We started our day at 3:30am when we woke up. Because of the crazy time differences, we went to bed exhausted at 7:30pm, then awoke at the crack of dawn. We were starving, and since it was so early nothing was open. So we ended up eating some of those premade tuna salad & cracker packs that I had brought. We stayed awake for 2 hours and then went back to sleep until 7:30.
We met Natasha in the hotel lobby at 8:45 and drove back to the orphanage for our last day of visiting with the babies. We signed some legal documents saying we definately intended to adopt and change her name to Haylie Ann. Afterwards, they brought in both Haylie and Alexander (Dave and Stacy's little guy). The orphanage is being remodeled so the rooms where they usually take adoptive parents were all torn up. They ended up putting us in the "music room" which also was being renovated, but they pulled out some gym mats for us to sit on and play with the kids.
Both of these kids are sooooo cute. I got a chance to look Haylie over closer and check her all out. She looks great!!! We also measured her--she is so tiny. I had taken several toys but turns out the toy she and Alex liked best was the tape measure!! They had a cute little one piece outfit on her that was 6-9 months and it was too big!!! Alexander is 4 months older but they are almost the same size because he was a preemie...he is 30 inches tall and she is 29 inches, but she has a bigger foot by just a little. We tried to feed her some cheerios, goldfish, and even some Gerber puffs, but she wouldn't have any of them--she just liked to throw them. Alex however, loved his goldfish and ate a whole bag!!
We got to spend a couple of hours with the kids. They were getting really sleepy by the time they came to take them away. Haylie loves to be held and snuggle and I know would have fallen asleep on my shoulder if they had waited a few more minutes. We got some good videotape, but I am not a very good baby photographer. Seems like in almost all of the pictures I tried to get of her, her eyes were closed. I still can't post any pictures because I have to use the hotel computer and they won't allow me to download anything. As soon as we get home I'll put a bunch of photos on.
After they took the babies away, they took us back to the directors office to see if we had any questions and kept asking if we are happy with our babies. We both had taken gifts for the director and the orphange workers, but they said it was unessacary and not to give them. So we each left one present for the director, Dr. Ludmilla. She seems like a nice, caring woman. She does however wear the most blue eyeshadow I have ever seen!!
We drove the hour ride from the orphanage back to Novokuznetsk in the van with Natasha and the driver. They then took us to a store that carried all kinds of good quality Russian souvenirs like the Mateotroshka dolls--those handpainted wooden dolls that come apart and have lots of littler ones inside. Of course we silly Americans spent lots of rubles getting souvenirs. The quality was much better than anything we had seen elsewhere.
We got back to the hotel around 2:30. Stacy & Dave and Rich & I then went out for lunch/dinner since we hadn't eaten since 3:30am!! We ended up going back to the little restaruant we ate at last night. Rich was more adventuresome and got some of the stew that Stacy had tried the night before. He ended up liking it after all. Both Stacy and I ordered Russian ravioli. The menu said it was mushroom, but it ended up being stuffed with meat with just a few mushrooms over top and covered in sour cream. It was actually pretty good and kind of reminded me of beef stroganoff. After dinner we were all exhausted again and headed back to the hotel for a "nap." Rich & I ended up sleeping till 9:30 pm. So now its 10pm and I'm down in the internet room writing this. I sure hope we'll be able to go back to sleep after that long nap.
We are leaving the hotel in the morning at 5:45am to start the LONG journey back. It will take a total of 29 hours to get back to Lexington, and then we have a hour's drive to get home. We will be toast I'm sure. It has been an amazing trip, but we are both very ready to come home and start the long wait until we can come back to pick up Haylie. Being here has made us all really appreciate the blessings of home. While the land here is beautiful, it is very depressing to see the living conditions. As Rich the history teacher says, it is much like the US was at the beginning of the 40's & 50's with so much industry and mining, with no regard to the environment. The pollution is terrible with a constant bad smell which leaves a sediment on everything. Even the water has a bad smell and we have to brush our teeth with bottled water. This will be our last time in this city. On our next trip we go to Kemerovo for court. We will drive back to the orphanage that time to pick up the baby, but won't stay here again.
Since we will be flying all day tomorrow, the next blog will be from home!! Can't wait to see everybody.
Love Jody
Monday, September 17, 2007
We Met Haylie Today!!!
