Monday, December 31, 2007
December 31st 11PM
I hope everyone has a wonderful, happy, and healthy 2008. I hope everyone in process brings their children home and I hope everyone with kids has an excellent and happy year. Love to all, and thank you all for the support and love during the hell that was 2007. May 2008 be a fantastic year!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
December 26
Come out, come out, wherever you are....
Over TWO THOUSAND views since September - wow! I am amazed and, sort of impressed! So, come say hello! I'd love to hear from you.
:D
Over TWO THOUSAND views since September - wow! I am amazed and, sort of impressed! So, come say hello! I'd love to hear from you.
:D
Sunday, December 23, 2007
December 23
Not much new here. We're all sick with a vicious cold (the kind that makes you want to go to sleep and wake up when it's over). DS got over it pretty quickly, which was good, because I want him healthy, but I wish I had his power of recuperation. There's nothing quite like taking care of a rambunctious almost three year old when you feel like your head is about to explode (and wonder if maybe it did, you'd finally feel better). Anyway, I'm perking up finally, so hopefully DH will follow.
I took my little sisters to the Hannah Montana concert last night. that was a wild and fun time. I have never, ever in my life heard screaming quite that loud! We had a total blast, though, and our seats were actually quite good. I never could have guessed that I'd be able to tell people I got seats to the biggest, most quickly sold out concert event of the year - and have that be a concert aimed at tweens. Go figure! Still, it was a total blast, and we had fun just doing the girlie thing.
Well, for those who celebrate, hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I'm ready for the new year and hoping it brings us our children!!!
:)
I took my little sisters to the Hannah Montana concert last night. that was a wild and fun time. I have never, ever in my life heard screaming quite that loud! We had a total blast, though, and our seats were actually quite good. I never could have guessed that I'd be able to tell people I got seats to the biggest, most quickly sold out concert event of the year - and have that be a concert aimed at tweens. Go figure! Still, it was a total blast, and we had fun just doing the girlie thing.
Well, for those who celebrate, hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I'm ready for the new year and hoping it brings us our children!!!
:)
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
December 19
So, things are good all around today. Another family with our agency is interested in adopting the boys we turned down. I'm so glad to hear that they are the children another family has been dreaming about. I wish them a happy and healthy life with their new parents.
Our agency called and they are hoping that the next time there is a database change (end of January/beginning of February) that hopefully we will receive our referral. If not, then hopefully the following month. We're keeping everything crossed and we're hoping that it all works out. Think positive thoughts for us, please!!!!
So that's about it. We have some other good stuff going on in our family, but because I'm not totally sure who reads this, I can't announce it yet. I will within the next few days, though.
Hope everyone is doing well and hope we all have wonderful news in the New Year!
Our agency called and they are hoping that the next time there is a database change (end of January/beginning of February) that hopefully we will receive our referral. If not, then hopefully the following month. We're keeping everything crossed and we're hoping that it all works out. Think positive thoughts for us, please!!!!
So that's about it. We have some other good stuff going on in our family, but because I'm not totally sure who reads this, I can't announce it yet. I will within the next few days, though.
Hope everyone is doing well and hope we all have wonderful news in the New Year!
Monday, December 17, 2007
December 17
Thanks everyone for all of the support! I'm very very sad to report that we've decided to decline. We had some concerns about one of the children and the process to find out if our concerns were valid was going to be time consuming, exhausting and quite expensive (and that is IF we were able to actually have happen what we needed to.) In the end, we decided to move on. It's been an emotional and exhausting few days, so I may not post an update for a bit. Thank you all for your support and comments. I never, ever thought I would decline a referral, but the second I got the photos, my heart dropped as I recognized one of the children as a child I had red-flagged on the database. there were a few other issues, also. I'm so sad and feel so horrible. I hope these children find a loving home and I hope we find our forever children.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
December 12
HOLY FREAKING CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We got THE CALL today. I'm in shock and I'm completely freaking out. It's not exactly what we had expected, so we're trying to process it all now... We have our bio DS who will be 3 in Jan. The call is for TWO BOYS!!!!! One just turned two in July and the other turned one in September. We had requested a boy and a girl, so we're a little terrifed about the thought of three boys three and under, but we're going to look at the pictues and medical info because we really believe we're being led on this journey toward the children we're meant to have and that could possibly be a lot of boys! Oh man. I'm in a total panic. I think I'm just in total shock! THREE BOYS!!!!! Oy!
Friday, December 7, 2007
December 7
So, I'm starting to really feel anxious about waiting. I really thought the waiting would be teh easy part, but it's a LOT harder than I had expected. It's so emotionally draining. While we were occupied with teh paperwork, it was easy to just assume that waiting had to be easier than the paperchase, but now, I actually sort of miss the insanity. I'm so terrified that something will go wrong and suddenly we'll have a three year old only child, which was never, ever part of the plan. I just want things to hurry up and happen before there are any more changes because I'm always afraid that something will change and we'll lose the basket we've put all of our eggs into. I just look at my sweet boy and think about how much I can't wait to give him a sibling. I'm so glad we're going this route, so he'll have siblings close in age to play with. They'll really grow up together and that's fantastic, if we can just GET THEM HERE!
We heard from our agency the other day and they assume it will be Spring before we hear. There are pluses and minuses to that. We'll have time to finish the house (if we can ever get the frickin electrician to get his butt back here), we'll be traveling during better weather, and DS will be that much older and more equipped to handle two long haul flights. Still... Spring seems so far away as we are just now starting to really hit winter. So, keep us in your thoughts during these long (okay, so they're actually pretty short at this time of year!) days that all will go well when the time comes.
:)
We heard from our agency the other day and they assume it will be Spring before we hear. There are pluses and minuses to that. We'll have time to finish the house (if we can ever get the frickin electrician to get his butt back here), we'll be traveling during better weather, and DS will be that much older and more equipped to handle two long haul flights. Still... Spring seems so far away as we are just now starting to really hit winter. So, keep us in your thoughts during these long (okay, so they're actually pretty short at this time of year!) days that all will go well when the time comes.
:)
Friday, November 23, 2007
November 23
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Ours was nice, but it ended with some sad news. A woman I know passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Wednesday morning and I found out yesterday. I'm sad that she's gone, I'm sad for her husband, I'm sad for her two little girls, and I'm so so so very sad that I haven't been a good friend to her recently. For those who know the situation who read the blog - here's the rest of the story...
I met her in an online due date group. Her sweet DD was born at 25 weeks, and at that point, I found out she was local. I remember following her DD's progress through her NICU stay and her discharge. After my DS was born, we decided to get together at some point. We actually got together fairly often and really enjoyed one another's company. I even babysat her children a couple of times for her. She and I both became involved in an Attachment Parenting group. Through this group, she met another woman (let's call her Sally), and I met Sally through her. It was clear to me that Sally and I would not be close friends. She was very outspoken and loved to say things she knew would be scandalous (she actually nearly got herself arrested once for a situation with her child). We got along okay, but we didn't exactly "click". Anyway, shortly after, this woman joined another playgroup I was involved in. She caused HUGE issues with the other women. Most of them are pretty mainstream moms and I'm the crunchy wacko, which was always fine, but she was crunchy in ways that we were uncomfortable with. She would let her child crawl diaperless on peoples' carpets, she would take him into the bathroom and let him urinate in their sinks (we did elimination communication also, but we only used the toilet!), she would let him run outside naked without sunscreen or bug spray. Basically, just things we weren't comfortable with. That coupled with the preaching caused us to not want to attend playgroup any longer, and eventually, we agreed that each group should only be 6 people, and as she was the 7th, she was not part any longer.
As this all caused a HUGE problem, I was afraid to see her at my friend's house. In the end, my own fear caused me to no longer hang out with my friend, whom I had always enjoyed, and now she is gone and I can't get those months back. I feel awful, horrible, and I really just am ashamed of myself for not being a stronger person. I hope that she is resting in peace and I hope her children will grow into amazing women and will always know how much their mother loved and cherished them. I'm still in such shock over this. You always think you have time to make things right and you never know when that time will be stolen away. I miss you, my friend, and I'm truly sorry I let myself fall out of your life.
I met her in an online due date group. Her sweet DD was born at 25 weeks, and at that point, I found out she was local. I remember following her DD's progress through her NICU stay and her discharge. After my DS was born, we decided to get together at some point. We actually got together fairly often and really enjoyed one another's company. I even babysat her children a couple of times for her. She and I both became involved in an Attachment Parenting group. Through this group, she met another woman (let's call her Sally), and I met Sally through her. It was clear to me that Sally and I would not be close friends. She was very outspoken and loved to say things she knew would be scandalous (she actually nearly got herself arrested once for a situation with her child). We got along okay, but we didn't exactly "click". Anyway, shortly after, this woman joined another playgroup I was involved in. She caused HUGE issues with the other women. Most of them are pretty mainstream moms and I'm the crunchy wacko, which was always fine, but she was crunchy in ways that we were uncomfortable with. She would let her child crawl diaperless on peoples' carpets, she would take him into the bathroom and let him urinate in their sinks (we did elimination communication also, but we only used the toilet!), she would let him run outside naked without sunscreen or bug spray. Basically, just things we weren't comfortable with. That coupled with the preaching caused us to not want to attend playgroup any longer, and eventually, we agreed that each group should only be 6 people, and as she was the 7th, she was not part any longer.
As this all caused a HUGE problem, I was afraid to see her at my friend's house. In the end, my own fear caused me to no longer hang out with my friend, whom I had always enjoyed, and now she is gone and I can't get those months back. I feel awful, horrible, and I really just am ashamed of myself for not being a stronger person. I hope that she is resting in peace and I hope her children will grow into amazing women and will always know how much their mother loved and cherished them. I'm still in such shock over this. You always think you have time to make things right and you never know when that time will be stolen away. I miss you, my friend, and I'm truly sorry I let myself fall out of your life.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
November 21
Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Sorry I haven't been on in ages. We've been INSANE!!!!!
We have a 120 year old colonial that is in need of remodeling. We have always dreamed of buying an old house and re-doing it, but we had NO IDEA how much WORK it is!!!!!!!!! Anyway, after four years of living in this house, we're finally hitting the master bedroom. It was fug fug fug with white paneling and a red shag carpet. So, we've never spent a night in there because we were afraid of getting too comfy and worried we'd never attack it. So, finally a week ago we ATTACKED! We tore it all out to the studs and then this week, we've been in the process of drywalling and mudding (with the help of our neighbor) and we think we'll finally be in by the New Year. Basically, our room we're in just isn't big enough for everyone and we fully intend on co-sleeping with the kids when they come home. We need a room big enough for a huge king bed that five humans and three cats can all snuggle up in. So, here's the insanity!
Here's the super fug room. This is NOT our decor!!!!!!!!! This is teh picture from the video we took when we went to the open house. We would never in a million years live like this - yikes!
Here's teh room torn out, wahoo!
Starting to come back together, yeehaw!
