Adventures with Angelina . . . .

Reflections on our Adoption

2012-01-09T12:51:00.001-08:00

Greetings from our family to yours! Our Christmas holiday was sweet and special - for the first time ever we had a little princess running around the house, all caught up in the excitement of Christmas. We baked Christmas cookies, visited Santa (not the most positive experience) and simply delighted in watching our daughter's eyes light up over the lights and sparkle on the tree.

Angelina will be two the end of this month, and we are amazed how much she's grown and changed since we came home last March. I was recently reflecting about all we went through to adopt Angelina. All of the tests (how many tb tests must a person take?), paperwork, money spent, traveling and anxiety that we went through for the approx. 14 month long adoption process. While we were in the throws of the process, the adoption defined us; it was all we talked about and all we thought about. We shared what we were going through with everyone we met - regardless of whether that person wanted to know or not.

Now, only 10 short months later, that experience seems like a world away. The three of us are tight; we are indeed a family. When we meet people, or talk about our daughter, we no longer feel compelled to volunteer information about the journey we went on to become a family. And while we are extremely proud of how we became a family, and of our daughter's Russian heritage, we now feel it is no one's business but ours. I guess we are developing our own identity as a family; no longer singularly defined by our adoption experience. We are a family. Period. It is awesome.

I wonder how many of my fellow ap's feel the same way?

I hope my friends in the blogsphere (you know who you are) had a wonderful, blessed holiday. I read your blogs often, but for some reason, am no longer permitted by Blogger to leave comments on your blogs (OMG! HOW FRUSTRATING!). If any of you know how to overcome that problem, please - do tell!

Best wishes to you and yours for a blessed New Year,

Eric & Kathryn

Where Have We Been?

2011-09-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

Hello there!

You may have wondered we we've been; how we are doing and whether we will continue this blog. We are all doing well. We have simply been wrapped up in each other and embracing our new "identity" as a family of three. As for my hubby and me, well we are crazy-nuts-in love with our daughter, Angelina. We feel like we are the luckiest Mommy and Daddy in the world and cherish every single moment we have with her. We are so, so happy and grateful.

As for Angelina, she is doing great. She is 20 months old now and is on track developmentally. She is generally a happy baby and brings sweetness and joy to all who are with her (though like any pre-toddler, she does have her defiant moments). She has almost outgrown the urge to swat Mommy's face (see previous posts) - only happens every now and again - and has officially become "Daddy's girl". We feel we have room in our hearts and home for one more child, and are considering adopting a second child from Russia (a son!).

We will continue this blog, though my posts may be less frequent than before. I will post some new photos of Angelina - you won't believe how much she has grown in such a short time!

Hope all of our friends in the blogosphere are doing well!

Talk soon,
Kathryn :)

Trip #1 Video

2011-07-27T06:33:00.000-07:00

Remembering Trip #2

2011-06-27T04:48:00.000-07:00

We returned home from our first trip to Russia the last week of December and prayed for a quick court date. We ritually looked at the photos and videos from our first trip. Was this child really going to become our daughter and be here with us? The holidays came and went, and 2 1/2 months later we were given a less than one week notice of our court date. Things kicked into high gear. We scrambled to obtain visas, make travel arrangements, and get things squared away at our offices for a nearly month long absence. We packed smarter for ourselves and tried to anticipate what we would need for the nearly two weeks we would be with our baby in Russia. As first time parents, it was difficult to know what to bring.

Arriving in Russia for the second time felt great; it was so good to be back! We stayed at the same hotel as during our first trip, and ate at the same restaurants. The familiarity was comforting in the face of all the emotions that were swirling around in our heads. The next day, we went to visit Angelina. We were so nervous! Would she remember us (no, not really)? How has she changed from our first visit (not that much)? That night, our translator prepped us for court in the morning. We were expected to address the court about why we wanted to adopt Angelina and were provided with a bullet list of issues to be included in our speech. We stayed up late writing our speech, like a couple of college kids working on a paper at the midnight hour. Pure adrenaline.

Court was an emotional experience. We "plead our case" to the court, and the social worker, chief nurse from the baby home, and prosecutor all spoke in support of granting our petition to adopt Angelina. After the judge granted our petition, we held each other and wept in the court room. I will never forget that moment. From there, we went to visit our daughter. It was surreal.

According to Russian law, we had to wait 10 business days before we could officially sign Angelina out of the baby home. We decided to make the most out of this wait period and committed to having fun while overseas. We acted like tourists - we went sightseeing, saw an opera, dined at fancy restaurants and even hopped a train to nearby Latvia to see the land of my husband's ancestry (see our earlier posts about the details of these adventures). We visited Angelina nearly every day - save for our time in Latvia. We believed we had firm control over the transition that was taking place and there was nothing we couldn't handle. Ha!

