Ok, so when I got home this afternoon things looked pretty grim. Mike came home and we were both really upset. We just knew we wouldn't hear anything and we would have another sleepless night. Well, I guess the saying is correct, you need to hit the bottom before you can get lifted up. I had written a two line email to Vica when I got home today just to check in. Well, as Mike was starting dinner, which I didn't think I could eat, I decided to check my email once again. I guess 30 minutes can change everything. We did it! WE RECIEVED OUR COURT DATE! We will be in court on Feb 4th. The agency wants us in Ekat on Jan 29th. Ugh! How can I get everything ready by then? Anyone have a quick list of things to bring for us and for Colby? Ugh! Now I have so many questions I might just have another sleepless night.
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! We are on our way to experiencing winter in Siberia. I'm sure we will get some great photos! Oh my gosh! What a head rush. From such a low to such a high!
Russia
We went to Yekaterinburg
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Ugh!
Today was the longest day ever. The kids in the class I am subbing in were just awful. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep the past few nights or the anxiousness of the wait but I had little patience. The kids just don't stop talking and arguing. And the attitudes on some of the girls, ugh. A very rough day.
As mentioned Mike and I have received our update on Colby. Although there was little info except to tell us how tall he now is and how much he weighs. We do now have 4 terrific photos of our little guy. We were hoping to hear from the agency today though. Svetlana was supposed to meet with the judge, the social worker, and the director of the baby home and hopefully set our court date. It is now 1AM on Thurs in Ekat. But yet no word. I don't know what to think anymore. I was trying to not get my hopes up but I just don't think I can wait anymore. I know there are families who have waited longer than we have. 2 families waited 11 and 13 months in between trips. We are now on 7 months. I don't think I can wait any longer. THis is just too hard. I want my baby. The longer this process goes on the harder the transition will be for him. Don't they understand? Why does everything have to be so hard? I just want my baby.
Perhaps we will hear something soon, but I doubt it. This is just too hard.
As mentioned Mike and I have received our update on Colby. Although there was little info except to tell us how tall he now is and how much he weighs. We do now have 4 terrific photos of our little guy. We were hoping to hear from the agency today though. Svetlana was supposed to meet with the judge, the social worker, and the director of the baby home and hopefully set our court date. It is now 1AM on Thurs in Ekat. But yet no word. I don't know what to think anymore. I was trying to not get my hopes up but I just don't think I can wait anymore. I know there are families who have waited longer than we have. 2 families waited 11 and 13 months in between trips. We are now on 7 months. I don't think I can wait any longer. THis is just too hard. I want my baby. The longer this process goes on the harder the transition will be for him. Don't they understand? Why does everything have to be so hard? I just want my baby.
Perhaps we will hear something soon, but I doubt it. This is just too hard.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Update
Mike and I are still waiting for our official update from our agency. From the emails that we have received, it seems that winter is trully in effect in Siberia. It must be so different from when we saw it 7 months ago in late June. The roads from Ekat to Kamensk are very bad and Svetlana hasn't been able to go to the baby home. Once the roads were better, the director of the baby home was on vacation. The Russian Christmas was just 1/7 so things are now back on track.
I mentioned not receiving the official update from the agency, but this morning I received a wonderful surprise. I guess I was so excited that my yell to Mike to get up (he was still in bed, I had gotten up to let the dog out) startled him and he was worried something bad happened. Nothing bad today! Today Svetlana was so sweet. She sent the official update to the agency which we should receive tomorrow but she also sent us 2 updated photos of Colby. He is even cuter than I remember. He certainly has grown a little and he has lost some of that "baby face". He is standing in both photos so I am sure he is now walking. What a difference a day makes. Today is a good day and so should tomorrow be. We will receive more info and more photos! YEAH! Svetlana mentioned that she and the social worker are meeting with the judge on Wed. Perhaps a court date will be set! Keep your fingers crossed!
