Journey To My Little Russian Princess

Happy Holidays!

2010-01-01T14:41:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our home to yours! We enjoyed a very busy Christmas together as a family for the first time. Tatiana of course, was spoiled by Santa Claus and her Mom, Lisa, Grandma, Aunts and Uncles, cousins, friends, et. al. As you can see from the above Christmas photo, Tatiana is thriving. She just turned 3 1/2 on December 24th. My how time flies. I just measured her the other day when I noticed that all of her new fall and winter pants were looking a bit short, and found that she has grown an inch over the past 3 months. After all, she does tell me after and each meal that "she is getting taller." She is hysterical. She talks a mile a minute, amazing our friends, family and her teacher on a daily basis. Since our last post, Tatiana has been enrolled in preschool 2 days a week for 3 year olds. She loves it! She also has been going to gymnastics 1 day a week for a little out of the house exercise. She has a blast in this class too!

Have to run again for now but will try to update again soon with more photos and the happenings. For now, I wanted to make sure that we said Hello to all of our blogging friends, old and new. Again...Happy New Year! We sincerely hope all of you are doing well, and have a fantastic 2010.

Love, Shannon and Tatiana

Someone Just Turned 3!!!!

2009-07-01T13:18:00.001-07:00

I can hardly believe it, but my little girl is growing up so fast already and has turned 3 this past week. We have been very busy and have unfortunately neglected the blog for awhile, although we do check in on everyone elses from time to time.

Tatiana is still a very busy girl, who rarely slows down until she is just totally exhausted at days end. Although believe it or not, from time to time now she will ask me to rock her to sleep after lunch for a little rest. Whoo Hooo!

Here are a few highlights from birthday girl's party:

And a few others from weeks past to catch up with the photos again:

We have our first post-placement coming up next week. oh my goodness has it really been that long already? Though most days it feels like Tatiana and I have been together forever.

She is doing very well adjusting. Most people would never know that she just learned English four months ago as she probably speaks more than many 3 year olds who were born in this country. Tia continues to amaze me and the rest of her new family on a daily basis. She is very smart and also very stubborn. She is still throwing temper tantrums, but much smaller versions from when we first became a family. At least now we both completely understand each other, so they are not for lack of communication skills. Just plain old 2-3 year old "I want something and can't have it" type temper tantrums.

For activities Tia loved Gymnastics. She is on summer break from them now, but we had fun in a Mom and Tot group in the spring. This summer she is having fun on the boat, playing in the pool, being outside. loves going to the park to swing and slide, and playing with the neighborhood kids. We are going to try some camping in a couple of weeks. I'm already sure that she will love it as she thoroughly enjoys being outside all the time.

I'll be taking Tia to the doctor again for her three year old check up very soon, so don't have exact stats as to how much she's grown. Am looking forward to seeing if she has caught up at all. Her aunt Robin likes to weigh her and says she weighs 26.5 lbs now, instead of 25.5lbs, but we will soon find out for sure. She has definitely grown taller as she is now into 2T's instead of just into the 18 month outfits, although her Grandma has to keep taking in the waists for her as she still has no butt. I'm sure she will appreciate that trait as she gets older, but for now, we could use a little extra cush on the tush to keep the pants up. hahaha

Hope all of you are doing well? I see some great news about traveling for second trips coming up for a couple people! Congrats!

Hope you all have a very wonderful and safe fourth of July as well! Will post again as soon as humanly possible after the fourth.

Love,
Shannon and Tatiana

New Pics

2009-04-23T05:38:00.001-07:00

Tia's first piggy tails and Tia with her and Aunt Robin

Tia and her cousin Alivia sharing in the Easter festivities.

More Easter Fun!

Coloring Eggs with Mama and Aunt Robin

Coffee or Tea anyone!

Showing off my new earings.

Yes we are still alive!

2009-04-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures of Tatiana, hanging out at the house.

There is also one taken with one of her favorite cousins, Katie who lives just down the street.

We have been very busy over the past few weeks getting adjusted to a new routine and trying very hard to get a little someone to take naps and go to sleep at night. I have to say, the nap thing is still not going well. This is the main reason for the delay in posts. Sleep at night also comes with a fight which doesn't leave much alone time for Mama. Tatiana just hates going to bed. She fights and fights until she is just exhausted. I usually get her down by about 8 or 830pm, but that is usually with no nap. She gets up at about 730 or 8am. She was sleeping through the night until about 10 days ago, now she frequently awakens in the night and has a really hard time going back to sleep if she even thinks I might sneak out of the room. I have had to camp out in her room a few nights just so I can get some sleep too! I have been trying everything I can think of to get her to relax and not be afraid of the dark and her room. She now has a Hello Kitty CD player that we rock to sleep by playing lullabies , a night light and a new toy that's like a glow worm only its a sea horse that also plays lullabies and its belly lites up when you push it. (This does help sometimes when she wakes up in the middle of the night to calm herself down and fall asleep).

Aside from the sleep issues, most every thing else that is going on is pretty typical 2-3 year old behavior. Screaming temper tantrums when we don't get our way. Saying No! Not listening to Mommy when she says No don't touch. Having to touch 5 more times and get into trouble. Everything is Mine, mine, mine.. (you know what I'm talking about don't you! Especially those of you with 2 year olds.)

For the most part Tatiana is a really good kid. She is very funny (as you can see in some of the pictures)! She loves to laugh and clown around. She is very talkative! She is picking up English right and left. She Mimics everything we say to her and everything we do. The teenage girls at church just taught her thumbs up. She also loves to do High 5! And when she's coughing from drinking too fast, my sister tells her "hands up harry". So now every time she coughs, her arms go up in the air and we laugh.

We went and got all her lab draws done last week and are now awaiting the results. Poor baby! I really dreaded doing this and getting all the recommended tests done, but knew it was a good idea. Tatiana was a real trooper. Had to get poked three times to get all the blood that they needed. She cried the first poke and so did I, though I was trying to hide my face from her. The last two pokes she didn't make a peep and held real still. She was so good. I even got her to pee in the cup.

Speaking of potty...yes she is potty trained. We did have a few accidents this last week, Three at night and one during the day, but for the most part she has done extremely well. I couldn't ask for better with that. I am still amazed.

Food....we did have major eating issues to begin with. I thought she was going to only eat yogurt and bananas and cheerios for a long time. I was getting really worried, cause she is still petite for her age and needs to eat better. I am happy to report that miss picky has finally given in and is trying new things. Hurray!!! She now eats chicken, hamburger out of the bun, hot dogs, french fries of course, soups (loves beef barley), cheese sticks, grapes, apples. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were a hit today for the first time. Oh, also some pastas and spaghetti. Thank goodness, because pasta is my favorite meal! So, I think we are definitely getting there with the food. When she likes something, she also eats quite a bit for a little girl.

Here she is eating her favorite breakfast. Bananas in her cheerios and milk.

This week I had to go back to work. Yesterday was my first day back. I had such horrible mixed feelings. It was nice to be back around adults, but I really hated leaving Tia at home as well. Half way through the day I was ready to go home, but my job does not afford the luxury of just leaving as I am a nurse in the hospital. Can't abandon my patients! I made it through my 12 hour shift, and my daughter did fine at home too. My very good friend Lisa , has graciously agreed to stay with Tia at the house when I work, and now she works opposite days of me, so Tia can get good care at home without having to do daycare. She (Tia) is not ready to be away from Mama or someone that she really knows yet.

That just about catches us up to date. Just need to figure out how to get my pictures into a slide show so I can put more on blogger without downloading one at at time.

Thank you again to everyone for all of your support while I was in Russia, and continued support while we are home. I will continue to blog. Hopefully will find more time to keep up regularly and not have so long in between posts.

Bye for tonight!

Shannon

Home at Last

2009-03-09T09:49:00.000-07:00

We made it safely home late night on March 3rd, and as you can imagine, have been busy ever since trying to adjust to life at home and a new routine. Thank you to all of you for your support and prayers as we traveled back to Michigan from Russia.

The plane ride home was very, very long..... I do not want to have to do that again for quite some time. The flight from Moscow to Atlanta was 10 hours instead of 11 hours. Thank you Mr. Pilot for getting us there faster! The beginning of the flight was okay for the first few hours. Once we were about 3 hours in, the fussing crying and little temper tantrums started. Tia was just so exhausted and would not rest. Finally at about the 7 1/2 hour mark she was so exhausted that she fell asleep on the floor. My poor little girl! I then wrapped her in her blankets and she slept the rest of the flight. The people on the plane were all very nice and didn't complain at all. Luckily for me and the rest of the people on the plane,Tia has quit having complete screaming at the top of her lungs type temper tantrums.

Once in Atlanta we had to go through passport control, then immigration, and finally customs where we had to get our luggage and recheck it in for our final flight to Detroit. All went smoothly. Thank Heavens! Just long waits. But again, thank you Mr Pilot for getting us there earlier so we didn't miss our connecting flight home. We were also thankful to be around English speaking people once again. Not that the Russians were mean at the Moscow airport, but it was frustrating at passport control when the control agent was asking for Tia's Visa paperwork, and I had no idea what she wanted as the Visa was in the passport. Thankfully another agent finally came over and translated. (They wanted to see the court documents, not Visa to prove that Tia was legally mine). We also had to go through about 4 security checks. Mom and I were pretty exhausted by the time we were finally able to head for the gate.

The flight from Atlanta to Detroit was uneventful. Tia slept the whole way! Yippee! Poor little girl. What a very long day for her. (And Mama and Grandma too)!We finally arrived at Detroit Metro and were greeted by family and friends. We were so happy to see familiar faces and to be on our way home.

Once in the door at home I had one more obstacle to overcome before I could get the Little Princess to bed. The dog! She was so afraid of Jake the first couple of days, but I am happy to report that she now is petting Jake and wanting to know where he is at all times. She still does not want to walk around unassisted by Mom with the dog in the room, but we are definitely making progress. She even giggled last night when Jake licked her face instead of turning to me and telling me that she had an ouchie.

We have been home now almost a week and are making big steps in our adjustment to home. I'm not sure that she knows yet that this is home and not just another pit stop but I think it is starting to sink in. Today she is actually taking her first nap since I took custody of her on February 21st. I am so excited, I finally get to update the blog and work on paperwork to get her added to my insurance, and get everything ready to get her a social security card and register her with the Russian consulate. It's amazing what you can accomplish in an hour or so by yourself.

