Happy Birthday, VikEllie!

Long Version: Today’s visit was so much fun!!!! Our facilitator here arranged for balloons, snacks and a cake and we brought just a small gift to the little princess…When we got there, we went up to the visitation room as usual and there was a group of children in the room. They were doing the usual little music time that we have seen pretty much every day that we have been there. They left almost immediately and Vika’s whole group was brought into the room and they are too cute! They sat down and had a little music time and then we laid out the snacks… During the music, they all formed a circle around Els and sang to her and then one by one they each went into the center with her and held hands and danced…adorable.

After Vikellie (our transition name) blew out her candles, they all had a little snack. Then, about half of the group left the room and in came the balloons. We played with the kids; one of the nannies played the piano and the kids snacked, played and danced. After a bit, we took the cake into the director’s office where she had tea laid out. Vika blew out the candles again for our benefit and she really thought it was fun:0) (never hurts to be the center of attention) We also had champagne…and another 3 drink toast…it was really so lovely that they made such a big deal of it.

During this time, the other family was also with us as well as our facilitators, and the director. We had the best rasberry cake but the kids were not allowed to have any and they did not seem to want it either??? Apparently they are not used to heavy sweets although they seem to get a fair bit of c-a-n-d-y from what I have seen. She opened the little present we got for her and she played with it for a bit but then went back to spooning her hot tea into her mouth…I will have to become a tea drinker…eeek. (I don’t think so)

After this, we went back into the visitation room and get this: ALL THE WORKERS LEFT THE ROOM!!!! That’s right…and she did not cry…she colored, sat comfortably drawing and playing with the crayons for about 30 minutes and even said a few words to us which we did not understand but pretended like we did…LOL. So today’s visit was a resounding success and we plan to make everyday for the rest of our lives a party!

Short version: good visit!

When In Rome

Long Version: We wondered what we would do with our weekend…no visitation…we have walked the main streets around the hotel until we have them memorized…so, we hit the flea market on Saturday and managed to kill a fair bit of time there…I picked up two little dresses that look very Russian for Els for only 250 R which is about $12 USD. Not too bad…otherwise, I found the prices to be very inflated at this “flea market.” We now affectionately refer to the inflated prices as the “adoption rate.” It seems that although Moscow is very westernized, and quite used to American visitors, this area of Siberia sees very few…in addition, our facilitators (and anyone they ask for confirmation on our behalf) insist that Adam looks very much like the new president of Russia. A few have even gone so far as to ask for their photo with him…funny!

We are drawing quite a few looks as we wander and we are told it is because we smile so much…they say in Russia, there is nothing to be happy about. Also, they equate people who smile and laugh a lot as being not too bright…eek. Today, as we were out and about with our facilitator there was one young girl who just stopped and looked at me for a good while…finally I asked the interpreter if she would like to talk to me…she asked the girl and she replied no, she cannot talk to me but that she likes me very much…it must be the freckles:0)

So yes, today we got the tour of Kras and it’s surrounding area…we drove outside of town and saw the ski slopes where Putin spends so much time…we saw the hydroelectric power plant that was up until recently the largest in Russia. We saw many outlying villages, a very old cemetery that was eerily fascinating, and several monuments to various important people in this region.

We had some very good Chinese food outside of town and our facilitators wanted to toast with us…VODKA! He was quite insistent that we try this with him. Well, a Russian “toast” is actually 3 different toasts but he filled the women’s (shot size) glasses only once and we sipped from it…the toasts include: To health, to women (at the table) and to Love…luckily the tour continued after lunch for I am fairly certain that I would have fallen asleep and not awoken until tomorrow. When in Rome…

We had to spring ahead again last night…not too bad since our bodies have no real clue what time it is anyway…we had nothing to get up for since our tour did not start until noon. Tomorrow we go back to the orphanage and we will have a small birthday party for the little princess…I am sure she will enjoy the attention:0) We are bringing balloons for the kids and cake for the workers…I am hopeful that with the other children around, this visit will not have as many tears…we’ll see…

Short version: We stayed busy this weekend seeing the sights, Adam is famous here, Vodka is nasty, Vika turns two tomorrow.

