Our Little Russian Peanut

Today started with a trip to the orphanage and then some sightseeing! It wound up being a really great day - we even saw the sun! GASP!

Today's visit at the orphanage was much better than Thursday's! The day started out a bit rocky - lots of tears and a crumpled face, but I think it was partially because the Peanut's diaper was soaked straight through. The poor boy! We handed him back to be changed and in he came in a nice green outfit with pink socks. :-)

The Peanut was very hesitant of everyone that was there which is GOOD! It means he has an awareness of strangers and won't go to every person he sees - great for attachment. He was a bit better around Keith in the beginning. By the end of the time they were madly in love again.

Aunt Mandy was the source of yummy teddy grahams and fruit snacks. Brother Alex provided lots of fun with the stacking rings and bubbles. Daddy helped him beat on the Old McDonald toy with the hammer (talk about multi-tasking!) and then towards the end we payed "1,2,3 JUMP" with him which really got him going.

One of my favorite things from today was watching him drink out of the water bottle we brought with us. He would drink and then smack his lips together and let out a big "Ahhhhhhh". :-) He even turned the bottle towards Keith and helped Keith drink some water - unfortunately I was too late over there to get a picture.

I think we may have a future photographer on our hands. One of his favorite things to do is play with our digital camera. Aunt Mandy lent him her's and he captured some great shots of the group.

Pictures by the Peanut:


After the orphanage, our translator and driver too us the high point of Moscow. It is right near Moscow University which is one of the Seven Sisters (I think it's seven, it might be six). Those are the "skyscrapers". We went from there to the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and then our driver and translator went home while we headed to Red Square. (click on the pictures below to enlarge)



We got caught in a lovely rain storm on the way there. Thinking we weren't going to be sightseeing, we had one umbrella. Mandy had her rain jacket and Keith and Alex had nothing. Needless to say we all got a bit damp! We went to the GUM mall and had a bilini with chocolate and then took the metro back towards Tverskaya street where we had a quick dinner at TGIF. (See! My kind of dinner... DESSERT first and then dinner!)

It's just about 10:00 here and everyone is fast asleep except for yours truly. We do have a busy day tomorrow - orphanage in the morning, moving into our apartment in the afternoon and since it's supposed to be the only rain free day we're going to have while Mandy and Alex are here we're hoping to head to Red Square for some (good) pictures.

That's all for now folks! A big CONGRATS to Ondrea who had a successful court hearing today! Not only that but she had her 10 days waived as well!

Love -
Becky

A reallllllly quick post!

Mandy and Alex arrived safely! Keith and I didn't sleep more than 2 hours last night - I think we were "helping" their plane get here safely by worrying. We headed down to the jacuzzi in the hotel at about 4:15 this morning because we were so restless.

They got through SVO (the airport) fine and we headed straight to the market. We had a great time, bought lots of goodies and then headed on the metro back to the hotel. I have a story about the metro, but I'm so darn tired it will have to wait until tomorrow night.

We went to an Italian restaurant this evening and are now back in our hotel. We're being picked up tomorrow morning for a visit with our little guy. I'm sure he'll be overwhelmed with all of us there so we're expecting a pretty rough day.

A better post tomorrow night... I promise!

Paka!
Becky

Last night we had dinner with Ron & Dinia, Heather, Jason and Zachery and Lea and John. We went to Mooglie Googlie (or a restaurant Karyn has named Mooglie Googlie!). It was very yummy. I had the stroganoff and Keith had Dinia's favorite - chicken stuffed with feta and spinach. It was so great to see Heather and Jason with Zachery - what a cutie he is!! Keith and John went with Ron before dinner to find Heather, Jason and Zachery since they were staying quite a ways outside the city center. It gave Keith a chance to get a Metro lesson.

We went to sleep last night and got up at...... 3:30 this afternoon. :-) Yep - my husband slept that long. In the 5 and 1/2 years we've been married I don't think he's ever slept that late. Me on the other hand - I could sleep for 2 days. After we got ready we decided to head out to KFC to grab a bite to eat and then hop on the Metro and head over to the more modern part of Moscow.