Well, we finally made it to the orphanage to meet our little girl. They ended up picking us up from the hotel in Moscow around 4:30 to take us to the domestic airport to fly to Novokuznetzk. We met the other couple traveling with us, Stacy and Dave. Turns out we have a lot in common as Dave is a professor and Stacy is a nurse...even our last names are similar. They are really nice and we get along well. They are from Delaware and we are gonna try and get together after all of this process is done and get the kids together.
We got to the airport around 5:30pm but our flight didn't leave until 10:05 pm so we had a lot of time to kill. They said they would be very specific about the weight of the bags, but we lucked out because ours were overweight but we didn't have to pay any extra for it. We ate dinner at a "Russian" restaurant which was cafeteria style. We both had a sausage roll and potatoes. It wasn't bad. We sat and talked with Dave and Stacy the whole time waiting. The airport was extremely crowded and there were no seats anywhere to be had so we had to stand up the whole time. We finally took off on time for a 4 1/2 hour plane ride in a 1970's vintage plane. It was kind of spooky but had no problems. Because of the crazy time changes we arrived at 6am. The airport is literally in the middle of nowhere and it was really small and dark. Luckily our baggage made it all the way this time.
Natasha, the regional coordinator met us at the airport and took us to the hotel. We got checked in and cleaned up a little before we met her to leave for the orphanage at 9am. The hotel is interesting. Old and kind of dingy but clean. The orphanage was about an hours drive away to meet the babies. It is in a small industrial town which appears to be very poor. All of the housing is either large apartment buildings or small wooden shacks with tin roofs. Funny thing is, all these little wooden houses have like tyrolian gingerbread around the windows in pastel colors, kind of reminiscent of Austria. There are lots of smoke stacks billowing black debris and there is a lot of air pollution/smog.
The orphanage is a medium sized 2 story building, kind of run down but clean. They just celebrated their 75th anniversary. They took both Rich and I and Stacy and Dave into the Directors office. She read the medical and social history about Haylie to us while Natasha translated. Nothing unexpected came up. Turns out she was an only child of a 21 year old mother. They then started telling Stacy and Dave about their baby. They had had a referral of a 15 month old boy, but tragically when we got here today, they were told that little boy had been placed with a Russian family. Of course they were very upset as they had already formed a mental bond with that little guy. But they did give them another referral of a little boy 21 months old who had the most beautiful blue-grey eyes I've ever seen. I feel so sorry for them, it just is heartbreaking. While they like the new one, they had already really bonded with the other one.
Next they brought Haylie in for us to see. Boy, was that something. She is absolutely adorable. Very bright-eyed and active. She's crawling like a champ and pulling herself up to stand and walk around the table. She can't quite walk by herself yet, but it won't be long. They had her fixed up really cute in a new outfit and bow in her hair. We took tons of pictures and videos. Unfortunealtely, I can't download any pictures of her from this hotel computer--not allowed, but I'll have tons to show when we get home. We only got to spend about 1 1/2 hours with the kids today. It was supposed to be more but the schedule was different than Natasha thought. We will go back tomorrow and see them again and hopefully get to spend more time with them. She loved the little stuffed lamb her cousin Julia sent to her and she laughed out loud whenever we played with it. We will sign papers tomorrow saying we will accept her as our child and change her name officially to Haylie Ann.
We then drove back to the hotel and took a short nap. All of us are completely exhausted and just running on adrenaline. We slept for 2 hours and then went out walking and exploring the area around the hotel. We had hoped to find some traditional Russian ware, but all we could find were clothing, shoe, coat stores, etc. Stacy and Dave did buy a cute stuffed bear for their little guy. Around 4 we decided to go find something for dinner which was harder than it sounds. Unfortunately, Russian food is not so good. We ended up going to 3 different restaraunts before we found anything that sounded edible. Turns out what Stacy, Dave, & I had was all really good. Rich wimped out and just got a cheese plate because he didn't think anything else sounded appetizing and his cheese wasn't very good. It's now 6 pm and we are all completely exhausted and are going to go to bed really soon. It's 12 hours ahead of home so jet lag has really set in. Hopefully we'll all feel better tomorrow after a good nights sleep. At least Rich and I got to sleep one night in Moscow, but poor Stacy and Dave have been up continuously since Saturday as they flew the whole way. We are really glad we chose to stay over the extra night.
Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage and the last to see the babies until our next trip.