A Room With a View

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Long Version: We have had two post-court visits with Vika…it is extremely difficult to bond with her in that setting. The other couple that is traveling with us is also in the room while we are visiting with her and he too is crying and yet when the nannies come into the room, they hone in on her and they start their goo goo ga ga talk to her and pick her up…When our facilitators are in the room, they put a stop to it by telling the nannies to ignore her so that she can seek comfort from us but they are not always in the room as they try to leave us alone with the children and often have to conduct other business while at the baby home. So, today we contemplated skipping the rest of the visits…it seems to cause her so much anxiety and we get extremely frustrated with the workers who constantly come to her “rescue”…it becomes more evident each day that she lives by a different set of rules than the other children in the home…she is allowed to tell the nannies no, and does…

Anyway, our facilitators continue to assure us that once the children are back at the hotel with no one to help her but us, the real bonding will begin. They say they have seen children cry and carry on much worse than our little “princess” and do remarkably well with their parents.

I have picked up a little bit of Russian in hopes of being able to comfort her some. Once we are out of here, I think things will settle way down. Hearing the Russian and the English is confusing, I’m sure…plus, they keep telling her we are her mama and papa and all she hears is, “their names are mama and papa”…she has no concept of parents and even if she did, she might wonder why we only come see her for two hours/day??? One more visit this week and then we start fresh on Monday!

Although it was snowing in Moscow when we landed there, the weather in Siberia has been beautiful and we have not needed our coats outside until today…It started snowing first thing this morning and did not let up until about 3PM this afternoon. I am having no trouble sleeping now that court is over, I am just doing it at all the wrong times:0) Adam seems to be requiring less sleep although I am sure it will catch up with him eventually.

So, that’s all for now…

Short Version: visiting, sleeping, eating Russian cuisine…hope the weather turns again so we can get out and see the sights while we wait.

The Verdict is In!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Long version: We have been in Kras now since early Sunday morning. We are at the Kras hotel and there are 3 other families that had court with us today and Sherri is still here with her little girl but she leaves tomorrow. It has really been a nice time getting to know her and her little girl. She has been so kind…passing things down that she did not need or use and being such an encouragement to me over the last few days.

We had our first visit with Ellie yesterday and it was less than wonderful:0) She was extremely upset…crying before she even got into the room. After about ten minutes, Adam asked our facilitator to ask the care takers to leave the room so that we could try to comfort her on our own. She was having quite the tantrum and tried to hit, scratch and even bit me once. I was able to sooth her using a few Russian phrases I learned and she eventually calmed down but the caretakers kept passing through the room and this would only serve to upset her again.

During the visit, the home psychiatrist came in and told us that she is extremely spoiled by the caretakers and that she is a favorite in the home…therefore she acts the way she does. The director of the home also told us that she had just aged out of her usual group and has only been in her new room for less than one week and that she had been having tantrums all week. Both of these statements were encouraging to us and we continue to be pleased with the attachment we see between her and the caretakers.

She also allowed us to give her snacks, change her pants and even went so far as to place food in Adam’s mouth which shows that she had already begun to show a level of comfort after just an hour or so. When it was time for them to go back to their rooms, we went into the director’s office so that they could reaffirm that we wanted to adopt her…they gave us her schedule, and went over the medicals again…as we were loading into the van, a nanny came around the corner and Els and another little boy were in the buggy she was pushing…they asked her, “where is your mama?” She looked up and scanned the crowd…looked at all the women and then pointed to me. She smiled at us waved…and we were on our way…

Court: All of our prepping took place in the car on the way to and from the orphanage. I did not feel at all overwhelmed by the prepping. They told us that either one of us could do the bulk of the speaking. (I asked if it was offensive for the woman to speak and both our facilitator and our translator said absolutely not…also, all the people who seemed to really matter in this hearing were women, Alexander included) At first we thought that I would talk the most since I was more familiar with all of the docs but Adam was more in control emotionally so before I fell asleep at 11pm, it was decided that he would face the judge first.

