What an amazing day

Today we became parents. That fact still amazes me. We had a long day, we were waiting for most of it to have our meeting at the DEPARTMENT (that is what I am calling it now). When we got there, our representative kept telling us not to be nervious...but I could see she was nervious herself (not helping).

I believe we were one of the first (if not the first) families to come to adopt here in Tyumen (after that stupid lady...) so we were told they are very strict and will ask lots of questions. The first lady we encountered was actually nice, she asked us about Muskegon and our home.

The "head" lady was very stern looking and I am not sure she liked us at all! It is very hard to read the people here, they don't smile much (especially if they are an offical something). We we both so nervious and I am afraid our answers got lost in translation some times. She asked about our finances, our ability to provide for a child, or experiance with children, our home, our families.

Then she asked about discipline....we told her we did not believe in "hitting" a child but that if he were to stick his hand in a light socket...his hand would get a smack. Again, I think this was lost in translation....she looked confused and maybe not happy....maybe I am just thinking thats what she looked like? And last but not least we had to share out feelings about "that woman"...this was awkward.

I am still not sure what she thinks of us, she will speak at our court hearing when we get the ok to adopt Landen (next trip), so I hope we did OK. She gave us the paperwork to go and see him, so we didn't totally stink. She did say we were lucky they liked Americans after we talked about "that woman". She also told us many Russian families looked at him, but did not take him....I really have no idea why this is. I am glad because I believe he was ment to be our Son.

Glad that the meeting was over, I was nervious because we were told they would look to see that he liked us too...for some reason I was worried about this. No need though! He was cautious at first, he let me hold him but you could tell he wasn't sure about who I was. After about 10 min. of playing he leaned into me and snuggled right into my shoulder! I have to say that is a feeling like non I have ever had. When he hugged me.... my whole world fell into place. He took to Tim in the same fashion, the doctor told me she was suprised by this because he has not had much, if any contact with men (only women work at orphanage).

We were able to hold him and play alot. I was able to hold him and hug him while we talked to the head doctor of the orphanage (the head doctor in Tyumen too). She was very nice, talked to us like people and was very complete with all the medical info she had. There wasn't much more then the paperwork we recieved so we didn't have alot of questions. His iron is good now, that was really the only change. Learned a little more about how he came to the orphanage, he was left at the hopital by his birth mom. She gave no reason and they searched for her. She has 3 other children, it is assumed they are with her. He was in the baby hospital for 1 month, then he was moved to the orphanage. We got to see a video of him at 6 months, we are going to get a copy made :)

We then went outside to play in the little area they have. They bunndled the kid up like it was the middle of winter...yikes. He had me sweating! We were able to hold his hands and he walks with help. It was awsome, first steps with Mom and Dad. The rep. said he will be happy because she thinks he looks like me :) (some wives tale here). He has Brown hair, with maybe a hint of very dirty blond and very big, very brown eyes!

We get to go back tomorrow and spend alot of the day with him :) We will have people from the DEPARTMENT watching us to see how we interact with him and him with us. Even so, it will be a great day! We should even get to go for a walk to the big park in the middle of town.

So Thank you all once again for your love and prayers...we have felt them!

(sorry if anything is spelled very wrong...the spell check thinks it should all be in Russian...no help!)

getting a move on....

Well just a quick update....

We are taking off from the GR airport around 11:40 AM Friday, we will land in Moscow around 11 AM (their time) Saturday. We are staying in Moscow for the night, then heading to Tyumen on Sunday.

Monday morning we have to meet with the DOE people to get permission to visit the orphanage. Then we get to travel to meet our Son! I have no idea how far the orphanage is from where we are staying. We will get to visit Tuesday and Wednesday too.

Wednesday night we hop back on a plane to go back to Moscow, where we will stay until our flight the AM of the 11th. We will be back in town very late on Friday night.

I think I will be more excited once we are on the plane. With so much to do and remember it all seems a little surreal right now. We are almost packed (hard to fit all the toys and such in with my clothes). Holly is awesome and is going to take care of the house and Dogs for the week. So I am hoping Friday gets here fast :)

Hopefully I can get some Internet while in Moscow and give updates!

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers!

so much to do...so little time

Well, I figured we would travel in June, I was hoping any way. I got my wish, we are leaving June 4th. Yes...in two weeks!
They originally wanted us to leave on May 31st, but we have finger printing for immigration on June 2nd and can't really afford to miss that. Besides I have no idea how I am going to get everything done in two week, I certainly wouldn't have in just over 1 week.

We are very excited and very busy...well, I am, Tim's just busy complaining about all the stuff to be done. He is dreading the plain ride so he has been a little pissy. He will get over it I am sure.