Gotcha day finally came and things initially seemed to move along seamlessly, despite warnings from our agency to the contrary. As gotcha day moved into gotcha night, we realized our relief over Angelina's seemingly easy transition was premature. Angelina was clearly very distressed by the uprooting of her life. She cried - screamed - A LOT. The days and nights began to blur together as my husband and I handled the baby in shifts to allow the other person a bit of relief. It was utterly exhausting and - if I am being honest - I have never felt so pushed to the brink of my own sanity. It wasn't that we didn't love or care for our child, it was just we didn't know how to comfort her. She was so, so upset. The days and nights blurred together and sleep deprivation started to become a problem. That first week was really tough. I guess Angelina finally accepted the reality of the situation that yes, she was stuck with the two of us well-meaning, albeit novice, parents. Slowly, she came out of her funk and returned to the baby we had come to know and love. Throughout it all, we began to slowly evolve into a family.

Exhausted and ready to come home, the 3 of us traveled to Moscow to take care of the final bit of adoption related business (at the US Embassy), then onward to Orlando, Florida. The finish line was in sight! By that point, we were easily able to communicate with Angelina, even though she didn't understand English and we didn't speak Russian. Somehow, it all worked out.

We arrived home to Orlando on a Saturday night, covered in dried baby food and baby vomit and looking like we both rolled in a dumpster. We were parents! Our family met us at the airport. We were overjoyed to see them and proud to introduce our daughter, Angelina.

The next day, our families came from out of town for a quiet gathering to behold Angelina. Another day we will never forget.

Angelina has been with us for about 3 months now. We were told our lives would never be the same and that is indeed true. We are a pack of 3 now. A diaper bag full of baby snacks, a change of clothes, random toys and a spill-proof sippy cup is how we roll. We now know the words to all of the Wiggles songs and plan our weekends around Angelina's naps. We have settled into a comfortable life as a family, and we wouldn't change it for anything.

Remembering Trip #1

2011-06-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

Angelina is now 17 mos. old. - I can't believe how quickly she is growing! How much she has changed in the short 2 1/2 mos. we've been home! I find myself reflecting a lot these days on our time spent in Russia, with Angelina.

I remember the referral pictures we received. Angelina was bright-eyed and smiling, she looked like a cherub. In December, we arrived in Russia to meet her. A caretaker carried her out to us. She was wearing a red, velvet dress with a pink bow headband and light pink leather sandals. She looked so much smaller than in her pictures. I remember focusing in on the petite baby being carried out to us and thinking "Oh my goodness, is that her? She is so small!" The handed her to us and led us into an office, to become acquainted with Angelina. During the first few moments, we all just looked at each other. Angelina was 10 1/2 mos. old. She was inquisitive, just learning to walk, and very, very sweet. She wasn't interested in most of the toys we brought for her to play with; we were the focus of her attention. I remember feeling a bit bewildered - I didn't have any children, and frankly, wasn't sure where to begin to get to know this child. Angelina sat on my husband, Eric's lap. She began playing with the buttons on his shirt. She was so curious about those buttons! At that moment, I touched the fine, brown hair on her head. I just couldn't believe we were finally meeting the child we dreamed about for so long, the reason we went mad over paperwork and other requirements for the last year. She was real and we were together! From there, our love for each other took root. Each visit during that trip was better than the last. By our third and fourth visits, the 3 of us were in our own world; we were already becoming a family.

After our third visit, we informed our agency representative that yes, we wanted to adopt this child, Angelina. We knew she was the child we were meant to parent. The morning of our fourth visit, we met with the social worker at her office. She shared with us the details surrounding Angelina's biological family. I openly wept; it was just so sad. Then we signed the first of many Russian documents required in order to adopt Angelina and headed to the baby home to visit our baby for the last time on this trip. During that last visit, I held and kissed Angelina repeatedly. In my mind, I was "loading her up" with love and affection that I veinly hoped would sustain her until we returned.

That trip was nearly perfect; in fact it exceeded our expectations. We left Russia with hearts full of love for that child, wondering how we were going to bide our time as we waited for our court date.

I gaze at the child who is now our daughter, and am filled with a sense of gratitude beyond words. When I hear her stir in the morning, my heart skips a beat with the anticipation of seeing, holding, smelling my child. I no longer feel bewildered by this tiny person who now occupies so much of my world and my thoughts. And with each passing day, I become more assured of my position as "Mom" in Angelina's heart.

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took our first overnight trip as a family. We went to Ormond Beach, which is just north of Daytona Beach. Angelina had fun playing in the sand with her cousin Emily, and spending time with her Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mary. Angelina also tried ice cream cake for the first time (LOVED it) and met her great-grandmother. Today is Memorial Day, and we plan on doing the usual - having a quiet family day by the pool, where we will surely have fruit salad at some point in time.