We were to be in the lobby at 9AM for a 930 court appearance. We got to the court and we waited in the lobby until the translator, the baby home director and the Minister of Education were all present. At some point the secretary for the court came and got us all…we walked past the guard booth through a turn stall and metal detector that no one was really manning…we all set it off…up some steps, around some corners, down some steps and were directed to sit outside court room #5. We were asked to come in and have a seat…then we were asked to go back into the hall as the other couple would be going before us…this was a little bit of a let down as I had been up since 4AM and just wanted to be done already…emotionally, I was on edge, physically, I was exhausted and hungry not to mention the nerves. When the other family came out, I could tell by their faces that something had gone wrong but there was no time to talk to them as we were called in right away.

So here are the details all you Kras families really want to hear…the court room looks similar to a court room in the states but it is old and plain…Yelena, Galina, and Alexander (the MOE) all sit to the side. The judge is straight in front of you behind her raised desk and the court recorder sits by the ladies while the prosecutor (a man in a military looking coat) sits to the other side by himself.

To start the hearing…everyone rises. The judge summarizes the petition to the court and then asks you to introduce yourselves giving your name, DOB, place of birth, employer and place of residence. At this time the primary speaker will stand and be questioned. The facilitator here did a wonderful job of telling us exactly what they would ask and in what order. Nothing is asked that is not already in your paperwork with the exception how you are prepared to handle the issues that will undoubtedly arise for an adopted child. For us, they were very concerned about how our children felt and whether or not we could love this child as we love our biological children. These questions were asked repeatedly to us in different ways.

When the judge is done asking the primary speaker questions, the prosecutor is given an opportunity to ask questions…in our case, his questions were repetitive and so were our answers. Next, the spouse stands for questioning. In our case it was me. They asked me how I would be able to love her as much when I carried these other children in my womb and I have already missed so much of her life???? I explained that from the beginning, we have never differentiated between biological and adopted children…to us, all children are considered a gift and we feel lucky to be blessed with this child. We look at this adoption not as what we can give to Ellie but how we can be blessed by having her in our lives. The prosecutor again was given a chance to question me. All total, I was questioned for maybe 10 minutes and Adam for about 20-30 minutes.

When they were finished questioning us, Galina, the head of the baby home stood…she went through the medical report a little, explained the circumstances of how our child came to be eligible for adoption, spoke a little on how we interacted with her and then made the statement that she supported us and felt the adoption was in the best interests of the child. Next, the MOE did much the same, followed by the prosecutor. We were then asked to step out into the hall…literally two minutes later we went back and the judge read her decision…I bawled, and my knees gave out…what an amazing experience we have had…the relief and joy are overwhelming. Thank you, Father for your unfailing love!

Now we will spend the rest of this week and all of next week visiting her in the home and we will pick her up on Friday, 4/4.

Short version: Praise God!!!! The judge said said yes.

March, I mean Medical Madness!

Ok my fellow bloggers…here are the details you want to know about the 8 medical at the Amercian Medical institute… We left the hotel at 2:35 for our three o’clock appointment. When we got there, we filled out an information sheet with our manes and address (no medical history…go figure) and a payment release form. Then we waited about 30 minutes and a “nurse,’ I think, came out and said,”one of you can come with me.” The other couple with us went first…They were gone about 5 minutes and then we were called back a short time later. And so began our theoretical medical.

1. Neurologist: we were with the neurologist for about 5 minutes. He asked Adam if he had ever had blunt force trauma to the head…I think because he looks Russin:0) He also asked him he suffers from epilepsy???? He did not ask me any questions. He tested our reflexes did what equated to a minor DUI exam…IE close you eyes and touch your fingers to your nose with each hand. He also asked us to squeeze his hands while keeping our eyes closed. That completes this portion of the exam.