I mentioned not receiving the official update from the agency, but this morning I received a wonderful surprise. I guess I was so excited that my yell to Mike to get up (he was still in bed, I had gotten up to let the dog out) startled him and he was worried something bad happened. Nothing bad today! Today Svetlana was so sweet. She sent the official update to the agency which we should receive tomorrow but she also sent us 2 updated photos of Colby. He is even cuter than I remember. He certainly has grown a little and he has lost some of that "baby face". He is standing in both photos so I am sure he is now walking. What a difference a day makes. Today is a good day and so should tomorrow be. We will receive more info and more photos! YEAH! Svetlana mentioned that she and the social worker are meeting with the judge on Wed. Perhaps a court date will be set! Keep your fingers crossed!
Friday, January 2, 2009
A New Year
Well, a new year has come. Welcome in 2009. So much has happened in 2008, I can only imagine what 2009 can bring. I can hope for so many things. Mainly, I hope that it will bring my baby home to me. And soon.
On New Year's Eve Mike and I went to my Aunt Doone's house. Anut Doone and Uncle Gordon have a few friends and family members to their house for New Year's. It is all about having fun and being with the ones you love. We have a great time and the kids that are usually there get to play together. This year it snowed most of the day so most of the people who usually go to their house didn't show up. My cousin Carmen and her family stayed at their house I think near Hartford. However, my mom and dad did come. And my cousin Jason and his family were there. It was a lot of fun. We played dominoes and just enjoyed the company. A nice low key party.
Something did strike me as odd all day though. As the day progressed I knew that a part of our family was missing, Colby. It felt awful celebrating a new year without him. Around 2:00P.M. here, an odd thought crept in my head. It had kept me up most of the night before too. At 2:00P.M. here, my little boy was not only in a different country, on a different continent, thousands of miles and hours away, but he was also in a different year. There are some days when I do stop and whisper to him to have a good morning but now I had to stop and whisper to him to have a great year. I am sure that we will have an amazing year together once he is home. I can only hope that that happens soon.
We have not received our update on Colby as of yet. The agency was sure we would have it this week but with the holidays I didn't honestly think we would. I hoped but I didn't think so. I am not sure if I am upset or not. I really want the update but if Svetlana doesn't have the time to travel to the baby home, about 1 1/2 hours away on a good day, because she is talking with the judge or working on our paperwork, than I hope she is doing just that. I'd rather get back sooner than have the update. I am not sure what is going on over there but hopefully we will hear something soon. We shall see.
On New Year's Eve Mike and I went to my Aunt Doone's house. Anut Doone and Uncle Gordon have a few friends and family members to their house for New Year's. It is all about having fun and being with the ones you love. We have a great time and the kids that are usually there get to play together. This year it snowed most of the day so most of the people who usually go to their house didn't show up. My cousin Carmen and her family stayed at their house I think near Hartford. However, my mom and dad did come. And my cousin Jason and his family were there. It was a lot of fun. We played dominoes and just enjoyed the company. A nice low key party.
Something did strike me as odd all day though. As the day progressed I knew that a part of our family was missing, Colby. It felt awful celebrating a new year without him. Around 2:00P.M. here, an odd thought crept in my head. It had kept me up most of the night before too. At 2:00P.M. here, my little boy was not only in a different country, on a different continent, thousands of miles and hours away, but he was also in a different year. There are some days when I do stop and whisper to him to have a good morning but now I had to stop and whisper to him to have a great year. I am sure that we will have an amazing year together once he is home. I can only hope that that happens soon.
