Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Praise The Lord For Answered Prayers

First of all....I must say" Thank You!", to all of you who have been wishing me well over the past couple of weeks when I was under the weather. I am feeling much better now, physically and mentally!

Secondly, No, I didn't get "The Call" yet, but I finally got a return call from the Supervisor for the Child Protection Unit in California, where my clearance letter has been sitting. She found my paperwork! Thank you God!!!! She will mail the completed letter back to Michigan to my Home study agency today. I am doing a small happy dance again...yippee!!


Now I will just have to wait a few days for my HS agency to receive the letter and put the finishing touches on my Home Study brief before I can pick it up. Once I pick it up from them, I will have to get it apostilled and then shipped of to CHI in St. Louis. They will then add it to my pile of paperwork that I completed last month for my registration packet. This is the packet of information that then goes to Russia and my region Krasnoyarsk. As stated in previous posts, you must be registered with the Ministry of Education in your region before they will find a referral that matches your families adoption application. So, in other words, this last document is what has been needed in order to receive a referral, and "The Call".

Since my last post, two weeks ago....besides re-cooperating from the flu/cold, I've done a little bit of Retail Therapy. Mostly, window shopping with my new and fellow adoptive friend Kyley. With my Mom yesterday, we stopped at Babies 'R'Us and I found an excellent light weight stroller on sale at half off the original price. I have a stroller on my registry waiting for the time to have my baby shower, but this was too good of a deal to pass up. ( I'm sorry Jill, there are still lots of other things left to buy). :0)
Here's a picture of it. It's made by Peg-Perego, and is the Aria. It only weighs 8lbs, so it shouldn't be too heavy to carry and lift into cars and load on the plane.Does anyone have any advice to offer regarding strollers in Russia. Has anyone taken a stroller with them? If so, how did you manage? and Was it worth it? I'd like to take this one with me on trip two, but if this is a bad idea, someone please tell me.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

We took a cheap stroller to Russia for our daughter five years ago and STILL use it on vacations. Airlines can be hard on strollers, it could get lost. Our daughter SCREAMED when we put her in the stroller. She did decide that she loved to push it and it kept her very busy on our long wait for flight home. Good luck.

Troy and Rachel said...

So glad you are feeling better and they found your paperwork! Two good things in one sentence! We aren't planning to take a stroller, but instead an ergo carrier. Takes less room and is great for bonding. I think they will hold a child up to about 40 pounds although they have been tested up to 90. I know several people who swear by them. Having said that - we may regret not having a stroller, but I understand they are pretty cheap in Russia also, so you could buy one there and not have to deal with it on the flights over.

Nancy said...

Hello, Shannon - a fellow single parent here. I found your blog surfing through some others. I adopted my DS in 9/2004. I'm currently waiting for my 2nd adoption, baby girl. I'm also a fellow CHI adoptive parent. I'm currently with another agency for my 2nd adoption, but will forever be a loyal CHI family!

Instead of a stroller, I used a carrier that strapped to my body, with my son. He was 20 mo, 20 lbs. The carrier worked great! I wouldn't even consider a stroller for my 2nd adoption. Getting in/out of vehicles was a piece of cake, I just loosened the top straps & DS sat right on my lap (still in the carrier). To get out, I just snapped the top straps back in & away we went. He fell asleep many, many times & I didn't even wake him in transit with the carrier. The stroller would have been much harder to navigate in the van with other families & luggage. On my trips, I didn't see any strollers at all, everyone had a front ergo carrier. Of course, it all depends on the age & weight of your child & how much you want to carry LOL! We walked everywhere in Russia & the carrier made it so easy to get in/out of places. Plus, I didn't want DS next to the ground with all the exhaust fumes, dirt, etc. (I know, LOL, 1st time mommy).

Good luck in your journey & I'll keep track via your blog.

Anonymous said...

I took a cheap umbrella stroller with me for trip#2 and it really came in handy in the airport and strolling around the hotel hallways trying to get her to sleep! :) I'm a single mom too, just brought my daughter home 2 months ago! All the best to you! Hope you get your call soon!
Donna