2. Psychologist: Asked about 10 questions using a translator…including the psychological back ground of our families, employment, why we are adopting, about our kids and how they will react to the adopted child and how the adopted child will fit into our family in terms of her age. She smiled, wished us well and sent us on our way.

3. Not sure of this one’s title:0) Asked us about habitual medications and allergies to medications any surgeries and took our blood pressure. All of the couples that were there with us had higher than normal blood pressures but this did not seem to concern the doctor; I can only presume she assumed it was nerves.

4. Oncologist: Do you smoke? Any history of cancer? Any malignancies?

5. Narcologist: (seriously, that’s what he was called) This was interesting because during the questioning, he spoke to us using a translator but during the physical exam, he spoke to us in almost perfect English??? Do you have alcohol? How often? How do you feel afterward? Are you ever sick from alcohol? Same questions for drugs…specifically any sleep medications, narcotics or anti-depressants. Did the touch fingers to nose thing again…had us roll up our sleeves so he could see our arms...I assume he was looking for track marks.

6. TB Specialist: Showed our radiology report and Tb test results. She asked about how often we get colds and if we had ever had pneumonia. Also if we had ever been exposed to TB.

7. Infectionist: Examined the blood results for a little while…most comprehensive as far as looking at our “medicals.” Asked us about our latest inoculation which was tetanus for both of us.
We did not see an 8th doctor but we left with 8 stamps on our cards????

At no time did they collect our “medicals” and they never asked to see our doctors license…I am not sure they even looked at the notary stamp. It was very simple…took us three hours between being taken in and out of 3 different rooms…seems to be very much a formality that they take very seriously.

When we all got back to the hotel tonight, we went to diner with the Arditos. Swingles, and the Harris’. We walked about 15 minutes to the left right outside of the Marriot and there was a pretty nice Italian restaurant…good food and decent prices…and now to bed! We will blog again most like after court.

Short version: Had medicals, no big deal, ate good Italian dinner leave for Kras tomorrow night will blog again after court on Tuesday.

Made it to Moscow

March 21, 2008

Disclaimer: For the duration of this trip, I will post two versions of our updates…scroll down for the short version…

The flight over was uneventful…Adam shared and Ambien with me and I slept like a champ. We landed in Moscow and our driver was right where he was supposed to be. We got checked in to the Marriot and settled into our room and we found out that there is a family with another agency that will be traveling with us and is with our same facilitator…Deb, they are with your agency! There are Americans everywhere. There are 3 going over to Kras on the same flight with us and a few families on their way back. We met up with the Swingles and met half of the Dini family.

So far, we have done nothing. We are not too sure why we left on Thursday since we had a full free day and have our medicals later today. Not too nervous about it as everyone here assures us it is really no big deal. I will update with details on that later.

Our most significant news is that we have incorrect dates on our visas so we will definitely be coming home at least one day early, maybe more. If they cannot figure out how to get our consulate appointment crammed in before the 15th, we will come home as soon as we finish with the Embassy and do the consulate at home. This could be up to 3 days early. Either way, we are fine but it would be nice to come home a few days earlier.

Also, we had a phone call almost as soon as we settled in to the room that there was an issue with my employment letter. I spent the first night dealing with that from here …on the phone with my mom and our agency back home trying to get it all taken care of. It seems that they the judge does not like that the copy she has was signed by the secretary of the corporation (not a secretary in terms of letter typing etc but the sec. on the corp docs) so they wanted one signed by the president…which there is a copy of at the MOE…so, the facilitator is trying to get that one for court and in the meantime, we have completed an additional one and sent an electronic copy of it over and mailed the original in hopes it will get there in time or the next day and that the judge will allow us to have our court date with the copy, knowing it will be there shortly…please pray for this. Our agency does not seem overly concerned but obviously it is additional stress at this time.

