Our Little Russian Peanut

Boy, so much going on… so little time! Work has been nutso so I apologize for having disappeared off the face of the earth for a week and a half (I especially apologize to Carol and Melissa, who were worried, after my last post, that I had forgotten about blogging. :-))

First and foremost (and SHAME ON ME for having not posted this earlier)… A big ole’ CONGRATULATIONS to my wonderful friends, Rachel and Troy and Carey and Norman! Rachel and Troy received their referral last week from Izhevsk. Carey and Norman are now the proud parents of a little girl from Vladivostok! I have had the pleasure of meeting both of them in person and they have been the greatest of friends throughout this process. I’m so happy to see them both so happy!

I have a little news of my own… it’s not “carved in stone” news, but it’s news all the same. Our dossier is done being translated! It won’t be registered today because it is still with the notary (notarizing in Russia is MUCH different than here), but it WILL be registered next Friday, March 7th! We were also asked if our agency should request travel dates for March 23rd. Uhhhhh… YES! Now, we might not get those dates because it will depend on the number of families already scheduled to go and available referrals, but we know it will most likely be that week or the next!

I’m so hesitant to post any of this because I feel like, in the past, I have rejoiced over the little things only to be let down again. I have a gut feeling that won’t happen this time but I’m still so scared to believe it could possibly be true! Of course, all of that being said, it hasn’t stopped me from looking at airfare, hotels, apartments, etc…

Here’s what I have done for Trip 1:

~ Contact an in-country doctor and reserve a few tentative dates.

I know you’re thinking “Oooo… she forgot to type the rest of what she’s done so far.” But nope. After 8 months of waiting, that’s it – that’s all I’ve done. :-)

Some things I can think of that I need to do (off the top of my head without my many lists and other’s lists in front of me):

~ Water the money tree
~ Learn some basic Russian (I’ve had 8 months and I wait until NOW to do this?!?)
~ Verify Marriott’s adoption rate and availability
~ Find a few apartments that seem to be available
~ Find tentative flight times and compile Skymiles (I think we have enough for maybe 2 tickets)
~ Figure out this whole Visa process
~ Decide what to pack
~ Call the doctor for some “just in case” medication
~ Order new money (once I figure out how much I need)
~ Buy things (notice this is generic – that is how I’ll be explaining it to Keith too :-))
~ Get re-acquainted with my video camera
~ A whole heck of a lot more!!!

We are so hopeful that we get our travel dates on Friday so we have 2 weeks notice (or more) to book things because as you know, it winds up being a bit cheaper and at this point the more we can save, the better!

I’d appreciate any Trip 1 tips and tricks you all have! Things like “don’t forget…” “don’t bother packing…” would be most helpful!

I promise to post again soon. Really, I do! If nothing else you should get a registration update next Friday. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed, stand on your head and chew gum, pray or wish on a shooting star – whatever it is that you do – that this is for real and we are truly moving forward.

Hugs!
Little Miss “Optimistic”

P.S. I need to update my header too since all of those pictures are of Izhevsk! Did I ever mention where we are going with the new agency? Have I mentioned that I’m forgetful? We’re going to the Moscow Region. This doesn’t mean the city of Moscow… more on that later!

I'm still forgetful. I am hoping this is a phase, but I'm starting to wonder! I started telling Keith a story the other night and he gets this little smirk on his face. I stopped and said "What are you smirking at?" He laughs and says "I know. This is the third time you've told me this." The 3rd time?!?!? Not just the 3rd time, but the 3rd time in 24 hours. How do I not remember telling the same story 3 times?

Speaking of which, I was blow drying my hair this morning (I do my best thinking then) and realized DUH! I didn't include a return airbill thingy when I sent my FBI prints off (for the 2nd time because the 1st time I forgot to do everything - see this post). So yes, another forgetful moment.

On top of all of that, I FORGOT to mention in our blog that our dossier arrived in Moscow safely, thanks to the family carrying it with them. Or maybe I did tell you and I don't remember? Heck, that's very, very possible!

So what's next? (I'm going to write this out just incase I forget).

• Medicals - Picked those up today and need to get them apostilled and sent to the agency
• Wait for our FBI clearance which will now be coming via pony express
• Our dossier is being translated as I type this and we're hoping it's done by next Friday (29th)
• Once translated, we wait for it to be registered and then receive travel dates!

Keith has gone to visit his mom and dad for the weekend and so I'm going to work on cleaning and a bit of shopping. I need to start buying the travel necessities so that when we do get to the point of booking travel I don't freak out. Let's be honest... I'm so totally going to FREAK OUT!

I think I'm getting nervous. How many times on this blog have I complained about waiting? And being impatient and upset? Soooooo many (see! I remember that!). Well, now I feel like we're truly on the right path and I keep thinking "slow down!". Slow down!?!?! Why would I be thinking that? I think it's because I'm slightly nutso! :-)

If anyone has any suggestions for this remembering problem I'm having, I'd greatly appreciate them.