To all my blogger friends who shared their tips about how to handle Angelina's eczema, a big THANK YOU! I am happy to report that - with your help - her eczema has cleared up and her soft, tender baby skin has returned. I followed your advice, and re-laundered her clothes and sheets in Dreft and changed her shampoo and skin products and wha-la! Her skin cleared up in a matter of 3-4 days! What a relief!

Hope you all are enjoying this Memorial Day weekend with your kiddos . . .

Talk soon,
Kathryn

Test Results and . . . Eczema?

2011-05-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well we received Angelina's test results. Everything looked A-Okay. Angelina has gained nearly two pounds - she now weighs just over 21 pounds - and has grown 3/4 inch since our last visit to the pediatrician, in early April. Amazing!

About 2 weeks ago, Angelina broke out in a kind of rash on her trunk (back/stomach & chest) and it is starting to creep up around her neck. The rash stops almost exactly at Angelina's diaper line around her waist, and it is not on her arms or legs. It is red and blotchy in some places and her tender skin now feels bumpy and rough. It is a dry rash. She didn't have it in Russia, or for the 1st month home and it doesn't seem to bother her in the least bit. The doctor told us it was eczema that was caused by either an allergy in the air or a chemical irritant, such as dye in fabric or chemicals used in detergent. The doctor also said it was very common in children Angelina's age and that is usually resolves itself prior to puberty.

Today I re-washed all of her clothes, sheets, etc. in Dreft and we are applying lotion regularly to the rash, which seems to calm it down a bit from being too red or inflamed.

So my question is: do any of you have any experience with eczema to share?

A Weekend of "Firsts"

2011-05-02T07:28:00.000-07:00

Another weekend spent by the pool, eating fruit salad (yes, I know; we are a predictable lot) EXCEPT that this time, as we were pointing at our facial features (our usual game), our little Angelina took her finger, pointed at her eye, and said "EYE!"

Huh? We were dumb founded! My husband and I just froze, and I am sure our mouths must have been hanging open (at least mine was). I would have thought it was just a lucky babble, except she did it again during bath time. Of course, she hasn't said it since, despite all of my coaxing.

Another first that occurred this weekend was that Angelina learned toilet paper is on a roll, and if one pulls it ever-so-gently, a full roll can actually go quite far throughout the rest of the house (note to self: keep all bathroom doors CLOSED!).

For better or worse, she never ceases to surprise us! :)

Easter Chick

2011-04-27T18:53:00.001-07:00

Easter morning we went to church, followed by having our families over for Easter dinner. Angelina had so much fun playing with her Aunties, Grandma and Grandpa. Posted are pics of Angelina with her Aunt Lori, and the three of us.

Quick Update

2011-04-26T08:35:00.001-07:00

Greetings!

Just a quick update to let you know how life is for our new family. Angelina continues to settle in nicely to her new life (as do we). She is still sleeping through the night and takes 2 two-hour naps each day. Her appetite is good (she weighs just under 21 pounds), except now she will not just eat anything we feed her, like she did while in Russia, and for a short time thereafter. We know that this good, as it means she is probably getting the nutrition she needs, but it has made for more challenging meal times. What she loves one day will become her most hated food the next.

As for language development, Angelina now says "mama", "mom" and "mmmmm" in addition to the endless variations of "dada". She also can say "LLLLLLL". She babbles endlessly, but no actual words yet. She does, however, understand many of the words for common items (banana, brush, toothbrush, baby, eyes, nose, mouth, Dada, Mama (only sometimes), and bow), as she will point to them when you say the word. She also understands some simple phrases (brush your teeth, brush your hair, wipe your mouth, open your mouth) which she will do - or mimic doing - when you say the phrase. The only negative behavior we are dealing with is that she sometimes wants to hit Mommy (lucky me!) in the face, or scratch Mommy in the face (those baby nails are SHARP!). We try to explain that we only use gentle hands in our house, but I don't think she gets it because her very next move is - you guessed it - a swat to Mommy's face. When we try to put it in "baby terms" - "No hit Mommy!" - she stops hitting me but then starts hitting herself in the face. Ugh! Anybody else have this kind of problem?

Notwithstanding the swats to Mommy's face, Angelina is a delightful girl who has already brought us such happiness in such a short time. We simply adore her.

Friday Angelina is having her post-adoption tests done. Once we are sure she is not nutritionally deficient, we will begin administering those vaccines she is lacking (as compared with completely re-vaccinating her; which we have read may have serious adverse consequences). Hopefully, everything will check out fine.

Posted are pics from this past weekend, spent "swimming" and enjoying fruit salad with Mommy & Daddy. Soon to come will be pics from our Easter holiday. Enjoy!

We're Not in Russia Anymore!

2011-04-11T17:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend was a beautiful, sunny, 90-ish degree day - a perfect day to go swimming! So we slathered our little Angel up with SPF 100, donned some sunglasses and a sun hat and took a dip in the pool to cool off. After our swim, Angelina had some fruit salad (one of her favorites) with Daddy on the deck.

