Adoption Update

All of our paperwork is now enroute to Russia!!!

There is still a small chance that our court date will be set before July so that we can travel in August!!! Keep that positive energy flowing!!!

"Believe that you have it, and you have it."
—Latin Proverb

My All Star

“Baseball is such a huge part of American tradition, and Little League Baseball is the sport at its purest.”

~Wayne Wielgus



***Warning…I am going to brag on my son a little!!!***

Brendan started playing Single A “coach pitch” Little League baseball in the fall of 2008. At this time, he struck out more than he hit the ball. Defensively, I would say that he dropped the ball or missed it all together more than he actually caught it. However, it was during this season which we call “Fall Ball” that he truly learned to LOVE the sport of baseball.



This spring, Brendan was anxious to get back out to our Little League fields for tryouts. We had heard from other parents that playing in the spring was much more intense than Fall Ball, and we were not disappointed. Brendan advanced to Double A this year, and he made such strides from his first practice to his last game. Every afternoon Brendan was outside in the backyard throwing against his bounceback or throwing with JC. He even wore a place down in the grass from where he was playing.



We missed two of his regular season tournament games, but he played so well that we got a call from one of his coaches in the Atlanta airport on the way home from Russia .



Brendan was nominated for our League’s first ever 7 year old All Stars team (cut off was age 7 on 4/30/09). HE MADE THE TEAM!!! I could not be any prouder of him.



We thought regular season was intense, but it was NOTHING compared to All Stars. These boys have been practicing 2 hours everyday (Saturday and Sunday included) even in the rain for the past two weeks. No one knew what to expect from this team since our League has never had a team this age. Our first game was this past Saturday. The boys had hitting practice for one hour pregame. It was 95 degrees and sunny!!! These little guys played their hearts out! The game went to two extra innings (an extra hour of play), and they ended up winning 22-18. Brendan tagged a player out at 3rd base to make the 3rd out to end the game!!! Can you say PROUD MAMA???



We then played again on Sunday afternoon at 2pm. This team was from my hometown so I really wanted our team to win! ;) Again, it was very hot, but the boys did not let that slow them down. In the top of the 4th inning, the score was tied at 2-2. We had bases loaded with Brendan at 2nd base with 2 outs. One of our players hit a grounder to the shortstop, and the ball, Brendan and the shortstop all came together at the same time. Brendan hopped out of the way of the ball and missed the shortstop, but the umpire (supplied by opposing team) called Brendan out for player interference. Our boys had NO IDEA what this meant, but we took it with pride, and they took away our runs to keep the score tied 2-2 going in to the bottom of the 4th. Well…we fell apart. The other team scored five runs that inning to make it 7-2. It stayed that way until the 6th inning. At this age, there is a 6 inning limit so in the top of the 6th, if the opposing team had scored just one run, the game would have been over! Our boys held them off and in the bottom of the 6th inning our boys scored 6 runs to WIN the game!!! Brendan batted last and sent our guy on 3rd base home to score the winning run!!! Again…my heart was racing!!!! These guys truly are ALL STARS even at this young age!!! I am so proud of the ENTIRE TEAM!!!



This is an excerpt from an email our coach sent out yesterday…

“What a weekend! I never dreamed that a game could have more drama than Saturdays’ slugfest but the boys found a way to make another as exciting as the first. They have been dubbed the “Cardiac Kids” and for good reason – they have shown a TON of heart and have nearly given us all trips to the emergency room in the process. I am so proud of this group - in a very short time they have come together as a TEAM and have grown to love playing together. We as coaches and parents can’t ask for any more than that – and the memories of this weekend will stay with them forever!”



We play again on Thursday night…we are playing one of the best teams in the tournament, and we are hopeful for yet another victory from our “CARDIAC KIDS”!!!

"Baseball, to me, is still the national pastime because it is a summer game. I feel that almost all Americans are summer people, that summer is what they think of when they think of their childhood. I think it stirs up an incredible emotion within people."