We sent in our Visa paperwork today, had to do the 3 day turn around service because of the short time frame (no big deal right, what's an extra $240)! I just hope I got the darn paperwork right, I must have been on the phone with them like 20 times yesterday.

Just to make things fun, Alla is out of the office today and Monday and the e-mail address to the Russian office (who I am supposed to be in contact with) won't go through our e-mail!

We have to pick flights but we do not have an itinerary yet....and they don't get any cheaper.

Enough complaining though. I got to print out pictures to put in two little photo albums for Landen. It was a little overwhelming because I put names on the photos (like Holly, Lieut, Holstein, etc.) When it came time to label photos of Tim and I.....I have to admit I was a little taken aback. For the first time I had to put down Mom and Dad! I know....Right!

Holly helped me pick out a couple more toys and I think we are all set there. It's just figuring out how to get it all packed in as few suitcases as possible!

Well time to get back to work..... I will keep everyone updated on any changes!

now were talking

We got the medical info on Sergei today and we were told that at this time he is the only boy under 4 years old in good health available in the Tyumen region. So, we will come home with just one Son, but I am beginning to think that is a great thing.

Son...wow....I am going to have to get used to that!

The medical paperwork is very professional and complete. There are alot of big words but nothing that throws up any hugh red flags. We have decided that we will have a medical doctor look at the paperwork but because there are no guarantees in life we are taking a leap of faith and we are going to take the trip to Tyumen based on what we have. We want to make our decision based on our findings as well as what the doctors say, not just the paperwork.

Major highlights are :
He is able to crawl and can stand/walk with help. He baby talks and can use syllables. He is sociable and motivated with both adults and children.
He is stated as being capricious :) Which defined means-determined by chance or impulse or whim! Oh and he is hyperactive.....so what your saying is he is a 16 month old boy? :)


Anyway, we will find out soon about the who, what, when, where, and how of travel....I will keep everyone posted.

maybe...just maybe....

So...I have spent the last two days up to my elbows in dirt and landscaping blocks because Tim is "nesting". He hates it when I say that but it's true. Because as if I didn't have enough going right now, the other day he decides after living in this house for almost 7 years...we need to landscape the lawn! God bless him, it did need to be done, and he says that I wanted something to keep me busy...but man, that's hard work!

In his defense, it looks great and he put in more work than I did!

We got an e-mail from Alla today saying that the Russia DOE (Dept. of Education-they deal with the adoptions and orphanages in the country) has the letter with the medical info we have been waiting for and it is on the desk of the "head honcho" awaiting his signature so that it can be released to us.

I asked Alla if it was just the info for Sergei or if they had found another boy....she said she did not know the content of the letter. So we should be getting the info soon. What's soon?...I have no idea, but after a week with no news...this was nice to hear.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers....I will never be able to say THANK YOU enough.

:) Thanks Holly for dealing with my insane crabbiness with a lot of love and a great sense of humor!

waiting on updates

Note: Just in case anyone wanted to know, I posted a little clock on the blog that tells you what time it is in Tyumen, Russia.
This is where we will be traveling and where Sergei is now.

We are almost through our supporting documents (for now) and are waiting to hear from Russia. Alla says that our paperwork is there and has been translated. We are waiting to hear about adopting a second child from this region, she says this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days....

If there is not another boy under the age of 4 in good health available, I am assuming they will just send the requested info on Sergei back to us so we can make our decision on him.

I am hoping to know what the heck is going on by the end of this week.

Alla told me to get a couple of small photo albums and some toys together, so she must think we are going to travel soon.
I got Sergei his first stuffed puppy today, seems silly but it made me smile!


Anyway, hope to have more info soon, as always THANK YOU!

crazy-ness

Tim keeps telling me to slow down and relax....I keep telling him that he either needs to get on this train or get run over by it!

It has been a crazy, emotional, great week. I went to visit Alla on Thursday and drop off our letter of request for more information on Sergei. We had a great talk, she was assured that unless there was any major red flag on Sergei's medical info...we want him! She is great and the talk was very honest, but still helped calm some of my fears.

So now we have to wait to get the info we requested back, this may take up to two weeks, but we are hoping for that to go quick. We sent a request in at the end of our letter asking if this region has a boy under 4 years old also, to please consider sending that along with Sergei's info. as we had originally wanted two boys. This was Tim's idea. I am a little unsure of that route now, to be honest, but he wanted to ask. More than likely we will not get an additional boy because if they would have had another boy at the time of the referral for Sergei, they would have sent it then. Alla said it wasn't going to mess anything up, so it is best to ask.

So when we find anything out, we will let everyone know.

Just an additional note...The City of Wyoming's Public Safety millage vote startes in 48 hours.... please keep us all in your prayers!