I've been asked (or should I say "told") by numerous people that I need to wrap up our blog with an update. It's been a little crazy since we got home with Alina. Not only have we spent much of our time taking care of the baby, I have been working on the annual budget at work, so it's been chaotic to say the least. My apologies to those of you who have been waiting on pins and needles for a wrap up, but I figured you saw our baby in person, so that was enough of a wrap up for you!
Anyway, for those of you that do not know, we flew back to Russia on Sep 5, and we were there for about 2 weeks. We were in Moscow until Monday afternoon, and that evening we took the overnight train to Cheboksary with our coordinators. On Tuesday, we picked up the court documents and the Alina's new birth certificate that showed her name name, and listed us as her parents. We also applied for her Russian passport, which we received on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, we picked up her passport, then took a taxi to Alatyr (2 and 1/2 hour drive) to pick up Alina. We had a brief celebration with the doctor at the Baby House, and then we had to jump back in the car to drive to the train station (1 and 1/2 hour drive). We hopped on the overnight train back to Moscow, and on Thursday, had to take Alina to get a physical by a pediatrician (which is required to get an American Visa).
The next few days were pretty laid back. We hung out with Alina over the weekend, went shopping, and did a little sightseeing around Moscow (nothing too famous, just a few cool churches). Our coordinator filed our paperwork for us at the US Embassy on Friday, and we had an interview at the Embassy on Monday to get Alina's visa. On Tuesday & Wednesday, our coordinator filed more paperwork for us to register Alina with the Russian Embassy. Then on Friday, we flew home.
Once we landed in Chicago, we had to go through customs, and then go to Immigration. After waiting about an hour, they processed our paperwork, and Alina officially became a US citizen. We then caught the final flight in to Dallas to get home. Once we got to the airport, some of our family met us there holding a big sign to welcome Alina home. It was a great treat to see them all after being gone so long, and also to introduce them to their newest family member.
So that is the quick version of the last trip we made. I'll have to remember to come back and provide some more details because the last leg of our journey was truly wonderful.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I Hate Airlines
The first big issue we encountered on our latest trip hit us right off the bat. Our flight was to leave Dallas at 1pm, land in Chicago around 3:15, and then we had a little over a 2 hour layover until we caught our connecting flight to Moscow. We boarded the plane, and a few minutes after 1, Brandon commented that we were already running late.
A minute or so later, the pilot came over the PA and said that the maintenance crew was replacing the radar in the nose cone and that we'd be there for at least a half hour. A half hour came and went and the pilot then announced that they were still working on it, and that he wasn't sure how long it would be. Likely another 25-30 minutes, he said.
Yet another half hour came and went, and then the pilot announced that they had put a new nose cone on, but that one of the brackets that holds in on was broken. They were going to get a new bracket to put on it, and it shouldn't be too much longer. Meanwhile, we watched the maintenance crew outside load up what must have been the old nose cone on a truck. It was in a large box that was falling apart, and they used a forklift to basically ram it into the back of the truck. This made me a bit nervous, considering that seemed to be a fairly fragile piece of equipment that they could have easily punctured with the forks from the fork lift, but I digress.
Another half hour went by, and the pilot announced that they had the bracket there, and that they were just bolting it on. He said that since it only had 6 bolts to screw in that it should only be like 5-10 more minutes. That was the kiss of death. Finally, about 20 minutes later at 2pm, he said that they were pulling everyong off the flight and that the gate agents were waiting to help rebook us on other flights.
We got to the top of the jetbridge to find ourselves about 30 people deep in a line that eventually had well over 200 people in it, with only 3 agents to help rebook them all. While waiting in line, I called the reservations desk and asked them to rebook our flight. At this point, I knew the only way we could get to Moscow the next day was if they flew us to London, and connected us to another airline, so that is what I told them they needed to do. Because our original flight had not yet been officially cancelled, the reservation agent informed me that she could only get everything set, and that the gate agents would have to finalize it.
We waited in line for about an hour before getting to an agent. At that point, the agent that started helping us left 5 minutes later because apparently he got off at 4pm. He didn't tell us he was leaving, mind you, he just left, and his supervisor proceeded to take over (even though he was in the midst of helping other people). A few minutes later, another agent came over to lend a hand, and the supervisor passed us off to her. By the time we brought her up to speed on what we needed, the supervisor from the London flight came over and said that we needed to come with him in order to get on that flight. Considering he was now be the 4th person to help us, we weren't too pleased.
As this guy finally started getting us booked on our flight, I asked him if our bags would be retagged since we were no longer going through Chicago. He said that they would simply write over the tag. Not sure how that would make anyone else feel, but I was a little skeptical. The good news is that the guy put us in business class since we had been jerked around all day. Not sure if that made up for the fact that we were now getting into Moscow 8 hours later, and that our bags wouldn't make it there until 2 days later (causing us to wear the same clothes for 4 straight days), but it was a decent gesture.
A minute or so later, the pilot came over the PA and said that the maintenance crew was replacing the radar in the nose cone and that we'd be there for at least a half hour. A half hour came and went and the pilot then announced that they were still working on it, and that he wasn't sure how long it would be. Likely another 25-30 minutes, he said.
Yet another half hour came and went, and then the pilot announced that they had put a new nose cone on, but that one of the brackets that holds in on was broken. They were going to get a new bracket to put on it, and it shouldn't be too much longer. Meanwhile, we watched the maintenance crew outside load up what must have been the old nose cone on a truck. It was in a large box that was falling apart, and they used a forklift to basically ram it into the back of the truck. This made me a bit nervous, considering that seemed to be a fairly fragile piece of equipment that they could have easily punctured with the forks from the fork lift, but I digress.
Another half hour went by, and the pilot announced that they had the bracket there, and that they were just bolting it on. He said that since it only had 6 bolts to screw in that it should only be like 5-10 more minutes. That was the kiss of death. Finally, about 20 minutes later at 2pm, he said that they were pulling everyong off the flight and that the gate agents were waiting to help rebook us on other flights.
We got to the top of the jetbridge to find ourselves about 30 people deep in a line that eventually had well over 200 people in it, with only 3 agents to help rebook them all. While waiting in line, I called the reservations desk and asked them to rebook our flight. At this point, I knew the only way we could get to Moscow the next day was if they flew us to London, and connected us to another airline, so that is what I told them they needed to do. Because our original flight had not yet been officially cancelled, the reservation agent informed me that she could only get everything set, and that the gate agents would have to finalize it.
We waited in line for about an hour before getting to an agent. At that point, the agent that started helping us left 5 minutes later because apparently he got off at 4pm. He didn't tell us he was leaving, mind you, he just left, and his supervisor proceeded to take over (even though he was in the midst of helping other people). A few minutes later, another agent came over to lend a hand, and the supervisor passed us off to her. By the time we brought her up to speed on what we needed, the supervisor from the London flight came over and said that we needed to come with him in order to get on that flight. Considering he was now be the 4th person to help us, we weren't too pleased.
As this guy finally started getting us booked on our flight, I asked him if our bags would be retagged since we were no longer going through Chicago. He said that they would simply write over the tag. Not sure how that would make anyone else feel, but I was a little skeptical. The good news is that the guy put us in business class since we had been jerked around all day. Not sure if that made up for the fact that we were now getting into Moscow 8 hours later, and that our bags wouldn't make it there until 2 days later (causing us to wear the same clothes for 4 straight days), but it was a decent gesture.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Best of Times & The Worst of Times
Our week in Russia was extremely stressful and trying. There certainly were way too many things that happened to cover all in one entry, so this entry will be a summary of events, and we will follow up with a couple more entries to provide details.
First, the good news:
1) Our adoption petition for Alina was approved on Thursday, August 28, so we are officially parents. There is a 10 day waiting period after the court date to allow for any objections (thus why we are back home this week without the baby).
2) We had a brief visit with Alina on Wednesday. When Brandon went over to get her from her care giver, Alina saw her and got a huge smile and her face. I wish I had my camera ready because it was beautiful.
Second, the bad news:
1) Brandon's car died the night before we were flying out.
2) Our flight out was to be from DFW to Chicago to Moscow. Our flight from Dallas was cancelled after 2 hours, so we couldn't make our connection in Chicago, so we had to fly though London.
3) Our luggage got lost/didn't make it to Moscow the same day we did.
4) We had to pass a medical review in Moscow on Monday as part of the process. This usually takes about an hour and a half, but ours took 4 hours.
5) We have to take a overnight train from Moscow to get to the region where Alina is. There was a mixup on our train tickets, and we had been issued tickets for the wrong day.
6) Our short 90 minute visit with Alina was sidetracked by the doctors and the inspector getting us prepped for what court might bring the next day.
7) Court proceedings, including a lunch break, lasted the better part of the day on Thursday, including getting grilled for about 2 hours by the judge.