~Steve Busby, in Washington Post, 8 July 1974

My Camera Flash is Not Working

HELP!!!

My Nikon D50 SLR camera's flash stopped working yesterday! I have no idea what is wrong. I took the above photo with the flash, but the photo came out dark anyway. All the photos that I have taken inside today have also looked like this!

Any ideas??? Is it the camera or the lens??? I need HELP!!!

Paperwork Update

This was our Dossier in July 2008.

A lot of our paperwork has to be redone or updated in order for us to get a court date set in St. Petersburg. So far we have been able to renew the following.

1. Jonathan's employment letter
2. Bank letter stating accounts and balances
3. Copies of each of our passports with notarized affadavits
4. Proof of Residence letter from Register of Deed's Office
5. Criminal Records Check for both of us
6. Pediatrician's letters for both boys
7. Copy of Pediatrician's license with attached notarized affadavit

We also sent an apostilled copy of our I-171H from Homeland Security and an Assets and Liabilities document in March. We are waiting to hear if these are "recent enough" to be accepted.

JC and I both have our physicals tomorrow. There are a few more documents that we are waiting on as well, but all are coming from a third party. We are really hoping that all but our physician's letters will be complete by the end of the week.

Photos from St. Petersburg

The Hermitage

St Isaac's Cathedral

The Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood

Alexander Column in Palace Square

One of the Hermitage Buildings

Alexander Column

Peter the Great

Palace Square

Thankful Thursday

Today I want to post on all the things that we are thankful for since I know that I was griping and complaining in my post on Monday.

This is what is making all of the frustrations, extra work, extra money and emotional stress soooooo worth it:

1. Falling in love with our precious Russian Princess
~ I did not believe in "love at first sight" until they brought Emma to us that first visit.

2. Constantly looking at photos of that amazing little girl
~ We are so fortunate to have about 800 photos from our visits with Emma thanks to Tania. She was amazing and just picked up our camera and started shooting!!!

3. Remembering how it felt to hold Emma in our arms and love on her while we were visiting

4. Figuring out what would make her smile and laugh

5. Watching our boys look at her photos with wonderment

6. Knowing that she is in one of the better Baby Homes with caregivers who love her

7. Getting excited about finishing Emma's room

8. Giving thanks for finding Emma so healthy and developmentally on target

9. Planning our next trip over to Russia for court

AND

10. Realizing that the faster we can renew our paperwork, the faster we get to see that sweet little face again in person.

Thanks to you all for your words of encouragement and your prayers for our family. We feel everyone's love and support, and it is truly making a difference.

We also give thanks and praise to the Great Lord Above for uniting this precious little one with our family. She is even more than I ever could have imagined. We feel blessed beyond what we deserve!!!

"This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes."

~Psalm 118:23

Wordless Wednesday - Our Greeting

We Made it Home and the Update from Friday's Visit

We made it home last night at around 9:40pm...we were up 23 hours before going to bed last night, and we are very tired today. We are so thankful to have made it home safely although there is a nagging feeling that we left part of ourselves in Russia. Below is the update from our last day with Emma...it is a long post, but I want to capture all of the details for us to remember.