We have a 120 year old colonial that is in need of remodeling. We have always dreamed of buying an old house and re-doing it, but we had NO IDEA how much WORK it is!!!!!!!!! Anyway, after four years of living in this house, we're finally hitting the master bedroom. It was fug fug fug with white paneling and a red shag carpet. So, we've never spent a night in there because we were afraid of getting too comfy and worried we'd never attack it. So, finally a week ago we ATTACKED! We tore it all out to the studs and then this week, we've been in the process of drywalling and mudding (with the help of our neighbor) and we think we'll finally be in by the New Year. Basically, our room we're in just isn't big enough for everyone and we fully intend on co-sleeping with the kids when they come home. We need a room big enough for a huge king bed that five humans and three cats can all snuggle up in. So, here's the insanity!
Here's the super fug room. This is NOT our decor!!!!!!!!! This is teh picture from the video we took when we went to the open house. We would never in a million years live like this - yikes!
Here's teh room torn out, wahoo!
Starting to come back together, yeehaw!
Monday, November 5, 2007
November 5
Not much to say, honestly...
We had an AWESOME Halloween! I'll post a pic of DS in his super cool costume at the end, but I realized how much I can't WAIT to have our children home! Next Halloween will be so amazing with THREE kids!!!!! I have this crazy idea to dress them up as Kiss. I am NOT a Kiss fan, but for some reason, my warped sense of humor thinks it would be the most comical thing to open the door and see three toddlers dressed as Kiss. DS would have to be Gene Simmons, because this cihld has the LONGEST tongue, LOL! Anyway, it's starting to hit me that we're really just waiting, waiting, waiting! it's really hard!!! I'm due for my AF this week also, which is a tough thing. We spent a year trying to have a baby, it's very hard to try to avoid, and doubly hard to wait for a person across the world to tell us who our children are. i just can't wait!!!!!
:)
Here's the maniac as a backhoe!
:)
We had an AWESOME Halloween! I'll post a pic of DS in his super cool costume at the end, but I realized how much I can't WAIT to have our children home! Next Halloween will be so amazing with THREE kids!!!!! I have this crazy idea to dress them up as Kiss. I am NOT a Kiss fan, but for some reason, my warped sense of humor thinks it would be the most comical thing to open the door and see three toddlers dressed as Kiss. DS would have to be Gene Simmons, because this cihld has the LONGEST tongue, LOL! Anyway, it's starting to hit me that we're really just waiting, waiting, waiting! it's really hard!!! I'm due for my AF this week also, which is a tough thing. We spent a year trying to have a baby, it's very hard to try to avoid, and doubly hard to wait for a person across the world to tell us who our children are. i just can't wait!!!!!
:)
Here's the maniac as a backhoe!
:)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October 25
Waiting, waiting waiting...
I really believed that the moment our dossier was accepted, my entire stress level would disappear. I felt that surely waiting couldn't be stressful - afterall, what is there to actually DO when waiting? Man... Slap me. I keep OBSESSING over the whens and the hows and the what ifs. I'm SOOOOOO anxious! I really can not wait and at the same time, I'm completely terrified! Our entire life is going to change and it's going to be VERY hard for a time - yes, I do know that for everyone who likes to remind me. It's going to be so hard I'll probably not remember much of it later (kind of like the first three months with a newborn!). Still. I can't wait. I just know we're going to end up with the children we're meant to have. I just want to meet them. It kills me knowing they're literally growing up across teh world without me and I don't even know who they are yet. So, I say it again, seriously, slap me.
*sigh*
I really believed that the moment our dossier was accepted, my entire stress level would disappear. I felt that surely waiting couldn't be stressful - afterall, what is there to actually DO when waiting? Man... Slap me. I keep OBSESSING over the whens and the hows and the what ifs. I'm SOOOOOO anxious! I really can not wait and at the same time, I'm completely terrified! Our entire life is going to change and it's going to be VERY hard for a time - yes, I do know that for everyone who likes to remind me. It's going to be so hard I'll probably not remember much of it later (kind of like the first three months with a newborn!). Still. I can't wait. I just know we're going to end up with the children we're meant to have. I just want to meet them. It kills me knowing they're literally growing up across teh world without me and I don't even know who they are yet. So, I say it again, seriously, slap me.
*sigh*
Sunday, October 21, 2007
October 21
Sorry I've been so lax with teh updates. I spent the last week as a single mom who felt like I'd been run over by a freight train! Now, DH is home and I'm on antibiotics for my sinus infection and i'm MUCH better!
So, I also partially didn't post much while DH was gone because I didn't want to advertise on a public blog that I was a woman home alone - I know, call me paranoid, but what can I say.
Anyway, so, we got a call two days before DH left for Russia that one of the regions had closed to new dossier submissions because it had gotten backlogged. So, he was on his way for only one region, which was a bummer, because he had to sit in one region for 5 days for one half hour appointment. Anyway, so he left on Saturday and arrived in Russia on Sunday afternoon. He spent Sun-Tues vegging in his hotel room. He walked around the region and checked it out. He had his appointment at 9AM Wednesday morning and called me at 2AM my time to let me know that we were in teh book, but there was a glitch. I had to send in a power of attorney letter IMMEDIATELY. We hadn't known we had to do that, so I had to get that to our regional coordinator ASAP. I was up and doing it at 9AM, but still freaking out because it was technically not going to make it until the next business day because of the time difference. Still, it was accepted and life was good. We're in the book and we're officiallly waiting for our referral!
It was a very nerve wracking experience and a very exhausting experience for my DH who not only did all of the travel himself, but had to deal with it as a Celiac, not able to eat any gluten and in a country where he doesn't speak/read teh language to know for sure what is and isn't okay. Needless to say, he didn't eat much, poor guy.
So, life is good. I kept saying I'd stop stressing once we were officially waiting, but now that we're here, I'm FREAKING! I can't wait!!!!! How will I manage to not lose my mind for the next 3-6 months? Crikey!
Anyway, gotta fly. Hope everyone is doing well. We're SO ready to bring our kids home!
:)
So, I also partially didn't post much while DH was gone because I didn't want to advertise on a public blog that I was a woman home alone - I know, call me paranoid, but what can I say.
Anyway, so, we got a call two days before DH left for Russia that one of the regions had closed to new dossier submissions because it had gotten backlogged. So, he was on his way for only one region, which was a bummer, because he had to sit in one region for 5 days for one half hour appointment. Anyway, so he left on Saturday and arrived in Russia on Sunday afternoon. He spent Sun-Tues vegging in his hotel room. He walked around the region and checked it out. He had his appointment at 9AM Wednesday morning and called me at 2AM my time to let me know that we were in teh book, but there was a glitch. I had to send in a power of attorney letter IMMEDIATELY. We hadn't known we had to do that, so I had to get that to our regional coordinator ASAP. I was up and doing it at 9AM, but still freaking out because it was technically not going to make it until the next business day because of the time difference. Still, it was accepted and life was good. We're in the book and we're officiallly waiting for our referral!
It was a very nerve wracking experience and a very exhausting experience for my DH who not only did all of the travel himself, but had to deal with it as a Celiac, not able to eat any gluten and in a country where he doesn't speak/read teh language to know for sure what is and isn't okay. Needless to say, he didn't eat much, poor guy.
So, life is good. I kept saying I'd stop stressing once we were officially waiting, but now that we're here, I'm FREAKING! I can't wait!!!!! How will I manage to not lose my mind for the next 3-6 months? Crikey!
Anyway, gotta fly. Hope everyone is doing well. We're SO ready to bring our kids home!
:)
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sorry!
Sorry I haven't provided more updates. I've been plagued by the sinus infection from hell and just haven't had the energy to really post. I'll get to it soon, though!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
WE'RE IN THE BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our dossier was accepted this morning in Smolensk Russia! We're in the book and can't wait to bring home our children! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I promise I'll update more soon, but I wanted to let everyone know we're cleared for takeoff! What a relief! Thanks for all of the support and prayers!
:)
I promise I'll update more soon, but I wanted to let everyone know we're cleared for takeoff! What a relief! Thanks for all of the support and prayers!
:)
PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR THOUGHTS/PRAYERS!
So, tomorrow morning at 9AM Russian time, our dossier will be getting submitted. I have lots of story to tell, but I am waiting until Thursday to tell it. I do however want to ask for anyone who checks here to keep us in your thoughts and prayers that our dossier is accepted. I'm SO NERVOUS!!!!!!!!!! Apparently, if it gets accepted, the estimated wait is 3-6 months for referral. Please please please let this happen!!!!!!!
Thank you!
Thank you!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Ocboer 10
Sorry for the week delay in posting! It's been a madhouse here and DS and I have both been attacked by the creeping crud. It's like the cold that never ends - ugh!
Anyway, I had ANOTHER funny dream about our adoption the other night. In my dream, AGAIN,I was teh one who went to submit the paperwork and while I was there, they decided to give me a referral of a little boy. They told me I had to wait until trip 1 to get a girl referral since they were so scarce and I'd have to ask the baby home directly. So, I look at the picture of the little boy and they tell me he was born in early January. I told them that wasn't good because DS was born at the END of January and we didn't want to disrupt birth order. So, they tell me it's okay they'll just change his birth certificate to pretend he was born in February. I look at the picture and he looks JUST LIKE my dad as a little boy and I KNOW he's meant to be in our family, but his birthdate is all wrong and I"m in a panic over it all.
I don't remember much after that, so I think I woke up around then. It was such an odd dream! I wonder how many more weird ones like this I'll have before we actually bring them home?! Crazy!
Anyway, I had ANOTHER funny dream about our adoption the other night. In my dream, AGAIN,I was teh one who went to submit the paperwork and while I was there, they decided to give me a referral of a little boy. They told me I had to wait until trip 1 to get a girl referral since they were so scarce and I'd have to ask the baby home directly. So, I look at the picture of the little boy and they tell me he was born in early January. I told them that wasn't good because DS was born at the END of January and we didn't want to disrupt birth order. So, they tell me it's okay they'll just change his birth certificate to pretend he was born in February. I look at the picture and he looks JUST LIKE my dad as a little boy and I KNOW he's meant to be in our family, but his birthdate is all wrong and I"m in a panic over it all.
I don't remember much after that, so I think I woke up around then. It was such an odd dream! I wonder how many more weird ones like this I'll have before we actually bring them home?! Crazy!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
October 3
Well, I guess I am actually having a little more anxiety about all of this than I realized.
Last night, I had a dream that somehow I ended up going to Russia to submit the docs rather than DH. I went to the MOE in one of the regions and met the facilitator and then headed inside to meet the director. So, I go to meet him, I have the facilitator (which amazingly I somehow remembered what her name is in my dream, no idea how I got that bit of info into my subconscious!) and my agency director with me and I'm sitting at his desk andhe looks EXACTLY like Timothy Dalton, to be more specific, he looks like Timothy Dalton as Simon Skinner in the movie Hot Fuzz (which I have, admittedly, seen too many times!) and for some reason I start slicing up a hunk of pineapple on his desk. Then, he produces plastic toothpicks and we all eat a few pieces. Then, I hand him his gift, which, oddly, is a bag of licorice bites. Then we start talking and he has a British accent. Anyway, after a few minutes, he asks the agency director and facilitator to leave so he can talk to me alone and he brings in some other MOE employee. I realize I'm talking to him while lying on one arm and I sit up and keep chatting. THe other employee says,"you're lucky he's seeing your case as I'd never approve you." When I ask why, he tells me it's because I look like I'm falling asleep and that's incredibly rude and also I'm making direct eye contact, which he thinks is rude and I need to learn the Russian way. So, I'm apologizing like mad and I start trying to talk to them while staring at the middle of their foreheads, but I find I suddenly can't hear them as well when I"m not watching them speak and I start getting panicky. Thankfully, about this point, DS gave me a big kick to the back and woke me up. It was so real and so wild and I was actually quite glad to be woken from that dream! So, yep, guess I have some concerns I hadn't really thought about yet in my conscious mind. Can't wait until the paperwork is safely in teh regions and we're official. That will at least take one concern away! 'Course, it just gives me a million more things to worry about. Oy, does it ever end?