Maybe I'll be able to post some pictures tomorrow.
Love,
Jody & Rich
We got to the airport around 5:30pm but our flight didn't leave until 10:05 pm so we had a lot of time to kill. They said they would be very specific about the weight of the bags, but we lucked out because ours were overweight but we didn't have to pay any extra for it. We ate dinner at a "Russian" restaurant which was cafeteria style. We both had a sausage roll and potatoes. It wasn't bad. We sat and talked with Dave and Stacy the whole time waiting. The airport was extremely crowded and there were no seats anywhere to be had so we had to stand up the whole time. We finally took off on time for a 4 1/2 hour plane ride in a 1970's vintage plane. It was kind of spooky but had no problems. Because of the crazy time changes we arrived at 6am. The airport is literally in the middle of nowhere and it was really small and dark. Luckily our baggage made it all the way this time.
Natasha, the regional coordinator met us at the airport and took us to the hotel. We got checked in and cleaned up a little before we met her to leave for the orphanage at 9am. The hotel is interesting. Old and kind of dingy but clean. The orphanage was about an hours drive away to meet the babies. It is in a small industrial town which appears to be very poor. All of the housing is either large apartment buildings or small wooden shacks with tin roofs. Funny thing is, all these little wooden houses have like tyrolian gingerbread around the windows in pastel colors, kind of reminiscent of Austria. There are lots of smoke stacks billowing black debris and there is a lot of air pollution/smog.
The orphanage is a medium sized 2 story building, kind of run down but clean. They just celebrated their 75th anniversary. They took both Rich and I and Stacy and Dave into the Directors office. She read the medical and social history about Haylie to us while Natasha translated. Nothing unexpected came up. Turns out she was an only child of a 21 year old mother. They then started telling Stacy and Dave about their baby. They had had a referral of a 15 month old boy, but tragically when we got here today, they were told that little boy had been placed with a Russian family. Of course they were very upset as they had already formed a mental bond with that little guy. But they did give them another referral of a little boy 21 months old who had the most beautiful blue-grey eyes I've ever seen. I feel so sorry for them, it just is heartbreaking. While they like the new one, they had already really bonded with the other one.
Next they brought Haylie in for us to see. Boy, was that something. She is absolutely adorable. Very bright-eyed and active. She's crawling like a champ and pulling herself up to stand and walk around the table. She can't quite walk by herself yet, but it won't be long. They had her fixed up really cute in a new outfit and bow in her hair. We took tons of pictures and videos. Unfortunealtely, I can't download any pictures of her from this hotel computer--not allowed, but I'll have tons to show when we get home. We only got to spend about 1 1/2 hours with the kids today. It was supposed to be more but the schedule was different than Natasha thought. We will go back tomorrow and see them again and hopefully get to spend more time with them. She loved the little stuffed lamb her cousin Julia sent to her and she laughed out loud whenever we played with it. We will sign papers tomorrow saying we will accept her as our child and change her name officially to Haylie Ann.
We then drove back to the hotel and took a short nap. All of us are completely exhausted and just running on adrenaline. We slept for 2 hours and then went out walking and exploring the area around the hotel. We had hoped to find some traditional Russian ware, but all we could find were clothing, shoe, coat stores, etc. Stacy and Dave did buy a cute stuffed bear for their little guy. Around 4 we decided to go find something for dinner which was harder than it sounds. Unfortunately, Russian food is not so good. We ended up going to 3 different restaraunts before we found anything that sounded edible. Turns out what Stacy, Dave, & I had was all really good. Rich wimped out and just got a cheese plate because he didn't think anything else sounded appetizing and his cheese wasn't very good. It's now 6 pm and we are all completely exhausted and are going to go to bed really soon. It's 12 hours ahead of home so jet lag has really set in. Hopefully we'll all feel better tomorrow after a good nights sleep. At least Rich and I got to sleep one night in Moscow, but poor Stacy and Dave have been up continuously since Saturday as they flew the whole way. We are really glad we chose to stay over the extra night.
Tomorrow is our last day at the orphanage and the last to see the babies until our next trip.
Maybe I'll be able to post some pictures tomorrow.
Love,
Jody & Rich
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Update--We're Happy Now!!