So after spending the first night up dealing with that we spent the next day almost entirely in bed and then couldn’t sleep that night…so here we are…about to leave for the medicals, we have our days and nights confused, and we have paperwork issues…good times…

Short Version: Lots of Americans, met the Swingles and Dinis, days and nights mixed up, visa dates are wrong coming home 1-3 day early and we have minor paperwork issues.

Surreal

Friday night's surprise with my mom was a gallery showing of a piece by P. Buckley Moss called "The Cradle." There is quite a story to go along with it but I will shorten it to this: There was a family that could not have children and about 30 years ago they ended up adopting a child from an organization called The Cradle. Moss was so inspired by their story that she painted this picture. My mom took me to meet the artist, the people who's story inspired the painting and to get an autographed copy of the print for our daughter's room. To read the full story, you can go to this link: www.mosscollectors.com/patsletter012408.html (you have to scroll down a little way:0)

Friday night we all slumbered in the family room...well, sort of...I went back to my bed after everyone was "slumbering." On Saturday, we took care of some business around the house and then we took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who...in the words of the great Randy, "it was just ok for me." But, the kids enjoyed it. And today, after church, we took advantage of some Build a Bear bucks and let the kids get some new stuff for their bears...and now, we are packing and cleaning up. I have several little last minute details to take care of but nothing I feel terribly stressed over...there are also several things I wanted to get done around the house that did not get done...AAAAHHHH!!!! I only had 2.5 years...give me a break! I really wanted to just come home...you know? But, those projects will still be here when I get back...

Today's heart ache is the thought of being without my kids...I was holding it together really well until another couple asked us if they could pray for us at the alter at church this morning and when they prayed for our children, I lost it! (Thank you, Brian and Anna for your prayers today and through out our journey:0) Since then, the tears have threatened to come off and on all day and I look forward to having a good cleansing cry after they go to bed tonight.

It is still hard to believe that in 48 hours, we will be settling in to our flight to Moscow...surreal.

The Nitty Gritty

We're down to 3.5 days until lift off and we have everything done...thank you, Lord. We got the visas yesterday...turns out the women's day (Russian Mother's day) holiday slowed things down at the consulate so our visas went out a day later than projected...worked out fine. We were supposed to have a travel phone conference with our FC yesterday but her boy friend decided to make some romantic gesture and she never got to work...lucky girl! So, we will speak to our new FC on Monday. We got an updated medical on Els today and she gained almost a whole pound and grew about 2.5 inches.

Today I drove on a field trip for Rusty...the zoo...what a bunch of Monkeys...and this evening my mom has something up her sleeve...not sure what...I just know I have to be ready at 4:45. Hmmmm.

So, we are down to the nitty gritty, folks...Have a great weekend!!!!

Amen.

Too good not to share!

DQ: with out the Dairy

DRAMA: that's right...it would not be Russian adoption without some drama...even where there should be none. So the visa's were not where they were supposed to be today...my house! I called and the woman, who is Russian btw, was a little perturbed with me...she got a little snippy while she was telling me that she told me yesterday that they would be to me by today...so, I kindly repeated that the tracking information said they had not even been picked up yet...low and behold they were still at the consulate...so, she will get them out today and I will have them tomorrow...drama over, crisis averted.

No other news on the adoption front...6 days...

ONE MORE WEEK

...and we are on our way...starting to feel a little sick. My nerves are always a bit on edge before I travel but this is kind of MAJOR! Anyway...still waiting on the visa's...I will call and check on those today. We are also waiting for our doctor to finish the paperwork that we will have to hand over for our medicals in Moscow. (we have to carry over our lab results and a radiology report)...I have the wash going constantly trying to keep everything clean so that I can pack everyone this weekend...nothing else to report...except...