Aside from getting accustomed to the house and dog, Tia and I have gone to the park to swing and slide. We've been to the mall and played on the children's play scape, shopped at the grocery store, been to church, and met all of her aunts, uncles, and most of her cousins. It has been a very busy and fun week. Lots of new things to do and see.

Will post pictures soon. Tia is waking up! Just wanted to let everyone know we are doing well!

Bye for now!
Love Shannon and Tia

Last Day in Moscow

2009-03-02T04:45:00.000-08:00

It's my last post from Moscow. Tomorrow we head home! Hurray! We just got back to the hotel from our Embassy Appointment. We now have passport and Visa for Tia in tow and and are ready to be on our way. We met three other American families at the embassy this afternoon all very nice, two others with little girls and one little boy. Our appointment went very smoothly, and not a long wait. The four little ones entertained each other for a few minutes too. Very sweet.

Yesterday we did get a chance to go to the festival in the park for a couple of hours. It was wonderful. Lots of music, food, ice skating, sleigh rides. dancing, etc. The Russians sure know how to have fun and celebrate the end of winter. I loved it. Only wish I had remembered my camera. Tatiana loved it too. Her feet were tapping on the stroller and she was clapping to the music. After all the fresh air yesterday she even slept almost 13 hours last night. I almost thought I'd have to wake her this morning so we didn't miss breakfast, as it's her favorite meal of the day, and only meal that she really eats.

Well, suit cases are almost packed and it is now 930pm. Need to finish up last little bit of organizing now that Tia is asleep. Wish us luck tomorrow on,our long flight. 10 hours to Atlanta Georgia and then another 2 to Detroit. Our driver will be here at 9am to pick us up for our 110pm flight home. Pray for us for a safe flight and little girl who stays happy and also sleeps at least a few hours on the way home.

Next post....home.

Paka Paka Russia

Shannon, Tia and Mom

Back In Moscow

2009-02-28T00:47:00.000-08:00

We made it safely back to Moscow thursday night. It's been a tough couple of days, so haven't been able to post until now, Tia is finally taking a little nap. I'll back up in time to Wednesday night to explain the last few days Wednesday night Tia started to break out in a rash all over her little body and was up scratching all night. Thursday morning I called Sveta to see if Oleg could please get us some baby Benadryl as Tia was having an allergic reaction to something. Who knows what to exacatly, but probably food related. He stopped by the apartment a couple hours later with some Claritin and checked her out. He also agreed allergy. Tia got her first dose of Claritin before lunch and started to feel a little better, but by the time we were ready to board the plane she was cranky and scratching again. Unfortunately the claritin wasn't working well for very long.

The plane ride from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow was a long 5 hour flight. Tatiana was very tired, itchy and having trouble falling asleep. She had a couple small temper tantrums on the plane, but nothing that lasted real long thank heavens. We also met 2 women (sisters)from Isreal who were bringing home a little boy under one year. They spoke English thank heavens and were very kind. They gave Tia some puffs like cheetos, but peanut butter flavor and that stopped her crying right away. I was a little worried about the peanut butter with the allergy thing going on, but it didn't seem to make it any worse than already happening, and it quieted her down.

Once in the Moscow airport we met our Moscow translator Alisha. She was very helpful when I told her that Tia was not feeling well and the medicine for the allergic reaction she was having wasn't working. We first went to the pharmacy in the airport to look for something like Benadryl. There was a lady doctor in the shop who didn't want us to buy anything without a doctor checking out Tia just incase it was a virus or something. ( I was pretty positive it was an allergic reaction, but heeded her words anyway). There is a doctor in the airport for emergency situations and they are free (yes), so Alisha, I and Tia went off in search of the doctor while Mom was stuck guarding our pile of luggage. She said it was worth it though if they could help Tatiana feel better. Yeah Mom! Anyway, we found the doctor about 15 minutes later after one policeman told us to go to the opposite end of the airport from where they actually were. He sent us to the Veterinarian. (Geez, did he think we had a puppy dog in the stroller. ) When we finally readches the medical office we met 2 lady doctors who were both very nice. After checking the baby out, they finally agreed that she had an allergy and asked if they could give her a shot of something kind of like Benadryl. I immediately said yes, please do. Poor baby with the shot, but we needed some medical attention soon before baby and Mama went crazy with the scratching and almost now raw skin.

After our stop at the medical station we finally were on our way to our Hotel. We made it back at about midnight Moscow time, 4am Krasnoyarsk time. Alisha and I worked on the Embassy paperwork and papers for Tia's official medical appointment in the morning, while Mom had the task of trying to quiet Tatiana and get her back to sleep. Of course she had finally fallen asleep in the car on the ride to the Hotel, and had to be awoken to check in. So cranky baby girl again. Alisha and I finished the paperwork at about 1230. (430am Kras time). I had no idea what I had just signed, but it was done. My eyeballs were so tired I could barely see straight. When I got back to the room, thankfully Tia was fast asleep. She finally slept for a few hours until 6am.

At 830am on Friday our driver picked us up for Tatiana's medical appointment which we had to have to submit with the rest of her papers to the US embassy to aquire her visa and immigration papers into the United States. Mom and I both loved the doctor that saw Tia. He was very good with her, and got her to quiet down pretty quickly when she started to cry after I had to take her clothes off and leave her on the table with him while Mama sat down. She probably thought she was getting another shot, plus not used to Men doctors. He was very kind and very thorough. He gave us some very good news. Said she was very healthy, and beautiful. Said to look out when she gets older. He also said that she was probably one of the favorites at the orphanage and was used to getting her way from what he observed as he was speaking to her and her to him in her little voice along with her actions. He said she is a drama queen and wants her way and most likely got it alot. We told him that we had already experienced that and had a good laugh. He said to be firm and stand my ground, otherwise she will rule like a queen and not Mama. I had already figured that out, but it was good to hear confirmation that what I thought was going on and how I was handling the situation was correct. The other great thing about the appointment was that he told our CHI rep Natasha, who was also with us, what to get for her allergic reaction. Some drops like Benadryl and an ointment for the rash. Thank you doctor Boris.!

Friday afternoon and today saturday, have been spent at the hotel. It is not great weather to take Tia out as it is snowy and wet. We did venture over to the McDonalds next door for lunch yesterday.that was an experience! Oh man! I ordered 2 combo meals for Mom and I and a Happy Meal for Tia. Well, she didn't get it. All we got the first time on the tray was three hamburgers (2 big ones and one little one). I had to get the menu again and show her the drinks and fries. We got drinks and fries, but I had pop. I gave up at that point and we just stuck with what we had. Tia ate a couple bites of just hamburger meat with the cheese. She really liked the bun until she got to the catchup side. I scrapped it off, but she still wouldn't have anything to do with it cause it felt wet and funny. She finally tried french fries. She would take a bite of one and then put it down and push it away. She did that a few times, still curious as to what Mom and Grandma were eating. She finally decided she kind of liked them when they were stone cold. Silly kid. The pop was a no way. She took one sip and you should have seen the face. Oh my goodness...she hates the fizzies. The stewardess on the plane also gave us a glass of water with gas and we didn't realize it. Tia, hated that too! No fizzys for this girl. We dumped the pop and put water in the cup, but she still must have thought there was pop in it, cause she would have nothing to do with that cup what so ever.

Today we will probably just go explore a couple of stores nearby. I was really hoping for a sunny day as there is a great park about 4 blocks away that would have been great to go walking in with Tia and her stroller. Maybe we will get a break in the weather tomorrow? Olga the lady that gave us the city tour on our stay here before going to the region, called last night as well to see if we wanted to go anywhere. I asked about Arabat street but she said it is not full of flea markets and small shops anymore, but more regular department type stores and has changed from what it used to be. I was really bummed as that is what I was looking forward to. Her only other suggestion for things to see where art museums and the history museum. Mom said forget it with the baby. I agreed. She likes the stroller but only if we are moving. The celebration of spring is also happening in red Square this wekend. They are expecting record crowds, so we decided not to try to go back there with Tia in tow. As always. we will make the most of our situation and find things to do close by. We spent an hour or so touring the hotel this morning. Even got a nice little tour of the fitness center and pool which are in the basement.

Well that's about all the excitement for now. We will keep you updated on the weekend happenings tomorrow.

Paka Paka from Moscow,
Shannon, Mom and Tia

p.S. Tia's rash is getting better finally, less itching and redness going away. She also slept last night and 30 minute nap just now. Still cranky but a little better.

Last Post from Krasnoyarsk

2009-02-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

It's our last night in Krasnoyarsk. Tomorrow we fly to Moscow to finish up the last of Tatiana's paperwork before we can head home on March 3rd. Our flight tomorrow is in the evening at 730pm. Hopefully my little kiddo will sleep most of the way as it is just about her bedtime then.

This morning we spent doing laundry in preparation for packing tomorrow as we will have no washing machine in Moscow. Boohoo! (that was one big advantage of apartment verses hotel).We each only packed a weeks worth of clothing so its important to start out with clean clothes. We'll be in Moscow for 5 days.

My little princess has the sniffles too. Darn it! Oleg and Sveta were kind enough to bring us some medicine today, so hopefully she will start to feel better in the morning. She has been kind of cranky yesterday and today again. Combination of the sniffly nose and not wanting to take a nap. Tia is still for the most part very happy and plays well, with Mama and now Grandma some too. But boy oh boy...when she doesn't get her way she can sure scream. Today's temper tantrum lasted for almost 20 minutes. Poor Grandma! No place to go really in a one bedroom apartment to take a screaming child, or for Grandma to go. Most things I just give in for now so she doesn't go to crazy with the temper tantrums, but it has been a battle with her wanting to put on her boots and snow suit and go outside. She loves her snowsuit and boots which is good. I am also glad that she likes to go outside, but sometimes we just can't. She doesn't understand that Mama cannot go out in her pajamas, or when it is too cold and windy for a little person who already has a runny nose.