8) On our layover in Chicago, we checked our voicemail to find that the A/C in our house went out (FYI - for those not in Dallas, it's been in the upper 90's this weekend).
So this by far was one of the worst weeks in our lives, and at the same time, one of the best because we became Alina's Mom & Dad. It certainly will be memorable for many reasons, but I guess this adds to the story we will be telling her some day.
We'll add a little color around all our travels in the next few posts, for those who are interested. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of at least some of it.
First, the good news:
1) Our adoption petition for Alina was approved on Thursday, August 28, so we are officially parents. There is a 10 day waiting period after the court date to allow for any objections (thus why we are back home this week without the baby).
2) We had a brief visit with Alina on Wednesday. When Brandon went over to get her from her care giver, Alina saw her and got a huge smile and her face. I wish I had my camera ready because it was beautiful.
Second, the bad news:
1) Brandon's car died the night before we were flying out.
2) Our flight out was to be from DFW to Chicago to Moscow. Our flight from Dallas was cancelled after 2 hours, so we couldn't make our connection in Chicago, so we had to fly though London.
3) Our luggage got lost/didn't make it to Moscow the same day we did.
4) We had to pass a medical review in Moscow on Monday as part of the process. This usually takes about an hour and a half, but ours took 4 hours.
5) We have to take a overnight train from Moscow to get to the region where Alina is. There was a mixup on our train tickets, and we had been issued tickets for the wrong day.
6) Our short 90 minute visit with Alina was sidetracked by the doctors and the inspector getting us prepped for what court might bring the next day.
7) Court proceedings, including a lunch break, lasted the better part of the day on Thursday, including getting grilled for about 2 hours by the judge.
8) On our layover in Chicago, we checked our voicemail to find that the A/C in our house went out (FYI - for those not in Dallas, it's been in the upper 90's this weekend).
So this by far was one of the worst weeks in our lives, and at the same time, one of the best because we became Alina's Mom & Dad. It certainly will be memorable for many reasons, but I guess this adds to the story we will be telling her some day.
We'll add a little color around all our travels in the next few posts, for those who are interested. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of at least some of it.
Monday, August 18, 2008
The Baby Olympics vs. The Beijing Olympics
We are halfway through the Summer Olympics in Beijing, and I wanted to point out a few differences between the two so that there is no confusion out there.
1) All judges in the Baby Olympics (namely, the two of us) are American. In the Beijing Olympics, the judges can be from many different countries.
2) The age limit in the Baby Olympics is under 18 months, while there is no age limit in many of the sports in the Beijing Olympics (with the exception of women's gymnastics where they have to be at least 16).
3) In order to win the Baby Olympics, the scale is slanted toward being cute, vs. having natural athletic ability.
4) The prize in the Baby Olympics is a family vs. a medal.
5) The official languages of the Baby Olympics are Russian and English, vs. French and English.
But don't worry folks, because there are a few similarities.
1) Russia and the United States are both powerhouses.
2) Coordinating and colorful outfits (thanks in large part to Brandon).
3) Very emotional for the participants and the people connected to them, ensuring tears being shed (especially by the Moms).
So I hope this little lesson helps to more clearly define these two wonderful events.
1) All judges in the Baby Olympics (namely, the two of us) are American. In the Beijing Olympics, the judges can be from many different countries.
2) The age limit in the Baby Olympics is under 18 months, while there is no age limit in many of the sports in the Beijing Olympics (with the exception of women's gymnastics where they have to be at least 16).
3) In order to win the Baby Olympics, the scale is slanted toward being cute, vs. having natural athletic ability.
4) The prize in the Baby Olympics is a family vs. a medal.
5) The official languages of the Baby Olympics are Russian and English, vs. French and English.
But don't worry folks, because there are a few similarities.
1) Russia and the United States are both powerhouses.
2) Coordinating and colorful outfits (thanks in large part to Brandon).
3) Very emotional for the participants and the people connected to them, ensuring tears being shed (especially by the Moms).
So I hope this little lesson helps to more clearly define these two wonderful events.
Friday, August 8, 2008
How much fuel does it take to fly a baby from Moscow?
Assuming all goes well at court and the medical reviews on our upcoming trip to Russia, we will have to make another trip shortly thereafter to finalize everything and bring Alina home. The good news is that we scrounged up enough miles to cover our airfare (plus the applicable taxes & fees, etc). So I started checking on how much that next trip will likely cost us, and called the airline's customer service desk.
One thing that we now have to consider is the idea of the "lap child". Well, flying domestically, apparently you don't have to pay for a lap child. However, for an international trip, you have to pay 10% of the base ticket price of an adult ticket. In our case, from Russia back to Dallas, that will be like $75. Not bad, right? Well, that's not all.
The customer service agent said "you will also have to pay for fuel surcharge, and as you know, fuel has gone up a lot in reason years, and the fuel surcharge has gone up like 300%." Well, can't say that I follow the gouging that is the "fuel surcharge", but I do follow regular gas prices (which, for the record. have only gone up like 200% during this same time frame). I'm thinking, okay, that will like double the price maybe. Oh no. It will be an additional $385!
So I start trying to rationalize this out. People can load like 40 lbs or more into a carry on bag and get charged nothing. You can load 50 lbs into the first bag you check and pay like $15 (I think), and yet transporting our little 20 lb. baby, who will be eating only food that we bring with us mind you, will cost nearly $500 all-in? Holy cow! She's not even getting a seat! Will that extra 20 lbs actually burn THAT much more fuel? Crazy.
One thing that we now have to consider is the idea of the "lap child". Well, flying domestically, apparently you don't have to pay for a lap child. However, for an international trip, you have to pay 10% of the base ticket price of an adult ticket. In our case, from Russia back to Dallas, that will be like $75. Not bad, right? Well, that's not all.
The customer service agent said "you will also have to pay for fuel surcharge, and as you know, fuel has gone up a lot in reason years, and the fuel surcharge has gone up like 300%." Well, can't say that I follow the gouging that is the "fuel surcharge", but I do follow regular gas prices (which, for the record. have only gone up like 200% during this same time frame). I'm thinking, okay, that will like double the price maybe. Oh no. It will be an additional $385!
So I start trying to rationalize this out. People can load like 40 lbs or more into a carry on bag and get charged nothing. You can load 50 lbs into the first bag you check and pay like $15 (I think), and yet transporting our little 20 lb. baby, who will be eating only food that we bring with us mind you, will cost nearly $500 all-in? Holy cow! She's not even getting a seat! Will that extra 20 lbs actually burn THAT much more fuel? Crazy.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Russia Trip #2
We found out today that we will be heading back to Russia on Aug 23 for a week. On Monday and Tuesday, we will go to Moscow first to be seen by 8 doctors for various medical examinations: a requirement for the adoption. Tuesday night we will travel to Alatyr to see Alina on Wednesday before going to court in Cheboksary on Thursday. Thursday night we will travel back to Moscow overnight, and we'll be there until we come back on Saturday.
The reason we will be coming home is that there is a 10 day waiting period after our appearance in court before the adoption can be finalized. If all goes well, we will be headed back to Russia about a week later to go to court again.
So awesome to see things continue to progress.
The reason we will be coming home is that there is a 10 day waiting period after our appearance in court before the adoption can be finalized. If all goes well, we will be headed back to Russia about a week later to go to court again.
So awesome to see things continue to progress.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Did we mention the waiting?
We heard today that our paperwork has made its way to the court in Russia. Now the judge has to review our dossier (all our documentation), and determine if everything is in order. Once it is determined that our paperwork is good to go, then the judge has 2 months to set a court date. Since the month of August in Russia is the main time that many people take a vacation, we assume that we will not travel until September. But there is certainly no guarantee because we have no idea how long it normally takes a judge to review the paperwork.
In the meantime, we continue to prepare our home for Alina's arrival. The wonderful folks at my office held a shower for us today. We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family.
Everything about this experience has ended up being a learning experience and a journey that we will never forget. Not only have we been reminded of how great a support network we have around us, we have found out more about ourselves. When we feel that we have just about run out of patience, God grants us a little bit more to get through another day.
I am usually a fairly happy go lucky person, with very few things in life causing me to worry too much that I don't know what to do with myself. But this is something that has tried my patience and my perseverance more than I have ever been tested in my life. I've found myself praying more, and asking God to watch over our little girl, and that he grant us more patience.
We know He has chosen Alina to be ours, and it's dumbfounding to think of the wheels that had to be set in motion to bring this all together. There apparently was a couple just ahead of us on the waiting list in Chuvashia, but the week prior they decided to focus on a different region (they had been listed in two regions, while we were listed in just one). Knowing that we were matched at the exact time so that she would be the one we would meet reminds us that we will go back at the exact time that is right for us and for her.... in other words, on God's timing.