:)
Last night, I had a dream that somehow I ended up going to Russia to submit the docs rather than DH. I went to the MOE in one of the regions and met the facilitator and then headed inside to meet the director. So, I go to meet him, I have the facilitator (which amazingly I somehow remembered what her name is in my dream, no idea how I got that bit of info into my subconscious!) and my agency director with me and I'm sitting at his desk andhe looks EXACTLY like Timothy Dalton, to be more specific, he looks like Timothy Dalton as Simon Skinner in the movie Hot Fuzz (which I have, admittedly, seen too many times!) and for some reason I start slicing up a hunk of pineapple on his desk. Then, he produces plastic toothpicks and we all eat a few pieces. Then, I hand him his gift, which, oddly, is a bag of licorice bites. Then we start talking and he has a British accent. Anyway, after a few minutes, he asks the agency director and facilitator to leave so he can talk to me alone and he brings in some other MOE employee. I realize I'm talking to him while lying on one arm and I sit up and keep chatting. THe other employee says,"you're lucky he's seeing your case as I'd never approve you." When I ask why, he tells me it's because I look like I'm falling asleep and that's incredibly rude and also I'm making direct eye contact, which he thinks is rude and I need to learn the Russian way. So, I'm apologizing like mad and I start trying to talk to them while staring at the middle of their foreheads, but I find I suddenly can't hear them as well when I"m not watching them speak and I start getting panicky. Thankfully, about this point, DS gave me a big kick to the back and woke me up. It was so real and so wild and I was actually quite glad to be woken from that dream! So, yep, guess I have some concerns I hadn't really thought about yet in my conscious mind. Can't wait until the paperwork is safely in teh regions and we're official. That will at least take one concern away! 'Course, it just gives me a million more things to worry about. Oy, does it ever end?
:)
Thursday, September 27, 2007
September 27
So not much new going on, so I figured I'd share something old.
The day we signed with our agency, I was FREAKING out! I suddenly had all sorts of fears and second guessed myself left and right. DS wanted to play with his alphabet stickers and so I gave him the giant bucket of foamie letters and some paper to keep himself occupied while I filled out some papers and signed the first check to our agency. I had just finished signing and put the check in teh envelope, full of fear and wondering if we were choosing the right agency, and I turned around and saw this:
If you've been reading, you know that one of the regions we're submitting to is Tver. I knew at that moment we had chosen correctly. G-d let me know through DS's artwork that we were doing the right thing. He had hundreds of pieces to choose from and dozens of blue ones (since he decided to stick to blue on blue), what else could explain this? I hung it on my fridge, and whenever I worry about things, I just look at it and I know that everything will be okay. I used to be positive that hte referral would come from Tver, not Smolensk, but now I know that this was just a sign to let me know things were okay, not necessarily that that was the region we'd be going to, just that we were on the right path. I've sort of held this back, because it's kind of bizarre, but for those of you who remember that I KNEW the date DS would be born, before I was even pregnant, I guess it's just part of what makes us us. So, my DS apparently is just as odd as I am. :)
The day we signed with our agency, I was FREAKING out! I suddenly had all sorts of fears and second guessed myself left and right. DS wanted to play with his alphabet stickers and so I gave him the giant bucket of foamie letters and some paper to keep himself occupied while I filled out some papers and signed the first check to our agency. I had just finished signing and put the check in teh envelope, full of fear and wondering if we were choosing the right agency, and I turned around and saw this:
If you've been reading, you know that one of the regions we're submitting to is Tver. I knew at that moment we had chosen correctly. G-d let me know through DS's artwork that we were doing the right thing. He had hundreds of pieces to choose from and dozens of blue ones (since he decided to stick to blue on blue), what else could explain this? I hung it on my fridge, and whenever I worry about things, I just look at it and I know that everything will be okay. I used to be positive that hte referral would come from Tver, not Smolensk, but now I know that this was just a sign to let me know things were okay, not necessarily that that was the region we'd be going to, just that we were on the right path. I've sort of held this back, because it's kind of bizarre, but for those of you who remember that I KNEW the date DS would be born, before I was even pregnant, I guess it's just part of what makes us us. So, my DS apparently is just as odd as I am. :)
Friday, September 21, 2007
September 21
Super quickie today. Just wanted to say that DH got his medical forms yesterday - FINALLY! It was quite teh process, but it happened, so whew! DH is applying for his visa today and then we're ready to rock! Three more weeks - woohoo! Anyway, got to run, we have a playdate this morning, and we have to go eat lots since tomorrow we fast (well, not DS, obviously, but I do). To anyone else that is, have an easy fast, and may you be inscribed in the Book of Life.
:)
:)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
September 19
Well, we now have a purchased ticket for DH's flight to Russia!!!!!!! We were able to use our miles, so he got a great ticket and we didn't pay a penny - wahoo! Now, time to get our visa. The bad news is, we STILL do not have the paperwork from DH's doctor. I'm getting seriously peeved. He's called every day adn told them every single day how important this is and still - nada. They've promised him by this afternoon. We shall see. I truly have difficulty believing it will happen. Oh yes, I am very peeved.
Monday, September 17, 2007
September 17
Well, we now have TWO medical letters and two copies of licenses (which we were quite concerned about) so YAY! We're still waiting for DH's doctor to do his, and that's frustrating because it's been there for a week today. Still, two out of three isn't too bad! We're hoping to book DH's flight by tomorrow (waiting for a definitive answer from our agency) and we'll be using FF miles so yippee for us saving that cost! Other than that, not much new to report.
I did want to take a moment to just say how adoption has introduced me to so many interesting people and how much it has opened peoples' hearts.
When I called DS's pediatrician, I spoke with the woman in the business office (really a small office across the hall from the receptionist's office). The receptionist didn't know how to answer my questions about getting hte forms filled out by the pedi, so she sent me there. Turned out, she was a wonderful woman with two adopted granddaughters from China! She was so warm and kind and really helped us get the doctor to fill out the paperwork (and make the license copy that she was not thrilled about, understandably). Then, when I needed to find a notary, I wandered upstairs to the lawyer's office above the pedi and the lawyer and the secretary both offered to come notarize for me. In the end, the secretary came, but the lawyer still came down to make sure it had all gone well. AND, they wouldn't take any money. How neat is that?
When I tried to get my doctor's signature notarized, I just had no idea how to go about finding a traveling notary. I looked in yahoo yellowpages adn found an insurance company listed. I called them and the woman who answered told me that they were all notaries. When I asked if anyone traveled, she said no, but then asked me why. When I told her what it was for, she immediately offered to come do it and told me she had an adopted daughter from Korea! She was so fantastic and charged a very minimal fee to come. she was also very sweet to my two year old who was just SO OVER being at doctor's appointments.
So, basically, what I thought would be a logistical nightmare - two different notaries notarizing signature of two different doctors - turned out to be totally fine with no issues and I met some warm and interesting people along the way who are helping us bring our children home. Yep, there really are still good people in the world.
I did want to take a moment to just say how adoption has introduced me to so many interesting people and how much it has opened peoples' hearts.
When I called DS's pediatrician, I spoke with the woman in the business office (really a small office across the hall from the receptionist's office). The receptionist didn't know how to answer my questions about getting hte forms filled out by the pedi, so she sent me there. Turned out, she was a wonderful woman with two adopted granddaughters from China! She was so warm and kind and really helped us get the doctor to fill out the paperwork (and make the license copy that she was not thrilled about, understandably). Then, when I needed to find a notary, I wandered upstairs to the lawyer's office above the pedi and the lawyer and the secretary both offered to come notarize for me. In the end, the secretary came, but the lawyer still came down to make sure it had all gone well. AND, they wouldn't take any money. How neat is that?
When I tried to get my doctor's signature notarized, I just had no idea how to go about finding a traveling notary. I looked in yahoo yellowpages adn found an insurance company listed. I called them and the woman who answered told me that they were all notaries. When I asked if anyone traveled, she said no, but then asked me why. When I told her what it was for, she immediately offered to come do it and told me she had an adopted daughter from Korea! She was so fantastic and charged a very minimal fee to come. she was also very sweet to my two year old who was just SO OVER being at doctor's appointments.
So, basically, what I thought would be a logistical nightmare - two different notaries notarizing signature of two different doctors - turned out to be totally fine with no issues and I met some warm and interesting people along the way who are helping us bring our children home. Yep, there really are still good people in the world.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
September 15
Well yesterday we had two doctors appointments. I had mine and DS had his. My notary showed up right on time and I got all of my forms signed and notarized and had no problem getting the copy of my doctor's license - yippee! We weren't quite so lucky at DS's appt. Some of his records from his former pediatrician never made it to her office, so she wouldn't sign the form until we got them. Unfortunately, he's on vacation until tomorrow, so it will be Monday at the earliest that we'll get that form. DH's doctor still hasn't gotten back to him, so we have NO idea what's going on there! Hopefully, all of this will get sorted out on Monday and the forms will be on their way to Russia for DH's mid October visit. One month from today he'll be meeting with the MOE in the first region. I'm so excited!!!!! I hope this next month goes by really quickly, I"m just so excited to move forward.
:)
:)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
September 12
So many emotions today...
So, we're really trying to figure out what to do. It looks like it could be nearly two weeks until DH could travel (because of translations, apostilling, etc). That puts us right at the end of September. He HAS to go in mid October because of our date of Oct 17. Seems sort of silly to spend the money to go twice at this point. I think I'm trying to remind myself that we're trying to do what WE want and not necessarily what we're meant to do, which never turns out well for either of us. I think we'll probably just hold off on both trips now until October. We'll decide for sure in the next few days, though.
Still trying to get all of our medicals done. It's funny - talking abou things that are meant to be. When we briefly saw the RE (the crappy one who tries to make all of their patients do IVF), they asked us to sign a consent for an HIV test. We said "no" because we knew we didn't have it and it seemed silly. We knew that because we've been together for years and also because we had to have one for our life insurance policy. Anyway, we signed a form stating they were NOT to test us. Guess what, being the unethical practice they were, they did so anyway. it has always peeved me, but it turns out it happened for a reason, because today DH picked up my HIV test to hand to my doctor so she will sign my form on Friday rather than having to wait 1-2 weeks for another HIV test to come in. Go figure. Never in a million years would have guessed something like that! Sort of cool, though!
So, I head to the doc's tomorrow to have them look at my arm and tell me I don't have TB exposure - duh, then it's off to DS's drop off Gymboree class and then Children's SErvices. L'Shana Tova and Shana Metuka to everyone!