By late afternoon today, my Little Princess, Tia, finally got her wish. Oleg and Sveta came and picked us up at 315pm to go for one last tour around the city and to see the ice sculptures. Yeah! They were very cool! I couldn't believe how many of them there were. After visiting the ice sculptures we went out to dinner with Oleg and Sveta for one last time. We went to a bar, restaurant about 2 blocks from the apartment, on the same street as Peppers. I never did catch the name of the place, but it was nice. Very comfortable seats and eating area. Delicious food too! I got some traditional meat dumplings in broth. Mom got some fried kind with fish and meat and onions. She liked hers too! I think she also had a cucumber and tomato salad, but I was busy entertaining Tia, so wasn't really paying that much attention. Tia loved the chicken broth that was on my dumplings, but wouldn't eat the dumplings nor the cheese and potato ones that I got her. Funny cause she just ate some this afternoon for lunch, very similar, except no broth. At least she ate some bread too! By the way, thank you for all the helpful comments on the last post about picky eaters. Made me feel alot better! Thanks!

Once back at the apartment it was bath time and then nite nite for little Princess. She was fast asleep by about 8pm. I'm so glad that she is at least sleeping all night, since nap time has been history. Hopefully once we are home, we can get back to napping, cause this 2 1/2 year old still needs one, even though she thinks otherwise.

One last tidbit and then pictures of the ice sculptures before I sign off for tonight. Tatiana said her new name when referring to herself for the first time today. I haven't really heard anyone else talk about this much, but this is also a big adjustment for her. I wasn't really sure how to transition her into her new identity, so just kind of played it by ear and took cues from her. While we were at the orphanage during our 10 day wait, I mostly called her by her old name as not to confuse her to much and take away from our bonding. Near the end of the 10 days, I started slipping in her new nickname at times. Once back at the apartment, I called her a hyphenated name for the first day, and switched to Tia after that. She still says her old name quite frequently, and sometimes both old and new names together. I think she is starting to figure it out, but I'm sure we will still use the old name and new for a while. Especially to get her attention right away. Grandma calls her "Grandma's Tatiana", and she really likes the sound of that, which helps. I call her Tatiana mostly when I need her attention and Tia when we are having fun playing.

Now to the pictures.

Have a great day! Next post from Moscow!

Shannon, Mom and Tatiana

Days 3 and 4 with Tia

2009-02-24T05:38:00.000-08:00

Just a couple more days to go in Krasnoyarsk now before we head back to Moscow and then home on March 3rd. Tia's passport is supposed to be ready tomorrow or Thursday morning at the latest. Our flight out to Moscow is for Thursday evening, I think at 730pm. We are very anxious to start on our way home, but a little disappointed that we couldn't see much more of Tatiana's birth city. It has just been too cold. It would have been different if we had come in spring, but glad I didn't have to wait that long to come and pick her up. Four months since trip one was way long enough. I did phone our translator today to see if someone would take us down by hotel Krasnoyarsk to see the ice sculptures before we leave. She said she would arrange for us to do that tomorrow. We are both really looking forward to that, as we have seen them from a distance in the car when we have driven downtown for business.

Tia has been keeping us both occupied and the time seems to pass pretty quickly since gotcha day. I am completely warn out by the end of the day, but for the most part it has been fun. Just work, entertaining her all day because she hasn't figured out how to entertain herself yet for more than maybe a minute. She always needs her Mama to go with her or play with her. She is just now letting her Grandma play with her a little bit too. Grandma actually got to hold her today for a few minutes at a time without her starting to cry.

For the most part, this little girl is adapting and handling the big change in environment really well. I don't think I could have asked for a better first week. We have had our moments, don't get me wrong, but for all the change, she is doing really remarkable. She has only had two accidents in 4 days with the potty situation. One was Mamas fault, cause I didn't believe her when she said she had to go. ( Remember I said in my last post how she asks me to go to the toilet almost every 15-30 minutes!) Well I didn't heed my own warning about you never know when its for real, so you have to go every time. Shame on me! The other time was this afternoon. She didn't tell me until too late, already running down her leg. I still am totally amazed that we are doing so well, knock on wood. She is even dry in the morning.

As for sleeping, she has slept in her crib all night long for the past two nights. No crying! Last night we even got up to potty and she went back into the crib for me to sleep no problem. Hooray! Wish me luck again for tonight cause I need my beauty sleep too! The little princess did not take a nap today, except for maybe 30 minutes. She has been so tired all day too! We have gone from running around laughing and playing at full speed ahead to having crying tantrums cause we didn't get our way. It is tough being two sometimes!

I also spoke way too soon about the eating thing. She ate so well the first twenty four hours no problem. Now she has gone to the other extreme of being so picky. Thank heavens for yogurt and bananas, juice, milk, cheese and cheerios. With maybe a little rice and apple thrown in. I tried all the things the orphanage said they fed her, but no way. She wasn't having any chicken, pasta, carrots, or potato for one meal. She did finally decide she liked the potato things today. They are little potato pierogies. She ate four for lunch today, but spit them out last night. Go figure! This is the one area that I have to admit is very frustrating to me. I feel at a loss sometimes, because I don't have the same foods here to try, that I would normally turn to in the USA. I can't just go to the supermarket and get some Mac and cheese, or something like that, cause I have no idea if they even carry such a thing. Haven't seen anything resembling it in our little store anyway. I tried spaghetti too, but she spit it out. She did eat a few plain noodles, but the texture thing gets to her and she spits it out before even tasting it. Hopefully once we are home, I will have a little more luck with variety, otherwise she'll just turn into a banana. :0) Mom says it will be better when we get home, so I will go with that for now.

Tia is still a very loving little girl. She still likes to be held and cuddled by her Mama. She gives big hugs back now and is even trying to give Mama kisses. So cute! And as per your request Sis, here's a few more pictures of my little princess in action.

Hope you enjoy!!

Shannon

Fun with Tatiana!

2009-02-22T02:53:00.000-08:00

It's been a fun and tiring day and a half with Tatiana, also known as Tia for short. She has been a very busy little girl since the time we brought her back to the apartment yesterday and still going now. She is sitting quietly next to me for a few minutes, so I thought I would try to write a little something on the blog.

We have been playing with all of the old toys and a few of the new ones. We've also improvised and added games to other things like pretending Mamas travel alarm clock is a phone. Walking Mama around and around the apartment. Getting in the stroller and going round and round the apartment. Tia, that is, not Mama....

Our other activities have been eating, and going potty. She has been doing exceptionally well with both, She has eaten almost everything put in front of her and lots of it. I don't know where this little girl is putting it all. She isn't eating so much that she is getting sick though so I'm not worried and expect her eating to slow down a little once we get home. Although, who knows! She may have a lot of growing to do right now.

As for the potty! Wow! I just hope our good fortune continues. She has not had an accident since I picked her up. Knock on wood. I had pull ups on her all day yesterday, but after she made it through the night and all morning with out them getting wet, I decided to put on the big girl panties. She has been so good about telling me when she has to go to the bathroom. We actually go about every 30 minutes. Sometimes she just says it to get me to walk with her, but a lot of the time it is for real, so we always go.

Tia has also been stuck to me like glue. She doesn't really want to sit with Grandma yet or play with her. She will accept food from her, and does go looking for her if she has left the room. She is also calling her Grandma and kind of plays peek-a-boo around the corner with her, saying "Hello Grandma". Very cute.

As for sleep last night, well, Tia probably got more than Mama! She fell asleep finally at about 830pm after a nice bath and a relaxing DVD movie. She was so tired by then as she refused to take a nap for me yesterday. She slept until about 1am in the crib. At 1 we got up to the bathroom, and then she refused to lay back down in the crib. Well after that she went back to sleep, but only after falling asleep on the couch. I tried to sleep at the other end of the couch but was so worried she'd fall off that it was fitful sleep. Tonight I will pull out the couch sleeper bed, just in case the same situation happens. At least then we will both be sort of comfortable if she has to sleep with me.

And to end this post...a few more pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Bye Bye for now!

Shannon, Tia and Mom

Gotcha Day!!!!!

2009-02-21T02:16:00.000-08:00

Gotcha!

Well, here she is........

Introducing Tatiana Noel Frederick

a much happier girl back at the apartment!

My little cuddle bug!

Having fun on the balance beam in our Princess Dress!

We are having fun adjusting to life in the apartment. Will have to post more pictures tomorrow as I still have a little girl demanding my attention making it a little hard to post. Hahaha!!

Paka paka!

Love to all!

Shannon, Mom and Tatiana

Wait Day 10 and last...

2009-02-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

My final day of waiting is almost over......tomorrow is Gotcha Day! Hooray! We get to go and pick up the Little Princess at about 9am, then off to get her paperwork and passport photo. It will be a busy first day out of the orphanage.

Our last visit was a little shorter today as we didn't arrive until almost 4pm and then spent some time talking with one of the staff members to get some final questions answered before tomorrow. I also got information about the Little Princesses daily schedule and what she normally eats. The Little Princess was in the room with us most of this time and did pretty well trying to play quietly while we were talking. She found Mamas purse and had fun counting out my change, and putting it back in the change purse. In the purse, out of the purse, in the purse, out of the purse. You get the picture. She doesn't actually count. She just has fun playing with the money.

She was wearing her very pretty princess dress again today. The pink one! So cute! I have a couple pictures, will have to put one up over the next couple of days. Our other activities included, playing on the balance beam. Being tickled, hugged and kissed on by Mama! Swinging around like an airplane! Mostly, interactive fun stuff with Mama. It was another pick me up Mama day! I love it! Was of course a little tired by the end of our visit. My beautiful blue slippers were also torn to shreds by the end today! I don't know if I mentioned these before. The blue slippers are paper which the lady at the door gives us every time we visit to cover our shoes so we don't track water and dirt around. Will have to post a picture of them too!

After our visit today we had Dasha take us to Peppers instead of home to the apartment. ( No Deli Surprises tonight)! Dasha and Sveta both joined us for dinner today. I had spaghetti with meatballs Russian style and a Greek type salad. Mom had.......Lasagna of course! Her favorite! After dinner, Mom and I ventured next door to the little Mall and went up to the 3rd floor to see the children's stores. We found a few toys that the Little Princess might like and then I bought a pair of the Russian children's sandal type shoes for her to have. I have still been unable to find a children's clothing store. The two clothing type stores that were in this mall only carried snow suits, hats and gloves. Amazing! I have no idea where someone in this city buys toddler clothes! Will search a little more next week. And to think, All I wanted to buy was a sweater!

Can't wait until tomorrow.......gotta try to sleep tonight! So excited!