We put this in His hands and ask Him to protect and keep her because we cannot. All we ask for ourselves at this point is to make it through each day until we get the call that we are going back. Giving this worry up to God has been difficult, but it's the only thing that has helped us not to stay awake at night worrying about her to this point.
In the meantime, we continue to prepare our home for Alina's arrival. The wonderful folks at my office held a shower for us today. We continue to be overwhelmed by the generosity of our friends and family.
Everything about this experience has ended up being a learning experience and a journey that we will never forget. Not only have we been reminded of how great a support network we have around us, we have found out more about ourselves. When we feel that we have just about run out of patience, God grants us a little bit more to get through another day.
I am usually a fairly happy go lucky person, with very few things in life causing me to worry too much that I don't know what to do with myself. But this is something that has tried my patience and my perseverance more than I have ever been tested in my life. I've found myself praying more, and asking God to watch over our little girl, and that he grant us more patience.
We know He has chosen Alina to be ours, and it's dumbfounding to think of the wheels that had to be set in motion to bring this all together. There apparently was a couple just ahead of us on the waiting list in Chuvashia, but the week prior they decided to focus on a different region (they had been listed in two regions, while we were listed in just one). Knowing that we were matched at the exact time so that she would be the one we would meet reminds us that we will go back at the exact time that is right for us and for her.... in other words, on God's timing.
We put this in His hands and ask Him to protect and keep her because we cannot. All we ask for ourselves at this point is to make it through each day until we get the call that we are going back. Giving this worry up to God has been difficult, but it's the only thing that has helped us not to stay awake at night worrying about her to this point.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
We'll Miss You, Bob!
We received some sad news this past weekend. Our neighbor, Bob Yum, passed away after a heart attack. He was just 59 years old, and he is gone way too soon. He was such a kind man and a wonderful neighbor, and we were blessed to know him. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his brother Art and their family as they deal with this loss.
For those of you that may not know, or remember, Bob was our pharmacist for the last 3 years (ever since we bought our house). If you have followed our blog from the beginning, then you also know that he wrote one of our recommendation letters for our adoption. We are very sad that he won't get to meet Alina when she comes home.
Our dog, Bailey, will also miss barking and jumping on him when he hand delivered some of our prescriptions to the house. He always laughed, and was amazed at how big she was.
For those of you that may not know, or remember, Bob was our pharmacist for the last 3 years (ever since we bought our house). If you have followed our blog from the beginning, then you also know that he wrote one of our recommendation letters for our adoption. We are very sad that he won't get to meet Alina when she comes home.
Our dog, Bailey, will also miss barking and jumping on him when he hand delivered some of our prescriptions to the house. He always laughed, and was amazed at how big she was.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Hurry Up and Wait
The first 6 weeks after getting home from Moscow was a flurry of activity. We pulled together paperwork needed to send to Russia and had it notarized. We saw our doctor for another physical, and even saw a psychologist, so that we could have reports from them saying we were physically and mentally fit to be parents. We've met with our new pediatrician, and in the next couple weeks we will be researching and finding a part-time daycare for when Brandon has meetings outside the house. Finally, we've also spent time pulling Alina's room together, having baby showers, buying stuff we needed, and getting rid of any items in our house we no longer had room or any use for. So now, it's just waiting.
Our paperwork got to Russia early last week where it has to be translated, notarized, and authenticated. That process usually takes about 3 weeks, so we are nearly half way through the average time for that. Then it goes to the court so that they can set a hearing date. If I had to venture a guess, I think we should know a little more by the beginning of August, but don't hold me to that timeline because I honestly have no clue. What I do know is that we are on pins and needles until we hear something.
One other thing, keep your fingers crossed for my Mom. She has a out-of-town vacation planned for the second week of September, and if Alina comes home during that time, she will be beside herself!
Our paperwork got to Russia early last week where it has to be translated, notarized, and authenticated. That process usually takes about 3 weeks, so we are nearly half way through the average time for that. Then it goes to the court so that they can set a hearing date. If I had to venture a guess, I think we should know a little more by the beginning of August, but don't hold me to that timeline because I honestly have no clue. What I do know is that we are on pins and needles until we hear something.
One other thing, keep your fingers crossed for my Mom. She has a out-of-town vacation planned for the second week of September, and if Alina comes home during that time, she will be beside herself!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Baby Shower #2
Yesterday we had a couples' shower with several more friends and their kids. Our friends Jennifer and Lisa hosted it for us at our house, and we very much appreciate all their hard work to pull it together. One cute thing happened to Lisa when she went to pick up the cake. She had them write "Welcome Alina" on the cake. When she went to pick it up, the woman at Tom Thumb in a very thick Russian accent asked "Is the baby from Russia?" Lisa smiled and answered "Yes she is." We are so very proud that Alina is from Russia and we hope to learn more about her country and culture when we travel back there.
We had a great time sharing stories of our Russian travels at the party, and we fielded questions about the adoption process from our guests. One thing is for certain, when you decide to become an adoptive parent, you will instantly become an advocate for making the entire process easier on deserving families. We certainly cannot complain, because the length of time for our adoption was shorter than we anticipated, but it certainly has had its bumps in the road. We thought the wait before getting matched to a child would be hard, but we had no idea that the wait to return to get our little girl after we had met her would be a thousand times more difficult.
We also were able to show off Alina's room now that it is finished. With its green walls and cherry wood furniture, it has become a very peaceful and serene part of our house and we find ourselves drawn in. We have a couple pictures of her in the room so that we can see her beautiful face every time we walk in. We can't wait to bring her home and spend time with her in her new room. Very soon we will know what it is like to be parents day-in and day-out, and we look forward to the day when we can't remember what it was like without her in our lives.
We had a great time sharing stories of our Russian travels at the party, and we fielded questions about the adoption process from our guests. One thing is for certain, when you decide to become an adoptive parent, you will instantly become an advocate for making the entire process easier on deserving families. We certainly cannot complain, because the length of time for our adoption was shorter than we anticipated, but it certainly has had its bumps in the road. We thought the wait before getting matched to a child would be hard, but we had no idea that the wait to return to get our little girl after we had met her would be a thousand times more difficult.
We also were able to show off Alina's room now that it is finished. With its green walls and cherry wood furniture, it has become a very peaceful and serene part of our house and we find ourselves drawn in. We have a couple pictures of her in the room so that we can see her beautiful face every time we walk in. We can't wait to bring her home and spend time with her in her new room. Very soon we will know what it is like to be parents day-in and day-out, and we look forward to the day when we can't remember what it was like without her in our lives.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
You Look Fabulous!
Yesterday, Brandon and I swung by Target to get one thing fixed on our registry. Because we had registered there for our wedding and used the same e-mail address, they still had her maiden name on the baby's registry. We tried calling their customer service line, but the person we got must have been incompetent because they didn't fix it even after assuring us it had been done.
Upon arriving at the store, we went to the Customer Service desk to tell them of our plight hoping they could help us. Unfortunately, they told us that it could only be done online or by calling the customer service desk. When we told them we had tried both with no luck, they offered to call customer service for us while we waited.
Rather than stand around having both of us stare at them, I decided to walk around a bit. As Brandon stood with the lady from Target, the woman looked and saw that the baby due date on our registry said August 1st. Assuming Brandon was 8 months pregnant, she did a double take at the registry, and then at Brandon and exclaimed, "Your baby is due August 1st? My God, you look fabulous."
Brandon then had to explain to the woman that we were adopting, and that their system would not allow us to put Alina's birthdate in since it was in 2007, so we were forced to pick a random date. However, Brandon thanked her for the compliment anyway. As we later walked around the store, I think there was still a spring in her step from the the misled compliment.
Upon arriving at the store, we went to the Customer Service desk to tell them of our plight hoping they could help us. Unfortunately, they told us that it could only be done online or by calling the customer service desk. When we told them we had tried both with no luck, they offered to call customer service for us while we waited.
Rather than stand around having both of us stare at them, I decided to walk around a bit. As Brandon stood with the lady from Target, the woman looked and saw that the baby due date on our registry said August 1st. Assuming Brandon was 8 months pregnant, she did a double take at the registry, and then at Brandon and exclaimed, "Your baby is due August 1st? My God, you look fabulous."
Brandon then had to explain to the woman that we were adopting, and that their system would not allow us to put Alina's birthdate in since it was in 2007, so we were forced to pick a random date. However, Brandon thanked her for the compliment anyway. As we later walked around the store, I think there was still a spring in her step from the the misled compliment.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
110 Miles Round Trip
Our psychologist called us back today and she had some time for me to come down to her office and basically walk her and the notary through the documents we needed. It was certainly frustrating for them because I had to be SUPER anal-retentive about every detail. Here are a few items you cannot have on the documents:
Abbreviations like St., Trl., and Dr. are unacceptable. You have to spell out "street", "trail", "drive", etc. in your street address. You also have to spell out the state name, so we have to spell out Texas in every place required.
