I'm not very good at this.

I'm getting crabby. Our home study was supposed to be done two weeks ago. We're still waiting for a copy to be sent. Until that comes, we can't send our paperwork for review to our caseworker. Until she reviews our paperwork we can't get it apostilled. Who has ever heard of an apostille? Until we get it apostilled we can't send it in for translation. I'm sure you get where I'm going with this. I know this is every day business for these people, but don't they understand I'm really anxious to at least get the papers to Russia? I guess not. We met a couple in our classroom training a few weeks ago. They just got their court date for Trip #2. They travel on April 5th to pick up their son. Its so nice to hear of other couples stories and how they are working out. The adoption forum that Adoption Ark set up is really helpful. It keeps me in touch with a lot of other people and has helped us already understand a little bit more every day of what to expect, what international doctor to use, what hotel to stay in, where to eat, russian phrases, the issues we'll face when we finally bring our child home... It's like your own support group. Well hopefully the next time I post our papers will at least be on their way to Adoption Ark! Keep your fingers crossed!!!

My Nephew

Last weekend I went out to Sandwich and went to a craft fair with my Mom, sisters and nephew Rylan. He loved the craft fair! My sister Leslie put him in one of those baby carrier things and he was so happy. I had to add a picture of him to my blog b/c he is so darn cute! Of course we love you too Les.

Still Waiting...

It's been a little while since we posted, I wish I had more news... I'm updating this for my friend Katie whom I love for caring so much about our bumpy journey. :) We attended our training class last Saturday up in Buffalo Grove. It was the last step we had to take for our home study. It was great meeting other couples who are going through what we are. One of the couples had already traveled to Russia for their first trip to meet their son. We learned a lot from them about what to expect in the orphanage, when meeting our coordinator, how their son reacted to them, the gifts you're supposed to bring with you, the restaurants... Two of the couples are adopting from Ethiopa, one lady from Kyrgastan and one couple is undecided. We are waiting now for our homestudy to be written and signed off on by the agency director. I'm getting a little antsy as we really want to get our dossier over to Russia. We are blessed that its moving as quickly as it has been. Most home studies take between 3-4 months. We started ours in the middle of January, so we're doing pretty well! On a good note, Adoption Ark has started receiving invitations for families to travel again. I think 4 or 5 last week, so things are starting to move over there. That is good news for us! More news to come soon I hope!