Paka for now!
Shannon

Wait Day 9

2009-02-19T16:05:00.000-08:00

Second to last day before Gotcha Day! We are almost there!

This morning was spent doing the usual stuff around the apartment. Got a load of laundry done. Chatted with friends and family on the Internet. Read all of your wonderful comments! Played a few computer games. Which. by the way, we thank you for the tips on Pogo. We will definitely go to that game site once we are off of our Fishdom kick. I also tried to study a little bit to complete my CEU's for this year, as I know I wont have much time after the Little Princess arrives.

At 3pm, Dasha arrived right on time to take us to the orphanage to see the Little Princess. This is my favorite time of day. Our visits get better and better each time. Today the Princess came singing down the hallway, her Mama song. Something like I'm going to see my Mama, my Mama. It's very cute what ever she is saying. Then into the music room she came today with a great big smile, and crawled right up into my lap. This girl most definitely has stolen my heart, if I haven't mentioned that before! It was great to see her smile when she entered the room. Normally she will come over to me and crawl into my lap or grab hold of me once I walk over to her a little, but she has never smiled when she first comes in. She has always been a little shy and kind of quiet at first. So this is a big step!

Princess had on the prettiest little pink (Princess) dress today too! Ver, very cute! Pink Satin type material, with some lace and ribbons. Just what a Princess should be wearing right? I have only seen a couple of different outfits on her, so it was a surprise to see this Princess dress. Normally it is a red cordaroy jumper with hearts on it and a white shirt with little hearts or polka dots underneath. The other outfit has been a pair of blue jeans and an orange Halloween shirt. The only other surprise outfit was that one day when they dressed her in one of the outfits I had brought on the first trip and left, which was a little small then, but very small now. That was funny!

Our activities today included, playing with the Snow Princess dolly, of course, and pulling her around the room in her little sled. Playing with another dolly that we found in a drawer that sings the alphabet and the head sort of lights up like a glow worm doll. We then read Dasha's English book, several times. This book was way more fasinating than the Princesses books because it was Dasha's of course. Princess was good with it though. We pointed at pictures, she'd tell me something in Russian and I'd say the English word for it. Easy stuff like man, lady, boy, girl, etc.. The Princess did really well repeating back to me in English. I just love the sound of her little voice too! We also played on the kids balance beam. The Princess loves this! I see gymnastics class in the very near future!

Once again 5pm arrived and it was time to go. Only difference this time was that I think they forgot to come and get the Princess. Dasha had to go and tell someone that she was still with us so they would come and get her. Would have loved to play longer, but we had to get going ourselves. I'll get to keep her longer in another day or so! YEah!

After our orphanage visit today, Dasha took us to the travel agent to get our plane tickets back to Moscow for next Thursday! We are finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. It was funny when we were at the travel agent, Mom asked to know the price of the tickets before they put it on my credit card so we would know. (That part not funny!) The travel agent lady showed Mom the price in Rubles on the calculator. Then we converted to dollars. Mom says, "thats not right, is this the price for all three?" Dasha and the travel agent lady just look at her. Mom says, "show me again, total price for all three tickets". Both Dasha and the lady are looking at my Mom like what the heck is wrong with you kind of look. So they type in the Ruble price again, and we do the math conversion. Mom and I just look at each other, and then tell Dasha why we are double checking. It is because the price is very inexpensive compared to the price we paid to get to Krasnoyarsk for the two of us. Dasha, being so cute says , don't worry be happy! We both chimed in.. "We are, we just can't believe such a good price, but we will take it". Now how often in the adoption process do you get to say that something is cheap? Hahaha.. Never! So that was a very nice blessing!

Once our tickets were purchased it was time to go back to the apartment and decide what to do for dinner. We decided to wait for Friday to go to peppers and the toy store, so off to the supermarket I went. I got a few things in preparation for the Princesses arrival, like yoghurt, and chicken, and juice to start. For our dinner, Mom wanted me to pick more stuff from the Deli. For tonight we ended up with chiken breast topped with a cheesy sauce and a little onion. A salad of cucumber, hard boiled egg, bologna, onion, salad dressing of some kind and an herb mixed in that we really like, but aren't sure yet what to call it. Sort of like parsley but much finer. Tastes yummy anyway. I also picked out a scalloped potato with cheese and chicken side to go with the chicken breast. All of the salads and sides come with some sort of meat mixed in it too. Very interesting! Delicious choices tonight! We liked everything!

Last but not least, our evenning concluded with National Treasure (the first movie) on DVD.

One more day to go before the Princess arrives! Yeah!
So long from Russia...until tomorrow!
Shannon

Only Two More To Go! Wait Day 8

2009-02-18T05:31:00.000-08:00

Yes, Thank goodness, the clock is starting to tick down and talks about "Gotcha Day" have begun. Two more visits to the orphanage after today and then she is mine forever more. Hooray! We have just gone over the hurdle of half way through our journey here in Russia too. We have been on this journey of love for 14 days now with 13 more to go until we leave for home. Can you tell I am getting a little home sick? It wouldn't be quite as bad if we didn't feel so confined to the indoors because of the weather. Mom and I both would have loved to see lots more of the city but it has been just too darn cold to walk around at all, except for the little trips to the supermarket and to Peppers. There are no tour bus type trips in this city, nor subway to city center or anything fancy like that. Our only transportation is taxi service , bus or the trips with our driver from our agency. Since bus service is pretty much out of the question as our agency told us they would prefer we didn't try it in the winter when it is so cold, and taxi service can get fairly expensive, we have just been stuck in our little neighborhood for the most part. The weather is supposed to get a little bit warmer for the weekend. We are hoping also for next week so we can go to the park and fountain area over by Hotel Krasnoyarsk to see the ice sculptures and a little more of the city. Keep your fingers crossed for us that old man winter gives us a little break from the Arctic air before we leave next Thursday for Moscow.

My visit with the Little Princess went very well today. No drama like yesterday! Dasha was back as our driver. Her English is also getting much better this trip than my first trip, so she is also able to interpret some of Little Princesses baby language for me while we are at the orphanage.

We had fun today with more instruments. Mama was nice and let Little Princess play with the xylophone. (Grandma said she'd put it all back together for us if need be.) We also played with Mama's camera. This little girl sure is smart when it comes to gadgets. Wow! She figured out how to use my camera, with a little help only. We have some very interesting pictures of the snow princess, as she wanted to take her picture. Also pictures of the floor, the xylophone, fingers, Mamas hair, etc.. I've already decided we have to go and get a few more toys to keep this young lady entertained during our ten days together before we get home. She already seems very bored with the little toys I was able to pack and bring with me. I only have a couple of things left here at the apartment that she hasn't seen. Dasha just told us today that there are some childrens stores over by Peppers in that little mall on the 3rd floor. We will go and see what they have tomorrow or Friday. Would like to see if they have any of the little sandals that the kids wear at the orphange as well. They are very cute and come in all different colors.

For dinner tonite we had more Deli Surprises. Went to the supermarket again after our visit with the Little Princess and found a few things to try for dinner. We have both decided that we really want to sample as much Russian cuisine as possible. This is a very inexpensive way, compared to going out to eat every night. All we have to do is maybe heat it up a little and put the food on our plates. Okay, so tonight we ended up with pork chops with tomato, cream cheese, and hollandase type sauce on top. Very delicious, but the pork was a little bit tough. We also sampled two different salads. The first salad was with carrot slivers, cream cheese, peas, hard boiled egg, and tuna. Very nice tasting. The second salad was not so nice. It had peas (I think), green beans, and liver, with some sort of cheese type sauce holding it all together. We couldn't tell that it had liver in it when we bought it, or we wouldn't have, cause neither one of us are fans of this meat. So, not too bad! For the most part we have liked everything but this one salad that we have tried.

We haven't picked a movie yet tonight so not sure if we will watch anything or just listen to Russian TV and guess what they are saying. Right now we are just relaxing playing computer games. AOL's Fishdom and Mahjong are our top favorites today.

Thanks again for everyones comments and suggestions. We love hearing from you all!

Paka!
Shannon

It's Day 7 of Our Wait

2009-02-17T06:16:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! It's been one week now since court. Was just thinking how glad I am that court is complete and definitely behind me. Also thinking about all those with court dates today and hoping that they all had success. Especially thinking of the family that I met Monday who are adopting the Little Princess's groupa friend and her little brother. Hopefully all went well for them.

Today's visit was just Me, Grandma, and the Little Princess. No other families or even a driver to stay with us. Max drove today and he had to go somewhere else while we visited with the Princess. At least I think he did. He may just have not wanted to hang out, which is okay. We have the routine down pretty well now. Got to visit in the Music room again, which is always a plus. For the most part our time together went rather well. One of Little Princesses caretakers came in after about 15 minutes and bless her heart, she was really trying to communicate with me, but she didn't know any English at all, and my little bit of Russian...well I didn't really get what she was trying to say at all. Darn it! It wasn't anything that we had to do or go anywhere, or that anything was wrong, I could tell that much at least. She was just trying to be nice and friendly.

Today we played with the dolly that they have which is dressed up like the Snow Princess. It is now our favorite doll. We also got out some instruments. Had fun with the xylophone until Mama took it away cause Princess was taking all the metal bars off. (Mama was worried we'd get in trouble with the staff, if I didn't get it back together again.) So this was the bad part of the visit! Lil Princess being 2 1/2 years old, was not happy that I took the toy from her at all. She started having a 2 year old tantrum. This part I was fairly prepared to handle, trying distraction techniques and making her laugh with tickles and stuff. It was sort of starting to work, but then my poor baby got really freaked out about something, still not sure what, and was having a really hard time being consoled. She was talking to me quite a bit with her two year old Russian speak but I felt horrible only being able to understand Mama, Mama and No. She didn't want me to sit down, she didn't want me to put her down. She wanted to be held, but yet still scared of something. I finally got her to calm down by walking way over to the other end of the room holding her, and going into the baby bag of goodies and getting out her sippy cup and rocking her. She was okay after a few minutes, but I felt so awful not knowing what she was afraid of. It wasn't still the xylophone thing, cause I tried to give it back and she didn't want it, until way later after we calmed down. Once she calmed down she also took me by the hand and led me to the door. She definitely wanted me to take her out of the room for some reason. The only thing Mom and I can possibly think of that she might have gotten scared of is this rocking horse that is in the room. It's a big stuffed horse on rockers. The Little Princess always goes way out of her way to avoid it, and will absolutely not even think about riding it or petting it. She may have seen it when she got upset about the xylophone as we were sitting kind of near the thing.