Dates must have the month spelled out. So you have to write July 2, 2008. I think this might be due to the fact that in Europe, they write out dates differently than we do. In American, today is 07/02/08. In Europe, that would be February 2nd because the day comes first, then the month.
Once we had the new documents completed, I decided to go ahead and drive them over to the Gladney office in Fort Worth (about a 55 mile drive one way to the other side of the metroplex). I figured it would be best to hand deliver the documents to them so that they could give it a once over and make sure they were okay. If not, then I would have tomorrow to get in touch with the Doctor again to get them fixed (and I am sure she would have LOVED to hear from us again) before we hit the holiday on Friday.
Next step is for our dossier (collection of official documents) to be delivered to Russia. They will probably get there next week, and then they will have to be translated, and then they will go to court in Cheboksary. Once the court date is set, then that will trigger the dates when we travel back. Hopefully we will be traveling by early August (if not sooner).
Abbreviations like St., Trl., and Dr. are unacceptable. You have to spell out "street", "trail", "drive", etc. in your street address. You also have to spell out the state name, so we have to spell out Texas in every place required.
Dates must have the month spelled out. So you have to write July 2, 2008. I think this might be due to the fact that in Europe, they write out dates differently than we do. In American, today is 07/02/08. In Europe, that would be February 2nd because the day comes first, then the month.
Once we had the new documents completed, I decided to go ahead and drive them over to the Gladney office in Fort Worth (about a 55 mile drive one way to the other side of the metroplex). I figured it would be best to hand deliver the documents to them so that they could give it a once over and make sure they were okay. If not, then I would have tomorrow to get in touch with the Doctor again to get them fixed (and I am sure she would have LOVED to hear from us again) before we hit the holiday on Friday.
Next step is for our dossier (collection of official documents) to be delivered to Russia. They will probably get there next week, and then they will have to be translated, and then they will go to court in Cheboksary. Once the court date is set, then that will trigger the dates when we travel back. Hopefully we will be traveling by early August (if not sooner).
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Red Tape
From Webster's dictionary...
Function: noun
Etymology: from the red tape formerly used to bind legal documents in England
Definition: official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction
I officially hate red tape. Not that anyone likes it, but I abhor it. Loathe it, even. If there was a theme for the adoption process, likely anyone's adoption process, it would involve red tape. I don't know this for a fact, but I highly doubt that any company actually makes red tape because of the negative connotation with it. If they do, then they might want to reconsider the marketing strategy around the product. Market it to people who have become so highly frustrated with red tape that they want to get a roll of it, and destroy it in some amazing fashion. Sales would go through the roof!!!!
The reason for my latest rant is because at the end of a long two weeks of going through the motions, we finally got our letters from the psychologist that basically state we are mentally fit to be parents. For those of you that know me, and have always thought I was nuts, I now have a paper that officially states that I am not! But, I digress.
We sent the letters overnight to a courier in Austin so that they could walk them over to the Texas Secretary of State's office to be apostilled. All the apostille process does is authenticate that the person who notarized our document is, in fact, a valid notary authorized by the state of Texas. So the courier did their job wonderfully, and the letters were received by our agency today.
Unfortunately, upon closer examination of the letters, the notary that the psychologist used stamped their name on the document instead of signing it. I honestly have never heard of a notary doing that, so that explains why it slipped past me in the first place. The stamped signature will not be accepted by the Russian courts. In fact, I can't think of ANY court that should accept a document using a stamped signature from a notary. Why they would do this in the first place is beyond me. So we have to get the letters redone all over again. Yeah, more paperwork!!!
Function: noun
Etymology: from the red tape formerly used to bind legal documents in England
Definition: official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction
I officially hate red tape. Not that anyone likes it, but I abhor it. Loathe it, even. If there was a theme for the adoption process, likely anyone's adoption process, it would involve red tape. I don't know this for a fact, but I highly doubt that any company actually makes red tape because of the negative connotation with it. If they do, then they might want to reconsider the marketing strategy around the product. Market it to people who have become so highly frustrated with red tape that they want to get a roll of it, and destroy it in some amazing fashion. Sales would go through the roof!!!!
The reason for my latest rant is because at the end of a long two weeks of going through the motions, we finally got our letters from the psychologist that basically state we are mentally fit to be parents. For those of you that know me, and have always thought I was nuts, I now have a paper that officially states that I am not! But, I digress.
We sent the letters overnight to a courier in Austin so that they could walk them over to the Texas Secretary of State's office to be apostilled. All the apostille process does is authenticate that the person who notarized our document is, in fact, a valid notary authorized by the state of Texas. So the courier did their job wonderfully, and the letters were received by our agency today.
Unfortunately, upon closer examination of the letters, the notary that the psychologist used stamped their name on the document instead of signing it. I honestly have never heard of a notary doing that, so that explains why it slipped past me in the first place. The stamped signature will not be accepted by the Russian courts. In fact, I can't think of ANY court that should accept a document using a stamped signature from a notary. Why they would do this in the first place is beyond me. So we have to get the letters redone all over again. Yeah, more paperwork!!!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Baby Shower #1
Brandon's friend Kathleen and her mom Sue hosted a ladies tea and baby shower for her on Saturday afternoon. Both my Mom, Edith, and Brandon's Mom, Pam, were in attendance, as well as some of the ladies in our extended family, and her close friends. It is moments like these that again humble us because we realize what wonderful friends and family we have to support us. Brandon had a wonderful time, and we thank everyone who was able to come and share in the experience and preparation for Alina's homecoming.
I, on the other hand, occupied myself by working on the baby's room with my father-in-law, Rick. We put up crown molding, which is now ready for me to paint this next weekend. Once that is done and I move the rest of my baseball card & memorabilia collection (aka "clutter") out of her closet, I think her room will be just about ready. Given how much stuff we received at the shower, and the already increasingly limited storage space we have, I realized that I am going to have to be a little more critical of the items that make it to the "keep pile". Who knew the amount of accoutrements a baby has to have? It's unbelievable!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Cousin Andrew
Yesterday at 1:59pm, Alina gained a cousin. My brother Keith and his wife Debbie welcomed their 3rd son, Andrew Nicolas. He was about a month early, so he was a little light for the typical Rice kid. He weighed in at 5 lbs 3 oz, but was still 19 inches long. Considering his Dad is 6'5", and his Mom is like 5'10", you know that he'll be a tall one.
It was great to go to the hospital last night and experience the first few hours of Andrew's life with him. It was a wonderful experience, and I am so grateful that Brandon and I were able to share that time with Keith & Debbie. It really hit me that this is something that I won't get to experience with my own child, so I soaked it all in. It's not that I am not disappointed that I won't have that experience with Alina, it's just different. Parents who don't adopt will not have the same experience that we will, and I think they are missing out, too. We will get to experience something that not a lot of people out there will do, and for that we are truly blessed and lucky.
The other thing that was cool was to see all my nephews with their Grandma (my Mom). She was so excited to hold Andrew, and to have Daniel (Greg's son), Nate & Caleb (Keith's oldest sons) surrounding her. I looked at that and marveled at what a great group Alina will soon be a part of, and that she will be the sole princess. It's going to be a cool ride.
It was great to go to the hospital last night and experience the first few hours of Andrew's life with him. It was a wonderful experience, and I am so grateful that Brandon and I were able to share that time with Keith & Debbie. It really hit me that this is something that I won't get to experience with my own child, so I soaked it all in. It's not that I am not disappointed that I won't have that experience with Alina, it's just different. Parents who don't adopt will not have the same experience that we will, and I think they are missing out, too. We will get to experience something that not a lot of people out there will do, and for that we are truly blessed and lucky.
The other thing that was cool was to see all my nephews with their Grandma (my Mom). She was so excited to hold Andrew, and to have Daniel (Greg's son), Nate & Caleb (Keith's oldest sons) surrounding her. I looked at that and marveled at what a great group Alina will soon be a part of, and that she will be the sole princess. It's going to be a cool ride.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Last Step
In order to get a court date set in Russia, one of the last things we have to do is to get an evaluation done by a psychologist. We met with a psychologist last Friday, and it went well. We basically just had a conversation so the doctor could get to know us.
As a follow-up, she had to give us personality tests. Brandon took hers on Monday, and I go in tomorrow to take mine. The test consists of over 500 questions, and they are all True/False. Once she gets the results back, she will be able to write up our evaluations and we can send those on to be reviewed and eventually sent to Russia to be translated for the courts. So now the big wait begins as we will no longer have any paperwork to complete on our end.
This has certainly become a much harder wait than we ever could have anticipated. For the first couple weeks, I think the void of missing her was masked a bit by the excitement of our trip to Russia, and our visits with her. But now that the buzz from our first trip has started to subside, our second trip cannot come fast enough. We hope that our paperwork will get to the courts in Russia soon because July and August are apparently big vacation months there, so we hope that doesn't present any further delays to bringing our angel home sooner rather than later.