As far as adjusting to her new life, Angelina is doing very well (as are we). She has a healthy appetite, sleeps through the night, and even enjoys bath time! She likes "brushing her teeth" and loves making "cell phone calls" with her toy phone, which she promptly affixes to the BACK of her head and then starts babbling. This week I brought her to Publix with me. She hammed it up for the ladies at the deli, waved at the people we passed in the aisle and played peek-a-boo with the cashier. We feel like our little munchkin has always been with us, even though it has only been 3 short weeks since we were a brand new family, in Russia. In fact, it is hard sometimes to even fathom that our daughter, Angelina, came to us all the way from Baby Home 16 in St. Petersburg, Russia. What an amazing trip!

Greetings from Florida!

2011-04-04T04:46:00.000-07:00

At long last, we arrived home last Saturday and have happily been settling into a routine as a family. Now that we are home, and things are in fact going well for us, I want to readdress our time in Russia, following Gotcha Day. I know in my previous posts I reported how well Angelina was doing following Gotcha Day. That is not entirely accurate. Gotcha day did go well, in that Angelina didn't seem to notice or mind leaving the baby home and being with us. In the days that followed, however, it became clear to us that she was indeed going through some kind of trauma as a result of leaving the baby home. While she had moments of "happiness" that we clung to (and I blogged about), the majority of our days were spent trying to comfort an inconsolable baby. She wailed almost around the clock, except when she was eating or had cried herself to sleep. She cried over everything that we did; the only thing that was acceptable to her was when we held her, while standing (no sitting or laying down allowed), and rocked her. She would wake up screaming and we couldn't seem to comfort her. It was so, so different from the girl we thought we knew. We became utterly exhausted, worn out, and were frankly bewildered. At one point, after about 6 days of this behavior, while Angelina was having another nuclear meltdown, we just looked at each other and asked "what have we done?" We were at a total loss as to how to handle this child.

Then, as if she sensed our despair, something shifted in Angelina. Her frantic, constant crying subsided and she slowly became the happy, calm girl we always believed her to be; that we had come to know through our time with her. Truly, it was a huge relief. Of course, we will never really know what that behavior was all about. We suspect it was Angelina's way of grieving for the loss of life as she knew it (although if given a choice now, we think she would never want to go back!). Anyway, I thought it was important to share what we went through with all of you, in case any of you go through a similar experience with your child in the days following gotcha day. Those days were very dark and very, very hard. It broke our hearts to see Angelina so, so upset and be unable to comfort her.

I am happy to report that since then, things have only gone up for us as a family. We are developing our daily routines and have been slowly putting ourselves back together again after such a long time overseas.

On a separate note, we want to say a huge "THANK YOU" to all of our friends in the blogosphere. :) The support, helpful advice, encouragement and friendship we received from all of you during our adoption journey really helped this "foreign experience" not be so foreign to us. It made all the difference!

And lastly (for now), please, please, please heed my advice and DO NOT DRINK THE TAP WATER in Russia! Yours truly broke that golden rule and as a result battled Stalin's revenge during the last part of our trip - ugh!

Have a great day!

Kathryn

2011-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

We are alive and well and adjusting to life as a family of three! Angelina has been a very happy baby and we are so grateful for that! Angelina likes to be cuddled, have her hair brushed, eat (A LOT!), examine common household items (wrappers, labels, lotion bottles, paper, etc.), have her diaper changed and love, love loves to look at herself in the mirror (her all time favorite). Her dislikes are going down for a nap/bedtime (who wants to sleep when there is so much fun to be had?), and having a bath (although she loves feeling clean; makes her very cuddlely). Overall, she is adjusting well to her new life with us. As for us, we are adjusting as well. As first-time parents, we are getting a crash course on life with an active 14 mos. old. Who needs working out when you have a baby to chase around the hotel room all day? We are indeed thoroughly exhausted, but are also having the time of our lives with our little girl. She is awesome! Tomorrow we are heading out on the town, as a family of three. It will be our first outing together, aside from adoption related business (having passport photos taken, etc.). We will post pictures tomorrow of our adventures in St. Pete.

Good night,

Eric, Kathryn & Angelina

XXOO

Gotcha!