Anyone else experience this situation, or feel so inadequate, and horrible cause they didn't know what was wrong or what their child was saying? I still feel so badly that my Little Princess was so upset and I couldn't figure it out. My only consolation is that I was eventually able to calm her down and rock her. At least she does feel comfortable enough with me to trust me to hold her close and rock. She actually likes me to hold her a lot. I am so blessed that she is such a cuddle bug.

On a lighter note, during the rest of our visit we did start to play again and had fun with the big piano. It was so funny. I taught her how to play quietly and not bang on the keys. I just whispered in her ear, sshhh and showed her how to play with just her little fingers rather than her whole hand banging on the keys, and she did it like that. Unbelievable sometimes how she just understands. Then again 5pm was here and it was time for my little one to go to her groupa. Thank goodness only three more visits where I have to let her go!

As for the mystery Deli foods.....for dinner tonight, Mom got out all her Deli surprises for us to eat. She didn't get Deli meats like lunch meat stuff, she got a salad and two different pastry/ entree items. I really enjoyed the salad which was fresh cucumber strips, tomato, red bell pepper and some kind of meat strips (we think either bologna or ham, or ham flavor bologna-not sure). The dressing to me tasted like green olive juice, but more like olive oil that is a little salty. Who knows, it just tasted good to me. Mom wasn't that excited about it, but I could have eaten just that and been happy. For our little pastry things, the first one was round flaky pastry with chicken, tomato, creamy cheese, pineapple, flaky pastry top and then maybe some sort of hollindase sauce over it. We heated it up so it was warm. Mom really liked this one! I'm not always excited about pineapple on stuff, so it was not my favorite, but still it was good. Our last Deli treat was another pastry, square in shape, where the four corners fold up to make the top. Inside was crab, corn, and rice and some spices. It was nice but a little on the dry side. Our dinner adventure was fun. Will have to try more Deli surprises another day!

Tonight's Movie is RV with Robin Williams (one of our DVD's). Nothing exciting on Russian television.

Nothing else exciting to report from Krasnoyarsk so will end the post for another day.
Love from Russia!
Shannon

It's Finally Monday! Wait Day 6

2009-02-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, It is finally Monday here in Krasnoyarsk. Laundry day and a visit to the Little Princess all in one day. Much more to do on our agenda today. I love being busy!

Our visit was in the afternoon again, with Dasha as our driver. We saw the little Princess in the music room again today. Yippee! We also had company. There was another couple visiting their soon to be daughter in the same room. Their little one is in the Little Princesses play group. The other couple and their child had arrived and were in the room before us. It was so cute when the Princess came to join us and she saw the other little girl. Her face lit up and she yelled out the other little girls name. The Princess wasn't too sure about the mama and papa of the other little girl, but she enjoyed watching them interact.

We had another good visit today. As before, the Princess starts our visit just wanting to cuddle and sit on Mama's lap. I think she has usually just gotten up from her afternoon nap before they bring her to me as she always is a little sleepy still. We usually play quietly for about a half an hour with the Princess in my lap the whole time. We read books or cuddle with the stuffed animals. After about half and hour the Princess takes me by the hand and we walk around the room picking out a dolly and a few other toys to play with. I just love how she likes me to be very close to her always during our visits. This afternoon was a little bit different because we were sharing the room. At first the other couple didn't really want the girls to interact and play together. They wanted their own time with their little girl. It was their first visit back with her of their second trip, so I guess I can see why, though it was hard to keep the Little Princess away. About one hour or so into the visit they finally let the kids sort of play together, especially when they (the little girls) discovered the musical instrument drawer. Oh my, what fun! We had out the drum, flutes, tambourines, jump ropes (funny-not sure why they are in this drawer), and the triangle. The girls would get one instrument out, play with it a little and then go for another. It was hilarious!

Once again, all too soon, one of the caregivers came to take the kids away for the evening! Just when we were having so much fun! I wished the other couple luck, for tomorrow is their court date, and then we were on our way back to the apartment. Maybe we will see them again on Wednesday!

For dinner tonight, Mom and I braved the cold and walked down to Peppers. It was very cold...bbrrrrh. -26F, but it was worth getting out and having a nice meal with other people around. The brisk walk did us wonders too! Mom loved their Lasagna the last time there, so she ordered a different flavor this time. She says it was delicious too, and may keep ordering Lasagna every time we go, just different flavors until she makes it through the list. She still has a way to go as I think there was about eight different kinds of Lasagna. I ordered a small Carna Pizza and their Greek Salad. Both were very good although from the picture I kind of thought my pizza was going to be sausage, but it was kind of like shredded beef. I should have guessed, beef by the name Carna. Don't know why my Spanish lessons didn't kick in. Oh well! Still good anyway!

On our way home, we stopped at the supermarket and replenished our breakfast and lunch supplies. Mom also got a little adventurous this time and ordered a few things from the deli for a surprise tomorrow. ( Surprise cause she isn't sure what the items are)! Will let you know tomorrow, so stay tuned. Always an adventure in Krasnoyarsk!

We are now home again (at the apartment) and watching Indiana Jones for our movie tonight. Last night we did see Russian Survivor. It was pretty good but we both decided that the Russians have it way more easy than or Survivors. It looked like they had several different outfits to change into, way more food, and plenty of blankets, pillows and mats to sleep on. None of their survivors looked malnourished like ours do at the end either, and they were all way to clean. None of them had dirty clothes at all. Still, it was fun to see a somewhat familiar show. We will continue to watch again next Sunday night. By the way, did Survivor start again in the states? If so, someone please keep me posted on what is happening.

Well, that's about it for today. Da svidahnia!
Shannon and Mom too!

Sunday Day 5

2009-02-15T05:14:00.001-08:00

Another day just about gone in our wait time to pick up the Princess. Yeah!

Last night we had a little excitement in the neighborhood. At about 1215 or 1230am I awoke to this loud beeping sound coming from above the couch on the wall. In my semi wakefulness I had no idea what it was, so I attempted to turn on the lights, only to find that they would only come on dimly. Now when you just wake up you sort of think, well maybe it's just my eyes. Nope..I went around the room trying to turn on all the lights, but all were only coming on dim. Same in the bathroom, and also found the bathroom fan wouldn't go. Mind you all along the beeping continues. I can see now that the sound is coming from what I believe to be the air conditioning unit, but not sure why its beeping. I'm starting to wonder if it is also possibly a smoke alarm, yet I smell no smoke. I look out the windows to the street below to see if people are leaving the building, or fire anywhere, or what??? I notice the street looks kind of dark compared to normal. Some street lights are on, but there are a lot out. I also see people coming out of the Restaurant pictured above and are gathering around their cars. By now I am feeling a bit freaked. Not sure what is going on. I was just wondering if I should call Sveta, when the computer monitor starts to crackle a little and flicker. I quickly unplug the computer and wait to see what happens. A few minutes after that I hear the refrigerator motor start up and then see all of the lights come on in the street and the restaurant across the street. I try the lights and they now shine brightly. Thank heavens! Whew! What a weird experience. It must have been some kind of brown out my Mom thinks. It has never happened to me before in the states where you have a little power. I've always experienced complete power outage if the power goes. ( Mom slept through the whole thing- so she wasn't bothered by it at all!) Did this ever happen to anyone else while they were in Krasnoyarsk? The rest of the night was less eventful, finally got to sleep around 2am.

It was another cold day in the city. -24F (am I starting to sound like a broken record?) It kind of feels like ground hog day. Each day more of the same. Stayed inside again. Watched a couple of movies, took a little nap. Played some games. Had left over chicken for dinner. We are planning to watch the Russian version of Survivor tonight, as both Mom and I are big Survivor fans. Tomorrow we go to see the Little Princess again in the afternoon. I've been missing our visits over the weekend.

Goodbye for now!

Shannon

Happy Valentine's Day from Krasnoyarsk

2009-02-14T01:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just hanging out at the apartment today, day 4 of our wait. Next Saturday, one week from today, we should be able to pick up the Little Princess. What a difference the weekends will make!

Hope you are all well, and are receiving lots of love from your families and friends today! Maybe a little chocolate, flowers and candy too?

Day 3 and Friday the 13th

2009-02-13T08:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday the 13th ! Hope everyone had a GOOD day today!

I had another wonderful day with the Princess, and Yes! we got to use the Music room. Hooray! We have so much more fun with the extra space to play in. The Little Princess was glued to me today from the start. All she wanted in the beginning of our visit was to sit in my lap and have me rock her and the lala's. We had two stuffed animals in our lap, with one playing music. She was so sleepy and cuddly. After about 15-20 minutes we woke her up a little more and boy did we have a riot. She still wanted me to carry her, swing her around and hold her hand everywhere we went around the room. We had great fun, but boy was I getting hot and a little tired after our two hour visit. She gave me a good workout today. She was all smiles and laughing. She has the cutest little giggle. Wish I had a tape recorder to pick up the sound of her voice to share.

Our visit to the orphanage was in the afternoon today. We arrived back at the apartment at 515pm or so. Had a little rest and some coffee, then at 7pm Dasha came to get us and take us to Planyeta. Mom and I got to wonder the mall for 3 1/2 hours while Dasha went to her exercise and Yoga classes. Mom and I had a great dinner at one of the little Restaurants on the top floor of the Mall. It is an authentic old country style Russian restaurant. We had to try to pick our meal by looking at the pictures as the menu was all in Russian. We got some great dishes. Mom had the Salmon and potatoes. She said it is the best Salmon that she has had in a very long time. I had mashed potatoes and what I believe was ground lamb with spices type patties. Very tasty too! The funniest part was trying to order drinks. No pictures! Mom wanted white wine. It took quite a bit of sing language and then pointing at someone across the rooms drink to get it, but the waitress was fantastic and very understanding. Mom got her wine, and I got tea with milk, just what I ordered. We will definitely go back to this restaurant.