As a follow-up, she had to give us personality tests. Brandon took hers on Monday, and I go in tomorrow to take mine. The test consists of over 500 questions, and they are all True/False. Once she gets the results back, she will be able to write up our evaluations and we can send those on to be reviewed and eventually sent to Russia to be translated for the courts. So now the big wait begins as we will no longer have any paperwork to complete on our end.
This has certainly become a much harder wait than we ever could have anticipated. For the first couple weeks, I think the void of missing her was masked a bit by the excitement of our trip to Russia, and our visits with her. But now that the buzz from our first trip has started to subside, our second trip cannot come fast enough. We hope that our paperwork will get to the courts in Russia soon because July and August are apparently big vacation months there, so we hope that doesn't present any further delays to bringing our angel home sooner rather than later.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sad News
This week, we had to say goodbye to one of Alina's grandmothers. Glenda, Brandon's stepmom, passed away at the young age of 56. She was so excited about meeting Alina, and had apparently already picked up a couple items for her. We are so sad that she will not be able to meet Alina in person, but we are thankful that she was able to see pictures of her, and knew that she would be coming home soon.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Brandon's Dad, Lonnie, and with our extended family.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Brandon's Dad, Lonnie, and with our extended family.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Pictures & Video
So many of you have asked how we are coping with having to leave Alina behind in Russia. Well, it certainly isn't easy, but it has helped that we have been extremely busy getting paperwork together for the courts plus pulling together her room at our house. We also bought Brandon a new vehicle this weekend and sold her Beetle. It was a very sad day in the Rice household as Brandon loved that car, but it just wouldn't have worked with a toddler. So we bought a low-mileage, "pre-owned" 2005 Honda CRV.
The other thing that helps is that we took several pictures of her and about 45 minutes worth of video during our visit. So we look at the pictures pretty much every day. Her adorable face already occupies several select locations around our house, plus each of us has a small photo album that we carry with us (Brandon's in her purse, and mine in my laptop bag.....fine my man-purse).
We showed the video to my Mom last night and she mentioned that I seem to be on camera with the baby more than Brandon is. I think it's because Brandon is not a huge fan of being video taped, but she and my Mom concocted a story that makes me sound more like an attention hog (what, me?). I did get back at her about her camera-work, which can only be best described as very "Blair Witch". For those that didn't see that movie, the camera is all over the place and by the end of it you felt like you had been on a roller-coaster ride you were so dizzy. So great that we will keep these memories and share them with our daughter so that some day she can make fun of us, too.
The other thing that helps is that we took several pictures of her and about 45 minutes worth of video during our visit. So we look at the pictures pretty much every day. Her adorable face already occupies several select locations around our house, plus each of us has a small photo album that we carry with us (Brandon's in her purse, and mine in my laptop bag.....fine my man-purse).
We showed the video to my Mom last night and she mentioned that I seem to be on camera with the baby more than Brandon is. I think it's because Brandon is not a huge fan of being video taped, but she and my Mom concocted a story that makes me sound more like an attention hog (what, me?). I did get back at her about her camera-work, which can only be best described as very "Blair Witch". For those that didn't see that movie, the camera is all over the place and by the end of it you felt like you had been on a roller-coaster ride you were so dizzy. So great that we will keep these memories and share them with our daughter so that some day she can make fun of us, too.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
When do we go back?
The most popular question we get at this point is when do we get to go back and bring Alina home. Well, the short answer is that the average time between the 1st and 2nd trip is 2-3 months. We are in the process of putting together the paperwork required by the court in Chuvashia. For those interested, here is a rundown of all that we need:
3 Copies of a letter of intent from us (a letter that states that we want to adopt this specific child)
2 Medical questionnaires from our doctor for each of us (saying that we are physically and mentally fit to adopt a child)
2 Copies of our doctor's license (we did this before, but his license was renewed back in February, so we had to do it again)
2 Letters from my company stating my current income and how long I have worked there
2 Letters from our CPA stating Brandon's income for 2007, since she is self-employed
2 Background Check Letters from the State Police
2 Letters from a licensed psychologist stating our ability to be adoptive parents
2 Copies of the psychologist's license
2 Copies of some other documents stating that we agree to post-placement supervision, that we will register our child with the appropriate Russian consulate upon returning to the US and if we move, and a couple other minor documents
All of the above (with the exception of the police letter) had to be notarized as well, so that's an extra step taken in the process. We have most of the documents done, the only items we have left are (1) we are waiting for our state police letters to be returned to us as we've already submitted our fingerprints and (2) we are currently scheduling the appointment with a psychologist.
Once those are done, the info then gets sent to the state of Texas to be apostilled (basically they certify that the notaries who signed the forms are registered with the state), and then it can be sent to Russia to be translated and sent to the court. So LOTS of stuff going on, but we are done with about 80% of what we need to do already, so we've made a lot of progress.
3 Copies of a letter of intent from us (a letter that states that we want to adopt this specific child)
2 Medical questionnaires from our doctor for each of us (saying that we are physically and mentally fit to adopt a child)
2 Copies of our doctor's license (we did this before, but his license was renewed back in February, so we had to do it again)
2 Letters from my company stating my current income and how long I have worked there
2 Letters from our CPA stating Brandon's income for 2007, since she is self-employed
2 Background Check Letters from the State Police
2 Letters from a licensed psychologist stating our ability to be adoptive parents
2 Copies of the psychologist's license
2 Copies of some other documents stating that we agree to post-placement supervision, that we will register our child with the appropriate Russian consulate upon returning to the US and if we move, and a couple other minor documents
All of the above (with the exception of the police letter) had to be notarized as well, so that's an extra step taken in the process. We have most of the documents done, the only items we have left are (1) we are waiting for our state police letters to be returned to us as we've already submitted our fingerprints and (2) we are currently scheduling the appointment with a psychologist.
Once those are done, the info then gets sent to the state of Texas to be apostilled (basically they certify that the notaries who signed the forms are registered with the state), and then it can be sent to Russia to be translated and sent to the court. So LOTS of stuff going on, but we are done with about 80% of what we need to do already, so we've made a lot of progress.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
We have a crib!
Brandon and I bought our crib and baby furniture this past weekend. The furniture is on order, but we were able to buy a floor model of the crib so that we could get it now. We brought it home this weekend, and put it together last night. Bailey, our dog, tried to help as well. She was crawling under the bed and then flopped down. We're not sure if she was going to try to hold it up for us while we screwed it together, or if she was just providing moral support. We'll go with the latter, because she really provided no help except to gain attention.
After we got it together, we started putting our bedding on it to get a sense of what it looked like pulled together. It also helped us to narrow down some of our paint colors for the room. It's a bit scary that it is all coming together, but very exciting at the same time.
We hope that the bedding will go to good use very soon, as we are putting together all of the paperwork needed in order to get our court date set in Russia. We can't wait to go back not only to get our daughter, but also to take in the country a little more. We want to take in more of the country so that we can be good stewards to Alina about its history and the wonderful sights that can be seen there. We also look forward to seeing the people we've met again since they are as much a part of this process as we are.
After we got it together, we started putting our bedding on it to get a sense of what it looked like pulled together. It also helped us to narrow down some of our paint colors for the room. It's a bit scary that it is all coming together, but very exciting at the same time.
We hope that the bedding will go to good use very soon, as we are putting together all of the paperwork needed in order to get our court date set in Russia. We can't wait to go back not only to get our daughter, but also to take in the country a little more. We want to take in more of the country so that we can be good stewards to Alina about its history and the wonderful sights that can be seen there. We also look forward to seeing the people we've met again since they are as much a part of this process as we are.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Fast Facts about our 1st trip
Thought we would give you a few fast facts about our trip.
By the numbers....
Air travel time: 29 hours
Train travel time: 22 hours
Car/Taxi travel time: 4 hours
Moscow traffic time: 14 hours
Words we know in Russian: maybe 12
Number of nights slept on a train: 2
Bowls of borscht we ate:3, before this trip: 0
Stalls in the men's bathroom at the train station that shared a single roll of toilet paper: 8
Other items of interest....
The mullet hairstyle is alive and well in Russia.
Even though a couple days it was 70+ degrees outside, many people were still pretty bundled up.
Traffic laws are really just suggestions, because 4 cars can fit side-by-side across only 2 lanes and a shoulder. (much like any really big city in the US: New York, LA, etc.)
Coming from Texas (the land of the pickup truck & SUV), it was very strange to see only 2 pickup trucks the entire week we were in Russia - both being the smaller variety.
So I kid a little here to get a laugh, but to be honest, we had a wonderful time in Russia. Our hosts were so accomodating and hospitable. It's amazing that we could connect with them even though there was a huge language barrier. We hope to stay with them on our 2nd trip as well as they are a part of our Russian family.