Let me start off by saying that I probably lost 10 pounds tonight from walking. Not from walking the streets, mind you, but for walking through the Metro tunnels. We did NOT pick the easiest places to go on our first experience in the Metro alone. It took us quite a few stops to get to the Deloroy stop. We then walked back to Old Arbat and at the the Hard Rock. After the Hard Rock we went to the Arbatskaya metro and proceed to go from tunnel to tunnel to tunnel until we found the gray line which didn't match our map and then walked to the green line. I swear, we could have walked back to our hotel 6 times in the amount of time it took us to find the right line! :-) I am glad we had a complex lesson though because it will make the next time easier!

A funny story for you: At the Hard Rock, Keith and I met a very interesting lady. We were waiting by the bathrooms (why does everything interesting happen to me by the HRC bathrooms?) and this lady starts talking to Keith. She is Russian but speaks very good English. She tells him that she can tell he is American. He asked her how (could it have been the Ford visor and American flag on the back of it??) and she says "Your eyes." He starts laughing and she rattles on about how she's drunk. She then tell him that it's definitely not because of his "tush" (insert 3 letter curse word here). Uh, what?? So she starts talking about her Scottish friend who works at the British embassy and how she promised him she wouldn't hook up with anyone tonight and then winks at Keith. Yep, this interesting lady was propositioning my husband because as she told him, "she likes big men". :-) Hehehehe... Never a dull moment!!

So, Mandy and Alex are in the air right now! They left about 15 minutes ago. We'll be picking them up at the airport tomorrow with Ron and Dinia's help and then they're going to take us to the market! I'm very excited about that since everyone has raved about it. It looks like the weather is going to be pretty miserable here next week - showers every day. We're hoping for afternoon showers or morning showers - just not all day showers!

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our travels this afternoon/last evening. If you can believe it, even after sleeping until 3:30 this afternoon we're exhausted (Keith is sleeping as I type this). I'm going to go curl up with my Janet Evanovich book and do the same!



Paka!
Becky

I've been trying to think of a catchy way to start this blog. Something other than the normal picture or "we're parents!" announcement, but I think the court hearing has just exhausted the brain! You're just going to have to settle for...

It's 6:53 in the morning and we're getting ready for court! We both got a good nights sleep and are raring to go. We had the breakfast of champions - a fruit and nut granola bar, goldfish and trail mix. Once we're ready we'll head to McD's to get our caffine for the day!

Thanks to everyone for their upbeat comments yesterday! I think a lack of sleep magnified the situation a bit.

We'll post again this afternoon!
Becky

We’re in the car on the way back from the orphanage. Keith is listening to his ipod and I’m blogging – need to get this all out on paper, partly for therapy and partly so I don’t forget.

Today. Totally. Sucked. (and it’s not even over)

The day started with both of us up by 5:15 (I had been up since 3). We showered, chatted with Alex on the phone and then headed to McD’s for breakfast. After that, we went in search of a supermarket. We bought a few gift bags to put our orphanage donations in and then headed back to the hotel. Our driver and translator were going to be picking us up at 10:00.
Keith and I headed outside to wait. At 10:15 we went back inside to see if we had any messages. Low and behold, our translator had been sitting in the lobby waiting for us. So, now we’re running 15 minutes late, but in our minds we’re an hour and 15 minutes late since we typically leave for the orphanage at 9:00. On the way to the orphanage we were stuck in horrible traffic. I think both of our nerves were shot – first from being so tired, second because we knew the longer we were in traffic the less time we would have with the Peanut and third because we had no idea what his reaction would be.

Fast forward after an hour and a half of bumpy roads, pollution and crazy drivers – we arrive at the orphanage at 11:50. Please keep in mind the kids eat lunch at 12:15/12:30. The orphanage director wasn’t there so we spent some time waiting for her or for someone to open a room. They proceed to tell us that there is an outbreak of chicken pox and the kids have been quarantined. According to the Peanut’s medical, he’s already had the chicken pox so we know he’ll be okay. They finally decide to put us in the pyschologist’s office and no one can manage to get it unlocked. After another 10 minutes, they get the door unlocked and we head to the room we’re very familiar with.