Well, we just found out Oksana has our luggage at the Moscow airport!! We also just read that Kentucky beat Louisville last night so Rich is ecstatic. They are going to pick us up at 6 then we fly overnight to Novo. We won't be able to change clothes until tomorrow morning, but at least we can clean up before we go meet Haylie. We've enjoyed our time in Moscow even in the rain and cold.
We Made It To Russia--Our Bags Didn't!!
Well, we FINALLY made it to Russia!!! Our journey started on Friday morning Sept. 14. We woke up at 6:30 am (I didn’t get to bed until 3:30am getting ready!!). We had to stop at the post office to mail our last documents to Alina at Adoption Ark before we left. Then we went thru the drive thru at Hardee’s for breakfast before driving to Lexington. My mom and her friend Betty drove us to the airport at 10:30. Our flight was supposed to leave Lexington at 12:45. Rich & I got checked in and were killing time browsing in the book store at the airport. I decided to buy a soft drink and it was then I realized I had left my wallet in the car!! Luckily we had plenty of time for my mom to bring it back to us before our flight—or we’d really been up a creek.
As it turned out, we had PLENTY of time. Due to storms in Atlanta, our flight was delayed, and delayed, and delayed. First they delayed it one hour till 1:45. We got on the plane and started to actually take off, when all of a sudden the pilot slammed on the brakes. He said something on the computer went off saying something was wrong. They then did some checks and said it was OK to take off but we’d have to get in line again. Before we were first for takeoff, they came on the intercom and said the Atlanta airport was closed totally due to weather. So we taxied back and all got off the plane again. Finally, at 3:30 we reloaded and took off for Atlanta. Unfortunately, our connecting flight from Atlanta to Moscow was scheduled to take off at 3:45. They kept telling us since the whole airport was closed it would be late too and we’d probably make the connection—HAH!! When we approached Atlanta, they again said the airport was closed due to weather (evidently the remnants of Hurricane Humberto). Said we would probably divert to Knoxville to get more gas after we circled for 1 ½ hours. Anyway, we finally landed in Atlanta at 6pm. There was no listing on any of the boards for a departure to Moscow. We raced to the gate where we were supposed to have left from and of course the flight was long gone. We went to the assistance counter and this little oriental woman grabbed our tickets and went furiously to work to find us another flight since there wasn’t another direct flight until the next day and we really didn’t want to spend the night in Atlanta. She said “you better run now” and handed us boarding passes on a flight to Vienna. So off we ran, of course 32 gates away, and flew to Vienna. We then caught an Aeroflot flight from Vienna to Moscow which arrived in at 4:30pm Moscow time, only a mere 22 hours after we left Lexington.
Then the fun really began, because of course when we went to pick up our bags they were nowhere to be found. I had predicted this but Rich remained optimistic they would be there the whole trip!! We then had to go to the lost and found counter where there were a large group of Russian women shouting at each other. I stood there for probably 10 minutes waiting for help and I was first in line. Finally this woman from Aeroflot Airlines started to help us in English. Turns out our bags were still back in Atlanta—surprise, surprise. She said they wouldn’t be here until the next flight the next day. We had to fill out 5 forms and then go somewhere and get them stamped in customs then take them back to the shouting women. It was wild!! We finally headed out and luckily Oksana, our Moscow coordinator was there waiting for us.
A driver picked us up and drove us to the Marriott Courtyard in Old Moscow.
It is really a nice, Americanized hotel for only $395/night!!
We went out walking around the hotel for a couple of hours since we were both pretty hyped up. The hotel is only 6 blocks from Red Square/ the Kremlin. Moscow is actually a very clean and pretty urban city. We looked for a nice restaurant but couldn’t find one, so we eventually ended up eating at the hotel restaurant. Moscow is outrageously expensive, making New York City look cheap!! We had 1 cheeseburger which we split, a fruit plate, a diet coke, and an iced tea for only $60!!! Luckily it was good. We finally went back to the room and bed about 10pm. Of course without luggage, that means no jammies, toiletries, etc. The worst part for me is no blow dryer, hair spray, or other hair essentials. For Rich, the worst is no jacket since it’s about 45-50 degrees.