2011-03-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

Today we met our facilitator bright and early. First stop: City Hall, where they prepared a new birth certificate and changed the city records to reflect us as Angelina's parents and setting forth her new name. As they read the record to us, we couldn't help but become teary. It was an emotional moment.
Next stop: Baby Home #16, to pick up our girl! We met with the chief nurse while they changed Angelina into the clothes we brought for her. The chief nurse shared with us Angelina's feeding schedule and daily routines. As we were talking with the chief nurse, they brought our peanut into the room. She was adorable!
She initally shed some tears, but we held her and slowly rocked her and the tears disappeared right away. From there it was smooth sailing . . . . we bundled her up in her puffy snowsuit, hat and scarf and Daddy carried our little sausage over the threshold and into her new life with us, as a family of three. :)

When we arrived at the hotel room, and peeled Angelina's cold weather gear off of her, she seemed immediately at home in our hotel room. She was so, so happy! Just all smiles and rolley-polley. It was great! We rolled around on the bed, tickling her and we all just loved on each other (see picture, above). When we finally wound down, it was time to eat so we gave it a go and . . . she inhaled everything! We gave her a second helping and another bottle and just had to cut her off for fear she would pop! She is starving! After the feeding frenzy, we all laid down on the bed, with Angelina between us. She finally pooped out and is now sleeping. For a while, we both just watched her and couldn't help but feel overcome with love for this child. So much love, already.
She doesn't seem traumatized or upset in the least bit. In fact, she seems to be really enjoying herself, which is a huge relief to us.

That's all for now. We'll post more pics of our sweet girl tomorrow.

Good night,
Eric, Kathryn & Angelina
XXOO

Twas the Night Before Gotcha Day . . .

2011-03-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the last visit with Angelina where we had to give her back after playing together for an hour . . . tomorrow is Gotcha Day! We are excited, ready and a bit nervous as well. Today we were prepped by our agency about what may happen in the days following gotcha day. They said it is common for a child to cry a lot, have diahrea, and even run a fever. They said it is basically a traumatic event for a child to be removed from the only life she has ever known and to expect her to react accordingly. This, of course, was a bit distressing to hear. It is hard as parents to imagine our daughter going through such stress and trauma, knowing there will probably be little we can do to comfort her, except to help her ride it out. We expect the days following gotcha day will be very hard for our daughter, as she so clearly adores the caregivers who love on her and care for her on a daily basis. Of course, we know that ultimately, it is in her best interest to be with us, as a family, and that she will have a wonderful life full of love and opportunity. But in the very short term, we fear it may be hard on our little one making such an adjustment.

Please keep us - especially Angelina - in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow and the days that follow.

Good night,
Eric & Kathryn

Sightseeing!

2011-03-12T07:39:00.000-08:00

No baby home visits allowed on the weekend (boo!) so we decided to set out and do some sightseeing. Today we went to the Peter and Paul Fortress (shown above, along with a picture of a bridge over the Neva River). The fortress was the first building in St. Petersburg. In the cathedral, are the entombed bodies of Nicholas II and his family and their servants - who were all executed by the Bolsheviks while in exile in Ekaterinburg. Also entombed in the cathedral were other Russian dignitaries. The cathedral was spectacular, with ornate gold carvings and equisite crystal chandeliers. Tomorrow we going to check out a museum but haven't decided whether it will be the Hermitage or the Russian Museum.

We are having fun exploring the city of our daughter's birth!

Note: my spell check is not working. Sorry!

Back in Russia!

2011-03-11T00:07:00.000-08:00

Latvia was a lot of fun, but it feels great to be back in Russia. Although we had fun on the train and felt like a couple of college kids traveling from country to country, we decided to forego that experience for a second time and instead booked a flight back to St. Petersburg (thank goodness!). When we returned to our hotel - The Petro Palace - in St. Pete, we were greeted with a complimentary "adoption upgrade" to a gorgeous suite with a balcony that overlooks the city. The suite is so nice and spacious, it will make life with Angelina for the next 1 1/2 weeks much more comfortable. We even have our own fluffy white robes and slippers! We feel like the King and Queen of St. Petersburg! The best part, however, is the crib in the room, which in only four more days will be filled! Hurray!

Yesterday we had a good visit with Angelina. She is such a little lovebug! We were brushing her hair and rubbing her back - she just loves being pampered! Mostly we are either helping Angelina practice her walking or we all just lay around and give kisses to each other. Pure heaven! We will visit her again this afternoon, and once again on Monday. Tuesday is Gotcha Day, and we are counting down the days.

Last night we went to the Mariinski Theatre and saw the opera Rigoletto. It was awesome! The theatre itself is magnificent and the opera was equally as good. The pictures just don't do justice to how grand the theatre is. What an evening! We are going to try to score some tickets to the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which is playing this weekend. Posted are pictures of the Old Town in Riga, Latvia as well as pictures from the theatre.

That's all!
Eric & Kathryn

From Latvia with Love

2011-03-05T01:29:00.000-08:00

Greeting from Riga, Latvia!

Because we cannot visit with Angelina during weekend, we decided to hop the overnight train and head to Riga, Latvia - where Eric's grandfather was born - for the weekend. The train was quite an experience. The coach was very old, we guessed at least 50 years old, and very simple (see pictures and videos), but extremely clean. Once we got used to our new surroundings, and made friends with the one English-speaking Russian on board -Larisa- it became much more comfortable. At around 3:30 a.m., we were awoken by customs officials demanding our passport, and about 45 minutes later, by the Latvian officials also wanting to see our passports. Although it was a fun, different experience, we are glad to trade in our bunks for a real bed at our hotel in beautiful Riga. The hotel is lovely; with a Scandinavian feel. We are relaxing right now in our room and are planning a night out on the town tonight. Larisa (our train bunk-mate) frequently travels to Latvia with her husband, so she is very familiar with the best places to eat, shop and visit in town and was kind enough to share this information with us. Thank you, Larisa!