By the numbers....
Air travel time: 29 hours
Train travel time: 22 hours
Car/Taxi travel time: 4 hours
Moscow traffic time: 14 hours
Words we know in Russian: maybe 12
Number of nights slept on a train: 2
Bowls of borscht we ate:3, before this trip: 0
Stalls in the men's bathroom at the train station that shared a single roll of toilet paper: 8
Other items of interest....
The mullet hairstyle is alive and well in Russia.
Even though a couple days it was 70+ degrees outside, many people were still pretty bundled up.
Traffic laws are really just suggestions, because 4 cars can fit side-by-side across only 2 lanes and a shoulder. (much like any really big city in the US: New York, LA, etc.)
Coming from Texas (the land of the pickup truck & SUV), it was very strange to see only 2 pickup trucks the entire week we were in Russia - both being the smaller variety.
So I kid a little here to get a laugh, but to be honest, we had a wonderful time in Russia. Our hosts were so accomodating and hospitable. It's amazing that we could connect with them even though there was a huge language barrier. We hope to stay with them on our 2nd trip as well as they are a part of our Russian family.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Happy Birthday, Alina!
Today is Alina's first birthday, and we are more than 5000 miles away from her. To say the least, it is not a really fun day for us because we wish that we could be with her. We had a wonderful visit last week with her, spending about 6 hours over two different days getting to know her. Since we knew we wouldn't be with her today, we sang happy birthday to her during a quiet moment with just the three of us last week.
It's amazing to think how our lives have already changed for the better, and that we now have someone else that we put ahead of ourselves. Last night we watched the clips of video we took of her, and just marveled at how amazing she is. It's hard to believe that we have connected so deeply with her so quickly. While we came home after just a week, a piece of our heart stayed in Alatyr with our little baby girl. We are simply wrecked and will not feel complete again until we get to see that beautiful face in person again.
We are keeping ourselves busy with the paperwork we need to complete in order to get the court date set in Russia. We want to get it done as soon as possible so that our second visit comes sooner rather than later. At the end of that visit, assuming all goes as planned, then we will be able to bring her home. We also have LOTS of stuff to get in order, like her room, etc., so that will hopefully help to pass the long wait until we see her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as we know that God is watching out for her while we cannot.
It's amazing to think how our lives have already changed for the better, and that we now have someone else that we put ahead of ourselves. Last night we watched the clips of video we took of her, and just marveled at how amazing she is. It's hard to believe that we have connected so deeply with her so quickly. While we came home after just a week, a piece of our heart stayed in Alatyr with our little baby girl. We are simply wrecked and will not feel complete again until we get to see that beautiful face in person again.
We are keeping ourselves busy with the paperwork we need to complete in order to get the court date set in Russia. We want to get it done as soon as possible so that our second visit comes sooner rather than later. At the end of that visit, assuming all goes as planned, then we will be able to bring her home. We also have LOTS of stuff to get in order, like her room, etc., so that will hopefully help to pass the long wait until we see her. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, as we know that God is watching out for her while we cannot.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Say hello to Alina Evelyn
We just got back to Moscow this morning from Chuvashia. It was an incredible journey that culminated when we met our baby. After meeting her, we decided to call her Alina Evelyn. We felt strongly that we wanted to keep a Russian name, so we chose Alina, which means beautiful. Evelyn, of course, is a family name on both sides - Brandon's grandmother, and my mother's sister. She has beautiful blue/grey eyes, and very light blonde hair. Her 1st birthday is coming up this week, Tuesday, May 20th. We feel very sad that we will miss it.
While in the region, the baby house doctor arranged for us to take a tour of a Russian Orthodox monastery. It was brilliant, and certainly a once in a lifetime experience. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, but got several of the outside. We also bought a book that has pictures of the inside for Alina. The book is written in Russian, so she'll have to keep learning in order to read more about it. The village only has 40,000 people, but has 18 monasteries. I'd say that's quite a bit per capita.
We went to the notary this afternoon in Moscow to make it official that this is the baby we want to adopt. Now we have to come home and get some additional paperwork done on our end so that we can get the court date set as soon as possible. Everyone in both America and in Russia seems very willing to try to make this go as fast for us as they can, so we have a lot going for us on both sides of the process.
While in the region, the baby house doctor arranged for us to take a tour of a Russian Orthodox monastery. It was brilliant, and certainly a once in a lifetime experience. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, but got several of the outside. We also bought a book that has pictures of the inside for Alina. The book is written in Russian, so she'll have to keep learning in order to read more about it. The village only has 40,000 people, but has 18 monasteries. I'd say that's quite a bit per capita.
We went to the notary this afternoon in Moscow to make it official that this is the baby we want to adopt. Now we have to come home and get some additional paperwork done on our end so that we can get the court date set as soon as possible. Everyone in both America and in Russia seems very willing to try to make this go as fast for us as they can, so we have a lot going for us on both sides of the process.
Monday, May 12, 2008
We're in Russia!
Brandon and I made it to Russia without a hitch. We landed yesterday afternoon just before 4pm, and spent about the next hour or more trying to get through passport control. The workers kept taking breaks (or at least leaving their booths for a few minutes), and people kept jumping between lines. It was mass chaos. The interesting thing, though, is that by the time we got up to the window, the woman that helped us looked a bit like a Russian-version of my sister-in-law Debbie.
We were welcomed at the airport by Alexander (aka Sasha), and his 10-year old daughter Masha. We then had about a 2 hour ride in traffic to get to Alexander's parents house, Ludmila and Lev. Apparently traffic was very bad because it was the end of a 4-day weekend.
Masha entertained us last night, as she is the one who speaks the best English. We played cards for a while, and then we found out that Masha dances traditional Russian dances. We asked her to dance for us, thinking it would just be a 30 second sample. She actually went to the other room, changed into her traditional dress, and danced for a good 10 minutes. I was able to take a couple pictures which I'll post at some point. She then went and got into a different dress so I grabbed the video camera to tape her. When she saw that I had a video camera this time, she exclaimed "ohhhhh" and proceeded to dance for another few minutes, hamming it up the whole time. She's quite the entertainer.
Today we went to register our visas, which you have to do within the first 3 days of arriving. We also met Tatyana, who is our translator and will be traveling with us to the baby house. She doesn't know much about the baby, but apparently she's been told that she is beautiful and a good baby.
All in all, we are doing terrific and thank you all for your continuous thoughts and prayers.
We were welcomed at the airport by Alexander (aka Sasha), and his 10-year old daughter Masha. We then had about a 2 hour ride in traffic to get to Alexander's parents house, Ludmila and Lev. Apparently traffic was very bad because it was the end of a 4-day weekend.
Masha entertained us last night, as she is the one who speaks the best English. We played cards for a while, and then we found out that Masha dances traditional Russian dances. We asked her to dance for us, thinking it would just be a 30 second sample. She actually went to the other room, changed into her traditional dress, and danced for a good 10 minutes. I was able to take a couple pictures which I'll post at some point. She then went and got into a different dress so I grabbed the video camera to tape her. When she saw that I had a video camera this time, she exclaimed "ohhhhh" and proceeded to dance for another few minutes, hamming it up the whole time. She's quite the entertainer.
Today we went to register our visas, which you have to do within the first 3 days of arriving. We also met Tatyana, who is our translator and will be traveling with us to the baby house. She doesn't know much about the baby, but apparently she's been told that she is beautiful and a good baby.
All in all, we are doing terrific and thank you all for your continuous thoughts and prayers.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Baby Idiots
We found out today that we are baby idiots. Let me first set the story up just a bit...
We have to take some items for use by the orphanage in Russia. These items can be clothes for the kids, antibacterial lotion, surgical gloves or masks, baby vitamins, shampoo, developmental toys, etc.
We walked aimlessly around Wal-Mart trying to figure out where all these things were. Sure, some of them were easy to find, but which ones are grouped together? Which ones are in the baby section vs. the pharmacy? Which ones are with detergents or soaps? Do they group child clothes for 12 months or less, and those more than 12 months in different groups, or are they all mixed together?
So I looked at Brandon and said "we are baby idiots"! I know we'll figure all this stuff out, but if anyone could tell me what section baby vitamins are in (that is, children UNDER 2 years), let me know.
We have to take some items for use by the orphanage in Russia. These items can be clothes for the kids, antibacterial lotion, surgical gloves or masks, baby vitamins, shampoo, developmental toys, etc.
We walked aimlessly around Wal-Mart trying to figure out where all these things were. Sure, some of them were easy to find, but which ones are grouped together? Which ones are in the baby section vs. the pharmacy? Which ones are with detergents or soaps? Do they group child clothes for 12 months or less, and those more than 12 months in different groups, or are they all mixed together?
