylee is back in school and Alex said she sounds good. I talked to her last night while she was watching Dancing with the Stars. She was pretty giddy. I'm hoping to have her over next weekend. We'll take the boat out and just goof off a bit. Who couldn't use a bit of that?

Hope all is well!
Hugs!
Becky