Imagine our surprise when we walk in and see piles of things everywhere – the room is under construction or something. It was a disaster - what a great place to play with a toddler. We barely have time to put our bags in before one of the caregivers walks in with the Peanut. Miserable, absolutely miserable. He was okay for the first few seconds and then started SCREAMING and CRYING. Not a normal cry but an ear shattering cry. The caregiver tried to calm him down but he would have nothing to do with it. We whipped out all of our weapons – cheerios, the hammer, stacking cups… you name it. No dice.

The caregiver left the room and he just sobbed and sobbed. You know that kind of cry when you can’t get a deep breath in? That was this little guy. I tried everything. Walking, bouncing, cuddling, shoving cheerios in his mouth (not really but the thought crossed my mind), laying down . Nothing worked. Then it turns out he lost a slipper and screamed bloody murder about that. Keith found it and put it back on. That settled the waterworks for oh… a minute. He seemed very warm to me (like he had a fever) but I couldn’t tell if it was because of the crying jag or because he didn’t feel well (turns out, I think he’s sick because once he calmed down he was still very warm).

I tried to hand him off to Keith but he clung to me and said “Nyet”. Oh, the look on my husband’s face broke my heart. We finally got him calmed down and he ate cheerios. Keith sat far away and video taped. I kept telling the Peanut to go see Papa and was met with a firm “Nyet”. After a little while he would go over and give Keith cheerios, but that was it. He spent most of the time on my lap eating. He popped some of the bubbles Keith was blowing but would shy away from him if he got near.

After a short while (and I mean short) he heard the clanging of dishes and knew it was lunchtime. That started the waterworks again. Thankfully, his caregiver came and took him away when she heard him screaming. Keith gathered our stuff faster than I’ve ever seen and we headed downstairs to where our translator was meeting with the orphanage director. She asked us how it went and we laughed – well, I did. Keith’s sense of humor was long gone and I can’t say I blame him.

She recommended we come see him at least once every 3 days but we plan on doing it more than that. At this point, if it breaks the budget and helps make our transition easier then oh well. Money is only money, right? Besides, Alex should be watering that money tree I have in the backyard while we’re gone.

My heart is broken for Keith – I know it’s typical, I know it happens to everyone, but you just have no idea how excited he was. There was nothing more he wanted then to hear that little belly laugh. I tried to tell him that maybe he was mad because we left but he’s convinced he didn’t remember us – and maybe he didn’t. It’s okay and it will be okay. Right? Right.

So, in typical guy fashion he is listening to his ipod and de-stressing. I on the other hand am ready for a glass of wine and a nap. Unfortunately, we need to go to the CSS office and then back to our hotel to prepare with our translator for court. It would have been much easier to prepare for court had we have had a good day!

Court tomorrow is at 10 instead of 11. We'll be leaving the hotel at 8:20 to get there. Keep us in your thoughts!

Becky

Hi all!

We're here!! Our flight went fine - no crazy people getting kicked off the plane which was really nice! We switched our seats to bulkhead which I was not a big fan of. I had no window to lean up against and sleep. Keith wasn't all that comfortable either. For some reason this flight was harder than our first trip over!

We arrived a bit early and were greeted by an airport with no electricity. For those of you that have been here, you know the stairs you walk down to get to passport control? They were full of people as was the jetway. I don't think they had a single passport control line open. We waited and waited. Finally a line opened up and so everyone and their mother pushed, shoved and ran over there. Then another and another until ultimately we found our way to a line. Thankfully, it was the right one (since the 1st one we moved to was for Russian citizens only). After getting through there we had to wait quite a while for our luggage. In the end, we were greeted by "K", the translator we had on the 1st trip, and we were so happy to see her!

We left the airport, headed to the CSS office, exchanged money and went to the grocery store. We checked into the hotel and WHOOPS went to sleep. We slept for 6 hours which was the mistake of the century. It's 3:00 am here and I am laying in the bathtub with a pillow behind my back checking email and blogging while Keith is asleep. :-) It's quite comfy actually - all bathtubs should have pillow backs!