Sunday, we woke up and it was pouring down rain—just our luck. The hotel did have nice umbrellas they leant us, but no jacket for Rich. I had worn a sweatsuit like thing on the plane, so I at least have a little jacket. Rich just has on short sleeves. The natives are all wearing heavy coats, scarves, and even some have on gloves. Rich was cold but actually didn’t complain too much about it!! We walked down to Red Square, and wouldn’t you know it, the entire place is closed all week for some sort of Military Appreciation Week. They have barricades up with many soldiers everywhere keeping everybody out of the entire Red Square and the Kremlin. We walked all around the perimeter and thru the beautiful gardens. We also went to GUM department store which is huge. We ate lunch there at an Sbarro Pizza—not like home but pretty good and actually a bargain in this town. For breakfast we had a croissant, a chocolate éclair and one glass of milk for $25!!
Anyway, we are now back at the hotel just hanging out. They let us have a late checkout at 3 pm. Oksana will be here to pick us back up at 6pm. So I’m on the computer and Rich is napping. I went down to a little convenience store and bought some deodorant, hair spray, and a brush. They say they may not get our bags to us until we come back to Moscow in 3 days!! We leave tonight for Novokuznetsk and will meet Haylie tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we will have our luggage so we can change clothes before then, otherwise she might not want to see us!! This may be the last time I can post for awhile. They have wireless internet here, but I think I read the hotel in Novo doesn’t. No luggage also means no electrical plug converters and they don’t sell them here so I won’t be able to plug up. I’ll try to post again ASAP.
Love you all,
Jody & Rich
As it turned out, we had PLENTY of time. Due to storms in Atlanta, our flight was delayed, and delayed, and delayed. First they delayed it one hour till 1:45. We got on the plane and started to actually take off, when all of a sudden the pilot slammed on the brakes. He said something on the computer went off saying something was wrong. They then did some checks and said it was OK to take off but we’d have to get in line again. Before we were first for takeoff, they came on the intercom and said the Atlanta airport was closed totally due to weather. So we taxied back and all got off the plane again. Finally, at 3:30 we reloaded and took off for Atlanta. Unfortunately, our connecting flight from Atlanta to Moscow was scheduled to take off at 3:45. They kept telling us since the whole airport was closed it would be late too and we’d probably make the connection—HAH!! When we approached Atlanta, they again said the airport was closed due to weather (evidently the remnants of Hurricane Humberto). Said we would probably divert to Knoxville to get more gas after we circled for 1 ½ hours. Anyway, we finally landed in Atlanta at 6pm. There was no listing on any of the boards for a departure to Moscow. We raced to the gate where we were supposed to have left from and of course the flight was long gone. We went to the assistance counter and this little oriental woman grabbed our tickets and went furiously to work to find us another flight since there wasn’t another direct flight until the next day and we really didn’t want to spend the night in Atlanta. She said “you better run now” and handed us boarding passes on a flight to Vienna. So off we ran, of course 32 gates away, and flew to Vienna. We then caught an Aeroflot flight from Vienna to Moscow which arrived in at 4:30pm Moscow time, only a mere 22 hours after we left Lexington.
Then the fun really began, because of course when we went to pick up our bags they were nowhere to be found. I had predicted this but Rich remained optimistic they would be there the whole trip!! We then had to go to the lost and found counter where there were a large group of Russian women shouting at each other. I stood there for probably 10 minutes waiting for help and I was first in line. Finally this woman from Aeroflot Airlines started to help us in English. Turns out our bags were still back in Atlanta—surprise, surprise. She said they wouldn’t be here until the next flight the next day. We had to fill out 5 forms and then go somewhere and get them stamped in customs then take them back to the shouting women. It was wild!! We finally headed out and luckily Oksana, our Moscow coordinator was there waiting for us.
A driver picked us up and drove us to the Marriott Courtyard in Old Moscow.
It is really a nice, Americanized hotel for only $395/night!!
We went out walking around the hotel for a couple of hours since we were both pretty hyped up. The hotel is only 6 blocks from Red Square/ the Kremlin. Moscow is actually a very clean and pretty urban city. We looked for a nice restaurant but couldn’t find one, so we eventually ended up eating at the hotel restaurant. Moscow is outrageously expensive, making New York City look cheap!! We had 1 cheeseburger which we split, a fruit plate, a diet coke, and an iced tea for only $60!!! Luckily it was good. We finally went back to the room and bed about 10pm. Of course without luggage, that means no jammies, toiletries, etc. The worst part for me is no blow dryer, hair spray, or other hair essentials. For Rich, the worst is no jacket since it’s about 45-50 degrees.