At the supermarket at the mall. (the big supermarket) we picked up a few more items for the apartment like sharp knives and some bowels and better silverware. Our apartment is very nice, just missing a few conveniences. We will pass on the goods to the next family that stays, just as we were grateful for the items left behind for us. ( Oh! Thank you very much for the tip about the clothes drying rack. We found it in the closet.) We have not gotten brave enough to try to navigate the bus system, but did ask Dasha about it tonight. She said not to take the bus this time of the year because it is way too cold. She has been so sweet and taking us around, even working around her big exams this week, as she is still attending the University.

Unfortunately, No visits with the Princess over the weekend. We will have to get creative and think of something else to do.

Bye for today!
Shannon

Kras Wait Day 2

2009-02-12T00:50:00.000-08:00

It's another balmy day here in Krasnoyarsk at about -20F. Hahaha Meanwhile, I here back home is experiencing above normal temps around 50F. Oh well, we are making the most of it anyway.

***The photo is taken looking down from our apartment window to the open market across the street.

This morning started with another visit to see the Little Princess. We got stuck visiting in the little front office which only holds three people comfortably, let alone trying to play with a toddler and having people come in and out of the office to get files or use the computer. The ladies are all very polite, but the Princess always is less focused on Momma and more focused on the faces she knows better when we have to visit here. I'm hoping tomorrow we will get the music room again. Much more room to run around in and play.

As expected, the little Princess was more wound up and energetic today than yesterday. She was so calm and cuddly yesterday, I just knew today she would be full of energy and want to play with everything, including getting into cabinets and files that she shouldn't be in. Isn't it fun to be 2? I do love this age, you just never know what to expect. Always have to be on your toes.

The funniest story from our visit today had to be the box story. You know how people always say, forget the expensive gifts for little kids, just give them the box it came in and they will have a blast. That is exactly what Little Princess was playing with today. One of her caregivers gave us a box of the mega size legos to play with. You've all seen them I think. They come in a plastic container about twice the size of a shoe box. Well anyway, Little Princess dumps out all of the Lego's and basically says the heck with them, and we proceeded to play with the box. It was a ma china to ride on, a bassinet for the dolly, a bassinet for the big dolly baby (little princess got in it too). Got pictures of this, so cute... It was also a ma china for mama to ride on, but I didn't fit very well. Guess who played with the Lego's? Grandma, of course!

Our visit was from 10-12 this morning. After the orphanage, Dasha was kind enough to drop Mom and I at the Mall, Planyeta. We had lunch and looked around the shops for a bit. Grandma bought Princess a new baby doll to play with when she gets to the apartment.

After the mall, Dasha drove us back to the apartment. We have since trekked down stairs and around the corner to replenish the food supplies. I just love going to the store and trying to figure out what the items are. It's always a surprise when you get home and open them up and try to make something out of all that you have gotten. If you are lucky, it even tastes good, you just don't know what to call it. :) My only bad experience so far was my first attempt to buy milk. Luckily I tasted it before pouring it on my cereal cause it was buttermilk. Yuck! Second attempt was good. Now I just stick to that same carton every time.

So, for the rest of the night, I am doing exciting things like laundry! We have a cute little washing machine in the apartment, but no dryer. Mom found some type of clothes line in the cupboard, which I now have strung up from one end of the bathroom and back. This will work!

Here's a couple of Pic's of Mom in our apartment.

Hope all is well with everyone! Thank you all for your comments! I love hearing from everyone!

Paka,
Shannon

Wait Day 1

2009-02-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

This morning was a lazy day, just hanging out at the apartment watching all the people down below heading to work and to the outdoor market in the freezing cold. We are on the ninth floor of our apartment building so it is easy to people watch from above. Also while Mom played video games, I played on the computer.

At 3pm we got to go and visit my beautiful little Russian Princess at the orphanage. She is so darn cute. I know I said that before and that I am just slightly prejudiced about it, but she is. While we were waiting for her in the music room, I could hear her coming all the way down the hallway saying Momma, Momma. I just love that. I have to admit it is music to my ears. In walks little Princess and she is wearing one of the outfits that I left at the orphanage last visit. It was only a size 12 month and is pretty small on her now. I was tickled though that the orphanage staff decided to put on an outfit that I left. How sweet!

For our visit today I brought a diaper bag full of toys and some goodies. We had fun discovering everything that was in it. Her favorite was the Dora CD player with headphones. She listened to music for almost an hour before finally deciding to take off the headphones. She also wanted to be Mommas girl today. She sat in my lap or right next to me the whole visit. She went to Grandma, but for only a moment at a time and then right back to Momma. She is bonding so well already. I also brought the photo album with me that I had prepared for the Judge yesterday in court. After the Judge was done looking at it I received it back. That was a nice surprise. Anyway, Little Princess and I looked at all the photos and she picked Momma and herself out of all of the pictures. She calls herself lolla or lolly in all the pictures. She must think she looks like a dolly, as that is the Russian word that she uses for doll. Fun day today anyway. Nice and relaxed. No pressure on me feeling court looming over my head. Little Princess must have felt that too, as she was very relaxed as well.

After our visit, which lasted until 5pm, we headed on back to the apartment. Tonight I tried my hand at making spaghetti sauce and pasta from scratch using only a few ingredients and everything in Russian. I couldn't find anything that resembled Prego or Ragu at the supermarket so had to find some kind of tomato sauce instead and make from scratch. Now mind you, at home I do like to make pasta sauce, but it is challenging here. So the tomato sauce that I picked ended up being tomato paste. We also had left over sausage of sorts that we have been eating with eggs in the morning, left over chicken from last night, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper. All the ingredients went into the pot along with some water, and voala....spaghetti sauce, minus the oregano. It actually tasted really good according to my Mom. I thought it wasn't too bad either.

So....Another day down, and nine more to go before Princess comes to stay with Momma for good. Hoorah!

Court

2009-02-10T03:23:00.001-08:00

It's Official!! The Judge finally said Dah (yes)! I am now officially the mother to the Little Russian Princess. Holy Cow! I can't believe it is finally over. At least the court part. It was a very difficult court day, with many questions, but the end result is the best, a positive outcome.

Above is the official picture of myself and my agency representative Oleg after the final hearing.

The ten day waiting period begins tomorrow. I should be able to pick up the Little Princess on Saturday February 21st for " Gottcha Day". Tomorrow we will go for another visit to the orphanage in the afternoon. Tonight we are celebrating at home with a baked chicken and rice. It is the beginning of a very cold week. Tonight -20c thus far, going down to -39c by mid week. Too cold to walk anywhere so will be eating alot of meals at the apartment unless we call a cab to take us out.

Thank you everyone who sent up prayers for me today! They really worked! I was calm until the 2nd time back in the court room. The first time in court there were questions that the Judge asked that I didn't have all the answers to, so she postponed the hearing until I went and got the answers and/or information that she wanted me to have about the Princess and her family. Usually the delay can be a day to 10 days so I was very happy when the Judge allowed me to come back today to finish the court proceeding once I had reviewed all of the documents that I needed to see. 2nd time in I was very nervous. It was difficult to figure out exactly what the Judge wanted from me as an answer so I just spoke from my heart. In the end her final decision was a good one.

For tonight, Paka from Russia.
I am mentally exhausted, but emotionally thrilled!

Orphanage Visit

2009-02-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

Got to see the Little Princess this morning!!!! She came right to me again when I called her name, but was a little bit shy and not quite sure exactly what was going on as Oleg, my CHI rep and Sveta, my interpreter were with me along with my Mom. So many new faces in the room. I think she was a little bit nervous. I don't blame her one bit either. Once she sat down on the couch next to me and we started to play, her cheery little personality started to light up. She is just so darn cute! I also got out a little photo album that I have been carrying around with me for the last four months that contains pictures of her and I from my last visit. She really enjoyed looking at the pictures, especially of herself. She is so funny!

I can't believe how much the Little Princess has grown over the last four months. I bet she is about 2 inches taller and 5 pounds heavier if I had to guess. I am so glad, she looks very healthy now and she needed to catch up a little. She was on the petite side when I first met her. The Lady's at the orphanage have been taking excellent care of her. Not sure now if the clothes I brought are going to fit. Oh well!! Plenty of shops in the area that I saw at the Planyeta Mall yesterday. (Thank you to one of my fellow Krasnoyarsk adoptive family readers for letting me know the correct name).

After the orphanage visit this morning we went to lunch at People's bar and grill. Good food, but Mom almost got forgotten by the waitress. We all had meals, but she forgot to give the chef Mom's food order. Oops! She finally got served, and her meal was even tasty so she was happy, just very hungry for awhile looking at all of our meals. ( I was nice though and shared a little until hers arrived).

Didn't really do anything else outside of the apartment today. When we got back I took a little 45 minute nap since I only slept 2 hours last night. Not sure if I was worried about court or excited about seeing the Little Princess, or was it the coffee I had at 9pm. Could have been all 3. Hopefully I will rest well tonight. Court is tomorrow at 1030am. I have received the email version of the letter that I needed from my HR department (document issue!). I also found a copy of the letter in the papers that I brought with me. I had already completed this document it turns out, but no one here has it. Anyway, hopefully what I have now will be enough for the judge. Thank you to my friends and family back home for running around this morning to get the paper completed, emailed and ready to also Fed Ex should the need arise. Now hopefully I can relax a little tonight. Probably not, but it is a thought!

For Birthday dinner tonight, had left over Pizza from Peppers! Haha!! Will feel more like celebrating tomorrow after court. ( Positive thoughts!!!!!)

Stay tuned for more news tomorrow! Will try to get some new pics up on the blog over the next couple of days too!

Bye for now!
Shannon

Krasnoyarsk At Last

2009-02-08T06:39:00.001-08:00

We Finally arrived to Krasnoyarsk Saturday morning bright and early. Well maybe not so bright, but definitely early. We arrived in a bit of a snow storm, but our fearless CHI rep Oleg made it to pick us up at the airport at 7am and got us safely to our apartment. We were hoping to stay at Hotel Krasnoyarsk so that we could be with the two other single Mom families that we had met in Moscow, but it appears that our representatives here did not get our request and hotel is now booked. The apartment that Oleg has rented us is very nice however. After adjusting to life without any English speaking people around us, and finding our way to the supermarket and then down the street to Peppers and the shopping district, we are coping just fine. Peppers is a pizza and pasta type restaurant with TV's and free WiFi. Food is good and people watching fun there too.