So, after the nap we headed to Mama's Pasta near Tverskaya. Yummy pizza and the best chocolate cake I've had in YEARS. I'm going back each day to get a piece. Well, maybe not each day but if I walk a lot that day maybe I can reward myself?!?! :-)

We're being picked up at 10:00 in the morning to go see our little guy. We talked a bit at dinner about what we think his reaction will be. I'm expecting him to be shy and scared just like normal. Keith, Mr. Optimism, is hoping he remembers us and gives us a big hug. :-) We shall see! We're, of course, going armed with cheerios and bubbles so that will help break the ice, regardless! I'm upset that we won't have too much time with him because his lunch time is at 12:00. I'm not sure why we're going so late - something about having to get papers or something of that sort.

Court is at 11:00 on Friday and then Mandy and Alex come in on Sunday! Going to be a busy few weeks and for that we're greatful!

Going to go read my book and hopefully get some sleep! I'm hoping I can catch up on blogs - I'm SO behind - like 3 weeks. I have had time to glance at them, but that's about it!

Paka!
Becky

I think I've grown horns. Seriously. Does this happen to everyone? I've snapped at ever living and non-living thing that has gotten in my way tonight. I feel like I might quickly turn into the girl in the Exorcist with her head spinning in circles if I don't get on that plane real soon.

11 hours of rest, relaxation, no email, no phone, no internet. Granted, it would be better in first class, but right now I'd take a padded cell.

I'm sooooooo sorry I haven't been able to respond to emails. You guys are awesome and so many people have wished us well. Please don't think I'm ignoring you, I just haven't had a spare second. What brilliant person decides to work the day before they leave the country for 21 days? That would be yours truly.

Next post..... MOSCOW! I guess that will be Wednesday afternoon Moscow time which would be Wednesday night your time. Check in at the Marriott is at 4:00 so check back Thursday morning. Hopefully our flight will be extremely uneventful!

Hugs!
Becky

We're packed! Can you believe it?? Mr. and Mrs. Procrastinator have not only packed for themselves a day ahead of time, but the Peanut is packed and ready to go as well! Be careful! Lightening may strike! :-)

This is my 149th post - boy do I like to talk/type, or what??. We also packed 149 pounds of luggage. I kid you not. Of course, 49 of those pounds are donations for the orphanage. There are also 2 Quillos (quilts that fold into pillows that Keith's mom made for the orphanage director and psychologist). So, it's not ALL of our stuff. Oh, and I should probably mention that the 149 pounds does not include the Peanut's luggage. My sister and Alex are bringing his suitcase over with them.

I had a GREAT baby shower yesterday. Got to see friends I haven't seen a while. The Peanut has been spoiled rotten. We've had to put away most of the toys because we're sure he'll be overwhelmed when he first comes home. I think we have enough toys to take out of hiding from now until he turns 5. :-) (I'll have to do a picture post soon of both showers)

It's completely surreal... in less than a month, I'll have a little boy in this house! Can you believe that?

Well, I have to get pictures printed off for the judge and gather all of my paperwork. It's going to be a long night. Tomorrow is my last day of work (yes, I'm a moron and didn't take tomorrow off) so I need to, at some point, get some sleep!

Hugs!
Becky

Wowzers… thanks to all of you blog posters for remind me I only have a week until court! J It really helped ease my constant anxiety! :-) Hehehehe… just kidding of course. I wake up each morning thinking “One week from today we’ll be…… insert activity here”.

Yesterday was “One week from today, we’ll get to see our little Peanut again”. I’m trying not to picture that “moment” because I fear he's going to be upset and scared again instead of thrilled to see us like we will be to see him. It’s okay though – we’re still strangers, he’s known us for 4 days and 4 days in toddler world with 30 days between is like 4 miliseconds. I wonder if the staff showed him the photo album each night or went over the “homework” sheet we had to do on our first visit. I don’t remember if I told you about our homework, but if not, we had a form we had to fill out that told a little bit about us, our house and what we like to do. We also had to decorate it with crayons and put a picture of us on top. The psychologist had told us they would read it to him every night and she seemed like she meant business so I’m hopeful he at least won’t be terrified of us. Besides, bubbles and cheerios make the world go round, right??

Today is “One week from today, we’ll be in front of the judge.” Boy, I’m nervous about that. I’m okay at speaking in front of people but I’m not so good when the translator is talking and I’m talking and two people are listening and I’m not sure if I’m going too fast or too slow. Hopefully the New York in me won’t kick in because then I’ll be talking 900 million miles an hour. Keith and I know we have to give small speeches so we’ll work on those on the plane.