Oh, justa quick chuckle for everyone. Tonight during Rosh Hashana dinner, I LIT MY HAIR ON FIRE! Yes, folks, i really did that. I leaned over the table to pass DS an apple slice with honey and I heard crackling and smelled that foul smell nad realized it was MY HEAD! Somehow I managed to only light up a few stray strands (the beauty of having loads of crazy curly hair - the picture you see of me is with is straightened, it's actually crazy!) Still, I FREAKED. Now, it's funny, but at the time I thought my head was going to to go up in flames! Yikes, what a way to start the New Year!!!!!
:)
So, we're really trying to figure out what to do. It looks like it could be nearly two weeks until DH could travel (because of translations, apostilling, etc). That puts us right at the end of September. He HAS to go in mid October because of our date of Oct 17. Seems sort of silly to spend the money to go twice at this point. I think I'm trying to remind myself that we're trying to do what WE want and not necessarily what we're meant to do, which never turns out well for either of us. I think we'll probably just hold off on both trips now until October. We'll decide for sure in the next few days, though.
Still trying to get all of our medicals done. It's funny - talking abou things that are meant to be. When we briefly saw the RE (the crappy one who tries to make all of their patients do IVF), they asked us to sign a consent for an HIV test. We said "no" because we knew we didn't have it and it seemed silly. We knew that because we've been together for years and also because we had to have one for our life insurance policy. Anyway, we signed a form stating they were NOT to test us. Guess what, being the unethical practice they were, they did so anyway. it has always peeved me, but it turns out it happened for a reason, because today DH picked up my HIV test to hand to my doctor so she will sign my form on Friday rather than having to wait 1-2 weeks for another HIV test to come in. Go figure. Never in a million years would have guessed something like that! Sort of cool, though!
So, I head to the doc's tomorrow to have them look at my arm and tell me I don't have TB exposure - duh, then it's off to DS's drop off Gymboree class and then Children's SErvices. L'Shana Tova and Shana Metuka to everyone!
Oh, justa quick chuckle for everyone. Tonight during Rosh Hashana dinner, I LIT MY HAIR ON FIRE! Yes, folks, i really did that. I leaned over the table to pass DS an apple slice with honey and I heard crackling and smelled that foul smell nad realized it was MY HEAD! Somehow I managed to only light up a few stray strands (the beauty of having loads of crazy curly hair - the picture you see of me is with is straightened, it's actually crazy!) Still, I FREAKED. Now, it's funny, but at the time I thought my head was going to to go up in flames! Yikes, what a way to start the New Year!!!!!
:)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Sept 11
I feel bad. I really didn't have time to stop and mourn today and I feel that today is an important day to just stop and reflect. It makes me sad that I realized when I signed a form what the date was. It should have more meaning to me than that. May all of the families of all of our lost brothers adn sisters have emotional peace and healing today...
As for us, it's been very very insane! Once we got the notice that it would be happeing soon, we had to leap into action. that has meant going to all of our doctors, getting forms signed, trying to coordinate with a notary who could travel there to do it (which has been so cool because I've discovered some interesting people who have also adopted internationally) and trying to get records from here and there. It's not been a joy. Mine and DS's should be done on Friday/Monday and I'm not sure about DH's yet. What a wild ride.
The bummer is, we STILL haven't heard. Probably tomorrow, I'd guess. Stressful, though!!!!! I'll let you all know as soon as I hear!
:)
As for us, it's been very very insane! Once we got the notice that it would be happeing soon, we had to leap into action. that has meant going to all of our doctors, getting forms signed, trying to coordinate with a notary who could travel there to do it (which has been so cool because I've discovered some interesting people who have also adopted internationally) and trying to get records from here and there. It's not been a joy. Mine and DS's should be done on Friday/Monday and I'm not sure about DH's yet. What a wild ride.
The bummer is, we STILL haven't heard. Probably tomorrow, I'd guess. Stressful, though!!!!! I'll let you all know as soon as I hear!
:)
Sunday, September 9, 2007
September 9
Wow, it's been a while since I've updated - sorry! I guess I just didn't have too much new to update on. It's been really crazy around here lately, also, so I've been a lunatic!
So, keep your fingers (and toes and legs and everything else!) for us. Our agency emailed today that DH should be able to head to Russia within the next two weeks to bring the dossier to the MOE in the first region. It will be October until we can submit in the second region, but we REALLY want to just get moving, so we're sucking it up and making two trips. The facilitator in Russia will be in touch by Tuesday about when we can come, so we should have a travel date by Wednesday. PLEASE cross everything for us! We REALLY REALLY want this to work out.
I think I'm starting to get scared. We have such an awesome, perfect family and I'm a little nervous of changing it. I know it will be wonderful, but I know there will be a major adjustment for all of us, and I"m afraid of how we'll all come out on the other side. I hope my sweet boy stays as wonderful and sweet as he is, and I hope bringing two kids into our family at once isn't insane. I feel in my heart that it's the right thing to do, but I'm having that little bit of nervous tummy at the thought that we're REALLY doing this. You think I'd have figured that out $5000 ago, but, hey, what can I say.
So, that's it. I'm starting to actually produce some milk now. I can't fill a bottle or anything, but it's really starting to happen, so I'm hopeful that things will work out. We shall see.
guess that's the news for today. I may not update again until Wednesday, so think positive thoughts for us and I'll be in touch!!!!!!!
:)
So, keep your fingers (and toes and legs and everything else!) for us. Our agency emailed today that DH should be able to head to Russia within the next two weeks to bring the dossier to the MOE in the first region. It will be October until we can submit in the second region, but we REALLY want to just get moving, so we're sucking it up and making two trips. The facilitator in Russia will be in touch by Tuesday about when we can come, so we should have a travel date by Wednesday. PLEASE cross everything for us! We REALLY REALLY want this to work out.
I think I'm starting to get scared. We have such an awesome, perfect family and I'm a little nervous of changing it. I know it will be wonderful, but I know there will be a major adjustment for all of us, and I"m afraid of how we'll all come out on the other side. I hope my sweet boy stays as wonderful and sweet as he is, and I hope bringing two kids into our family at once isn't insane. I feel in my heart that it's the right thing to do, but I'm having that little bit of nervous tummy at the thought that we're REALLY doing this. You think I'd have figured that out $5000 ago, but, hey, what can I say.
So, that's it. I'm starting to actually produce some milk now. I can't fill a bottle or anything, but it's really starting to happen, so I'm hopeful that things will work out. We shall see.
guess that's the news for today. I may not update again until Wednesday, so think positive thoughts for us and I'll be in touch!!!!!!!
:)
Saturday, August 25, 2007
August 25
Well, we've hit our first minor delay. It's a bummer, but we're TRYING to remember that it's probably happening for a reason and things really need to happen in their own time. Still, it's a bummer. Looks like DH will be heading to Russia most likely in October now. We didn't realize how important or time sensitive the request was and it took us a few days longer than it should have to get it back, so it's in Russia now, but it doesn't look like there's any chance we could get invited for September. So, it's really only a one month delay - which to other people who've waited many months, that's nothing, but it's still a bummer for us. Things are looking like they might getmoving again with agency accreditations, which is great for most people, but not great for us. We're going as independents, so we had hoped to beat the rush and this delay means we likely willl not. Again, I need to remember that things happen for a reason, and maybe this means there's a child who wil come off the registry JUST in time for us or something, but I'm still stressed about it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens! I know I'll relax when our papers are there and we're officially waiting. Waiting to wait is stressful. Once we're on the list, I know the next call will be "the call", right now I just wish we could hurry up and get our papers there!!!!! I know plenty of people understand that feeling! We'll know more once we get our travel date, but for now, we wait...
Oh, I almost forgot our other thing. I now smell a LOT like maple syrup!!! I've started taking fenugreek and pumping again in preparation for our adoption! Since I breastfed DS for nearly two years, I realized it was something I really wanted our adopted children to have also. I know they'll likely be too old to ever actually be put to breast, but I'd like them to have the benefits of breastmilk, especially since they've likely never had the protections and antibodies it offers. So, I'll be pumping and feeding them! I'm hoping it will also help with bonding since it comes from my body. I just think it will be wonderful to know that no matter how we had our children, through birth or adoption, they will be connected to me through my milk. I'm excited! I'm a little nervous, though, to mess with my prolactin since it was already an issue, but hopefully all will be well. I've never really fully stopped getting some milk, but I've been able to go from a couple of drops to a short stream. Hopefully we'll be getting ounces by the tiem the adoption is here! Woohoo!
:)
Oh, I almost forgot our other thing. I now smell a LOT like maple syrup!!! I've started taking fenugreek and pumping again in preparation for our adoption! Since I breastfed DS for nearly two years, I realized it was something I really wanted our adopted children to have also. I know they'll likely be too old to ever actually be put to breast, but I'd like them to have the benefits of breastmilk, especially since they've likely never had the protections and antibodies it offers. So, I'll be pumping and feeding them! I'm hoping it will also help with bonding since it comes from my body. I just think it will be wonderful to know that no matter how we had our children, through birth or adoption, they will be connected to me through my milk. I'm excited! I'm a little nervous, though, to mess with my prolactin since it was already an issue, but hopefully all will be well. I've never really fully stopped getting some milk, but I've been able to go from a couple of drops to a short stream. Hopefully we'll be getting ounces by the tiem the adoption is here! Woohoo!
:)
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
August 22
Nothing much new to report. We're just hanging out waiting for some news of when DH will travel. Since not everyone who reads here knows our story, I figured I'd share it.
A couple of years after DH and I were married, I was browsing around online and somehow came across Cathy Harris' website. I think I spent the rest of the day in front of the computer reading about the children who had come home from Ukraine. I shared the website with DH and we decided right then that we would adopt one day. At that time, we were actually thinking we'd only adopt and never have bio children. I was working in an early intervention clinic and had seen some VERY scary situations and I was terrified to ever get pregnant or have children.
Anyway, in November 2002, I discovered a lump in my throat. I found it while putting on a turtleneck. I tried my best to ignore it until my OB visit later that month. The NP there said she thought it was just a funny shaped trachea. Still..... I knew my body and knew it shouldn't be there. My beloved grandmother was diagnosed with cancer the same month, though, so I pretty much ignored my issue to focus on her. Several months later, DH demanded I go see someone. My GP decided something wasn't right and sent me for an u/s, which showed some sort of solid mass. I was then referred to an endo who did two fine needle aspirations on it which both came back abnormal. All this was happening as my grandmother (my favorite person in the entire world) was getting sicker and sicker. She passed away on April 16, 2003, and one week later I found out I had to have surgery. I had a partial thyroidectomy in June and found out that the lump was benign, but the hell of the experience and losing my grandmother made me realize how fragile we are and how life can change in the blink of an eye. For some reason, this made me want to have a baby, so in Feb 2004, we began TTC.
I became pregnant in April 2004 and had a very healthy and uneventful pregnancy. My wonderful, amazing, beautiful boy was born at 41w2d in January 2005. He is the most incredible thing in my life and DH and I feel so so so incredibly blessed to have him. When I was 3 months pregnant, my DH was diagnosed with Celiac disease, so we knew that it could cause fertility issues. It hadn't when TTC DS, but we knew it could at some point in the future.