We have not received our update on Colby as of yet. The agency was sure we would have it this week but with the holidays I didn't honestly think we would. I hoped but I didn't think so. I am not sure if I am upset or not. I really want the update but if Svetlana doesn't have the time to travel to the baby home, about 1 1/2 hours away on a good day, because she is talking with the judge or working on our paperwork, than I hope she is doing just that. I'd rather get back sooner than have the update. I am not sure what is going on over there but hopefully we will hear something soon. We shall see.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Girls Day Out
Yesterday I went with both moms (mine and Mike's) shopping for Colby. We went to Babies R Us to set up the baby registry and buy a few things. The agency is hopeful that Mike and I will go for court in late January. I really hope so as well but we will see. However, Mike and I wanted to feel a little better prepared so we wanted to buy some wipes, cups, etc. Also, the moms thought it might be a good time to buy some winter clothes. Everything was on sale or even clearance. We found some sweatpants for only $2 so we bought a bunch in both 18 months and 24 months. We also found a really cute sweater, shirt, and pants set. The sweater has a train on the front and Mike really likes trains. He used to help at the local train museum. Now I need to decide whether it will be his leaving the baby home outfit, going to the US Embassy outfit or the going home to the US outfit. So many special days to look forward to.
The day was really nice. I enjoyed spending the time with both moms. We went to eat at my favorite restraunt, Olive Garden, and then went shopping. It was nice to get out and get something for my little man. It made me feel a little closer to getting him. Now we just wait for the judge to call the agency and for them to call me. Ugh! I am so tired of this waiting. It would be much easier if I could just have a date for when we are going. The not knowing is the difficult part. Will we leave in 4 weels or will it be in May or June? That is a huge difference. I just wish I knew.
The day was really nice. I enjoyed spending the time with both moms. We went to eat at my favorite restraunt, Olive Garden, and then went shopping. It was nice to get out and get something for my little man. It made me feel a little closer to getting him. Now we just wait for the judge to call the agency and for them to call me. Ugh! I am so tired of this waiting. It would be much easier if I could just have a date for when we are going. The not knowing is the difficult part. Will we leave in 4 weels or will it be in May or June? That is a huge difference. I just wish I knew.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
One Lousy Digit
With the excitement of Christmas and the feeling of overwhelming disbelief that we had last week, I did not know where to start with this story. However, now that I have regained some semblance of order (yeah, right), here goes the story. You can choose your reaction, laughter or tears or shock. I think Mike and I experienced all of those and then some.
We have been waiting for an email from our agency with an update on Colby. Svetlana was going to the baby home to take some pictures and get the update. I was so hoping to have it for Christmas but alas, no. However, we did get an email from the agnecy on Tues 12/23 at about 2 P.M..
Our 24 updated documents had been received by Lala in Moscow and translated. Svetlana brought them to the judge on Monday and he looked through them. He then asked for 2 more. 2 MORE!! I couldn't believe it. At Christmas! How was I going to get more documents done at Christmas. The first document needed was from my previous job. A letter stating my income from 2007 and 2008 until I left. Of course, I used to teach so how was I going to get the superintendent's office this late in the day and before they left for break? Ugh! Luckily when I called, they were still there and the secretary was able to get it done. She was hoping to get it in the mail that day. I was just hoping to get it by Mon or Tues 12/29 or 12/30. So that wasn't too bad I guess.
The second document the judge requested completely floored me. It seems that when the Mayor's office wrote a letter for us confirming our ownership of and residence in our house (they have written this letter for us twice now), whoever wrote it had a typo. The letter also needed to state our birthdays and passport numbers. Well, on this second letter, they typed Mike's birthday as October 10, not October 11. I never caught the mistake, and no one else did either. The judge did though. It was somewhat ironic because Mike and I had just had a discussion about whether or not the judge actually reads all of our paperwork. Mike didn't think so. I guess he was proven wrong. So because of the one lousy digit typo, we needed to bother the Mayor's office again and ask for another complete document. I was sure they wouldn't be in.
Mike was out when I read the email. I tried to call him on his cell and the phone rang in our kitchen. I was so exasperated that I thought I would cry just because the phone was here. I called his parents though and got him. He raced home to read the email and immediately called the Mayor's office. Surprisingly, they were in for another hour or so but the road were terrible and the traffic so bad that we probably wouldn't make it. He asked them if they would be in the next day, Christmas Eve and she surprisingly said yes. So we spent Christmas Eve morning at the Mayor's office to get the new document. I must say that through all of this, the Mayor's office has been quite helpful. It isn't even their job to write such a letter. I'm not sure who's it would be. But they were the only office that would do it for us. They better have gotten something special from Santa this year as a thank you.