Friday, June 5th

Thursday night we slept a little better than previous nights (about 6.5 hours straight). We were very tired when we awoke, though. We finished packing our bags and then had breakfast at the hotel. We checked out in time to walk to the metro station and meet Tania at 9:15. We took the metro north to the baby home, and we had about an hour and a half to spend with Emma this morning. Today, she was a little more resistant to us at first, but she warmed up very quickly. We did more of the same…sitting with her and playing with blocks, shapes and a matroyshka doll. It’s amazing how quickly the visit passed by.
We had about 4.5 hours in between visits and we walked to the same nearby mall. JC bought an umbrella since the weather was extremely rainy and windy. The one small umbrella that we brought was just not doing the job. We will know to pack two for the next trip. Today was very chilly with the wind…the wind chill had to be in the 40s. We are hoping that the weather will be dry when we return.
We ate at Pizza Hut again, and we stayed there about three hours. They had free wi-fi so we had internet for a little while. This pizza hut also served lattes and cheesecake so we each had coffee and dessert. It was nice.
I walked back to the baby home with heavy feet and a heavy heart since I knew this would be our last visit for this trip. The weather matched my somber mood. When the nurse brought Emma to us, she kicked and was not too happy about it. We can already see what she does when things aren’t going her way. J As soon as the nurse left the room, she was just fine. She wanted to sit in my lap, but she also really wanted to play with JC. He is so patient with her, and I think she is enthralled with him. He found some building blocks, and he started building a tower. He was able to get about three levels built, and Emma decided that she would knock it over. So he built again, and she knocked it over again. This went on for several minutes. The funny thing was that not only did she want to knock over the tower, but she wanted every single block turned over…even if it was one of the bottom blocks that did not automatically fall at first. It was very funny. Her smile was absolutely priceless when she looked up at JC after accomplishing her goal.
Our visit was only one hour this afternoon. We were hoping to get two hours with her. When the nurse came in, I held her tight and hugged and kissed her sweet little face. Then JC said his goodbyes as well. When I handed Emma to the nurse, this time, she kicked and whimpered and tried to get down so that she could stay with us. That’s all it took…my poor eyes filled with tears as I watched her leave the room. Even Tania was teary-eyed and sniffing. It was a very low moment. One of the lowest of the day.
We left the baby home and took the metro to a different part of the city. We needed three documents notarized so that Alex could petition to have Emma’s name taken off the national registry in Russia. We were met with some resistance at first. It was about 6:30pm Friday night, and the office was very busy. Eventually we were able to get the documents notarized though.

Then we got in the car and headed for the airport since we had a flight to Moscow leaving at 9:51pm. Traffic is unbelievably slow. It took us over an hour to get to the airport. On the way there, Alex asked if I could make a list of some papers that we would need to send back by the end of June. I said ok. Half way through the list, we realized that the list he was giving us was really the most important parts of our dossier. This mound of paperwork that took us four months to complete had never made it to St. Petersburg. I begin to feel relieved because I knew that we had already gotten these documents. Then we found out that the documents could be no older than one year…some needed to be within the past six months. Our hearts sank…Alex needs about 10 documents by the end of June. He needs documents that we’ll need our county government to get for us. He needs documents from the bank and from my employer. These are documents that we’ll have little control over getting prepared quickly. All these need to be notarized and apostilled - AGAIN!!!! All of these documents need to be in St Petersburg translated by the end of June. If we don’t get them there by then, we will have our court date pushed back even farther. He has to have these before the government officials go on holiday in July.
We got this information after saying goodbye to our little dream; after having been stressed at the notary’s office, and after not having dinner, and while racing to the airport to fly in torrential downpours. I thought I was going to be sick!!!! Seriously!!!
What can we do??? I will try my hardest to get all of these documents AGAIN as quickly as possible. It is so frustrating because all of the time and money and stress about doing the dossier the first time was for nothing apparently. I know this is all part of the process, but if we had just known that we would need to redo all this, we could have easily done so in the three months that we were waiting on pins and needles to travel.

We made it to the airport. We checked in, and we waited to board the Russian airline which would carry us away from Emma to Moscow. The flight was relatively calm, but when we disembarked onto a set of stairs on the tarmac I thought there must have been a hurricane. The wind was blowing very harshly, and the rain was beating down on us as we ran down the stairs to the awaiting bus. We made it to the terminal and waited for our luggage. It was midnight before we met up with our driver. He drove us to our hotel, the Marriott Aurora. When we checked in, it was like a dream. The room was extremely nice with black-out curtains. We called the boys, and then we collapsed into bed around 1:00am. We slept until noon Saturday. What a relief to sleep.
If you have made it this far reading this post, I thank you. I also ask for many, many prayers for us to expedite our paperwork, and that there are no problems with it being sent to Moscow for translation and then to St. Petersburg. I feel like that it will take a miracle for us to get this done in the three weeks that we have.