So I looked at Brandon and said "we are baby idiots"! I know we'll figure all this stuff out, but if anyone could tell me what section baby vitamins are in (that is, children UNDER 2 years), let me know.
We're headed to Russia!!
We got the call today from our adoption agency and they told us we have been matched to a child! All we know is that she is just shy of a year - no name, no medical history, and no picture (which is pretty common with international adoptions).
The crazy part is that they told us we had to be in Russia by Monday, the 12th. You read that right, 7 days from today. Pretty unbelievable, eh? Thank God for airline miles, because the tickets that would have cost us about $5,000 total cost us only $350. We spent the better part of today arranging our flights and putting together our a FedEx pack of info so that we could get our Russian visas by Wednesday.
The other thing that we have to do is complete 10 hours of video training before we leave. We had been so focused on paperwork the past few months, and we had been told that it would take 12-18 months in total that we hadn't started our training. So in the midst of getting all of the other things ready for our trip, we have to watch the videos. We cranked out 3 tonight, and succesfully passed the follow-up quizzes in order for us to get credit for them. Only 7 hours to go!
The crazy part is that they told us we had to be in Russia by Monday, the 12th. You read that right, 7 days from today. Pretty unbelievable, eh? Thank God for airline miles, because the tickets that would have cost us about $5,000 total cost us only $350. We spent the better part of today arranging our flights and putting together our a FedEx pack of info so that we could get our Russian visas by Wednesday.
The other thing that we have to do is complete 10 hours of video training before we leave. We had been so focused on paperwork the past few months, and we had been told that it would take 12-18 months in total that we hadn't started our training. So in the midst of getting all of the other things ready for our trip, we have to watch the videos. We cranked out 3 tonight, and succesfully passed the follow-up quizzes in order for us to get credit for them. Only 7 hours to go!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Where in the world is Chuvashia, Russia?
Okay, so it's not as catchy as "Carmen San Diego", but it is the region that we have been assigned to. One of the steps in getting matched to a child is getting assigned to a specific region. We just found out today that Chuvashia is the region we have been assigned to. The agency sent us a fact sheet about the region that gave us a summary of its history, people, economy, and politics.
As you can imagine, we are going to be doing a lot of research about the area in the coming days. We do know that the capital city of Chuvashia is Cheboksary, which is about 400 miles southeast of Moscow. If you'd like to do your own digging, here is the link on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuvashia
Another interesting happening this week was that Brandon heard from some friends of hers who are adopting a child domestically. They were matched to a birth mother and were waiting on the birth of their child when the mother skipped town. Their agency thinks that the birthmom was shopping for a better offer outside of Texas. Apparently, Texas is pretty strict about the "benefits" that a mother can receive. They were devastated, but are pushing onward. They have to be matched all over again to a birthmom.
This is one of the reasons why we chose to adopt internationally vs. domestic. The rights in the case of a domestic adoption are very heavily weighted to the birth parents, plus there is the surprise factor that can happen on occasion (like the one above).
Domestic and International adoptions offer different experiences, challenges, and rewards. We feel we made the right decision for us because the issues with domestic adoption seemed unbearable. That doesn't mean that it's not right for other families, or that international adoption is in some way better. It's a very personal decision as to which one is right for your family.
As you can imagine, we are going to be doing a lot of research about the area in the coming days. We do know that the capital city of Chuvashia is Cheboksary, which is about 400 miles southeast of Moscow. If you'd like to do your own digging, here is the link on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuvashia
Another interesting happening this week was that Brandon heard from some friends of hers who are adopting a child domestically. They were matched to a birth mother and were waiting on the birth of their child when the mother skipped town. Their agency thinks that the birthmom was shopping for a better offer outside of Texas. Apparently, Texas is pretty strict about the "benefits" that a mother can receive. They were devastated, but are pushing onward. They have to be matched all over again to a birthmom.
This is one of the reasons why we chose to adopt internationally vs. domestic. The rights in the case of a domestic adoption are very heavily weighted to the birth parents, plus there is the surprise factor that can happen on occasion (like the one above).
Domestic and International adoptions offer different experiences, challenges, and rewards. We feel we made the right decision for us because the issues with domestic adoption seemed unbearable. That doesn't mean that it's not right for other families, or that international adoption is in some way better. It's a very personal decision as to which one is right for your family.
Friday, April 11, 2008
We're On The List!!!
We officially are on the adoption waiting list for Russia! It's been a long time coming, and we've had a series of issues that have tried our patience, but we are over another big hurdle. We've been told that the wait will be about 12-15 months for a girl, so we will need as much of your prayers as possible to help our patience last just a little while longer.
So here are a couple things to note at this point:
1) If our daughter is somewhere between 9-12 months old when we meet her, then that means she could be born in the next few weeks. If she is closer to 15-18 months, then she is probably already out there. But we won't know what day she is actually born until next year. Funny to think that on the day she was/will be born will be just another day of waiting for us and not knowing. We have all faith that God will look out for her even though we haven't met her yet and we will not yet know the day she arrives in this world.
2) We just took a trip to Vegas, and we found out the day before that we were on the list. So it really started to hit us that soon our lives will be completely different. It's funny what we noticed with this new knowlege. For instance, I never really paid attention to the fact that they have baby changing shelves in the bathroom of an airplane. I never needed to know that before, but considering that trip was probably one of the last times that we will travel by ourselves, it really started to sink in.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support, interest, and prayers.
So here are a couple things to note at this point:
1) If our daughter is somewhere between 9-12 months old when we meet her, then that means she could be born in the next few weeks. If she is closer to 15-18 months, then she is probably already out there. But we won't know what day she is actually born until next year. Funny to think that on the day she was/will be born will be just another day of waiting for us and not knowing. We have all faith that God will look out for her even though we haven't met her yet and we will not yet know the day she arrives in this world.
2) We just took a trip to Vegas, and we found out the day before that we were on the list. So it really started to hit us that soon our lives will be completely different. It's funny what we noticed with this new knowlege. For instance, I never really paid attention to the fact that they have baby changing shelves in the bathroom of an airplane. I never needed to know that before, but considering that trip was probably one of the last times that we will travel by ourselves, it really started to sink in.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support, interest, and prayers.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
If you build it, he will come
By the way, I am watching Field of Dreams. Quite possibly one of the greatest baseball movies made in my lifetime (behind The Natural, of course). Every time I watch it, I think of my father and how much I miss him. He loved both of these movies, and he loved baseball.
I can't wait to teach my little girl about baseball like Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) does in the movie, and like my Dad taught me. Oh, have we mentioned that we are asking for a little girl? That's probably a useful piece of information to share at this point.
I can't wait to teach my little girl about baseball like Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) does in the movie, and like my Dad taught me. Oh, have we mentioned that we are asking for a little girl? That's probably a useful piece of information to share at this point.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
There's no L in Brandon
We finally received our Criminal Background checks from the Texas Dept of Public Safety. I can't tell you how excited I was when I got back to the office after lunch and saw the FedEx envelope on my desk. I knew exactly what it was when I walked in my office because I never get mail at the office.
I opened up the envelope and was very happy to see that they included not just the two copies for each of us that we needed, but four. Wow, what a nice surprise, right? I looked again at the forms more closely only to find that they misspelled Brandon's name (they put an L instead of an R, so it said Blandon).
I guess I can see how they made the mistake. I only put in 3 ways for them to cross check the spelling: (1) we typed our names on the letter we sent to them, (2) we had to include our driver's license numbers, and (3) we had to include our social security numbers. And before you ask, her name is spelled correctly on both her driver's license and socials security card.
The good news is that our agency said that it should be okay for the first time around. The bad news is that I found out that we have to go through this all over again between our two trips to Russia. Boy, are we excited!!!
Up next: getting our FBI fingerprints done and getting the last round of our Hepatitis shots. Oh the joy!
I opened up the envelope and was very happy to see that they included not just the two copies for each of us that we needed, but four. Wow, what a nice surprise, right? I looked again at the forms more closely only to find that they misspelled Brandon's name (they put an L instead of an R, so it said Blandon).
I guess I can see how they made the mistake. I only put in 3 ways for them to cross check the spelling: (1) we typed our names on the letter we sent to them, (2) we had to include our driver's license numbers, and (3) we had to include our social security numbers. And before you ask, her name is spelled correctly on both her driver's license and socials security card.
The good news is that our agency said that it should be okay for the first time around. The bad news is that I found out that we have to go through this all over again between our two trips to Russia. Boy, are we excited!!!
Up next: getting our FBI fingerprints done and getting the last round of our Hepatitis shots. Oh the joy!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Homeland Security finally got something right
We received our form today that allows us to get our fingerprints done for our FBI background check! And before you ask, the answer is yes - this is a 2nd and completely different background check than the one the Texas DPS is conducting.