So, we were able to get the one document from the Mayor's office on Christmas Eve morning and more surprisingly the second document showed up in our mail that day as well. I will never understand the postal system. It came overnight in the regular mail. Yeah! So on Friday I trekked up to Hartford to get both apostilled and I sent them on their way to the agency. They should have them on Monday morning. You can't imagine how we both felt reading that email, devestated to have to get more documents and worried that we couldn't get them. I am completely shocked at how everything fell into place and we were able to get the documents.
So another "bump" in our adoption road but we keep going. Perhaps that update will be here tomorrow. We shall see.
We have been waiting for an email from our agency with an update on Colby. Svetlana was going to the baby home to take some pictures and get the update. I was so hoping to have it for Christmas but alas, no. However, we did get an email from the agnecy on Tues 12/23 at about 2 P.M..
Our 24 updated documents had been received by Lala in Moscow and translated. Svetlana brought them to the judge on Monday and he looked through them. He then asked for 2 more. 2 MORE!! I couldn't believe it. At Christmas! How was I going to get more documents done at Christmas. The first document needed was from my previous job. A letter stating my income from 2007 and 2008 until I left. Of course, I used to teach so how was I going to get the superintendent's office this late in the day and before they left for break? Ugh! Luckily when I called, they were still there and the secretary was able to get it done. She was hoping to get it in the mail that day. I was just hoping to get it by Mon or Tues 12/29 or 12/30. So that wasn't too bad I guess.
The second document the judge requested completely floored me. It seems that when the Mayor's office wrote a letter for us confirming our ownership of and residence in our house (they have written this letter for us twice now), whoever wrote it had a typo. The letter also needed to state our birthdays and passport numbers. Well, on this second letter, they typed Mike's birthday as October 10, not October 11. I never caught the mistake, and no one else did either. The judge did though. It was somewhat ironic because Mike and I had just had a discussion about whether or not the judge actually reads all of our paperwork. Mike didn't think so. I guess he was proven wrong. So because of the one lousy digit typo, we needed to bother the Mayor's office again and ask for another complete document. I was sure they wouldn't be in.
Mike was out when I read the email. I tried to call him on his cell and the phone rang in our kitchen. I was so exasperated that I thought I would cry just because the phone was here. I called his parents though and got him. He raced home to read the email and immediately called the Mayor's office. Surprisingly, they were in for another hour or so but the road were terrible and the traffic so bad that we probably wouldn't make it. He asked them if they would be in the next day, Christmas Eve and she surprisingly said yes. So we spent Christmas Eve morning at the Mayor's office to get the new document. I must say that through all of this, the Mayor's office has been quite helpful. It isn't even their job to write such a letter. I'm not sure who's it would be. But they were the only office that would do it for us. They better have gotten something special from Santa this year as a thank you.
So, we were able to get the one document from the Mayor's office on Christmas Eve morning and more surprisingly the second document showed up in our mail that day as well. I will never understand the postal system. It came overnight in the regular mail. Yeah! So on Friday I trekked up to Hartford to get both apostilled and I sent them on their way to the agency. They should have them on Monday morning. You can't imagine how we both felt reading that email, devestated to have to get more documents and worried that we couldn't get them. I am completely shocked at how everything fell into place and we were able to get the documents.
So another "bump" in our adoption road but we keep going. Perhaps that update will be here tomorrow. We shall see.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas
My Sweet Boy,
Merry Christmas my little one. Although we are far apart this Christmas, you are always close to my heart. I hope you had a wonderful day today. Know that your family thought of you often and you were definitely missed. We will be together soon and next Christmas will be the best Christmas ever.
Love,
Mommy
Merry Christmas my little one. Although we are far apart this Christmas, you are always close to my heart. I hope you had a wonderful day today. Know that your family thought of you often and you were definitely missed. We will be together soon and next Christmas will be the best Christmas ever.
Love,
Mommy
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