Sunday, we woke up and it was pouring down rain—just our luck. The hotel did have nice umbrellas they leant us, but no jacket for Rich. I had worn a sweatsuit like thing on the plane, so I at least have a little jacket. Rich just has on short sleeves. The natives are all wearing heavy coats, scarves, and even some have on gloves. Rich was cold but actually didn’t complain too much about it!! We walked down to Red Square, and wouldn’t you know it, the entire place is closed all week for some sort of Military Appreciation Week. They have barricades up with many soldiers everywhere keeping everybody out of the entire Red Square and the Kremlin. We walked all around the perimeter and thru the beautiful gardens. We also went to GUM department store which is huge. We ate lunch there at an Sbarro Pizza—not like home but pretty good and actually a bargain in this town. For breakfast we had a croissant, a chocolate éclair and one glass of milk for $25!!
Anyway, we are now back at the hotel just hanging out. They let us have a late checkout at 3 pm. Oksana will be here to pick us back up at 6pm. So I’m on the computer and Rich is napping. I went down to a little convenience store and bought some deodorant, hair spray, and a brush. They say they may not get our bags to us until we come back to Moscow in 3 days!! We leave tonight for Novokuznetsk and will meet Haylie tomorrow morning. Hopefully, we will have our luggage so we can change clothes before then, otherwise she might not want to see us!! This may be the last time I can post for awhile. They have wireless internet here, but I think I read the hotel in Novo doesn’t. No luggage also means no electrical plug converters and they don’t sell them here so I won’t be able to plug up. I’ll try to post again ASAP.
Love you all,
Jody & Rich
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Getting Ready to Leave for Russia
Well, we finally have all of our arrangements made for the big trip. Nothing like waiting for the last minute!!! We leave Friday, Sept. 14 from Lexington to Atlanta, then fly overnight directly into Moscow, arriving there Saturday morning. We decided to spend one night in Moscow both to rest and to get in a little sightseeing. We figured the next time we go, it will be cold and possibly lots of snow, so thought we would take advantage of nice weather while we can.
We will stay at the Marriott Courtyard near Red Square, which is close enough to walk around and see the major sights. We then have all day Sunday to look around.
We will fly Sunday night to Novokuznetsk, which is a 4 1/2 hour flight from Moscow. Because of the crazy time zone changes, we leave Moscow at 10pm and arrive in Novo at 6am. They will pick us up at the airport and take us to a hotel. Then, we will finally get to travel to the Baby House in Propokuznetsk (about an hour a way by van) to meet our georgous girl!!!
We are going kind of crazy trying to get everthing together to go. I'm trying to scramble to get as many of the court documents ready as possible. We were told they wouldn't be needed until time to go for the second visit, but our coordinator at AA says we need to go ahead and take as many now as possible, so they can be translating them. It may speed up the time to go back to court, so of course we are all for that!! But it's been harried trying to get them all together, notarized, authenticated, and apostilled. We are also still waiting to get our visa back. The application and our passports are at the Russian consulate and we are praying they overnight them today or tomorrow since we won't be able to go unless we get them back. We haven't even started to pack yet either and have things lined up tonight and tomorrow, leaving only Thursday night to get it all done!! Oh, well I always do better under pressure anyway!! Anyway, it will all be worth it to be able to see and hold our baby. We only wish we could bring her home this time--it's going to be terrible to have to leave her there after we meet her and wait another 2-3 months before we can go back and finalize the adoption. We're praying we can get her home by Christmas, which would be the best Christmas present EVER!!!
We will stay at the Marriott Courtyard near Red Square, which is close enough to walk around and see the major sights. We then have all day Sunday to look around.
We will fly Sunday night to Novokuznetsk, which is a 4 1/2 hour flight from Moscow. Because of the crazy time zone changes, we leave Moscow at 10pm and arrive in Novo at 6am. They will pick us up at the airport and take us to a hotel. Then, we will finally get to travel to the Baby House in Propokuznetsk (about an hour a way by van) to meet our georgous girl!!!