So, a visa update. We got them and they were RIGHT! Woooohoooo! I’m so very, very thankful. I drove to fedex to pick them up yesterday and was beyond thrilled when I opened them. My sister’s and Alex’s were sent off yesterday for next day processing so she should have them back on Tuesday. Speaking of Alex….

We could use some prayers, good thoughts and positive energy! My darling dearest step-child hurt his knee the first morning (within the first few hours) of Lacrosse camp. It immediately swelled up and he was sent to see the trainer. The trainer had him ice it on and off for the first few days, but it wasn’t looking much better. Keith took him to the ortho this morning and they drained it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just fluid that came out, but blood (sorry for the details). They are scheduling him for an MRI and then we’ll figure out what happens next. Hopefully it’s not torn, but it’s looking pretty grim. He’s not in a ton of pain but will now have to wear a brace all hours of the day. Of course, we’ll be gone for 3 weeks and he’s supposed to be coming to Russia so we have no idea if he will even be able to do that. Never a dull moment, ya know??

We have this weekend to clean the house, get packed, get the Peanut’s room ready, gather all the documents we need to take with us (171, taxes, etc…), gather pictures for the judge, etc, etc… oh, and have a baby shower! I also scheduled an appt to get my hair highlighted and cut and I’m also getting a pedicure. My last “me” time for a while!

Thanks for checking in on us! We’re getting excited now that we’re getting closer. I’ll be happy and a bit less stressed once we’re on that plane. I think. :-)

... to urge you to VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

I found Sira's blog wayyyyyyyyy back when in the beginning of our adoption. Actually, if I remember correctly, I think I found both her's and Melissa's from Adrienne's. I had the pleasure of following her and Cliff's journey to adopt Max. I watched them (patiently) wait for their return trip to pick the little guy up and love seeing pictures of how happy the 3 of them are.

Anyhow, back to the VOTE, VOTE, VOTE part. Cliff and Sira are getting married this fall and they are 1 of 20 finalists for a dream wedding giveaway. Please, please go vote for them as much as possible over the next few days! They are so deserving and are just the cutest couple!

http://www.usmagazine.com/wedding-2008-couple-6

Becky

Quick post!

Visas were sent today (for Keith and I). 3 fedex envelopes and 4 airbills later, I finally got everything in one envelope (I hope) and labeled correctly (I hope). Those of you that read this must think that I'm an unorganized mess. Typically, I'm anal retentive about these things - unless I'm overwhelmed and mad I didn't get something done sooner. This was one of those moments!

Work had a baby shower for me today! It was awesome! I have pictures, but they aren't uploaded yet. The Peanut is going to be one spoiled little boy. "Trucks" was the theme and the little guy was given all different trucks - construction trucks, a John Deere truck, a remote controlled truck. Of course, you should have seen Alex's eyes light up. Boys will be boys!

Here is a quick run down of our travel plans for those of you wondering. We're going to be away from home for a long, long time. My poor bed is going to miss me so much. :-)

Tuesday June 24th - leave ATL for Moscow
Wednesday, June 25th - arrive in Moscow
Thursday June 26th - go see the Peanut!
Friday June 27th - COURT!
Saturday June 28th - Mandy and Alex come visit :-)
Saturday July 5th - Mandy and Alex go home :-(
Wednesday July 9th - GOTCHA DAY! (The day we pick up the Peanut!)
Thursday July 17th - Fly home

I'm sure that those of you non-adoptive people are wondering what in the heck we'll be doing from the 9th - 17th! Well, we have to get the Peanut's passport, embassy paperwork/visa, embassy doctor's appointment and a lot of other things that happen behind the scenes. Oh - and we have to go to the Ministry and have the Peanut's name taken off the database or something like that.

We could have left to come home on the 16th, but we would have had to fly through JFK and had a 5 hour layover. We opted to stay another night and fly direct. Now, all could go REALLY well and we could attempt to leave on the 15th too. Only time will tell!