Just got the Internet up and working this evening at the apartment, so am trying to catch up with every ones messages and updating the blog. Yesterday, as I said we arrived in Kras early in the morning after an overnight flight from Moscow. The flight is actually only 4 hours, but we also changed time zones another 4 hours. Flight left at 1020pm and arrived in Kras at 650am or there abouts. After getting settled into the apartment we rested for a few hours, then grocery shopped for lunch and breakfast. In the evening we were taken to Peppers for dinner, then back to apartment to watch American movies in Russian. Luckily Rambo was on and we both are familiar with how the movie goes so reading lips and just watching the picture went well even though we couldn't understand the Russian translator.

Today we rested some more. Mom didn't even get up until 10am. I guess she was tired! I was up a bit earlier and then on and off during the night. Trying to get used to a new time zone plays crazy tricks on the body. Just had to keep telling myself it was still early or middle of the night to get more rest. At about 8am I'd had enough and attempted to make breakfast of sausage and scrambled eggs. It took about 45 minutes to get the job done as the stove was not cooperating, but in the end we had breakfast that tasted pretty good. This afternoon our interpreter Sveta and a friend of hers took us to the big mall, I think she said they call it "The Planet". It is large and had a lot of shops and restaurants, along with a very large supermarket. We talked about how court would go on Tuesday and enjoyed walking around inside as it is cold and snowy here outside. After the mall, Svetlana dropped us back to the apartment where Oleg met us and helped us to conquer the Internet issue, and show us how to operate the oven and washing machine. Important issues! Once we were set, Oleg and Sveta left and Mom and I decided to walk the four or five blocks back to Peppers for dinner.

We are now back at the apartment after a brisk walk home from Peppers with full bellies. Tomorrow morning we get to go see the Little Princess. Yippeeeee!! Then practice court questions again and tackle a possible document issue. Yes, I said document issue.....hopefully it will be nothing, but may have to have family at home run to get a paper signed for me. Please everyone pray that the judge is satisfied with what I have already turned in and not ask for version number three of the same paper.

Paka (Good bye)from Krasnoyarsk for tonight. Stay tuned for more tomorrow...
Love, Shannon

We Made It To Moscow

2009-02-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

18 hours or so after leaving the house yesterday Feb. 4th, we (My Mom and I) landed in Moscow, via Atlanta Georgia, safe and sound. Mom and I are both still a bit jet lagged, but we had a nice nap after lunch today and are now just hanging out in our Hotel room catching up on the news.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Sokolinki in Moscow tonight. I stayed here on my first trip as well, so know the layout of the land so to speak around here as well as the amenities. It looks like we are booked here for our return stay near the end of February. We'll be here about 5 days then. Not a whole lot of time for sight seeing on the way this time, but we do get to have a professionally guided city tour tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow morning will be spent getting my Medical done and paper collected for court. Afterwards lunch, citytour, dinner and then the airport again. Our flight to Krasnoyarsk leaves at 1020pm tomorrow night.

I'm so excited that I am finally back to see my Little Russian Princess and bring her home. I'm nervous about court, but can't wait for it to get here and be over with at the same time.

More later as the rest of the journey unfolds. Probably wont be able to post tomorrow, but should get back online the day after when we get settled in Krasnoyarsk.

I can't think of any crazy airport stories either. Only one man that wouldn't sit down so that we could depart from atlanta. I thought for sure that he was going to be ejected from the flight, but he finally found his seat, and we finally were able to take off.

Take care all!!
Shannon...and Mom too!

Travel Dates

2009-01-27T15:01:00.000-08:00

It's already been a whirlwind week! I can't believe I'm actually going to be leaving in one week to complete ( I love that word), the adoption of my beautiful little Russian Princess that I've been waiting for, for so long.

So here is the schedule so far:
Depart Detroit metro airport on Feb 4th.
Arrive Moscow Feb 5th.
Feb. 6th Medical evaluation in Moscow
Feb 6th evenning fly out to region
Feb 7th arrive in Krasnoyarsk
Feb 9th- my Birthday
Feb 10th Court Date
Ten day wait, then gotcha day ?? not sure of date yet.
Feb 26th leave Kras for Moscow
Feb 27th Childs medical in Moscow and documents submitted to embassy
Mar 2nd interview at the US Embassy
Mar 3rd Leave Moscow for home ( and my sisters birthday)

The past few days have been busy as I stated at the beginning, but productive.
Plane tickets to and from Moscow purchased.
Passports and Visa applications sent off
Bank notified to order new money
Employer notified of depart date.
Babys suitcase packed.
Friends and family called.
Dog, cat and house sitter arranged
Airport ride arranged

Still to go:
My suitcase
Pick up Mom from airport as she's still in Florida and needs to come home for this trip and repack.
Gather copies of all documents for court
Get batteries for camera
Figure out how to use skype
Pick up funds from Bank
Collect Passport and Visa
Turn in leave paperwork to employer
Try to relax.......and breath too, that would be good.

The Best Post Yet!!!

2009-01-23T17:13:00.000-08:00

Finally, the post you've all been waiting for, and me too!!! Yes! I have a court date. Wahooooooo.
I got the call yesterday afternoon just before I had to go into work for a short shift. Court is scheduled for February 10th. The day after my birthday. Close enough for me to call it one of the greatest birthday presents yet. I am so excited, not really sure what to do first.

If anyone has traveled to Krasnoyarsk lately for court, please email me privately to let me know as much info as you can about what to expect from the Judges. I am a little nervous about that part. Also, how many different outfits did most of you take for your child? Any helpful packing tips are also always welcome.

I am still waiting for confirmation from my adoption agency about travel dates so I can get the passports and visa information sent out and by the plane tickets. Hopefully I will hear something real soon. As far as I can tell, I think I will be leaving on February 4th for Moscow.

Thanks again to everyone out there praying for me. Just a little longer now and this dream of mine to start a family will soon become true.

Documents in Court

2008-12-11T05:43:00.000-08:00

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas here in Michigan. Temperatures have dropped. Snow is on the ground and on the rooftops. Christmas trees are up and lights decorate the outside of many homes. I love this time of year, (except maybe the cold). Brrrrrr. Only one thing could make it even better. Yep, if only I had a date to return to Russia to bring home the Little Russian Princess.

All papers needed for court are complete and in Russia at this time. On November 26th, I was told that Oleg submitted all the documents to the court. Since then I have been waiting both patiently and impatiently for news about a court date. Still no news as of this morning. I was really, really hoping to be in Russia for Christmas this year. Still hoping and praying that news will arrive soon, as Christmas is only 2 weeks away. Also....December 15th will mark the 2 year point since the beginning of the adoption process. I'm thinking 2 years is long enough. Time to bring the Little Russian Princess home.

Hope this time of year is bringing Peace, Love Hope and Joy to all of your homes.
Shannon

Pics of Moscow

2008-11-07T10:19:00.000-08:00

Here is a little video of the pictures taken in Moscow from my first trip. Most were taken at the Kremlin, St. Basil's and the Gum mall with a few more of the Holiday Inn and view out my window.

Pics of Krasnoyarsk as promised

2008-11-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

Just some pictures that I promised awhile ago. These were taken on our last day in Krasnoyarsk. Our driver, Dasha, was kind enough to give us all a tour of the city.

Time to update the Blog.......

2008-11-07T08:30:00.000-08:00

Oh Boy....I've been a bad blogger lately. Sorry for the delay in this post. I know every one is wondering about court. No date as of yet, but I do have all of my documents completed. I think!!! I sent all of the required papers off a couple of weeks ago now, except for the CA police clearance and my extension to the I600 A. The papers (except those two) should be in Russia being translated now, and then off to the court in Krasnoyarsk.

As for the CA police clearance, I did receive my report back a week ago. ( Thank you to everyone who offered their assistance with this one.) Just need to check with my agency to see if I need to do anything else with it before forwarding it to Russia. I also received papers back from Homeland Security yesterday. I think the extension has been granted but want to ask someone at the agency to interpret as the wording is a little unclear. So anyway...everything is just about done from my end. Oh also purchased a couple of small photo albums yesterday and will put together a photo album for the Judge.

What happens next...??? Well, from what I've been told. Now the document preparation starts for my Little Russian Princess. Once her documents are together my agency representative in Krasnoyarsk will hopefully get us a date with the Judge so that I can go back to Russia to complete the adoption and bring my sweet Little Russian Princess home.

Home...that is a beautiful word. Can't wait to bring her home. The wait is starting to drive me crazy. I miss her so much. It has been a little over 5 weeks since I've seen her and it seems like forever. I don't want her to forget me. She wasn't old enough to understand why I had to go after spending three mornings visiting her at the orphanage. It has to be very confusing to her. I know it's been hard on me having to leave her there. I do know that she is being well cared for by her caregivers, so that part is comforting. Still, the missing her and wishing she was here part is hard. And so the waiting continues.......

Almost two weeks home from trip one

2008-10-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delay with the pictures of Russia. It's been a busy (almost) two weeks since my plane landed. I have been trying to get all of the documents needed for court prepared. Not an easy task, but its coming together. I have everything in progress and almost completed except my California State Police Clearance letter. Since I now live in Michigan, this is proving to be very difficult. For any of you that read this blog and live in CA, please feel free to chime in and tell me who to contact to get this done. I should have everything else completed and waiting for apostilles by the beginning of next week.

Aside from recovering from Jet Lag, which seemed to last for a week, and running around with paperwork, I returned to work and had a wonderful baby shower thrown by my church. The folks at Grace United Methodist Church are so loving and giving. I was overwhelmed by their love and generosity this past Sunday.

Just a couple pics to share as my camera battery decided to die before the gift openning began. I need to get the rest of the pics from my sister-in-law. Thank you again Jill, Jane and Candy for such a wonderful party for the Little Princess.

And now to the pics of Krasnoyarsk:

This is the Hotel Sibier where I stayed

and the new Fountain by Hotel Krasnoyarsk

Okay, blogger is taking forever to upload today, so sorry. It could be the computer operator too. I need to figure out how to do a slide show to show you more pics.

Need to get going for now.

Thanks again everyone for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers. Please continue to keep me and the Little Princess in your prayers as we work toward getting back to court and bringing her home. Also pray that I can figure out how to get my CA police clearance.