We're an attachment parenting family, and DS breastfed around the clock until he was 14 months, when I decided I needed more than two hours of sleep at a time, so I started the process of slowly nightweaning him. After he nightweaned, I finally got my fertility back and we decided to TTC #2. I had a chemical pregnancy the second month trying, had an early miscarriage the third month trying, and had a chemical the sixth month trying. I asked for some testing (mostly prolactin and progesterone) and somehow ended up with the RE from HELL! He ran the bare minimum of tests and told us we'd need IVF to have a baby. He also told me I had to stop nursing, so as much as it broke my heart to do so, I weaned DS. He was 20 months, so I was proud of our accomplishment, but I really really hated not making it a full two years. I actually got pregnant the month before our IVF consult, while taking progesterone suppositories to assist in holding onto the pregnancy.
We had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and were surprised to see TWO fetal poles (one had a flicker of a hb and the other didn't yet, but measured on target). We were nervous, but cautiously excited. At a 7 week u/s, one of the babies was no longer developing. We were sad, but still hpeful for the second one. Still, when the one stopped developing, it caused a subchorionic hemorhage, so I was put on restricted activity (mainly no lifting, no running, pelvic rest, etc). At a follow up u/s at 10w4d, we saw that our other twin had passed away at 9w5d. We were devastated. I opted to have a D&E, because I just needed to get past the physical so I could deal with the emotional. I had it the next day, ironically, the day before my birthday. That was definitely the worst birthday in recent memory...
Anyway, after the D&E, I bled for weeks. then, I finally got my first AF, and then I just kept spotting. I finally requested a follow up blood test, and my levels were dropping SO slowly. They thought I may have retained tissue, and kept testing. Finally, TEN weeks after my miscarriage, my HCG dropped to zero. At that point, I was ready to move onto adoption, but DH wanted to give it one more try. Honestly, I think emotionally, we were both ready, but we were both TERRIFIED of the cost. We had gone to an informational meeting with an agency we were interested in, but we just couldn't quite do it yet. We decided to give it one more shot, but G-d had other plans for us...
After two months of TTC, I asked for some more bloodwork. At that point, we discovered I had a VERY high prolactin number, and I was told I had to have an MRI to rule out a growth on my pituitary gland. That was a very tough day. It was that moment that DH and I looked at each other and said, "this is NOT what G-d wants us to be doing right now". It felt like each time we tried, something got in the way. We called the adoption agency the next day and we had our intake visit that week and started our process right then. The really crazy thing is, my MRI came back normal and when they retested my prolactin levels, they were totally, completely normal! It was almost like G-d knew we needed one little thing to push us in the direction we were meant to be going.
So, that's where we are now! If you've been following, you've seen that things have been moving very quickly and very smoothly so far! We just believe it's a true indicator that we're following down the path we're meant to travel. When we were trying to conceive, EVERYTHING went wrong. Once we made the commitment to adoption, everything started to go right. I truly, truly believe our children are out there waiting for us to come bring them home. It took some time and a lot of heartache to start to find our way toward them, but we're there now and I couldn't be more excited! I think that was how I knew we had definitely made the right decision. TTC was miserable for both of us and we were bickering with one another and we were both just unhappy a lot. Once we stopped trying and started our adoption, it was like we had new energy. We were excited, we had something to look forward to, and we just moved forward together. Even DS is excited! If you ask him where we're going to go on the plan next year, he says, "to Russia to bring me a brother and a sister". It's so cute!
So, that's my story! Hope it wasn't too long or awful to read!
:)
A couple of years after DH and I were married, I was browsing around online and somehow came across Cathy Harris' website. I think I spent the rest of the day in front of the computer reading about the children who had come home from Ukraine. I shared the website with DH and we decided right then that we would adopt one day. At that time, we were actually thinking we'd only adopt and never have bio children. I was working in an early intervention clinic and had seen some VERY scary situations and I was terrified to ever get pregnant or have children.
Anyway, in November 2002, I discovered a lump in my throat. I found it while putting on a turtleneck. I tried my best to ignore it until my OB visit later that month. The NP there said she thought it was just a funny shaped trachea. Still..... I knew my body and knew it shouldn't be there. My beloved grandmother was diagnosed with cancer the same month, though, so I pretty much ignored my issue to focus on her. Several months later, DH demanded I go see someone. My GP decided something wasn't right and sent me for an u/s, which showed some sort of solid mass. I was then referred to an endo who did two fine needle aspirations on it which both came back abnormal. All this was happening as my grandmother (my favorite person in the entire world) was getting sicker and sicker. She passed away on April 16, 2003, and one week later I found out I had to have surgery. I had a partial thyroidectomy in June and found out that the lump was benign, but the hell of the experience and losing my grandmother made me realize how fragile we are and how life can change in the blink of an eye. For some reason, this made me want to have a baby, so in Feb 2004, we began TTC.
I became pregnant in April 2004 and had a very healthy and uneventful pregnancy. My wonderful, amazing, beautiful boy was born at 41w2d in January 2005. He is the most incredible thing in my life and DH and I feel so so so incredibly blessed to have him. When I was 3 months pregnant, my DH was diagnosed with Celiac disease, so we knew that it could cause fertility issues. It hadn't when TTC DS, but we knew it could at some point in the future.
We're an attachment parenting family, and DS breastfed around the clock until he was 14 months, when I decided I needed more than two hours of sleep at a time, so I started the process of slowly nightweaning him. After he nightweaned, I finally got my fertility back and we decided to TTC #2. I had a chemical pregnancy the second month trying, had an early miscarriage the third month trying, and had a chemical the sixth month trying. I asked for some testing (mostly prolactin and progesterone) and somehow ended up with the RE from HELL! He ran the bare minimum of tests and told us we'd need IVF to have a baby. He also told me I had to stop nursing, so as much as it broke my heart to do so, I weaned DS. He was 20 months, so I was proud of our accomplishment, but I really really hated not making it a full two years. I actually got pregnant the month before our IVF consult, while taking progesterone suppositories to assist in holding onto the pregnancy.
We had an ultrasound at 6 weeks and were surprised to see TWO fetal poles (one had a flicker of a hb and the other didn't yet, but measured on target). We were nervous, but cautiously excited. At a 7 week u/s, one of the babies was no longer developing. We were sad, but still hpeful for the second one. Still, when the one stopped developing, it caused a subchorionic hemorhage, so I was put on restricted activity (mainly no lifting, no running, pelvic rest, etc). At a follow up u/s at 10w4d, we saw that our other twin had passed away at 9w5d. We were devastated. I opted to have a D&E, because I just needed to get past the physical so I could deal with the emotional. I had it the next day, ironically, the day before my birthday. That was definitely the worst birthday in recent memory...
Anyway, after the D&E, I bled for weeks. then, I finally got my first AF, and then I just kept spotting. I finally requested a follow up blood test, and my levels were dropping SO slowly. They thought I may have retained tissue, and kept testing. Finally, TEN weeks after my miscarriage, my HCG dropped to zero. At that point, I was ready to move onto adoption, but DH wanted to give it one more try. Honestly, I think emotionally, we were both ready, but we were both TERRIFIED of the cost. We had gone to an informational meeting with an agency we were interested in, but we just couldn't quite do it yet. We decided to give it one more shot, but G-d had other plans for us...
After two months of TTC, I asked for some more bloodwork. At that point, we discovered I had a VERY high prolactin number, and I was told I had to have an MRI to rule out a growth on my pituitary gland. That was a very tough day. It was that moment that DH and I looked at each other and said, "this is NOT what G-d wants us to be doing right now". It felt like each time we tried, something got in the way. We called the adoption agency the next day and we had our intake visit that week and started our process right then. The really crazy thing is, my MRI came back normal and when they retested my prolactin levels, they were totally, completely normal! It was almost like G-d knew we needed one little thing to push us in the direction we were meant to be going.
So, that's where we are now! If you've been following, you've seen that things have been moving very quickly and very smoothly so far! We just believe it's a true indicator that we're following down the path we're meant to travel. When we were trying to conceive, EVERYTHING went wrong. Once we made the commitment to adoption, everything started to go right. I truly, truly believe our children are out there waiting for us to come bring them home. It took some time and a lot of heartache to start to find our way toward them, but we're there now and I couldn't be more excited! I think that was how I knew we had definitely made the right decision. TTC was miserable for both of us and we were bickering with one another and we were both just unhappy a lot. Once we stopped trying and started our adoption, it was like we had new energy. We were excited, we had something to look forward to, and we just moved forward together. Even DS is excited! If you ask him where we're going to go on the plan next year, he says, "to Russia to bring me a brother and a sister". It's so cute!
So, that's my story! Hope it wasn't too long or awful to read!
:)
Sunday, August 19, 2007
August 19
Woohoo - I finally have a blogroll! Some of them are from the adoption board on FF and some are from FRUA. I'm such a procrastinator, I just had to finally make myself sit and add them, since I'm tired of looking through old posts to see blogs. Anyway, I also added my favorite pic of DS and I the day after he was born. It's one my favorite pics of the two of us (not that there are many, since I'm the family photographer). Anyway, it's about time I spruced this place up, now that I know I'm actually sticking with it.
In adoption news - our agency FINALLY received our last package on Friday! Yippee!!! So, they're headed to get the last of it apostilled and then the request for visit (required for one of the regions) is being FedEx'd to Russia. If I haven't mentioned it, we're submitting in two regions to hopefully make things smoother, especially since we're going as independents, we want to maximize our odds of things working out. One of the two regions requires this letter and they only accept PAPs one Wednesday per month. Cross your fingers that we get in for September, or we'll have to wait until October. I hope I hope I hope!
:)
In adoption news - our agency FINALLY received our last package on Friday! Yippee!!! So, they're headed to get the last of it apostilled and then the request for visit (required for one of the regions) is being FedEx'd to Russia. If I haven't mentioned it, we're submitting in two regions to hopefully make things smoother, especially since we're going as independents, we want to maximize our odds of things working out. One of the two regions requires this letter and they only accept PAPs one Wednesday per month. Cross your fingers that we get in for September, or we'll have to wait until October. I hope I hope I hope!
:)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
August 16
So, I'm thoroughly convinced USPS derives some sick pleasure out of making our potential adoptive parents wait DAYS for the mail to go 25 miles. I could DRIVE to our agency in an hour and for some reason, it's taking at least three DAYS to get mail there. Dude, not cool...
So, our last few dossier documents haven't found their way to the agency yet. I'm irritated, but obviously there's nothing I can do about it. Still... You'd think they could get them there.
In other news, my sister and I took a flying trapeze class tonight! We had an absolute blast and we made both of our catch attempts! It was exhilarating beyond measure. I highly recommend it to anyone not obscenely afraid of heights.
Anyway, my employment letter arrived there today, so at least we're good there, but cross your fingers for us that the post office figures themselves out soon!
:)
So, our last few dossier documents haven't found their way to the agency yet. I'm irritated, but obviously there's nothing I can do about it. Still... You'd think they could get them there.
In other news, my sister and I took a flying trapeze class tonight! We had an absolute blast and we made both of our catch attempts! It was exhilarating beyond measure. I highly recommend it to anyone not obscenely afraid of heights.
Anyway, my employment letter arrived there today, so at least we're good there, but cross your fingers for us that the post office figures themselves out soon!
