Twists and Turns Begin

So anyone who knows me, knows that I'm a bit of a control-nut. The only way I can have "control" over our adoption journey is by doing a TON of research and reading. There are a few great forums for Russian Adoption on Yahoo Groups. Unfortunately sometimes those forums lead you to information you don't want to hear. Last December unfortunately a little boy passed away who was adopted from Russia. His father accidentally left him in the car one morning when he went to work and the little boy died of heat exhaustion. The father was acquitted of his murder and the Russian government was very upset. To add to the road blocks, a few adoption agencies have not submitted their post-placement reports on time. Russia requires 5 post placement reports be done and submitted by a social worker after the child comes home to the US. This has led to a serious slow down in referrals. Our caseworker let me know today that they didn't receive any referrals for families waiting in February. That is not good news for us. On the positive side, we had our last meeting with our Social Worker tonight. We have a training class next Saturday and then our home study will be done the following week! Jason and I are taking a little "break" this weekend to unwind. We're headed up to Lake Geneva for a weekend getaway. I'll still be doing conference calls but at least I get to have a massage right afterwards!

Our Blog is Public Now!

Sorry for those of you who tried to post comments on the blog and couldn't. I've fixed it now so that you can. No new news this week. We are in the final stages of our home-study. Once that is done, the paperwork all needs to be translated into Russian before the dossier is sent. I'll keep you all up to date!

Its already Februrary!

Wow, I can't believe its been over a month since we signed our contract with Adoption Ark! Its been a VERY busy month. Saying that there is a lot of paperwork is the understatement of the year. I have been to 2 courthouses, 2 doctors, 1 police department, 1 FBI office, and 1, 2-hour long trip to Bradley, IL. We are almost done with the paperwork portion of our home study and have just a few meetings left. Then we can submit our dossier! I will be so excited for that package to make its way to Russia. The other night I was thinking that my baby is either in the process of being born, or already born and waiting for me thousands of miles away. I am so excited I can barely stand it. I'm not sure how I will make it through the 6-9 month wait for a referral or even worse, the 2-3 months between trips! I have always pictured my life with children in it, lots of them. And to know that we are at least on the road to making that happen makes me want to cry I am so happy. Its very different than being pregnant. People don't know that you are having a baby and those who do even treat it differently. But I truly believe it is just as special. I have learned so much about my husband through all of this already and I think this whole process is going to bring us even closer. What an incredibly patient and loving man he is. At least one of us has patience in this family. I have a feeling we are going to need it.