You may remember the problems we had with USCIS several months ago. Well, our homestudy was mailed to the Dallas office of USCIS in January, but our original application was sitting in the pending homestudy file in the Tulsa office. We e-mailed the Dallas office back on Feb 13th asking them to track down our application from the Tulsa office.
A week went by, and we heard nothing, so I e-mailed the Tulsa office asking them to track down our homestudy. Thankfully, they e-mailed me back the same day and said they would get the homestudy forwarded to them so that they could process it. At the same time, they also said they would mail us our fingerprint instruction form. We weren't holding our breath waiting for it, so it was to our complete surprise we received it today (only 3 business days after we heard from them). I am surprised I didn't pass out when Brandon called me at work to tell me that we had received it.
So now we have 90 days to go get our fingerprints taken so that they can complete a separate background check (because obviously one isn't good enough - yeah, right).
And in case you were wondering, the Dallas office e-mailed me back 2 days after the Tulsa office responded to me to let me know that Tulsa would be doing the processing. Gee, thanks for the "news"!
You may remember the problems we had with USCIS several months ago. Well, our homestudy was mailed to the Dallas office of USCIS in January, but our original application was sitting in the pending homestudy file in the Tulsa office. We e-mailed the Dallas office back on Feb 13th asking them to track down our application from the Tulsa office.
A week went by, and we heard nothing, so I e-mailed the Tulsa office asking them to track down our homestudy. Thankfully, they e-mailed me back the same day and said they would get the homestudy forwarded to them so that they could process it. At the same time, they also said they would mail us our fingerprint instruction form. We weren't holding our breath waiting for it, so it was to our complete surprise we received it today (only 3 business days after we heard from them). I am surprised I didn't pass out when Brandon called me at work to tell me that we had received it.
So now we have 90 days to go get our fingerprints taken so that they can complete a separate background check (because obviously one isn't good enough - yeah, right).
And in case you were wondering, the Dallas office e-mailed me back 2 days after the Tulsa office responded to me to let me know that Tulsa would be doing the processing. Gee, thanks for the "news"!
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Government Conspiracy
Brandon and I had to send in finger prints to the Texas Dept of Public Safety for them to do a background check on us. We mailed the cards to them on Jan 2nd. We were told that it takes them 2-3 weeks to process. So on week 4, I decided to call them to see what was going on. They informed me that they didn't have us in the system yet which meant 1 of 2 things:
(1) they had not received them back from the dept that does the actual check yet, or
(2) they had received them but they had not yet been put into the system.
So they told me to call back the following week.
That was 2 weeks ago, so I called again this past Friday. The lady looked our names up and said that they had sent everything back to us because payment was not included. Well I did include the $32 payment in the form of a money order, which I guess they lost. So in order to track the money order down, I have to pay $15 and that takes a month to process. So rather than wait, I sent the forms back yesterday with a personal check this time (easier to track, even though the first time I was told a money order was preferred).
Since this is the 2nd government agency that has basically messed up our paperwork, you can only imagine how livid I was at this point. So livid, in fact, that on Saturday when we got the documents back from them in the mail, I wrote both Texas Senators and our US Congressman to tell them how messed up the process is. Doubt it does any good, but it made me feel better at the time.
After mailing the package back to them via FedEx last night, I met Brandon at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We talked a little more about the phone conversations that I had with DPS trying to track down our money order and that led to a discussion on the incompetence of government agencies, which got our blood boiling a little more. At the end of dinner, Brandon opens her fortune cookie to find not 1, but 3 fortunes in it. 2 of them read as follows:
"Don't give up. Your problem gets better next month."
"A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessing to share."
I'm not saying we believe in fortune cookies, but it is kind of ironic that we got those on a day like that. The good news is that it had us laughing and our respective blood pressures went back to normal.
(1) they had not received them back from the dept that does the actual check yet, or
(2) they had received them but they had not yet been put into the system.
So they told me to call back the following week.
That was 2 weeks ago, so I called again this past Friday. The lady looked our names up and said that they had sent everything back to us because payment was not included. Well I did include the $32 payment in the form of a money order, which I guess they lost. So in order to track the money order down, I have to pay $15 and that takes a month to process. So rather than wait, I sent the forms back yesterday with a personal check this time (easier to track, even though the first time I was told a money order was preferred).
Since this is the 2nd government agency that has basically messed up our paperwork, you can only imagine how livid I was at this point. So livid, in fact, that on Saturday when we got the documents back from them in the mail, I wrote both Texas Senators and our US Congressman to tell them how messed up the process is. Doubt it does any good, but it made me feel better at the time.
After mailing the package back to them via FedEx last night, I met Brandon at our favorite Chinese restaurant. We talked a little more about the phone conversations that I had with DPS trying to track down our money order and that led to a discussion on the incompetence of government agencies, which got our blood boiling a little more. At the end of dinner, Brandon opens her fortune cookie to find not 1, but 3 fortunes in it. 2 of them read as follows:
"Don't give up. Your problem gets better next month."
"A short stranger will soon enter your life with blessing to share."
I'm not saying we believe in fortune cookies, but it is kind of ironic that we got those on a day like that. The good news is that it had us laughing and our respective blood pressures went back to normal.
Friday, February 1, 2008
One Approval Down, One More To Go!
We received word that we were officially approved by our adoption agency as an adoptive family! This is the first big milestone that we've been working towards. We still have a long way to go, but we know at least feel like we've gotten somewhere.
The next steps are as follows:
1) We are still waiting to receive our criminal background check from the Texas Dept of Public Safety. We hope to have that in the first week or two of February as that is part of our dossier that has to go to Russia. (FYI - a dossier is all the important documents that Russia needs in order to approve us)
2) We just got a packet of documents that our dossier service sent back to us to have signed and notarized. So glad that we hired Kate to help us with our dossier because that's one less thing we have to worry about getting right. She basically checks our work and organizes everything. Well worth every penny to have a few less headaches in a process that is chocked full of them.
3) Send our dossier to the state of Texas for a process called apostille. From what I understand, they just go through our documents to make sure that all the notarys we used are valid.
4) Once the dossier is back from the state, we send it to Russia for their approval. Once we are approved by them, it's supposedly about a 9-18 month wait.
Thanks to everyone who is keeping tabs on us. Please keep the thoughts, prayers and well wished coming because we sure need them.
Oh, almost forgot - we still need to go get our 3rd shot in the series of TB2 shots, plus a couple others (like one for menongitis, I think). Yeah for us!!!
The next steps are as follows:
1) We are still waiting to receive our criminal background check from the Texas Dept of Public Safety. We hope to have that in the first week or two of February as that is part of our dossier that has to go to Russia. (FYI - a dossier is all the important documents that Russia needs in order to approve us)
2) We just got a packet of documents that our dossier service sent back to us to have signed and notarized. So glad that we hired Kate to help us with our dossier because that's one less thing we have to worry about getting right. She basically checks our work and organizes everything. Well worth every penny to have a few less headaches in a process that is chocked full of them.
3) Send our dossier to the state of Texas for a process called apostille. From what I understand, they just go through our documents to make sure that all the notarys we used are valid.
4) Once the dossier is back from the state, we send it to Russia for their approval. Once we are approved by them, it's supposedly about a 9-18 month wait.
Thanks to everyone who is keeping tabs on us. Please keep the thoughts, prayers and well wished coming because we sure need them.
Oh, almost forgot - we still need to go get our 3rd shot in the series of TB2 shots, plus a couple others (like one for menongitis, I think). Yeah for us!!!
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!
It's hard to believe that 2007 is behind us. Time certainly does seem to fly, and it's hard to believe that it's been about 6 months since we decided to start on this journey of adoption.
We just spent what we hope is our last (or next to last) holiday season without a kiddo. It's very exciting to think that if we can get our documents submitted to the state by the end of January, and then to Russia by the end of Febuary/early March, we could be on the waiting list a little after Easter.
From there, they estimate that the waiting period is about 9-18 months, however, it could change since our adoption agency just received its reaccreditation from Russia this past month. While waiting for the reaccreditation, they put several couples on their waiting list, so there are approximately 25-35 families ahead of us, from what we can tell. But since there haven't been that many adoptions out of Russia recently pending other agency reaccreditations, the process could get sped up. The short answer on how long the wait will be is, who really knows.
We just spent what we hope is our last (or next to last) holiday season without a kiddo. It's very exciting to think that if we can get our documents submitted to the state by the end of January, and then to Russia by the end of Febuary/early March, we could be on the waiting list a little after Easter.
From there, they estimate that the waiting period is about 9-18 months, however, it could change since our adoption agency just received its reaccreditation from Russia this past month. While waiting for the reaccreditation, they put several couples on their waiting list, so there are approximately 25-35 families ahead of us, from what we can tell. But since there haven't been that many adoptions out of Russia recently pending other agency reaccreditations, the process could get sped up. The short answer on how long the wait will be is, who really knows.
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