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.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
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!!!
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