So much for a short post! One week from right now, we will be about 6 hours into our flight. Hopefully that means I'd be sound asleep and Keith will be on his 10th movie. :-)

Congrats to everyone from our agency that received travel dates today! The good thing about our long stay is that we'll have many families to visit with as well as Dinia and Ron!!

Hugs!
Becky

Why, we do!!! So, then why are my applications not mailed out yet?? Well, first we needed to wait for new invites. Our day of departure was 16-Jul-08 when we needed it to be 17-Jul-08. That set us back until today because Thursday and Friday our Russian offices were closed because of a holiday.

So, I got the invites today, finished the applications and then needed Keith to sign his. I told him I would leave work around 5 and meet him at Fedex/Kinkos so he could sign. I had until 7:00 which was fedex's cut off, right? WRONG. I checked the shipping cut off time at about 4:45 and low and behold, it was 6:00 pm. No way was I going to make it there in time. Another day lost!

Visa applications are now signed. So, do I risk it and do next day processing? Or do I fork out the extra $200 for same day processing? I already have a cashier's check for $400. If we do same day processing can I just include another cashier's check for $200 or do I need to get the $400 check voided and get a check for $600? Do you see my dilemma here??

The funniest part is, my attitude. I just keep thinking "Whatever." Whatever?!?!? Helllooooooooooooooooo... need visas to travel, dummy!

Help me out dear friends of the internet. Same day? Next day? Two cashiers checks? One?

It'll be a-okay... pending no issues with the visa apps, of course. :-) (The glass is half full, oh yes, it is!)

Becky

Boy oh boy! This list of things to do is never ending!!

First, thanks to all of you that told me I was normal. Quite frankly, I'm far from normal, but it's nice to know there are so many people that have had THE "meltdown" too! I honestly think that I was so overwhelmed with all I had to do and needed to take some time to break it down into smaller pieces.

So, here's where we are at:

Orphanage clothes - sorted, packed and vacuum sealed! My mother-in-law and I went on a little shopping spree from the orphanage on Memorial Day. We bought so much - nothing was over $3 for the most part. Once my MIL was back in Orlando she found a ton of tights and long socks for $1 each! The best part?!?! They are not pink nor do they have mushrooms on them! Maybe the next family that goes to the the Peanut's orphanage will at least meet their child in black or brown tights. :-)

Food - packed all of our snack bars, coffees, teas, juices, nuts, etc... into big ziplock bags. We have lots to snack on which is good! The one thing I need to remember is to pack Peanut Butter! I need to have a Peanut Butter and Nutella sandwich (right, Aaron?!)

Peanut's clothes - This is still my stress point. I'm so afraid my poor little dude is going to be in clothes that don't fit or be freezing or be hot! The temperature is going to be mid 60's to low 70's. I don't have many pairs of pants or long sleeves, but I think we'll just layer. Regardless, everything is washed and ready to go! It's so cute folding these little clothes. Some of the shorts are so little you can barely fold them!

Visas - Mandy got her passport on Friday! YAHOOOO! That takes such stress off of my shoulders. I need to wait for the invites for Keith and I to be reissued and then we'll fedex them off tomorrow. First, I need to get a money order.

Plane tickets - Everyone has one except for the Peanut! I've emailed a travel agency for help with that.

Suits - I need to try my suit on. I think that maybe this adoption weight might force me to go buy a new suit!

House - Keith and Alex, two of my favorite men, knew I was in panic mode. While I was at work on Friday they took all of the rugs out of the house and (in true guy fashion) they shop vac'ed the floors. :-) They cleaned the rugs, took the vacuum cleaner apart and cleaned it, started laundry and then let me take a much needed snooze after getting home from work. Today, even though it was Father's Day, Keith cleaned out the hot tub, Alex mowed, Keith layed pine straw and put the car seat in my truck.

Speaking of car seat... THANK YOU to Aunt Bing and Uncle Bob for buying the Peanut's car seat! It's the one I wanted (Britax Boulevard) and will be perfect for my little guy. We'll be taking a road trip to VA once we're home and settled to visit.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my Daddy and to Keith! And Happy Father's Day to all of the new daddy's and daddy's to be out there!

Well, I've knocked out lots of work today so that should help ease the stress of the weekend. I have quite the sore throat and am hoping it turns out to be nothing but allergies!

