Russian Visa Application

Just began completing the Russian Visa Application for the trips to come. We have not received the dates yet but I figured this would be one less thing we needed to do when we did get them. This is a tougher application than the US Passport. Last two employers not including the current one is tough because I have been self employed for seven plus years. My wife had an easy last one but but had to go back to her college days to find the second one. The forms I was provided were also small. I was able to find the application online in PDF format which made it much easier because I am able to type the information in and then print it out. Plus this means only typing it once for each of us rather than writing it out three times.

All worth it in the end though to get our Katerina!!!

Some ideas

Our friend's page about their adoption from Russia had some really nice things on it. I really like their time line as to the process. When they started it and when each thing occurred after the start (i.e. what happened along the way). I think I will copy their great post and do a similar post this week.

Hopefully!

Thanks M & R. Initials are used because it is their choice to determine what is public and what is private about their adoption. It is not my choice to make any of their information public. Although we know who they are and they know who we are and we share information through other sources as well, I just feel it is best to keep their anonymity on my site because it is not mine to give out.

Thoughts

We get more anxious as each day goes by. Ms. Garc anxiously awaits the travel dates, while I anxiously await USCIS (old INS) approval for the adoption. I suspect each will come this week although we do not need the INS approval until just before the second trip so I do not think it will matter. There is still the chance we may have to travel before Christmas but it is seeming more likely after the new year in the middle of January due to the Russian New Year and Christmas holiday.

We were looking at little girl clothes today. They are so little and adorable. Kelly wants to buy now but I think we should hold off until after we see her so we can get a feel for the right size. Either way, she will be adorable in the clothes we buy her because she is adorable now.

Lastly, my sister-in-law told Ms. Garc that they may have a rocker/glider chair for us. That would be great because it will mean all we need now for her room to be complete is the mattress for her crib and toys for her to play with.

We get more and more excited each day as we wish that we could get her home yesterday but understand we are probably three or four months away from that happening.

First Family Viewing

For the first time members of our family were able to see pictures of our little girl. Unfortunately I was unable to get the DVD to work on their computers. I am not sure if it is lack of software, bad disk or just a weird file type.

This of course is not the important part. What is important is that they all thought she was adorable. We had about 6 screen print pictures from the video which we could show them. She is such a beautiful little girl. We are quite lucky to have been given this referral.

We are so excited to get to travel to Moscow soon to meet her for the first time in the next month to month and a half.

What I am Thankful For

I am thankful for our little girl who we should be bringing home soon. It feels like she will never get home but we know the time is coming. After a few trips to Russia, Katerina will come home. And then we will be thankful for her health and those that provided for Katerina in the Baby Home for the first year of her life.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Fees and Other thoughts

We received the next to last big invoice for our little gal. I will be quite happy when these are paid for and we can just have her home. As soon as she gets home the cost will be irrelevant as well as however long it takes us to pay it back. But still some sticker shock when we see the invoices.

Luckily I have a couple of cases coming due which will allow me to generate some decent billable hours plus a few other cases which will help pay for the travel.

Lastly, I showed her picture to a friend. It always makes me smile. Can't wait to show my family so they can see their future grandchild, niece, and cousin.

Our Feelings

Now that it has been nearly a week since we first learned that we had a referral of an adorable little girl waiting for us to take home, we are as excited as we were then, possibly more. We wish she could be home tomorrow.

We will have to travel to Moscow three times in the next three months or so. While we are excited to see Moscow and the impressive tourist sites within Moscow, we still just wish it were over and she was home. We have not been given our first travel date yet. It will either be the week before Christmas or about the week of January 11, 2010. Travel dates are the next anxious thing for us.

We are also still awaiting USCIS approval as well. This is not needed until the second travel date. We were denied because the Home Study did not include a simple sentence saying our house was within the statute in our home state of Connecticut. It has been rectified so we expect the approval in the next couple of weeks.

Now we are trying to learn how to be parents. Well not really, but we are trying to learn as much as possible as to what children in this age bracket eat and play with; about car seats, strollers, etc. There is so much to learn about this stuff. It is scary becoming a parent for the first time. To have a little girl's well being in our hands. It is our job to give her everything she needs and hopefully more.

I think we will do fine but it is still unnerving while being incredibly exciting!

A Long update

I haven't posted in awhile and we have had great news. I figured I would first post my facebook comments and then later give a long post about what has happened:

November 16 at 5:07pm

previous message deleted until I can call family with the news. I will repost in a bit. [this was deleted so I could give my family the heads up before my friends]

November 16 at 6:22pm - NOW THE GOOD NEWS

Ok now that the family has been called. And with time, we are a little less shocked, it is really happening! Mrs. Garc and I received a phone call this evening that there is a referral with video coming tomorrow for us to review. So we will get to see our little girl for the first time tomorrow evening. A little bit of nervous[ness] and a whole lot of excitement for Mrs. Garc and me.

November 17 at 12:12am

[I] want to thank everyone for the kind words and congratulations. It is awfully nice to have a bunch of people think highly enough to comment on Mrs. Garc and my adoption. We will keep you posted (meaning tomorrow night or Wednesday after we have watched the video). Once again thank you. It means a lot to Mrs. Garc and I to have all this backing from more than just family.

November 17 at 8:52am

Mrs. Garc looked at the weather in Moscow today: 32 and snowing. Assuming all goes well, we will be traveling to Moscow in the dead of winter it appears. Will probably be cold :). Lucky Us.

November 17 at 2:18pm

I have the video and some medical documents. Can't watch the video until Mrs. Garc this evening with Mrs. Garc. we agreed we would watch it for the first time together. Also, will not be able to show any of it to family or friends in any public domain until the adoption is final (read email or internet). I forgot we signed a waiver agreeing to this. We will post an update though after we watch it.

November 17 at 5:51pm

We have watched the DVD. She is a little cutie with chubby cheeks which surprised [us] because we were expecting a malnourished child. But assuming the adoption doctor does not say anything unexpected we will be accepting this referral. We have now seen our little girl and she is adorable!

November 18 at 12:34pm

I have been contacted by the international adoption doctor informing us to expect a call this evening from her. Once we have this call, we then make the final decision which is strongly leaning towards acceptance. Then the process of scheduling from Russia's side really begins.

November 18 at 6:22pm

It won't be official until tomorrow when we call the agency but after having a conversation with the Specialist from Tufts.......WE ARE ACCEPTING THIS REFERRAL!!!! This little girl will soon come home!!!!

Thu at 12:07pm

IT'S OFFICIAL! We have given the organization a thumbs up, a definitive yes, so they are running with it. First travel will be either just before Christmas, returning home just before Christmas or the middle of January.

A longer post will be made int he next day or so about our thoughts.

Everything is ready to go to Russia. We are basically now on the clock. The organization, Adopt A Child, Inc., says about 8- 10 months which would mean July - December of next year. Earlier is better but time shall tell. We are quite excited now!!! It is coming together.

A little downer is we learned there will be three trips and not two as originally though. But part of the game to get our little girl, who will most likely be named KATERINA!