CONGRATULATIONS, SHERRI!!!!! She is Mama now! You can check her out @ http://www.slaadventure.blogspot.com/

Everywhere we go...

people want to know, so we tell them:

When we get to Russia, We will spend the first three days in Moscow having "medicals" done. They do not have GPs there so we will see 8 different doctors in one day all at an American Medical Clinic that is staffed by, you guessed it, Russians who speak little English. I have heard it is pretty much a joke...for example, the psychiatrist asked questions like "have you ever had blunt force trauma to the head?" or "If you live in FL do you find alligators to be a nuisance?" The cardiologist will come in and listen to our hearts and sign off, the pulmonologist will come in ask a few questions listen to our lungs and sign off...anyway, it is all done rather quickly but is necessary for court...so, we do it. On the 3rd day, we leave for Kras.

When we land it will be the next day:0) (big country!) We have one day of visitation and prepping for court and then we have court the next day. Assuming the judge decides in our favor, we begin the 10 day wait which is standard in all court decisions in Russia. We do not have to remain there during this time. We could come home and go back...but we have decided to stay and use this time to bond with her in the environment she is comfortable in. Our 10 wait ends on a Friday night...we will go and pick her up but will not be able to do any paper work until Monday.

On Monday, we will go and apply for her Passport, birth certificate, etc...it takes a few days to get this back and on that Wed, we will be on our way back to Moscow. (we are now just over 3 weeks into the trip) In Moscow, She will have to go through a medical, we will have to apply to the Consulate and US embassy for her Visa and immigration paperwork...Since we can only apply to the consulate on a Friday, we sit over the weekend...we will receive her registration on Monday or Tuesday and fly home on Wed. Four weeks and one day later...

And there you have it...the answer to that FAQ, "Why do you have to stay in Russia for 4 weeks?"

T.G.I.F.

I am so glad this week is finally over! I think I have found a way to stress about nothing! I actually feel pretty calm but I can't be still...I am cleaning like a mad woman, working like crazy, and on occasion wandering from to room to room only to stand there with a blank look and wonder what it was I came into the room for???? (ok, that part isn't new) I am sleeping like a rock at night..and yet, this afternoon, I feel tired. I think my body knows it should be stressed but my mind has not caught up! Isn't that backward?

It's not like the weekend will find us lazing around...pretty much every minute of it is accounted for beginning at 3:30 when I take Ruthie to Gymnastics ending Sunday night at a mission dinner at church. But I feel like I made some real headway this week in getting stuff done for while I am away and my fc asked if I could carry some stuff to Moscow and so it gives me an excuse to pack an extra suitcase...maybe:)

It isn't like the kids will fight, whine, and complain any less but I am leaving in a week so I am more accommodating right now. That's right, 6 weeks of spoiling instead of just the 4 they will be at my mom's house.

It isn't like I will get to sleep in on Saturday since they get up at 6 AM regardless of whether they have school or not and it isn't like we don't have to spring forward Saturday night anyway!!!

It is just Friday, and I am one day closer to my little girl.

Tickets, Please!

Got the plane tickets via fed ex today!!! Oh my goodness, just 12 more days! I can't believe it...I am preparing some letters that I will mail in a package to a friend of mine and she will mail them to my children for me while I am gone...I am getting their schedule just about completed and on a calender for my mom...and yesterday, I called around to get all or most of my bills taken care of while we are gone...turns out all of my utilities need 30 days notice to go onto auto pay...oops! So, I will have to leave those to my mom to take care of and pay her when I get back:0) Thanks, Mom!

I am ahead of the game with having all of my work stuff ready to hand off to none other than, my mom. (since I work for her:0) It seems the Lord has this timed perfectly...I will not miss any of my kids stuff at school and as far as my job goes, a month away could not have been timed more perfectly.

I have been asked for an update on Flip: He is still alive after locking us out of the house...I did manage to use a lawn man's cell phone to leave my husband a message on his cell (he was at the gym) and get my step dad on the phone to get my kids from school in time...all in all, I sat outside for about 2 hours, an hour of it on the porch out of the torrential down pour...good times...