We are going kind of crazy trying to get everthing together to go. I'm trying to scramble to get as many of the court documents ready as possible. We were told they wouldn't be needed until time to go for the second visit, but our coordinator at AA says we need to go ahead and take as many now as possible, so they can be translating them. It may speed up the time to go back to court, so of course we are all for that!! But it's been harried trying to get them all together, notarized, authenticated, and apostilled. We are also still waiting to get our visa back. The application and our passports are at the Russian consulate and we are praying they overnight them today or tomorrow since we won't be able to go unless we get them back. We haven't even started to pack yet either and have things lined up tonight and tomorrow, leaving only Thursday night to get it all done!! Oh, well I always do better under pressure anyway!! Anyway, it will all be worth it to be able to see and hold our baby. We only wish we could bring her home this time--it's going to be terrible to have to leave her there after we meet her and wait another 2-3 months before we can go back and finalize the adoption. We're praying we can get her home by Christmas, which would be the best Christmas present EVER!!!
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
We have a referral!!!
We received an email last Thursday, August 30 saying they had a referral of a 15 month old girl for us. Both Rich and I fell in love with the pictures of this beautiful little girl at first sight. I'd heard about that happening, but was skeptical. It's weird I know and somewhat of a cliche, but somehow I just knew this was the child God intended to be ours. She actually looks a little like Rich and is blond and blue-eyed like both of us.
We sent her pictures to an international adoption doctor at the University of Kentucky to see if she saw any problems. She said she looked absolutely great and saw no obvious problems. So, we called Adoption Ark the next day and told them we would accept the referral!! Today, the ball really got rolling when our caseworker called to start setting up the trip, which is going to be a whirlwind.
We will travel for our first trip to meet Haylie on Saturday, Sept. 15 from Lexington to Moscow. Then we will fly to the region to a city called Novokuznetsk in southern Siberia. From there we will travel by car to another town to the Prokopyevsk baby house to meet our Haylie. We will only be there for 2 short days before we have to leave her and return home to wait for a court date. We will return to the US on September 19.
So there is much to be done before we go and I know I will be going crazy before its over, but it will be worth it all. Turns out we will miss the UK vs Louisville football game while we go. Rich at first was not a happy camper about that since he is a huge UK football fan. But, even he said it would be worth it to go see Haylie.
I'll try and keep you all posted in the next few days as we make the final arrangements. Please say a prayer for us that things go smoothly.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Still Waiting!!!
Well, we are still waiting for our referral of our precious baby girl. We have made some progress along the way. We are adopting from a region of Russia called Kemerovo. The court system there decided we needed to do even more paperwork than was already done. So, we had to go back and get yet more copies of our marriage license, along with 3 other new documents they wanted. Then they all had to be notarized and apostilled, requiring yet another 2 hour drive to the state capitol to get them notarized. We sent them all in last week, August 13, 2007. Adoption Ark notified us they had received them on August 15th. They will have the next family that travels over hand carry our documents over to Russia.
Two weeks ago our caseworker at AA said I might want to get our homestudy report ammended to say we would take an older little girl. She said it was a very easy process that only required a one page addendum. When I asked about the document from the US government which said we were only approved for 9-12 months old, she assured me it didn't really say that, that they never put the age limit on there. Well, I was sitting looking at the form talking to her and assured her it did indeed have the age limits listed. She said to notifiy the USCIS and have them change it, not a big deal. WELL, hah says the USCIS. We can change it by reapplying, waiting 2-3 months and paying another $340. Obviously, this option isn't really appealing to us. So, we decided we would continue to hope for a baby 9-12 months "at time of referral" so we won't have to do all that. It's OK if she's older by the time we get her home.
The big news we got today, is that we are now #1 on the waiting list for a little girl. All along, there has been a couple ahead of us on the waiting list, and they finally got their referral. So, the next little girl between 9-12 months old will be ours!!!
Two weeks ago our caseworker at AA said I might want to get our homestudy report ammended to say we would take an older little girl. She said it was a very easy process that only required a one page addendum. When I asked about the document from the US government which said we were only approved for 9-12 months old, she assured me it didn't really say that, that they never put the age limit on there. Well, I was sitting looking at the form talking to her and assured her it did indeed have the age limits listed. She said to notifiy the USCIS and have them change it, not a big deal. WELL, hah says the USCIS. We can change it by reapplying, waiting 2-3 months and paying another $340. Obviously, this option isn't really appealing to us. So, we decided we would continue to hope for a baby 9-12 months "at time of referral" so we won't have to do all that. It's OK if she's older by the time we get her home.
The big news we got today, is that we are now #1 on the waiting list for a little girl. All along, there has been a couple ahead of us on the waiting list, and they finally got their referral. So, the next little girl between 9-12 months old will be ours!!!
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