We know we will enjoy ourselves this weekend and it will help the time pass until we can see our precious Angelina again.

That's all!

Eric & Kathryn

It's Official!

2011-03-03T02:19:00.000-08:00

Today we officially became Angelina's parents! Court lasted about an hour. The whole experience was very positive, and emotional (notice my puffy face!). First I spoke before the court, for about 15 minutes, then Eric addressed the court. Then the baby home representative, social worker, and prosecutor addressed the court and gave their recommendations that we be declared Angelina's parents.

After a very, VERY, short deliberation, the judge returned and declared that we are now Angelina's legal parents. It was an overwhelming, awesome moment! Tomorrow we get to visit OUR DAUGHTER, ANGELINA. We sign her out of the baby home on March 15th, and begin the final leg of this journey together, as a family of three. We feel incredibly blessed and are very thankful that Russia allowed us to adopt this precious child!

Great Day!

2011-03-02T02:51:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day for two reasons: the first was of course reuniting with our daughter, Baby A. She was a little congested today, and as a result was a bit more snuggly and less active than prior visits. By the end of our visit, we had warmed to each other all over again, just in time to say goodbye for the day (boo!). Tomorrow we have court at 11:00 a.m. and hopefully another visit afterwards. Tonight we are meeting with our facilitator to prepare for court. We can hardly wait until Baby A is officially in our arms . . .

The other great part of the day was (you've probably already guessed) Eric's suitcase was located and is on its way to the hotel! Hurray! No emergency shopping necessary! We are going out to our favorite restaurant here for dinner tonight and hope to be able to get some much needed sleep so we are rested and ready to go tomorrow.

That's all!
Eric & Kathryn

We Made It . . . .

2011-03-01T10:46:00.000-08:00

but Eric's luggage didn't! They are tracking the bag and we are fairly certain it will turn up while we are here (bummer!).

Otherwise, everything is good. We are relaxing at the lounge in our hotel - we are exhausted from our trip & the stress of losing our luggage. Tomorrow morning we will be reunited with our girl! It has been over two months since we have seen her and we are looking forward to seeing how she's grown in that short time. We have court on Thursday at 11:00 a.m. We may try to shop tomorrow afternoon, after our visit with Baby A, to pick Eric up a nice shirt or sweater to wear for court, assuming the luggage is not delivered in time. Right now, he only has the clothes on his back, which consists of a short sleeved shirt (we traveled from sunny, warm Florida), jeans and loafers. It will all work out, one way or another.

That's all for now; we'll keep in touch.

We Have Our Court Date!

2011-02-22T05:02:00.000-08:00

We awoke this morning to find out that we have officially received our court date . . . March 3rd! We will arrive in St. Petersburg on the 1st and reunite with our precious daughter on March 2nd! We are over-the-moon excited and are now in "crunch mode" to get ready for our departure. We are thrilled!

Our Dearest Baby "A": Mommy and Daddy are on our way; we will be together again soon!

Holding Steady

2011-01-30T14:04:00.001-08:00

We were hoping for an early February court date, but instead have a tentative court date for the end of February, provided nothing unexpected pops up. We realize it is not really that long to have to wait for a court date, all things considered. In all, our process has moved along quite well and we have no complaints.

We go back and forth about whether we will remain in country for the wait period, or come home and make a third trip to Russia. As of now, we are planning to stay in country (yes, yes, I know . . . that's not what I said in an earlier post . . . ). Since we thought we would have an earlier court date, I had already started packing, filling out most everything on our visa applications, and creating my travel checklists (ref. Doug & Shelly's blog). I also packed for our daughter, which I found to be a lot of fun, yet surprisingly, nerve wracking. What exactly DO you pack for a child so young? Since it now appears that we will not be leaving for at least 2 weeks, however, I feel I can relax just a little bit and give the matter more thought. In any event, it will be fun reading about my fellow bloggers' adventures as they recount their (rapidly approaching) day(s) in court on their own blogs.

The following may sound mushy, but I just have to say it . . . sometimes I just step back and marvel at the incredible journey my husband and I are on - the people we have met, where we have traveled and the amazing child that will be our daughter. I also read about the similar journeys other couples are on as they create or add to their own families through Russian adoption. It all fills me with a profound sense of awe and deep gratitude for the blessing of Russian adoption; how lucky and blessed we all are to be on this journey to our children. Wouldn't you agree?

That's all.

Kathryn

Wow!