Have a wonderful Sunday night!
Becky

The title says it all. I buckled, people. Buckled under the stress of it all and had a little cryfest/pity party in my car on the way home tonight. I think the reality of everything hit me like a freight train. I'm leaving my job for a few months, I'm going to Russia for three weeks leaving behind my dogs, cats and comfy bed and I'm going to be an instant mom to an almost three year old that has no clue who I am. Oh, not to mention that I have flights, hotels, apartments to book, teenager logistics to work out, kiddo clothes to wash, sort and decide what to bring, documentation to gather, a homestudy to finish..... Need I say more?

Before anyone thinks badly of me, let me just say I'm excited! I am! I'm also very overwhelmed which makes it hard to be excited. I finally realized today that my life is changing. Not a little but a ton. Well, duh! Didn't I know that before we decided we wanted to expand our family?? YES! OF COURSE! But when you're stressed, emotional, scared, nervous and not in complete control everything seems to multiple times 20. I need to get sleep, get ahead in my work instead of behind and make the most of my weekend and then, hopefully, I'll be back to normal. :-)

Anyhow, so what HAVE I accomplished? Let's see...

Flights booked for Keith, Becky, Alex and Mandy (3 tickets paid for with skymiles! Woohoo!)
One week at the Marriott using points
2 weeks at an apartment
Visa invites are being created for Becky, Keith and Alex (waiting on Mandy's passport which should be here tomorrow).

Major things left to do:
Book the Peanut's ticket
Send in Visa apps and passports (Monday!)
Get new money (in progress - THANKS Dad!)
Get gifts for orphanage director/psychologist (in progress - THANKS Keith's mom!)
Get caretaker gifts (probably do that in Russia)
Finish up work stuff

I filled out my FMLA paperwork today. I'm pretty sure that is what triggered my meltdown. I like my job - I really do. Obviously it has it's moments (what doesn't) but I enjoy the people I work with and what I do. My work is something I'm proud of and, without kids, something I've given my all to in the past 10 years. I think I wonder what kind of "me" I'm going to be next. I know, so weird... If you've been reading this blog long enough you know that, yes.... I'm not normal.

Well, I have a document due at 9:00 tomorrow morning and I haven't started it. I'm so tired, contacts are dry from the waterworks so I might just go to sleep and get up nice and early tomorrow. I'm not very useful right now! :-)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful night! CONGRATS to everyone who has gotten court dates or travel dates lately!

More updates this weekend!
Becky

I had a presentation to give today. Of course, I only began working on it Sunday night and finished it Monday afternoon. It wasn't a big presentation, but it was in front of my entire team so I needed to be sure to include all of the details since they'll be shouldering my work while I'm out.

I had just begun the presentation - was on the first slide. We were sitting in a "U" shape configuration. My phone rang and I quickly realized it was my agency. I commented out loud "oh, it's my agency - I'll send them to voicemail" and did so. One of my co-workers started saying "no, no - answer it!" I said "No" and that I would call them back after I was done. Everyone gave me a hard time about not answering which cracked me up. At this point, I'm shaking, palms are sweating and I try to read the next bullet point on the slide. It came out at 90 million miles and hour and made no sense. Everyone laughed, Debora (my co-worker) stood up and said "10 minute break!".

I ran outside, called the agency and yes............

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!

June 27th! We have to be in Russia on June 25th, will see the Peanut on the 26th and then court on the 27th. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!?!?

Of course, here I am, at an offsite staff meeting in the mountains, I have no paperwork, no visa apps, no passports, no access to my bank account to start getting money... you name it, I don't have it. Thankfully, we go home around noon tomorrow so the fun will begin!

As of right now, Gotcha Day may be the 9th of July and we'll be coming home on the 15th. WOOOHOOOOOO!!!

One word of advice to anyone waiting for dates - go on vacation or out of town. When I went on vacation, we got our referral travel dates. I went away on a staff meeting and we get our court date. Coincidence? Maybe...

Anyhow... off to have fun with my co-workers. More of an update tomorrow night!
Becky

(Callie and Lancey are going to have a rude awakening when they realize they not longer have a hiding place!)