We've been very busy the last few days! Finally booked our flights to Moscow and back & forth to Siberia. Jason and I decided it would be best for us to head back to Moscow after the court date to wait out the 10-day waiting period. We've rented an apartment in Moscow for that leg of the trip and another apartment for the 2nd trip back to Moscow after we pick up Maks! Mom and Dad are going to be flying in the day before we head back to Kemerovo. One day Maks will understand how much his Grandma loves him. I can't believe we are getting her to fly to Siberia in the dead of winter! My Mom is perpetually freezing, even when she's in Florida! Good job Maks! :) Mom & Dad came up yesterday to help us remove some of our not-so-kid-friendly tables out of the house. We went shopping and got them some Siberia-capable winter coats.
Sandra and I have been talking nearly every day trying to keep each other's heads on straight. The paperwork and trip planning can be very confusing! Luckily if one of us misses something, the other seems to catch it! Thanks Sandra! (if you read this) I'm not complaining though! We are really excited and just want to make sure we don't miss something.
I watched the video we have of Maks again yesterday. I love to see his little walk. He walks like an umpa-loompa. My favorite part of the video is when Jason is throwing him up in the air and he's giggling. The best noise ever. I can't believe I'll get to see him in 2 weeks (we hope!) and have him with us in 3 1/2 weeks!!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
WE GOT THE CALL!!!!!
Here's the summary of one of the best days of my life (so far)...
I was getting ready to fly back home after being in Detroit for 2 days for work. I was running late to the plane and had been trying to get ahold of Jason to say goodbye and I love you (just like I do every time I'm getting on a plane). I had put my phone in my coat pocket just in case he called back while I was boarding the plane. Just as Southwest was about to call my "A group" I felt my phone ringing. Even though I have been checking my phone every 10 minutes for the past three weeks (really, that is NOT an exaggeration) this one time I didn't expect it to be anyone except my husband.
So IMAGINE my surprise when "Adoption Ark" flashed on the screen. When I answered, Anna said the 6 little words I have been praying for every day "I have some news for you!" and then the 5 best words I have ever heard, "We have your court date!!!!!" The coordinator in Kemerovo received our letter from Moscow yesterday and scheduled our court date for February 15th!!! We leave for Moscow on the 10th- 2 weeks from today!!!
Poor Anna (I think I've said that 200 hundred times on this blog), I could barely get through the conversation, I was standing in that Southwest line with everyone looking at me like I was crazy, crying like a blubbering fool! She asked me twice if I was okay, and I finally managed a "yes". She asked if it was a happy yes, and I said "YES!" :) I was SO excited to find out that we were also going to be traveling with our Trip 1 buddies, Sandra 1 & Sandra 2. EVEN BETTER!
Right before the plane took off I was finally able to reach Jason and tell him the news. We are both so excited! I also had to call Sandra right away! We had been on the phone the night before lamenting about our long wait and hoping together that we would hear soon. As you can imagine, she is as excited as we are! I tried to get ahold of my Mom and Dad, who turned out to be on a plane home from Florida. I talked to Grandpa Johnson, told him the news, found out that Mom and Dad were on a plane and then had to turn my phone off. Thank goodness it was a short flight, I was so excited to call my friends and family!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this to come sooner rather than later. Please keep praying for us and for Maks. We are starting a crazy journey that will start with a flight to Moscow and last the rest of our lives.
Here is the breakdown for all of those who would like to know...
Feb 10th- Leave for Moscow
Feb 11th- Arrive in Moscow- Go to Hotel
Feb 12th- 8 Medical Doctor Visit- all day for Jason & I in Moscow
Feb 13th- Leave for Kemerovo
Feb 14th- Arrive in Kemerovo- Go to Hotel
Feb 15th- COURT DAY!
Feb 16th- Not Sure-Hopefully to the Baby Home to see Maks again!
Feb 17th- Heading back to Moscow to wait out the mandatory 10 day wait
Feb 24th- Return to Kemerovo (overnight flight)
Feb 25th- Arrive in Kemerovo and hopefully go see Maks again!
Feb 26th- GO TO PICK UP OUR SON! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 1st- Paperwork day in Kemerovo
Mar 2nd- Leave for Moscow, arrive and go to hotel/apartment
Mar 3rd-Mar 9th- Appointments for Maks in Moscow
Mar 10th- HOME TO CHICAGO!
They really aren't waiving the 10 day waiting period anymore but it won't hurt for everyone to pray that it could happen! Of course we will update our trip from Russia, so stay tuned!!!!
I was getting ready to fly back home after being in Detroit for 2 days for work. I was running late to the plane and had been trying to get ahold of Jason to say goodbye and I love you (just like I do every time I'm getting on a plane). I had put my phone in my coat pocket just in case he called back while I was boarding the plane. Just as Southwest was about to call my "A group" I felt my phone ringing. Even though I have been checking my phone every 10 minutes for the past three weeks (really, that is NOT an exaggeration) this one time I didn't expect it to be anyone except my husband.