We Made It to Moscow

Friday was a very long day. When we make it back home, I will write about our day!!! We made it to Moscow around 11:30 pm, and then finally to our hotel around 1am last night.

We are staying at the Marriott Aurora, and it is extremely nice and comfortable. Friday we slept from about 1:30am until noon today. We slept the best here that we have since we arrived in Russia.

We got dressed and had lunch at McDonald's. This has to be one of the busiest in the world!!! It tasted the exact same as home.

We then walked to Red Square. It is amazingly beautiful! It was very surreal. If you had asked me when I was in high school if I ever thought I'd be walking around Red Square, I'd definitely have said and emphatic, "NO"!!!

It is almost midnight here now. I did sleep for about an hour and a half, but now I am wide awake again. I am a little worried about our flight home tomorrow. We leave the hotel at 8:45am tomorrow and our flight leaves Moscow around 12:30. We should arrive in Atlanta by 4:30pm tomorrow afternoon and then on to Greensboro.

Please say a prayer for safe travels...we have missed seeing our little one today, but we are so comforted by the fact that she loves her caregivers and she is in a very safe and homey environment.

I will update again stateside.

Dasvidaniya

Baby Home - Day 2

St. Isaac's Cathedral

Another long night...how can I be so exhausted and not be able to sleep? We finally went to bed at 10pm and woke up ~ 12:30am to call our boys. After that, I could not go back to sleep...I tossed and turned until 4 or 4:30am. I slept then until 7:30am. We got up and got dressed and had breakfast here at the hotel.

We met Tania at 8:45, and we went to the Baby Home by way of St. Petersburg Metro. Thank Goodness Tania was with us. She even had tokens ready. It was very overwhelming since nothing is in English. I am not sure that we would have been brave enough to try it out by ourselves.

This morning was a great visit. JC was in the floor playing with Emma the entire time. She loves manipulatives and blocks and she even played with a matroyshka doll for a while. I kept my distance today because I really wanted her to warm up to him, and he was very anxious to make a connection. We took her a doll and she wasn't very interested in it while we were playing. When it was time for her to leave, she stuck her lip out and was almost about to cry. That was very comforting that she didn't want to leave us, but then again it was heartbreaking to know that we will leave her tomorrow and not be back for at least two months we are being told.

After the first visit we walked to a large indoor mall. They have many stores from the states as well as France, the Netherlands, Italy and Russia. Inside, there is also a large area with pool tables (probably 100 in there) and a place to go roller blading and play laser tag. Also there is a bowling alley, a 10 theater cinema and a place called Crazy Park - which is very similar to Chuck E Ch**se's. We ate lunch inside Pizza Hut. It was its own restaurant inside the mall - much nicer than ours at home. We stayed there for a couple of hours talking and Tania translated three documents that we need to have notarized tomorrow.

We then went to a baby store in the mall to price car seats. When we go back to bring her home, we will buy her a seat on the plane as well. Any words of advice from anyone in this position before? Did you take your own car seat over and check it as baggage?

At 4pm we went back to the baby home, and she was still sleeping so we waited about five minutes, and they brought her in. She was very sleepy still. It took her about 15 minutes to really awaken. She let me hold her for a little bit while she was waking up. Then she started playing with the toys again and really smiling up at JC. The director came in and took her measurements for us so that we can maybe prepare for clothing sizes for her when we come back to bring her home. This morning we took some clothes to donate to the home. When they brought her back this afternoon, she had on a pair of pants that we had brought. They told us that she picked them out and that those would be hers. The others were taken to be "registered" with the director for use in the home. Those pants were a size 24 months, and they fit in the waist...they were about 1.5 inches too long though.

When they brought her back in this afternoon they brought her new doll and the blanket that we brought yesterday. They told us that at naptime, she placed the doll in the blanket and wrapped it up...how precious!!!

We asked if we could see her group's room, and they allowed us to go there and take photos. We found out that she drinks from a tea cup and eats from a bowl (all breakable). She feeds herself with a spoon. She also potties already, but they do put diapers on her when she sleeps and if they are outside.