Off to bed. Maybe I need more sleep! :-)

Becky

So many things to say and just not a lot of time! I'm tired, tired, tired! Keith's mom is in town and today we shopped until we dropped. (Jackie - I think you're going to be proud of me! :-) Now if only I could save money on important things like food!)

We had such a busy weekend. Alex ran his first 5K and finished in 23 mins and some-odd seconds. That boy is just an all around athlete! Keith and I decided that next year we would at least walk it instead of being the lazy old people on the side of the road watching people run by.

In other news, Keith and I had a DATE NIGHT on Saturday night. I had forgotten what one of those was like. Keith's mom went and spent the night with her other son and Alex spent the night at a friend's house. We started date night with an hour and a half nap. After the nap, we headed to a new Italian restaurant and had a YUMMY meal. Our last stop was the movies. We wanted to go see "Fool's Gold" but the 9:15 was sold out. We got tickets for the 10:15 and went to Ruby Tuesday's to kill some time (and have dessert of course). Well, by approximately 10:30 I was out cold in the movies. Yes, a $10 nap. Keith said he looked over and I was all comfy and he thought I was just enjoying myself... until he saw me twitch! :-) I know, I ruined date night but at least Keith got to see the movie. He said it was good for those of you wondering!

This morning we got our medicals done (again) and have to go back Wednesday to have our TB tests read. Hopefully, we'll be able to pick up our completed forms then as well. Our doctors office typically charges us $25 per form but because this medical form was so quick, the doctor asked the office manager to not charge us! That was a $100 savings... which leads me to my shopping escapade!

Keith's mom and I went bargain hunting today. We started at Kohl's and then went to another Kohl's. We stopped in a The Children's Place on a tip from a fellow Kohl's shopper. Please keep in mind that I have NO CLUE what age child we'll be referred or what size he will wear but that didn't stop me. I shopped my little heart out anyway. At Kohl's I saved (ready Jackie??) $480! I spent $112. Yes, you read that right. Everything was approximately 70% - 80% already marked down and then another 25% off of the lowest marked down price. I haven't figured out my savings from The Children's Place yet, but I did get 2 $16 sweaters for $1.99. I'd venture to guess I saved quite a bit!

So what am I going to do if this stuff doesn't fit the Peanut? If everything is too small (I bought mostly 2T) then I'll donate it to the orphanage. If everything is too big then the Peanut can grow into them. I will tell you that I'm DONE. No more clothes until between the 1st and 2nd trip when I know what size. I swear. Really. Seriously. Done.

Well, time to go to bed! I'm going to turn into a pumpkin if I don't get to sleep. Or, more likely, I'll get sucked into watching "Music and Lyrics" for the 90 millionth time since it happens to be on TV right now.

Toodles!
Becky

Well, I said my dossier was ready to go at the beginning of the week, right? Wrong! It didn't really go out until yesterday. Apparently, when I switched agencies, I also left part of my adoption brain behind. Everything I did was a comedy of errors. Let's review them, shall we?

• We had the FBI prints incident mentioned in my previous post.
• Then there was Keith's registration statement that I signed. I finally realized that when I was making photocopies.
• After that, I emailed Keith a new form. I insisted he print it, sign it, notarize it, apostille it and get it to me so I could fedex it that day. He does. I'm walking back to my desk with it and realize that I never changed the template so it said "February 12, 2007" instead of 2008.
• Through one last review of the documents, I realized the notary statement for one of my documents was incorrect - it had both of our names in it instead of just mine.

In the end.... it got done! The new dossier arrived at CSS' office this morning and is on it's way to NC to take a ride in another family's luggage to Moscow! THANK YOU, THANK YOU to the family carrying my dossier! I'm not sure who you are, but I'm so grateful to know it's in good hands.

So what's next? Well, now our dossier needs to be translated and then registered in Moscow. Do you realize this is the first time since we started our adoption that our dossier will actually be registered? Amazing!

We don't have a solid timeframe, but I'm hoping we'll travel at the end of March or so. I'm so excited to be moving forward. I'm especially happy to be done with our dossier again! Oh - one more thing - we were able to redo our FBI prints and I sent them off. CORRECTLY. I think my adoption brain might be growing back, at least I hope so.

Have a great night!
Becky

Dossier #2 - CHECK!

Well, I'm happy to say that our dossier (minus medicals and FBI clearance) will be on their way to CSS tomorrow for delivery Tuesday morning. I'm not sure what kind of timeline to expect, but hopefully I'll be able to talk to someone at the agency some time this week and find out.