2011-01-17T03:59:00.000-08:00

This week our family and friends threw us two baby showers! It was so much fun to celebrate our daughter's upcoming arrival with such special people! Both showers were AWESOME! We felt like we were in a dream!

We now sit in our daughter's room and can't believe all of the clothes, toys, necessities and other goodies she has waiting for her. We are overwhelmed and so grateful.

A special "thank you" to Judy, (Grandma) Mom, (Aunt) Mary, (Aunt) Lori, and (cousin) Emily for all of the effort and love they poured into organizing our showers and making each one so magical and memorable! How blessed we are to have such friends and family waiting to love our daughter along with us! Thank you!

Brief Update

2011-01-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Today we assembled our daughter's crib! Her room is nearly finished . . . all that's needed is her!

If you are wondering where we are in this process, we are now simply waiting to be notified of our court date, which we anticipate to be within the next 4-6 weeks (hopefully). Once we receive a court date, we will have approx. 1 week to make our travel arrangements to go back to Russia. We will stay in St. Petersburg for a few days (to attend court and of course, visit with our little girl), and then return home for about one week (there is a full 2 week wait-period after court before the adoption is considered "final"). We then go back to Russia, pick up our daughter (hurray!)and the 3 of us will go to Moscow, where we will remain for about one week (doing adoption related business). After that, we can finally come HOME and begin our lives as a family of three!

Fingers crossed that our court date comes SOON!

Happy New Year,
Kathryn

YES!

2010-12-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

We signed the papers to officially adopt our sweet little girl! Today is our last full day here, and though we miss her already, we know she is receiving very good care at her baby home and that comforts us. We also know we will be back soon to bring her home forever, and that sustains us. We have had a great experience in St. Petersburg. We have enjoyed the people, the culture, and most of all, our little girl. Posted are photos of the inside of Church of the Spilled Blood.

Heaven

2010-12-15T00:59:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was a busy day for us! We started the day with a 9 doctor exam. What a pleasant experience that was! Our afternoon with Our Baby was even better than yesterday. The 3 of us enjoyed each other immensly; we feel like a family already!

We are looking forward to our next visit with her and are thoroughly enjoying ourselves. We have posted some photos of the Church of Spilled Blood and also us at the Euromed Clinic. Enjoy!

We Aren't in Kansas Anymore . . . .

2010-12-13T09:12:00.000-08:00

After 16 long hours of air travel, we finally made it! It is cold and beautiful here in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It has been snowing lightly ever since we arrived, which has only added to the beauty and charm of the city and the sense of magic and awe that we feel. We have been running on adrenaline for most of the journey and so far, our journey as been perfect! Today, we met with the Committee, and officially received our referral. We then traveled to the Baby Home and met The Sweetest Child in the World! In the matter of a couple of short hours, we lost our hearts to an innocent, sweet baby girl whose heart is filled with love and joy. She is perfect.

We will be spending time with her each day for the rest of our stay here, and we are so looking forward to that. We were surprised at how she is very nearly walking on her own, and expect she will be able to do so without any help soon. She is a smart cookie, and utterly delightful. We are in Heaven!

The city of St. Petersburg is beautiful and intriguing. Today, we visited St. Isaac's Cathedral (photos posted here). Russia is truly a beautiful country!

Until tomorrow,
Kathryn & Eric

3-2-1 . . . Russia, Here We Come!

2010-12-09T10:51:00.000-08:00

And so it begins! Tomorrow morning we will be on our way to Orlando International Airport where the first leg of our journey launches. We will arrive in Russia early Sunday morning. We are so excited about this trip, we have hardly slept all week. Hopefully, that will amount to us getting some needed shut eye on the longest leg of the flight. We are nearly packed; just a few last minute items (snacks, dvd movies to watch during down time, chapstick, etc.). Our next post will come to you from Russia!

Our Dearest Baby: Momma and Pappa are on our way; we will be together soon!

Six Days to Departure!

2010-12-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

We are officially in countdown mode! In only six short days, we will be on our way to Russia. In fact, this time next week, we will be in our hotel in Russia, getting ready for the week we have been waiting for and working towards all year. We are getting closer!

Is This Really Happening?

2010-11-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

The days following our learning about a possible referral have felt like a dream. We wander around the house with equal parts excitement, disbelief, and panic. For reasons we cannot post on this blog, we will be traveling to Russia early next month, which gives us a bit more time than most PAPs to prepare. To that end, my hubby is diligently working on our airfare and hotel reservations, as well as the visa applications (my hero!). I am responsible for scheduling TB test and blood work re-dos (results need to be within one month of our visit) and packing. Together, we make a perfect team!

Now, when we enter the room we've prepared for our child, it feels different. I can't explain it because I don't entirely know why it is so. Everything feels different. We really are on a journey that will change us forever; it already has.

p.s. We'd love to hear suggestions from others who have made this trip!

WE GOT "THE CALL"!