So IMAGINE my surprise when "Adoption Ark" flashed on the screen. When I answered, Anna said the 6 little words I have been praying for every day "I have some news for you!" and then the 5 best words I have ever heard, "We have your court date!!!!!" The coordinator in Kemerovo received our letter from Moscow yesterday and scheduled our court date for February 15th!!! We leave for Moscow on the 10th- 2 weeks from today!!!
Poor Anna (I think I've said that 200 hundred times on this blog), I could barely get through the conversation, I was standing in that Southwest line with everyone looking at me like I was crazy, crying like a blubbering fool! She asked me twice if I was okay, and I finally managed a "yes". She asked if it was a happy yes, and I said "YES!" :) I was SO excited to find out that we were also going to be traveling with our Trip 1 buddies, Sandra 1 & Sandra 2. EVEN BETTER!
Right before the plane took off I was finally able to reach Jason and tell him the news. We are both so excited! I also had to call Sandra right away! We had been on the phone the night before lamenting about our long wait and hoping together that we would hear soon. As you can imagine, she is as excited as we are! I tried to get ahold of my Mom and Dad, who turned out to be on a plane home from Florida. I talked to Grandpa Johnson, told him the news, found out that Mom and Dad were on a plane and then had to turn my phone off. Thank goodness it was a short flight, I was so excited to call my friends and family!
Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this to come sooner rather than later. Please keep praying for us and for Maks. We are starting a crazy journey that will start with a flight to Moscow and last the rest of our lives.
Here is the breakdown for all of those who would like to know...
Feb 10th- Leave for Moscow
Feb 11th- Arrive in Moscow- Go to Hotel
Feb 12th- 8 Medical Doctor Visit- all day for Jason & I in Moscow
Feb 13th- Leave for Kemerovo
Feb 14th- Arrive in Kemerovo- Go to Hotel
Feb 15th- COURT DAY!
Feb 16th- Not Sure-Hopefully to the Baby Home to see Maks again!
Feb 17th- Heading back to Moscow to wait out the mandatory 10 day wait
Feb 24th- Return to Kemerovo (overnight flight)
Feb 25th- Arrive in Kemerovo and hopefully go see Maks again!
Feb 26th- GO TO PICK UP OUR SON! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mar 1st- Paperwork day in Kemerovo
Mar 2nd- Leave for Moscow, arrive and go to hotel/apartment
Mar 3rd-Mar 9th- Appointments for Maks in Moscow
Mar 10th- HOME TO CHICAGO!
They really aren't waiving the 10 day waiting period anymore but it won't hurt for everyone to pray that it could happen! Of course we will update our trip from Russia, so stay tuned!!!!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Passing Time
One of the caseworkers at Adoption Ark posted on the forum asking families what they did to wait out the dreaded time between referral and Trip 1 or (in my opinion) worse, Trip 1 and Trip 2. It was very sweet of her to do and a few families replied. Mostly their tips were to plan, organize, get rooms ready and most importantly (again, in my opinion) pray!
Well I've been doing that last one about 500 times a day. And I've been working on the other stuff too. God bless my sister Leslie and my friend Erin. They have both logged some hours with us at Buy Buy Baby helping us get ready for travel as 1st time parents with a new little guy! They've both also let us use their kids to try out strollers, booster seats and car seats. Poor Rylan had to sit in a few car seats while they were still on the shelves at Buy Buy Baby! He was a trooper that day! We've bought what seems like LOTS of stuff, but I think we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg! I went and bought stuff for the downstairs bathroom yesterday. **See picture** Its so much brighter now. I think I'm going with colors and ducks. I seem to love ducks lately.
Tonight I broke out all of the dishes that we bought for our trip (and home) and started washing them. I didn't think about cleaning out the cabinets to find more "Maks dishes" space. I've been organizing away! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love organizing! I've now organized my bathroom cabinets, our linen closet, our bedroom closet, Maks's bathroom, Maks's closet, the garage... it goes on and on. I'm running out of things to organize so I hope we get a call soon! :)
Well I've been doing that last one about 500 times a day. And I've been working on the other stuff too. God bless my sister Leslie and my friend Erin. They have both logged some hours with us at Buy Buy Baby helping us get ready for travel as 1st time parents with a new little guy! They've both also let us use their kids to try out strollers, booster seats and car seats. Poor Rylan had to sit in a few car seats while they were still on the shelves at Buy Buy Baby! He was a trooper that day! We've bought what seems like LOTS of stuff, but I think we're just hitting the tip of the iceberg! I went and bought stuff for the downstairs bathroom yesterday. **See picture** Its so much brighter now. I think I'm going with colors and ducks. I seem to love ducks lately.