Much Ado About Nothing

Ok, so yesterday we had a man here fixing our sprinklers and I went outside to talk to him and unbeknown to me, Flip followed me. I thought nothing of it until I went to get back into the house and of course, it was locked! Any other time, our children will have any number of the windows unlocked because they open them but never close them properly but not yesterday, oh no...every window locked up tight...so outside, no keys, no phone, it is about to pour down rain and my kids need to be picked up from school soon, no neighbors are home. hmmm...typical.

I Got an email from a friend who leaves today and she had a document request as late as yesterday...and they wanted it apostilled...ha! I am sitting here wondering what is going on? Wondering if I will float along the next 10 days and then 3 days before we are scheduled to leave suddenly have requests for additional documents. I pray that my paper chase has come to an end...that the judge will be satisfied with everything they already have. Enough is enough! At least it should be.

Visa applications are on their way and will arrive at their destination today before 10:30 CA time...I have everything we need to take (including a plane ticket with Ellie's name on it...how cool is that?) except a prescription for antibiotics for the girlie that I am waiting to hear back from the doc on and I think I will grab some lolly pops and a puzzle for the plane. I have to go get the last big fat whoppin' check from the bank and get it to our agency...watch that step, it's a doozy! And then it is just a matter of putting it all into the suit cases...and packing my kids for their stay at their Nana's house. I'm dreading that the most; packing 3 children for a month away from home...ick!

I haven't heard much from my FC but we will get to have our travel meeting with her before her last day at the agency...so I am happy about that...then we will have our file handed off to one of the other FCs but by then there will not be much more to do besides the post placement reports...only three more years and we will have our lives to ourselves again. *sigh*

Spring Forward: Are you kiddin' me?

I cannot believe that we have to spring forward this weekend! Seriously...Spring forward always knocks me on my behind like I flew to oh, let's just say Russia or something! It takes me a week to get used to the time change...I drag around like a zombie just getting through my days and I have to do this the week before we leave for Moscow (8 hours ahead) and then another few days Kras (4 more hours ahead)...Just enough time to get used to their time and then we fly back to Moscow (4 hours back) and few days later, home (8 more hours back) Are you kidding me?

Got the airline tickets situated yesterday...luckily we got the email that changed our return date from the 15th to the 16th BEFORE we finalized the arrangements! Had to get this done as the agent said the costs of plane tickets is rising about $10-$20/day because of gas prices! Today I am going to work on getting my office organized...it hasn't been cleaned up and organized since I moved my work into it several months back but the nesting is kicking in so I must get it done! I am also going to get over to fed ex and get our visa applications out to CA so we can get on that whole process.

Two families had successful court dates yesterday and are now the proud parents of two handsome little Siberian men. Congrats to the Swingles and the Dinis! My friend Sherri leaves tomorrow to begin her trip to bring her daughter home so please pray for safe travel for her! I will get a chance to finally meet all these people in Moscow and in Kras because our trips overlap. I am so excited about that!

So, today marks 14 days until we fly out!!! Just two more weeks and we are on our way...still hard to believe we are almost there!

Elephantitis

I can hardly believe that my two plus years of being "pregnant" with this child are about to come to an end. I can sympathise with the elephant on a whole new level now and I believe they have received top billing in my heart as my favorite animal. We spent the weekend a little different than you might imagine after getting the good news late Friday afternoon. I, of course, fired off an email to the travel agent to get her working on our flight itinerary. Then, I got our Visa applications filled out and ready for Fed Ex today. But then we just went about life as usual over the weekend. sleepover on Friday night (our house...still tired), baseball game on Saturday, church on Sunday. We did go to Target and get a car seat for the girlie. That was kind of cool. We also bought her an Easter dress:0)

Once back at home, I went through all the stuff I had been stock piling for our trip and I managed to cut out quite a bit of it from having been there just a little more than a week ago...I now know we don't need everything I thought we did. So I have begun the process of packing. Friends have asked what I need to get done before we go and the answer is, not a whole lot...I don't have any paperwork to do, most my packing was already prepped, so I will just concentrate on my kids, getting my office ready for me to be away from it for 30 days, a few things around the house...T minus 15 days until lift off...stay tuned!