I *tried* to get our FBI clearances taken care of on Friday (prints mailed off) but I was in a MOOD and things didn't go so well. We had our prints taken which was went perfectly and then things went straight back downhill! I didn't follow instructions - shocker! When I put together my first dossier I was SO very careful with everything I did. This time I'm in "rush, rush, rush" mode and seem to have had a partial labotomy. Long story short, we need to do our prints (again) and I need to mail them off (again), but this time I'll make sure to request that they be expedited. That's the difference between a 12 - 16 week turnaround and a 2 - 4 week turnaround! :-)

Now we just have to wait for our dossier to be translated and then registered. So - we're back in "the wait". I'm a pro at this! :-)

I have had a chance to read the message board of our new agency and there are so many helpful people out there! It still feels surreal, being with a new agency, but I am excited!

First, let me start this post by saying CONGRATULATIONS to Alex! He passed his road test today. I'll follow that with I'M SORRY to the residents of Atlanta.... there is another teenager on the road. :-) Seriously though, he is a great driver. The rule is that he is to text/call before he leaves somewhere and text/call as soon as he gets to his destination. If he doesn't, he looses his license forever. Not really, but it's a good threat.

Okay... onto the real topic of my post. Navigating Life's Paths.

I truly believe that every path you go down in life happens for a reason. Some paths are long and winding and at times you feel like you may have made a wrong turn or are going in circles. Some are straight up hill and you’re afraid you might not make it because you’re so out of shape. On the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes you feel like you’re headed straight down hill and can’t slow yourself down. Regardless of the type of path, you always wind up where you are meant to be.

As all of you know, we started down our “path” of adoption in March of 2007. It started out being a straight, well maintained path. We gathered documents like crazy people, apostilled to our hearts content and finally in July 2007 our dossier went off to Moscow. Then our path got a bit windy. We couldn’t see around each corner and didn’t know what was next which was hard for a type “A” personality such as myself! At first, we thought our little Peanut was in Krasnoyarsk. In December, we took a sharp left and headed back west towards Izhevsk and now we’re making another change! I’m telling you, I’m getting GOOD experience chasing a toddler. Unfortunately, this toddler seems to be running ALL over Russia!

After many long, long, long (did I mention long) conversations at home (mostly in the hot tub with a glass of wine), we finally decided that it was time for us to change agencies. It wasn’t an easy decision, but it felt like the right one. Over the past few weeks we have been filling out our application, making sure all of our ducks where in a row and making sure we could afford the switch as we knew we wouldn’t be getting any money back.

Yesterday, I officially withdrew our application/dossier (whatever you want to call it) from CHI. I was a bundle of nerves but once it was done, I felt a nice sense of calm. I felt like we were finally back on the path that would ultimately enable us to complete our adoption. We knew that we could get a referral from CHI at any minute since we were #3 in line and we had to decide if the risk was worth it and in the end, we decided that even if it took longer, we felt it was what we were supposed to do.

I’m not going to go through why we decided to leave, etc…I’m happy to say that we left CHI on a good note, provided the agency with feedback and received well wishes from the people we have been working with over the past 11 months. It also means that those families waiting at CHI will move up a spot – so it’s good for many people!

On to the new agency! We are hoping to submit all of our dossier documents next week and be well on our way to a referral! It’s amazing how quickly a second dossier can come together. The only things left to do are FBI clearances, medicals (scheduled for 2/18) and we’re waiting on some updated home study documents! The good news is that we went back down to our original age range of less than 24 months.

So, back to this path we’ve been on…. Like I said, I believe we were on this path for a reason. Without having gone down this road we would not have met the wonderful people we have, we wouldn’t have gotten to learn as much as we have about the process, we wouldn’t have learned so much about different parts of Russia and our future child’s birth country, we wouldn’t have been able to watch families at our agency bring home their children and most importantly, we wouldn’t be where we are today which is hopefully very close to our child! Rachel, Carey, Laura, Jackie, Kristine and Sinziana – thank you all SO much for listening to my pros/cons, rants/raves, ups/downs the past month. Keith thanks you as well because each night I got home from work, I was a much more pleasant person since I had you all to talk to! :-)

So, Chapter 2 (or is it 10?)… HERE WE GO!

I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. Did y'all think I had disappeared??? Just busy as a bee!

I do have things to say, but we'll save that for another day. It's late and I have lots of work to do tomorrow and need some sleep!

Alex has his road test tomorrow morning (it was supposed to be today, but we had a paperwork mix-up. Thankfully we were able to reschedule!

Just wanted to pop in and say HI EVERYONE! I miss you terribly and will be happy when this week is over! I'll be back to post in the next day or two.

Oh, before I go, please go congratulate one of my nearest and dearest adoption friends - Carey and Norman!! THEY RECEIVED THEIR COURT DATE to go pick up their little girl after 4 and 1/2 months of waiting! I cried happy tears today when I saw the news.

Night, night for now!
Becky