While we were with her group, a different teacher told Tania that at lunch she said the word "PaPa" out of the blue. PaPa is the Russian term for dad or father. She also told us that they do not use this word with the children, and that she had only been told this word when we were with her yesterday and this morning. I'm not sure if that is all true, but it did bring a few tears to JC's eyes. I think we have the making of a Daddy's Girl!!!

We had to leave her with her group then after only an hour this afternoon. That was a little disappointing...so we went back to the metro station and Tania helped us get back to our station. She pointed out a common place to eat Russian pancakes or blini this morning and on the metro she wrote out our order for us in Russian. We braved this restaurant by ourselves and went in and had delicious pancakes. They are much thinner and more like crepes than our pancakes, and they were served with something that was very much like sweetened condensed milk - YUMMY!!! I found some Russian food that I love.

We are now back in our hotel and we are very tired. It is 8:15pm here. I may try to sleep a little since my schedule is so off track. JC is already laying down.

Busy day tomorrow...we are checking out at 8:45 and going for our first visit at the baby home. Then we will have 4 hours to eat lunch and go over some earlier court proceedings so that we will have an idea of what to expect. We go back for our last visit at 4pm. My heart is already aching thinking about it. After that visit we will go to the notary and then to eat and to the airport. We do not leave St Petersburg until 9:51pm and will arrive in Moscow around 11...we have called our hotel to let them know that we will be checking in extremely late - it will most likely be after midnight.

I will not get to post tomorrow since we will be gone all day. Hopefully I can post about tomorrow's visits on Saturday. We are going to try to do some more shopping and sight seeing on Saturday though since it will really be our only opportunity to do so.

Thanks again to all of you for your encouraging words and prayers...we need them more than ever. I can't believe I am leaving this child here who has already become one with my heart.

We Meet

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces."
—George Santayana

What a day!!! I soooooo want to post some photos to share our little princess with you!!! I will do so as soon as I can.

Today we met with our agency reps (husband and wife: Alex and Tania) at 8:30am. They drove us to city center, and we were able to walk around with Tania while Alex waited at the Ministry of Education for our appointment. We had to go there to sign papers and then to get permission to go and see our little girl. Yes, Barb, the lady there was very stoic!!! We must have passed inspection, though, because she granted our wish. While we were in the MOE, we randomly met another family there from Charlotte, NC - what are the odds?? The other couple waiting is from Italy!!!

After the MOE, we did not have time to drive to the baby home (which takes about an hour by car due to traffic). Tania again walked around with us pointing out historical places, and she took us inside St Isaac's Cathedral. At this point it was raining pretty heavily and very windy and chilly. We did not know this morning that we would be out walking. I had on dressy shoes and no jacket!

After St. Isaac's, we went to a souvenir market with Tania who helped to translate for us and get us a discount. The prices here are still expensive in my opinion. We were able to get a few things, but I am hoping to be able to find some places in Moscow. Apparently, the main market is really not safe in Moscow right now so we won't be going there.

We then had lunch with both Tania and Alex at a traditional Russian restaurant. They ordered for us, and let's just say that I am not much of a fan of the food. I'll leave it at that! :)

Since it was still pouring rain, we drove around while Tania was pointing out landmarks like the Peter and Paul Fortress, Vasilievsky Island, and the Summer Gardens. Thankfully, Alex was able to call the baby home and arrange for us to go there early.

We entered the baby home, and it was much like what you would envision. We were taken to a nice room with lots of NEW toys where we met with the director and the social worker. Apparently we answered the questions correctly as there really weren't many. We were prepared to be grilled about adopting. In the middle of a translation, the door opens and the caregiver brought Emma in the room, and I promise all the noise (3 ladies speaking in a foreign language) stopped. JC and I both had tears in our eyes...very surreal. She brought Emma to me instantly, and she let me hold her. She is very cuddly and very healthy. She was quite heavy - which is a blessing to me!!! She sat in my lap while we finished the Q&A. She did start to fuss, but as soon as I stood up and started rocking back and forth, she settled down. We brought her a blanket and little rattle today, and she kept those in her grasp the entire visit.