Tonight I broke out all of the dishes that we bought for our trip (and home) and started washing them. I didn't think about cleaning out the cabinets to find more "Maks dishes" space. I've been organizing away! Anyone who knows me, knows that I love organizing! I've now organized my bathroom cabinets, our linen closet, our bedroom closet, Maks's bathroom, Maks's closet, the garage... it goes on and on. I'm running out of things to organize so I hope we get a call soon! :)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Nothing New-UGH!!
I think the mail from Moscow to Kemerovo must have been stopped completely, or there was a blizzard, or our letter is lost, or God is testing my patience like never before, or all of the above.
I wish I had something new to report. But there is nothing. All of the communication we have gotten is that all of our paperwork is in, it has been translated, and we are just waiting for this letter to get to the coordinator so we can get a court date. Do you think it would help if I flew to Moscow, went and found it and delivered it myself? I feel like I should do that. I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything at this point. I really thought we would have heard by now. I truly hope that I have some good news soon to report. I just didn't want everyone to think that we forgot about the blog!
I wish I had something new to report. But there is nothing. All of the communication we have gotten is that all of our paperwork is in, it has been translated, and we are just waiting for this letter to get to the coordinator so we can get a court date. Do you think it would help if I flew to Moscow, went and found it and delivered it myself? I feel like I should do that. I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything at this point. I really thought we would have heard by now. I truly hope that I have some good news soon to report. I just didn't want everyone to think that we forgot about the blog!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Pictures
By the way, I updated the blog from November finally with some of our trip pictures. Sorry for the delay!
Our Christmas Update
As I said before, we went to Florida this year on Christmas Eve and got to spend Christmas with my whole family. Even little Rylan!! The day after Christmas we went to Magic Kingdom. So much fun when going with little guys, we cannot wait to take Maks. I thought I would post some fun pictures. Rylan loved it!
Merry Christmas Maks!
January 7th is Christmas Day for the Russian Orthodox Church! I hope Maks had a great day!! Next Christmas, he will be with us!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
To Maks
I'm sure one day you'll read this and think that your Mom was crazy. I'm also sure it won't be the first time you think your Mom is/was crazy. :) I was reading another Adoption Book (much better than the last one- called You Can Adopt) and one of the Moms said that she wrote letters to her son every week while she was waiting for him to come home. That's what this blog is for me. Our story for you. One day I hope you'll be able to read this and know what I was thinking, doing, feeling during the entire journey.
Its Christmas where you are in 2 days. It was Christmas for us 11 days ago. You got lots of presents and they are all waiting in your room for you. Your Grandmas are already spoiling you! And our first Christmas together is in 354 days. Because of the Russian Orthodox Christmas the government is currently shut down. They open back up in 6 long days. I'm wondering every day what you're doing. What did you eat for breakfast? What time did you take a nap? Who was the first person you saw when you opened your eyes? Did they give you a hug? Did you fall down today? Did you cry? Who wiped away your tears? Were you sleeping with your green blanket? Are they putting lotion on your little dry legs? Did you laugh a lot? Who are your friends? Did you get to play with them this afternoon? What did you play?
I want you to know that I am grateful for every single thing that has happened to me in the past year and a half. At the time, I was convinced that some of them were the worst days of my life or some of the worst information we could have ever received. But now I know they were all just bumps in our journey to you. I would gladly do every single one of those days over knowing that they were preparing me to be your Mommy. You truly are our miracle. We love you and will be there to get you as soon as humanly possible. One day when you read this blog just know how much we are missing you right now.
We will see you soon!
Love Mom
Its Christmas where you are in 2 days. It was Christmas for us 11 days ago. You got lots of presents and they are all waiting in your room for you. Your Grandmas are already spoiling you! And our first Christmas together is in 354 days. Because of the Russian Orthodox Christmas the government is currently shut down. They open back up in 6 long days. I'm wondering every day what you're doing. What did you eat for breakfast? What time did you take a nap? Who was the first person you saw when you opened your eyes? Did they give you a hug? Did you fall down today? Did you cry? Who wiped away your tears? Were you sleeping with your green blanket? Are they putting lotion on your little dry legs? Did you laugh a lot? Who are your friends? Did you get to play with them this afternoon? What did you play?
I want you to know that I am grateful for every single thing that has happened to me in the past year and a half. At the time, I was convinced that some of them were the worst days of my life or some of the worst information we could have ever received. But now I know they were all just bumps in our journey to you. I would gladly do every single one of those days over knowing that they were preparing me to be your Mommy. You truly are our miracle. We love you and will be there to get you as soon as humanly possible. One day when you read this blog just know how much we are missing you right now.
We will see you soon!
Love Mom
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