:)
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
August 15
My employment letter went out today - YIPPEE! I will admit, there was a considerable amount of bitching to get it done (admittedly, I was in a bit of a foul mood when I made the phone call ;) )
Anyway, that's it! Our homestudy agency had to send one last form, which they've also done today, so by the weekend, our dossier should be TOTALLY done. that is one big, HUGE relief! It's also been very fast. We had our intake visit with the homestudy agency and were assigned a social worker on June 19. It's now August 15 and our dossier is done and our homestudy has been completed for a month. It's pretty amazing, and just further proof to us that when you follow G-d's plan rather than your own, things fall into place pretty darned nicely. Anyway, I hope the documents travel quickly so we can have it all together and in one place soon. I'm so excited to move on to the "officially waiting" phase!
:)
Anyway, that's it! Our homestudy agency had to send one last form, which they've also done today, so by the weekend, our dossier should be TOTALLY done. that is one big, HUGE relief! It's also been very fast. We had our intake visit with the homestudy agency and were assigned a social worker on June 19. It's now August 15 and our dossier is done and our homestudy has been completed for a month. It's pretty amazing, and just further proof to us that when you follow G-d's plan rather than your own, things fall into place pretty darned nicely. Anyway, I hope the documents travel quickly so we can have it all together and in one place soon. I'm so excited to move on to the "officially waiting" phase!
:)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
August 14
So I haven't had much time to post lately. My three siblings are staying with me while my mom is out of the country, so it's been REALLY busy around here!
So, the good news is, we've basically finished our dossier - yippee! The only thing remaining is my employment letter, which my boss hasn't sent yet. Gotta love education during the summer. For my readers who don't know what I do, I'm a part time Hebrew school teacher to students with disabilities. I work on Sundays and then one evening per week. It's a GREAT mommy job! I've asked twice over the past three weeks and I'm getting rather tired of requesting this. I emailed a reminder today letting them know it is THE last piece of teh puzzle. Hope they get off their tushies soon and get it in!!! Other than that, we are DONE! We'll be having it translated and apostilled and then DH is off to Russia! Our agency takes care of the apostilling for us, which is nice, so this whole process so far has been extremely low stress. I'll look forward to being on the "officially waiting" list.
Anyway, that's it from here! I'll update if there's anything important, otherwise, it may be a week before I"m back on. We're just so insane until the sibs head home next week.
:)
So, the good news is, we've basically finished our dossier - yippee! The only thing remaining is my employment letter, which my boss hasn't sent yet. Gotta love education during the summer. For my readers who don't know what I do, I'm a part time Hebrew school teacher to students with disabilities. I work on Sundays and then one evening per week. It's a GREAT mommy job! I've asked twice over the past three weeks and I'm getting rather tired of requesting this. I emailed a reminder today letting them know it is THE last piece of teh puzzle. Hope they get off their tushies soon and get it in!!! Other than that, we are DONE! We'll be having it translated and apostilled and then DH is off to Russia! Our agency takes care of the apostilling for us, which is nice, so this whole process so far has been extremely low stress. I'll look forward to being on the "officially waiting" list.
Anyway, that's it from here! I'll update if there's anything important, otherwise, it may be a week before I"m back on. We're just so insane until the sibs head home next week.
:)
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
August 8
Not much new to report. It looks like we'll likely be sending DH over to deliver our documents by the end of September. the bummer is, it could happen sooner, but there is a key person on vacation for two weeks. Ah well, if we're looking at all of this as "meant to be" then we have to believe each and every delay is going to bring us to our meant to be children. We're still waiting for the bank letter and that's the LAST piece of the dossier! Well, we still have to do our medicals, but we're holding on that purposely until last minute so they will be valid for a more useful time period. That's about it from the homefront!
:)
:)
Saturday, August 4, 2007
August 4
Nothing much new... We did find out for sure that only DH will have to go to Russia for the paperwork trip, so thats a HUGE relief. sorry there are no apostrophes, for some reason my keyboard is a bit wonky and every time I try, it pops up a ctrl+f box! So, no, Im not a terrible speller, just one with a keyboard problem.
Anyway, we had QUITE the trip to the bank! DS and I went there on Friday morning and we needed a letter for our dossier stating we had accounts in good standing and an amount in checking and savings. WELL, turns out there are MAJOR procedures for this type of thing and the woman was a bit rude and told me that there was no way to get this and that even if I could, it would come from corporate and therefore it couldnt be notarized. So, she ends up on the phone with corporate policies and procedures and then with legal, and it turns out they arent allowed to notarize for immigration purposes, but since its adoption, its fine. So, a half hour and one giant pain in the ass later, it turns out we have to wait 7-10 business days to get it in the mail, then we have to bring it to the bank to have the manager or assistant manager sign it and have it notarized. Yes, folks, Ims sure Im not the only one who can see MANY places that this can fall apart. Hopefully it will all be fine.
Also - Debbie - the regions well be submitting to are Tver and Smolensk. It was Tver that was causing the confusion, but its all okay now!
For my new blogging buddies (mostly from FRUA), Ill try to give a bit of a background so you all know more about me and where we come from. Ill try to get to that tomorrow or Monday.
:)
Anyway, we had QUITE the trip to the bank! DS and I went there on Friday morning and we needed a letter for our dossier stating we had accounts in good standing and an amount in checking and savings. WELL, turns out there are MAJOR procedures for this type of thing and the woman was a bit rude and told me that there was no way to get this and that even if I could, it would come from corporate and therefore it couldnt be notarized. So, she ends up on the phone with corporate policies and procedures and then with legal, and it turns out they arent allowed to notarize for immigration purposes, but since its adoption, its fine. So, a half hour and one giant pain in the ass later, it turns out we have to wait 7-10 business days to get it in the mail, then we have to bring it to the bank to have the manager or assistant manager sign it and have it notarized. Yes, folks, Ims sure Im not the only one who can see MANY places that this can fall apart. Hopefully it will all be fine.
Also - Debbie - the regions well be submitting to are Tver and Smolensk. It was Tver that was causing the confusion, but its all okay now!
For my new blogging buddies (mostly from FRUA), Ill try to give a bit of a background so you all know more about me and where we come from. Ill try to get to that tomorrow or Monday.
:)
Thursday, August 2, 2007
August 2
Happy birthday, Dad, you old fart!!!!!
Anyway, we just got back from Canada and we're pretty bummed about some news we got.
First, the good news I didn't have a chance to share before we left. On Saturday, our I-797C came in!!!!! That was teh paper we expected to take three months and it took less than a week! It was dated two days after our fingerprints were done - yay!!!!! Also, when we came home, we found BOTH copies of my state police clearance finally, so now we're just waiting for DH's second set (which he forgot to send a SASE for, so we'll see...)
Okay, so the not so great news. Looks like we might all have to make THREE trips to Russia. One of the two regions we're submitting to may require both parents to be there just to turn in the paperwork. Yep, that's right, we may have to drag our two year old all the way to Russia to hand someone a packet of paper and leave. How freaking fabulous. That's a major time and expense we weren't expecting. not to mention, the hell of that much travel on our poor kid. Ugh, this sucks. If you're the praying or finger crossing sort, please keep us in mind that maybe this won't be the case and only DH can go. That would be such a bummer.
That's it for today!
:)
Anyway, we just got back from Canada and we're pretty bummed about some news we got.
First, the good news I didn't have a chance to share before we left. On Saturday, our I-797C came in!!!!! That was teh paper we expected to take three months and it took less than a week! It was dated two days after our fingerprints were done - yay!!!!! Also, when we came home, we found BOTH copies of my state police clearance finally, so now we're just waiting for DH's second set (which he forgot to send a SASE for, so we'll see...)
Okay, so the not so great news. Looks like we might all have to make THREE trips to Russia. One of the two regions we're submitting to may require both parents to be there just to turn in the paperwork. Yep, that's right, we may have to drag our two year old all the way to Russia to hand someone a packet of paper and leave. How freaking fabulous. That's a major time and expense we weren't expecting. not to mention, the hell of that much travel on our poor kid. Ugh, this sucks. If you're the praying or finger crossing sort, please keep us in mind that maybe this won't be the case and only DH can go. That would be such a bummer.
That's it for today!
:)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
July 26
Go figure, our FBI fingerprints showed up today IN A FEDEX OVERNIGHT ENVELOPE! Here's where it gets really odd, though. It was the envelope we sent, because it was folded in half, BUT, it wasn't the shipping label we supplied with our account info on it. How bizarre! It gets stranger... The dates on the fingerprints are the dates the woman told DH they were shipped, BUT, the date on the letter of procedure attached is from Tuesday - the day DH called. It's all very strange, but I have them, so I truly don't care!
Still waiting for the state police clearance for me. It's been 4 weeks now. DH got his over a week ago. yes, I'm still whining about this, but seriously, come on folks.
That's all that happened today.
:)
Still waiting for the state police clearance for me. It's been 4 weeks now. DH got his over a week ago. yes, I'm still whining about this, but seriously, come on folks.
That's all that happened today.
:)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
July 25
So, we had our fingerprints for our I600A done yesterday. It was a piece of cake, really, in and out. It was actually pretty cool - they use something called "aquaprints" andthey wet your fingers and then put them on a touch pad and it it scans them into a computer. It was really quite cool. Anyway, that's that, so now we wait...
Today, FINALLY notarized the last of our dossier forms for one region. We have to do the rest of the papers for the second region. We'll get those all in the mail tomorrow and then we're just waiting. It's nice, really. I'm looking forward to having some time left in teh summer without meetings, appointments or anything. I just want to hang out with my sweetie pie!
That's about it for now. Still waiting for our FBI prints to come back. They didn't use the Fedex envelope we sent (HOW AGGRAVATING!) and they sent DH's on Thursday and mine on Monday and neither has arrived. My state police check is still in limbo also - DH's got here a week ago. Anyway, hopefully those things will get sorted out soon and we'll be moving!
:)
Today, FINALLY notarized the last of our dossier forms for one region. We have to do the rest of the papers for the second region. We'll get those all in the mail tomorrow and then we're just waiting. It's nice, really. I'm looking forward to having some time left in teh summer without meetings, appointments or anything. I just want to hang out with my sweetie pie!
That's about it for now. Still waiting for our FBI prints to come back. They didn't use the Fedex envelope we sent (HOW AGGRAVATING!) and they sent DH's on Thursday and mine on Monday and neither has arrived. My state police check is still in limbo also - DH's got here a week ago. Anyway, hopefully those things will get sorted out soon and we'll be moving!
:)
Monday, July 23, 2007
July 23
Well, we had our INS appt today! I'm so so so so SO glad we decided to go in person rather than mailing the documents in, because we'd heard the wait to be fingerprinted can be weeks, but that's not apparently always the case if you go in person, because we're going TOMORROW! I'm REALLY hoping that means itwon't take 3 months to get our paperwork through, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
The other lesson learned is that you must ALWAYS pay for things with money orders. I paid for my state police check with a check and DH used a money order and he got his back last week and my freaking check JUST cleared. Mind you, we sent these out weeks ago. fun... So, I'm still waiting for that.
Otherwise, we're ALMOST done with our dossier. We'll be submitting the last few papers tomorrow, so that's super exciting! yahoo!!!!!