After answering questions and getting her medical from the director and social worker, we had about an hour just to spend time with Emma. We sat on the floor with her, and she played with some of the toys. She was always touching me though and she wanted me to hold her. I handed her to JC at the beginning, but she was NOT happy about that. There are no men who work in the baby home so she was a little frightened of him. That was a little heartbreaking; I know. She is very clever, and she figured out a game with a ball and a tunnel where you fit the ball through a small opening and it goes round and round until it comes out at the bottom. At first she just wanted to hold as many balls as possible with the blanket and rattle. We took many photos, and thanks to Tania we were able to get a few of all three of us.

After playing, she did become very sleepy, and she would lay her head back against my shoulder - what a nice feeling.

She is very precious! She did stand and start walking before her first birthday. She is described as full of joy and cheerful. She is medically healthy and has received some vaccines already. Two months ago she was moved out of a younger group because she is a little more advanced...all those things sounded like music to my ears!!!

What can I say??? We are already in love!!!

We have signed the papers saying that we want to proceed with the adoption, and Friday we have to go to the notary here to redo one power of attorney form.

We get to visit twice tomorrow and Friday. There were no trains available so we will be flying again...please say some prayers for us on Friday!!!

We are very tired again since we were up most of the night. We came back to our hotel tonight around 7pm and had trail mix and meal bars again for dinner.

Hopefully more to follow from our stay here! It is very exhausting and it is making us even more homesick. Being able to visit more Thursday and Friday will make it all worthwhile!

Thank you all for your kind comments, your positive thoughts and your prayers!!!

We Made It

We made it to Moscow on June 2nd around 10am Moscow time. The day was uneventful but very long. We had two layovers before boarding our flight at JFK. The sun never set during our flight over so we did not sleep more than an hour on the plane. We were extremely exhausted when we arrived. Just as planned, we had a driver waiting on us at the airport, and he drove us into the city to meet with the main agency representative - on the side of a major highway. We then went back to the airport in Moscow. They arranged for a domestic flight to St. Petersburg for us. We left Moscow at 3:15pm and arrived in St Petes about one hour later. Another driver was there waiting, and he brought us to our hotel and helped us get checked in. We are not close to the city center...it is a little further than we were hoping.

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a banana and coffee on the plane before landing in Moscow, and then we just ate trail mix and meal bars for lunch and dinner. By the time we made it to our hotel, we had been up for about 28 hours. We showered and then fell asleep. I am not sure about surrounding restaurants, and I am not feeling too adventuresome. The staff here speak perfect English, however, so we will ask for recommendations tomorrow.

JC awoke around 11pm our time and IM'ed a few friends. We are so thankful for wi-fi here. We did call and talk to our boys tonight. It brought tears to my eyes and made me realize just how far away we are from them...it's breaking my heart. We were able to set up a Skype account at the last minute so we have been able to call very inexpensively. That is a tremendous blessing...

JC is back asleep now. It is currently June 3rd at 2:11am our time. Of course I am wide awake and now I am constantly thinking about our meeting tomorrow. We have a very busy day. We start at 9am and end with our agency representative at 6pm. We do get to meet Emma tomorrow. I cannot wait!!! It feels so surreal. We do get to have two visits Wednesday and Thursday and one on Friday morning. I can't even describe my emotions right now. I guess you could equate it to knowing that you were going to have a C-section or be induced the next morning. I can't believe that we will get to meet a member of our family in less than 24 hours...just indescribable.

Thank you to all who have prayed for our safe journey. I won't lie and say that I wasn't scared to death to fly after hearing about the Air France flight just hours before taking off. Please keep the prayers coming. After calling home, I really feel very FAR away, and it is a little scary. We LOVE to travel, but I don't like feeling this far away from the boys.

More to come...