2010-11-13T04:55:00.000-08:00

It's true! Yesterday we received "The Call" telling us we may have a referral if we travel to Russia to meet with the Committee (only the Committee can provide a referral, and that is not done until you meet with the Committee, in Russia)! Here's how it happened . . .

I was on my lunch hour, shopping for shoes (a favorite past time of mine) when my cell phone started to ring. Barefoot and about to slip on the "new shoes" I glanced at the caller id - it wasn't a number I'm familiar with. Who could it be? Then it hit me . . . OMG! Could it be . . . "The Call" we've been waiting for? Is this the day? YES! YES! YES! The world around me seemed to slip away as our agency told me we may soon have our referral if we choose to travel Russia to meet with the Committee. I raced to my hubby's office and shared the news with him. Overwhelmed with emotion, we held each other and cried. From there, the rest of the day and into the night, seemed like a dream to us both. Is this really happening? Is the dream of our hearts really, finally starting to coming true? Yes, it is!

Now it's time to get ready for Russia! We are so excited!

Nest! Nest! Nest!

2010-09-28T04:50:00.000-07:00

We have officially gone into "nesting" mode while we wait! It started with preparing our daughter's room for her (eventual) arrival - so exciting! - and quickly moved on to every unfinished project in every room of our home. We have never been so motivated to get things done, and our home has never been so organized!

We share the news of this adoption with everyone we encounter - colleagues, neighbors, and strangers alike. We are so filled with joy about this event that we want to share the news with everyone we meet!

And so while we wait - to pass the time - we are preparing our home for our daughter, preparing for our trip to Russia, and preparing to (finally) meet our precious child. In short, we are over-the-moon excited about this adoption and WE ARE READY to become parents!

Eyes Wide Open

2010-08-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

It is said that adoption is a leap of faith. But then, that is how it is with all things in life, isn't it? Still, it would be foolish to undertake such an important responsibility as parenthood without doing all we could to ensure we are as prepared as possible for our daughter. To that end, we have secured the services of Dr. Laurie Miller, of Tufts Floating Hospital for Children, to assist us with the evaluation of the child referred to us for adoption. Dr. Miller specializes in international adoptive medicine and has published an invaluable handbook by the same name. She was also highly recommended to us by our adoption agency (Florence Crittenton League) as well as fellow adoptive parents (our life line during this process!). While we certainly are not seeking "perfection" - indeed no person is perfect - like any expecting parents, we hope and pray that our child will be healthy. Fortunately, we will have Dr. Miller and her staff to assist us with making that determination (thanks, Mom & Dad!).

And the wait continues . . .

Why Adoption? Why Russia?

2010-08-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Why adoption?
As many of you are aware, we tried unsuccessfully for several years to start our family. When it didn't "just happen naturally" we enlisted the help of specialists. They examined both of us, administered various tests, prescribed pills, shots, blood tests and various invasive procedures, all to no avail. Amid the blurrying number of doctor visits in any given month, it became easy to lose sight of what it really was that our hearts desired. We spent our time plotting our lives around the monthly calendar cycle. It became too much. And then we had an epiphany: it really wasn't about becoming pregnant. Rather, it was about being parents. About having the opportunity and responsibility of molding an innocent, precious child into a fulfilled adult. About showing a child the beauty and possibility that exists in this amazing world and helping her realize and reach her full potential in life. That is what it is about. And in realizing that, the choice to pursue adoption was simple. It was the right choice for us.

Why Russia?
Once we knew we wanted to adopt, the next question was from where? We decided early on that we wanted to adopt internationally. After much research and discussion,and factoring in our Eastern European heritage, we concluded that the child we are meant to parent awaits us in Russia. More to the point, we felt compelled to adopt from Russia. Initially, that our daughter was from Russia was a huge thing (and it still somewhat is). As we move further along in this process however, we can honestly say that it is less about where she is from (her birth country) and all about her. She was born to be our daughter, she just happened to be born in Russia.

That being said, adopting from Russia is no simple task. We spent the better part of five months collecting the myriad of documents required: A home study report providing an overview of who we are and how we live our lives, documents confirming where we reside and where we work, tests to prove that we are free from cancer, substance abuse, mental illness, tb, and other blood diseases and a letter confirming same. Documents proving we are who we say we are, we are married to each other, we are not criminals, we pay our taxes, our house is as we say it is and our daughter will be able to enter the country as a U.S. citizen. All of these documents were notarized and apostilled (see picture above) and shipped off to Russia in April 2010.

Now we are waiting. Waiting to be notified that we have finally been matched to a child. Waiting to be invited to Russia to meet her. So far, the waiting is the hardest part . . .

First Entry

2010-07-31T12:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

We set up this blog so that You, our beloved Family and Friends (and others interested in Russian adoption), can follow along with us as we embark on the most exciting adventure of our lives - our international journey to parenthood! Thanks for visiting and stay tuned . . .