The other lesson learned is that you must ALWAYS pay for things with money orders. I paid for my state police check with a check and DH used a money order and he got his back last week and my freaking check JUST cleared. Mind you, we sent these out weeks ago. fun... So, I'm still waiting for that.
Otherwise, we're ALMOST done with our dossier. We'll be submitting the last few papers tomorrow, so that's super exciting! yahoo!!!!!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
July 22
Just a quick update. Head is throbbing! Why? Because Harry Potter 7 arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon around 4PM, I was up until 2AM reading it, and finished it around 4PM today. In between, I managed to go to the beach and berry picking with DS, go out to dinner last night, and somehow amuse a two year old and a thirty-two year old. Gotta love the multi-tasking that is mommyhood. Anyway, it was a great read and NO I will NOT tell anyone anything, so stop asking!
Anyway, tomorrow we're off to INS to file our I-600A. It's our first official "hurry up and wait" and the last big hurdle before submitting our documents to Russia. Word is, it's taking around 3 months now because everyone is rushing to get their INS paperwork in now before the fees change on the 30th. Major bummer there, because apparently the Boston office used to be great and it used to take around 3 weeks. Ah well, such is our luck...
:)
Anyway, tomorrow we're off to INS to file our I-600A. It's our first official "hurry up and wait" and the last big hurdle before submitting our documents to Russia. Word is, it's taking around 3 months now because everyone is rushing to get their INS paperwork in now before the fees change on the 30th. Major bummer there, because apparently the Boston office used to be great and it used to take around 3 weeks. Ah well, such is our luck...
:)
Saturday, July 21, 2007
July 21
So, we picked up the finalized copy of our homestudy yesterday. It was less than one month from the day we met with the agency until it was done. They were phenomenal through all of it. If you live in MA, I have to tell you how much I just LOVE A Red Thread Adoptions. If you ever need them, go check them out. They are helpful, warm, caring, and really just seem to love what they're doing. I can't say enough about them. When we picked up our homestudy, they also had a little card about hte name, and red thread bracelets for FIVE - one for each of us, and one for eachof the two children we are trying to adopt. How cool is that?
Anyway, today, we have to get a few forms notarized (let's hope the notary is on at our mall bank branch) and then on Monday, we'll send out the last of our forms to our Russian agency for our dossier. After that, we just have to wait for our FBI check to come back and MY CORI. DH got his back yesterday and we sent it the same day - grrrrr.
Wish us luck on Monday at our INS appt. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the 2 year old. Do I bring him or see if I can find someone I can beg to watch him? It's so hard when everyone lives in tehopposite direction of where I need to be! Ugh, what a dilemma....
Anyway, today, we have to get a few forms notarized (let's hope the notary is on at our mall bank branch) and then on Monday, we'll send out the last of our forms to our Russian agency for our dossier. After that, we just have to wait for our FBI check to come back and MY CORI. DH got his back yesterday and we sent it the same day - grrrrr.
Wish us luck on Monday at our INS appt. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the 2 year old. Do I bring him or see if I can find someone I can beg to watch him? It's so hard when everyone lives in tehopposite direction of where I need to be! Ugh, what a dilemma....
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
July 18
It's beena whirlwind of a week and I've been too crazy to post any updates!
Here are the things that have been going on...
1. Our homestudy is official!!!!! The CORI we were waiting for came back on Monday, and everything was notarized today! We have our appt with INS on Monday, so we'll be picking up the paperwork to bring with us - yahoo!
2. We completed a BUNCH of paperwork for our foreign dossier and had it notarized on Monday. We only have a few more forms to do for the Tver region and we stillhave to work on the Smolensk region after that.
3. We're in the process of taking pictures of our house, family, etc. If anyone has any GREAT pictures of us and the famiy they'd like to share, we'd love to include them!
I think those are the major things. INSANE, I tell ya!
Cute thing of hte week, though, is if you ask DS where we're going on a plane next year, he says "to Russia" and if you ask him why, he says, "to get me a boy and a girl". How adorable is that!
:)
Here are the things that have been going on...
1. Our homestudy is official!!!!! The CORI we were waiting for came back on Monday, and everything was notarized today! We have our appt with INS on Monday, so we'll be picking up the paperwork to bring with us - yahoo!
2. We completed a BUNCH of paperwork for our foreign dossier and had it notarized on Monday. We only have a few more forms to do for the Tver region and we stillhave to work on the Smolensk region after that.
3. We're in the process of taking pictures of our house, family, etc. If anyone has any GREAT pictures of us and the famiy they'd like to share, we'd love to include them!
I think those are the major things. INSANE, I tell ya!
Cute thing of hte week, though, is if you ask DS where we're going on a plane next year, he says "to Russia" and if you ask him why, he says, "to get me a boy and a girl". How adorable is that!
:)
Thursday, July 12, 2007
July 12
Well, here's teh insanity explained a bit more. We knew our social worker would be coming for our safety inspection this Wed. We realized there was NO WAY we'd pass. I had started ages ago to refinish our cabinet doors in our kitchen but burned way out and never finished. As a result, we had no doors on most of our cabinets. Also, DH had started to replace the floor and had never finished, so we had two floors. It was basically atrocious, so we had a gate keeping DS out and never worried. Yeah, that was NOT going to fly. So, I spent EIGHTEEN hours Sat/Sun painting and my cousin came Mon/Tues and replaced the floor. In the meantime, Dh emptied out our back master bedroom which we've been using as sotrage because we hadn't replaced the red shag carpet that was put in in the 70s. So, all in all, we spent Sat 10AM-midnight working. Sunday 10AM-5PM, Monday 9AM-midnight, Tuesday on and off all day for me and then 4PM-midnight for DH, and Wed 9AM-2PM. We literally put our last bag of clothes we hadn't had chance to fold in my backseat TEN MINUTES before our social worker arrived!!!!! The visit went great. The house looked good and passed fine. Our social worker is really really great nad even brought roses! We're now officially done except we need the stupid criminal record board to send our records. They're really taking their time, which is annoying, because otherwise it would be done and notarized by today, but whatever...
In other news, as we were going INSANE, our Russian agency sent us all of our dossier paperwork to get started on! We went on Wed and notarized the paperwork that didn't require work and we started to work on teh other stuff today, but really, we just needed a BREAK! We'll go great guns tomorrow, but today we just needed a rest. It's really moving along now, though!!!
Oh, also, we have an appt with INS to submit our homestudy and apply for our I-600A on July 23rd - wish us luck that it will move quickly!!!!!
In the meantime, some before and afters of my kitchen...
The ugly ass cabinets
The lovely green (sorry for the swatch of yellow)
The NEW kitchen!!!!!
The same backwall ALL yellow! It looks really dark, but it really isn't that dark yellow.
In other news, as we were going INSANE, our Russian agency sent us all of our dossier paperwork to get started on! We went on Wed and notarized the paperwork that didn't require work and we started to work on teh other stuff today, but really, we just needed a BREAK! We'll go great guns tomorrow, but today we just needed a rest. It's really moving along now, though!!!
Oh, also, we have an appt with INS to submit our homestudy and apply for our I-600A on July 23rd - wish us luck that it will move quickly!!!!!
In the meantime, some before and afters of my kitchen...
The ugly ass cabinets
The lovely green (sorry for the swatch of yellow)
The NEW kitchen!!!!!
The same backwall ALL yellow! It looks really dark, but it really isn't that dark yellow.
Monday, July 9, 2007
July 9
Just a quickie today as I'm EXHAUSTED! It's been a long three days, and I'll show why tomorrow.
So, today, we got ALL of the dossier paperwork from our agency. A bunch of it was already filled out and ready to go, so all we have to do is get it notarized. Some of it needs some work, but that won't happen until Wednesday afternoon, because we have our two final homestudy visits tomorrow and Wed and we just can't possibly squeeze one more thing into our lives right now. It's all moving so quickly, I'm worried about the "hurry up and wait" that's coming soon. I hope we'll get lucky and INS will get things back to us quickly - but I'm not betting on it.
Anyway, that's the basic info of the day. I'll try to update more tomorrow, but honestly, until Wednesday, life will be pretty insane!
So, today, we got ALL of the dossier paperwork from our agency. A bunch of it was already filled out and ready to go, so all we have to do is get it notarized. Some of it needs some work, but that won't happen until Wednesday afternoon, because we have our two final homestudy visits tomorrow and Wed and we just can't possibly squeeze one more thing into our lives right now. It's all moving so quickly, I'm worried about the "hurry up and wait" that's coming soon. I hope we'll get lucky and INS will get things back to us quickly - but I'm not betting on it.
Anyway, that's the basic info of the day. I'll try to update more tomorrow, but honestly, until Wednesday, life will be pretty insane!
Sunday, July 8, 2007
July 8
Not much going on except house CRAZINESS trying to get things together for our home visit on Wednesday. I spent SEVENTEEN house painting my kitchen this weekend and it's not totally done. Ugh. If I never see a paintbrush it will be too soon! I'm also a little tipsy. Our neighbors invited us over and appartently I have a very low tolerance these days and two large glasses of wine later and my spelling sucks. I'll be back tomorrow for a more coherent post.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 5
Some new craziness today!
We started off the morning at the police station having our fingerprints done for the FBI. Man, you just feel like such a criminal, even when the officer is super nice and helpful. It's just hte concept of it! So, we did that and DH bought the money orders we'll need to have those processed. We'll next day Fed-Ex them tomorrow.
Then, we got an email from our foreign placement agency and they sent letters we have to sign and have notarized to the state criminal agency board. So, I took mine with me when I went out this afternoon and stopped by the bank to have it notarized on the way home. After a LONG wait (everyone else was out because of the holiday week) the one notary there freed up and I got it signed and headed to the post office. Popped it in the mail, got in the car and realized, OH SHIT, i forgot to include the check. So, back to the post office to beg the clerk for help because I did NOT want to go to the bank again. Thankfully, it's a small post office and the guys there were helpful and really interested in the adoption so they helped me fish it out of hte outgoing mail, ripped it open for me and then taped it back together once I had included the check and the SASE. To talk about how nice people are, ALL of hte people in line let me cut in front not once, but TWICE when I had to run up to buy a pre-stamped envelope and then to have it taped back together. I was totally feelin' the love today, I'll tell ya!
Oh, so in other news, apparently, INS is increasing their fees as of Julyu 31, so we have to get our paperwork in for the I-600A (petition to adopt a foreign orphan) before then because of the fee increase, but mainly because everyone else is scrambling and the wait is expected to go from 3 weeks to 3 MONTHS! Ugh. Everything had been so well and now that will be a MAJOR slow down. Not much we can do, however, so we just move on.
So, here I am back at home after our adventure. My poor kid kept BEGGING me to just go home. So, we're outside playing now and I'm a dork outside with my laptop. Better go hang out with my guy!
:)
We started off the morning at the police station having our fingerprints done for the FBI. Man, you just feel like such a criminal, even when the officer is super nice and helpful. It's just hte concept of it! So, we did that and DH bought the money orders we'll need to have those processed. We'll next day Fed-Ex them tomorrow.
Then, we got an email from our foreign placement agency and they sent letters we have to sign and have notarized to the state criminal agency board. So, I took mine with me when I went out this afternoon and stopped by the bank to have it notarized on the way home. After a LONG wait (everyone else was out because of the holiday week) the one notary there freed up and I got it signed and headed to the post office. Popped it in the mail, got in the car and realized, OH SHIT, i forgot to include the check. So, back to the post office to beg the clerk for help because I did NOT want to go to the bank again. Thankfully, it's a small post office and the guys there were helpful and really interested in the adoption so they helped me fish it out of hte outgoing mail, ripped it open for me and then taped it back together once I had included the check and the SASE. To talk about how nice people are, ALL of hte people in line let me cut in front not once, but TWICE when I had to run up to buy a pre-stamped envelope and then to have it taped back together. I was totally feelin' the love today, I'll tell ya!
Oh, so in other news, apparently, INS is increasing their fees as of Julyu 31, so we have to get our paperwork in for the I-600A (petition to adopt a foreign orphan) before then because of the fee increase, but mainly because everyone else is scrambling and the wait is expected to go from 3 weeks to 3 MONTHS! Ugh. Everything had been so well and now that will be a MAJOR slow down. Not much we can do, however, so we just move on.
So, here I am back at home after our adventure. My poor kid kept BEGGING me to just go home. So, we're outside playing now and I'm a dork outside with my laptop. Better go hang out with my guy!
:)
Monday, July 2, 2007
July 2
LOTS going on today!
First, we got a draft of our homestudy as it is thus far. It's looking good!!!!! Looks like we'll be approved for TWO KIDS - yahoo!!!!!!!!! Now, we'll just have to cross EVERYTHING and hope that two kids will be ready for us to bring home.
Secondly, the foreign placement agency got our application fee and letter and is already sending us paperwork to fill out! I think her goal of having our dossier complete at the same time as our homestudy is actually going to happen. How frickin cool is that? Let's just hope that things continue to move smoothly and nicely. I'm so ready to be a mommy to two more awesome kiddos!
:)
First, we got a draft of our homestudy as it is thus far. It's looking good!!!!! Looks like we'll be approved for TWO KIDS - yahoo!!!!!!!!! Now, we'll just have to cross EVERYTHING and hope that two kids will be ready for us to bring home.
Secondly, the foreign placement agency got our application fee and letter and is already sending us paperwork to fill out! I think her goal of having our dossier complete at the same time as our homestudy is actually going to happen. How frickin cool is that? Let's just hope that things continue to move smoothly and nicely. I'm so ready to be a mommy to two more awesome kiddos!
:)
Friday, June 29, 2007
June 29
I had my individual meeting with our social worker today. I thought it went well. I didn't feel nervous or awkward at all, and I was very open about my family life. I actually thought it was nice. We have an end date - July 11th! That's our final homestudy visit. She is having surgery on the 20th and wants it all wrapped up beforethen. Sounds good to us! We have a week off because she's on vacation next week, but then we have DH's meeting the following Tuesday and the home visit on the Wednesday. Whew!
The other piece of news is that my child abuse check came back, so that's GREAT. I was afraid it would take ages, but it only took a week. DH turned his in a day after I did, so his will probably be in soon. Our social worker thinks the CORI form should be in soon, so my fears about this stuff holding us up will hopefully be unfounded. Now, if we could all saya little prayer that the INS form won't take too long. that's often teh BIG hangup. We've been told it's taking as little as three weeks, but I know it can take much, much longer sometimes.
We also wentyesterday to apply for DS's passport. That's exciting!
:)
The other piece of news is that my child abuse check came back, so that's GREAT. I was afraid it would take ages, but it only took a week. DH turned his in a day after I did, so his will probably be in soon. Our social worker thinks the CORI form should be in soon, so my fears about this stuff holding us up will hopefully be unfounded. Now, if we could all saya little prayer that the INS form won't take too long. that's often teh BIG hangup. We've been told it's taking as little as three weeks, but I know it can take much, much longer sometimes.
We also wentyesterday to apply for DS's passport. That's exciting!
:)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
June 27
Well, things do seem to be moving quickly! our social worker emailed today saying she had already completed several sections and expected to complete another by our next appt on Friday if I could just send her a bit of info! We're thrilled, but had a sudden realization that the one hang up may be the paperwork we sent into the state - the child abuse check and the CORI check. I don't know how long those typically take. That would suck to be done except for that!
In other news, I called the Russia program lady and we're sending our application in, so it's official - WE'RE GOING TO RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cool thing is, she told us that she wants to basically have our entire dossier completed by the timethe homestudy is done so all we have to do is wait for our INS form and then Neer will be on his way to Russia to drop off our paperwork. Holy crap! This is wild! We'll see what tomorrow brings! Seems there's a new piece of our adventure every day!
Hey, if anyone actually reads this - leave a comment. I'd love to know if I'mtalking to myself ;)
In other news, I called the Russia program lady and we're sending our application in, so it's official - WE'RE GOING TO RUSSIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The cool thing is, she told us that she wants to basically have our entire dossier completed by the timethe homestudy is done so all we have to do is wait for our INS form and then Neer will be on his way to Russia to drop off our paperwork. Holy crap! This is wild! We'll see what tomorrow brings! Seems there's a new piece of our adventure every day!
Hey, if anyone actually reads this - leave a comment. I'd love to know if I'mtalking to myself ;)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
June 26
so, we had our homestudy visit today! Holy crap, this is going to move FAST! Our social worker is having surgery on July 20, so she wants to be totally done by then. that's THREE weeks from now!!!!!!! Holy holy holy crap! I have my individual visit on Friday and then she's on vacation next week, so we'll do our last two visits the week she returns. INSANE! It wasn't too bad. DS was a good boy, so that made us look good, but otherwise, it was fine. Pretty much what I expected, nothing insane, plus I wasn't nervous, so I'm sure that helped. I'm just ready to go bring my kids home!
:)
:)
Monday, June 25, 2007
June 25
We met with the woman who does the Russian placements and we think we're going to go with her. She was very nice, knowledgeable, and helpful. We have a few more things to go over with her, but we think we're going to sign with her. She thinks we should have our referral around 9 months from now, which is exciting! It's always hard to tell for sure, but that would be fantastic! DS was on his BEST behavior, which was great, because it sure made us look good! Hopefully, he'll be on such great behavior tomorrow when we meet with the social worker to OFFICIALLY BEGIN OUR HOMESTUDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
June 24
Today we went to the big annual picnic of the agency we're doing our homestudy with. It was really interesting and a lot of fun. DS enjoyed the pony rides, the bouncy thing, and playing frisbee. I enjoyed meeting the families who've been created through adoption and seeing how close the children are to their parents. Plus, we were able to say hello to our social worker and the woman we're meeting with tomorrow to discuss her Russian program! Good times! Crazy week ahead - meeting with the woman about Russia tomorrow, homestudy visit on Tuesday, and we'll probably try to sneak another in this week because our social worker is going out of town next week - yikes! Talk about jumping in with both feet!
:)
:)
Friday, June 22, 2007
June 22 take two
We heard back from our homestudy social worker and we'll be having our first official meeting on Tuesday afternoon - WOOHOO! I'm so so so so so excited to get moving. We also received a packet from the woman our homestudy agency recommended for Russia and her program seems interesting, so we meet with her on Monday and that's SO thrilling! What a week we have ahead of us!!!!!!!
June 22
So, we finally heard back from the homestudy social worker today and we'll probably meet up next Tuesday at some point, so that's EXCITING! I'm really ready to move on!
So, today, we
1. Mailed off the CORI requests
2. Photocopied the Background Check that I had goofed up.
Also, I have an appt with the NURSE at my doctor's office next Tuesday morning, since the bouncers at the desk wouldn't set up an appointment to see the doctor. They claimed they didn't have time to squeeze in a physical. Even when I TOLD them why I needed it an dhow important it was. How aggravating is that? Hopefully it all works out soon!
:)
So, today, we
1. Mailed off the CORI requests
2. Photocopied the Background Check that I had goofed up.
Also, I have an appt with the NURSE at my doctor's office next Tuesday morning, since the bouncers at the desk wouldn't set up an appointment to see the doctor. They claimed they didn't have time to squeeze in a physical. Even when I TOLD them why I needed it an dhow important it was. How aggravating is that? Hopefully it all works out soon!
:)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
June 21
So, today I wrote my autobiograhy for my homestudy. I'm STILL waiting to hear from the social worker, which I'm a little bit frustrated about since I emailed her Tuesday evening. Any thoughts on how long I should wait before I try again? i'm so not a forceful person, especially when it's someone who HAS to like me, but I am really getting anxious! Argh!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
June 20
So, we heard from a woman who runs a small, local agency placing children from Russia. She places them semi-independently and our homestudy agency recommends her. I emailed her last night and we're meeting with her on Monday! I can't wait to hear what she has to say!!! that will hopefully help us make a decision between Moldova and Russia.
The bummer is that we also emailed the social worker who will be completing our homestudy and we haven't heard back yet. that makes me a little nervous that maybe she won't be quick with email replies and I'm a NOW kind of girl. So, I guess we'll see with that.
DS has informed us that he wants a brother AND a sister, so hopefully we're able to pull that off for him!
:)
The bummer is that we also emailed the social worker who will be completing our homestudy and we haven't heard back yet. that makes me a little nervous that maybe she won't be quick with email replies and I'm a NOW kind of girl. So, I guess we'll see with that.
DS has informed us that he wants a brother AND a sister, so hopefully we're able to pull that off for him!
:)
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
COSTS!
6-19-07 Homestudy fee $2500
6-28-07 Fee to foreign placement agency $250
7-05-07 $36 for two money orders for FBI fingerprinting
7-05-07 $50 for two criminal background checks from state of MA
7-14-07 $2500 to foreign placement agency (half of the agency fee)
7-23-07 $545 for I-600A
7-23-07 $140 ($70 each for fingerprinting)
6-28-07 Fee to foreign placement agency $250
7-05-07 $36 for two money orders for FBI fingerprinting
7-05-07 $50 for two criminal background checks from state of MA
7-14-07 $2500 to foreign placement agency (half of the agency fee)
7-23-07 $545 for I-600A
7-23-07 $140 ($70 each for fingerprinting)
6-19 (part 2)
had our intake visit with our homestudy agency today! We paid our homestudy fee and got matched with a social worker (who happens to be the agency owner's sister!). We emailed her to set things up and we're working on figuring out country still. HOpefully we figure out where we're going soon! Our little one or ones are actually already born and out there somewhere. I hope his or her caretakers are loving him or her tons for us!
STARTING OUR ADOPTION!!!!!!!!!
Thought I'd start posting in this again, so I can keep track of what we're doing. I'll try to keep track of how much things REALLY cost as well as our real time frame and all of the decisions we make during this process. I'm so so so so over TTC and really don't want to be pregnant at all anymore, so I'm excited to move on. I can't wait to get the ball rolling!
So, tonight is our first meeting with our homestudy agency. It's an intake meeting, and the one where we fill out the paperwork (including signing the check!). Can't wait!
Currently debating between Moldova and Russia. No idea which we'll choose, but they both have major pros and cons. Wish us luck!
So, tonight is our first meeting with our homestudy agency. It's an intake meeting, and the one where we fill out the paperwork (including signing the check!). Can't wait!
Currently debating between Moldova and Russia. No idea which we'll choose, but they both have major pros and cons. Wish us luck!
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