Bye for now,

Shannon

Back Home

2008-09-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm back home again!!! I arrived home in the Detroit area yesterday around 1pm EST after a very long day of flying. No complaints about the flight, plane or food, just long...... The flight from Moscow to Franfurt was 2 1/2 hours with only about 1 1/2 hours in between flights. The next leg of the journey from Frankfurt to Detroit was 8 1/2 hours flight time. I sure was glad to get off the plane, but at the same time wanting to go back to Krasnoyarsk quickly to pick up my Little Princess.

Here's a couple of teaser photos of my Little Princess!! I can't post any identifying pictures of her until she is legally in my custody, or fondly known as "Gottcha Day" on the next trip.

These will have to do for now. Will post again later today with more pictures from Krasnoyarsk and Moscow.

Bye for now... Shannon

P.S. Just wanted to send out a big " Thank you" to Jill for providing taxi service to and from the Detroit airport along with emotional support prior to take off when I was sooo nervous.

Also, a great big "Thank you" to Oleg, Sveta and Dasha in Krasnoyarsk, for making Trip one a very memorable and enjoyable time. Also, Thank you for all the work you do on behalf of me with the orphanage and court system when I am not there.

Once more big "Thank you" to my niece Katie, for watching over the house and Jake while I was away.

Moscow Last Day

2008-09-26T09:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post before trying to get some sleep for tomorrows early departure. It was a fantastic day here in Moscow. The three of us ventured out and tackled the metro system to get down to Red Square and the Kremlin. We spent several hours touring the sites and of course doing a little souvenir shopping. I got a really nice Matroshka doll and traditional Russian dress for the Little Princess, along with a couple of other little goodies. We ate lunch at the famous Gum Mall and then we mostly window shopped. The stores here are very posh and expensive. It was fun to look anyway.

Dinner tonight, again at the Hotel as we are all tired and need to get up very early to get rides to the airport.

I'm having problems with blogger and uploading pictures, so will have to add them at a later date.

Next post, home......

Shannon

In Moscow

2008-09-25T11:07:00.001-07:00

It was a very early morning departure today from the hotel, leaving at 4:30am to catch our flight to Moscow. Flight on Aeroflot was very comfortable this time. No problems, even slept about an hour. yipee!!!

Rick, Angela and I are all staying at the Holiday Inn Sokolinski in Moscow. it's a very nice hotel and within walking distance to McDonald's as well as several small malls for shopping, grocery stores and a lovely large park to stroll in.

We are all feeling a bit jet lagged and tired after our quick trip to Krasnoyarsk and all the emotions that go with meeting your children and then having to leave them behind, so we did not venture down to Red Square today. That is planned for tomorrow. This afternoon we did visit all of the little shopping centers and took a walk through the park. The weather was beautiful, even if on the cool side. The sun was shining and the wind was light. All the time in Krasnoyarsk it was windy, cold and rainy on and off, so sunshine was wonderful. We opted to eat at the bar/restaurant in the hotel tonight and then call it a day as 1) we were unable to locate any eatting establishments near us that could handle our very limited Russian. 2)We had already eatten at McDonald's for lunch, so did not want that again for dinner. 3) we were all just too tired to venture out much farther. Dinner was delicious, so not a bad choice afterall.

More from Moscow tomorrow!
Shannon

P.S. Thank you for all the comments from everyone. It is so nice to be able to stay in touch with everyone while being so very far away.

Kras Day 3

2008-09-24T01:16:00.000-07:00

We (Angela, Rick and I,the other family from CHI on their first trip), just got back from a great day. It's 4pm now, so I decided to take a little break and update the blog again before I get too tired and can't think.

The morning started just a little rough for me, as I wasn't able to sleep well last night, and then slept in past the time I had intended to awaken because the alarm didn't go off. I must have forgot to turn it to on after I set it last night. Hopefully I will do better tonight. Anyway, I woke up at 7:22am and was supposed to meet at 8am for our ride to the orphanage. I made it, but without my coffee. Oh Boy!!! I wasn't too cranky, just felt out of sorts for a little while. So...on to the orphanage for my last visit with the Little Princess. I was once again sent to the little office to use as my visiting area. Little Princess and I managed okay, it was just confining for a two year old as the room is only 3 ft by 8 ft, plus desk and office type equipment inside. I wish I could have had someone take a picture of me sitting in there with her at a little childs table with both of us sitting on little tiny kids chairs to play at the table. She looked very cute, but I am 5'9" tall and must have looked like a giant sitting at the table. For the most part it was just the two of us in the room today. I felt a little more relaxed with out the ladies sitting at the desk in there while we were playing. The caregivers did peak in every once in a while, but they must have trusted me more alone today.

Little Princess and I played with the remainder of the toys that I had left in my bag for her, and then played with almost every toy on the shelves in the room. We had a great visit. She even had the biggest grin for most of the visit. She is so curious about everything, it is just adorable to watch her try to figure out toys or how to work Mama's camera. I think she liked that more than the toys sometimes. When I first met her, she would not look at the camera when I wanted to take a picture, today was a total different story. She would look right into the lens and put on this big goofy grin. What a little ham already. Half way through our visit today she also spotted the outfits that I had brought to try on for size. I was very worried about how I was going to approach her about trying on the outfits, but I guess my worries were for not. She saw the clothes and right away wanted to put them on. At two, she can already dress herself with some help. We tried on two of the three outfits, as I put the third away knowing it would be way to big for now. She is just out of twelve month and into 18 month clothing.

Little Princess may be small for her age, but she sure does not seem to be behind in any other way. She is talking in one and two word sentences. Her motor skills seem right on target, and boy can this kid climb!!! I am going to have to do more baby proofing of the house than I originally thought. :) We had about 2 1/2 hours of play today. Just as I and Little Princess were both getting a little tired, one of her caregivers came in and saw her yawn so she took her back for a nap, and then it was all over way to quickly. Now it will be a couple of months before I can see that sweet little face again.

Well it is time to go and meet with Oleg and Sveta for briefing on trip 2, what to expect, what to bring, which documents to prepare, etc.. Yes, more documents. Hopefully these will be the last besides post placement reports. After our meeting the three American families from CHI are getting together for conversation and some dinner here at the Hotel. Tomorrow, Angela, Rick and I fly back to Moscow. Saturday we then should be flying back to the States. Hopefully we will get in a little site seeing in Moscow tomorrow afternoon and on Friday.

Paka Paka from Russia

Shannon

I've Arrived in Krasnoyarsk

2008-09-23T08:06:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Krasnoyarsk on Monday, safe and sound, just very exhausted. It has taken a couple of days to figure out how to establish an internet connection so that I could update the blog. Here I am finally connected and it is Tuesday evenning, so I will back up my story for a couple of days.

Saturday 9/20/08, I left Detroit as scheduled flying on Lufthansa airlines with connection in Frankfurt. The flight over to Frankfurt was very smooth. No complications what so ever, just very cramped for space on the plane making it impossible to get any real rest. The flight was about 7 1/2 hours. The second leg of the journey from Frankfurt to Moscow was also very smooth with no problems. My layover was minimal with only about 30 minutes to wait before boarding the next plane. The terminal was fairly easy to manouver through to find a connecting flight, just large. They have a tram or monorail type vehicle to get you from one terminal to the other. This flight was about 3 hours long maybe a little less, again no sleep. I arrived in Moscow at 1230pm on Sunday 9/21/08. Once off the plane it was time to go through passport control. The line was long to get through and somewhat confusing, but after about 15 minutes I finally just went and stood in a line. Most books and information that I had received about passport control, all said to go to the right for foreigners, but on this day, they had everyone go to the left, foreigners and Russians alike. Anyway, 1 hour later I was through. My translater made it very easy to find her with a sign for CHI, so no problems after that. Once I found my agency representatives I found out that the itinerary that I was given in the US was not the one to be used for this trip. No problem, I can be flexible... so on Sunday night I flew out of Moscow and to Krasnoyarsk. The flight was a "red-eye" flight leaving at 9pm and arriving at about 6am on 9/22. The plane was very nice. This time Aeroflot and a new plane. I did manage to sleep about 1 hour, but that was about all. Now remember, I left Michigan on 9/20, now I'm arriving in Krasnoyarsk on 9/22 at 6am with only 1 hour sleep. Oh boy!!! and I still had a whole days worth of meetings to go to. Luckily the adrenalin of going to the Ministry of education (MOE) and meeting my referral kicked in to help me through the day.

Monday: meeting with the MOE went very well. I didn't know what to expect, but the two ladies that work in the department were very nice. I think I relaxed a little after the first 5 minutes. While at the MOE you are asked some basic questions about yourself and what you do, and why you want to adopt. After the questions the ladies give you the referral that they have chosen for you, along with some basic information. You are then asked if you would like to meet this referral. Of course I said yes!!! I was then given permission to visit my little one that afternoon at the orphanage.

After a very nice lunch of typical Russian cuisine (very delicious might I add), we were off to the orphanage, Oleg our CHI representative and Sveta my interpretor, and myself. First stop was at the orphange directors office to speak with the social workers. I was given all the information that they had on how my little one came to be in the orphanage, family background, etc... Once this meeting was over, we headed to another building where my little one is living. Here we met with the orphange doctor to discuss her medical information and then to speak to a caregiver as well. During the discussion with the doctor, they brought in the sweetest little girl all dressed in a very cute little pink and white dress with big white bow on top of her head. This precious little girl came walking right up to me and held out her hands to sit in my lap. That was it.....seeing those big brown eyes of hers melted my heart and in that very instant I knew she was to be mine. Nothing else the doctor said after that made any difference. Sveta did have to take her from me for a few minutes so that I could finish up with the doctor and also ask a few questions of the caregivers. After the formalities, we were able to sit on the floor and play for about an hour before our time was up and my little princess had to go to her groupa. It was so cute, on the way out of the orphange the caregiver had little princess hold my hand and walk me to the door. Little princess didn't want to let go. It almost broke my heart to already have to leave her behind.

It was back to the Hotel after the orphanage. We tried to get my computer to connect to the internet that evenning but no such luck, so I just sent out a couple of emails from the businesss center, had some dinner at the hotel cafe, and then back to my room to crash for the night. Sleep...finally sleep.

Tuesday: That brings us to this morning... I woke up at 5:15am and was unable to sleep anymore. Both anxious to go back to the orphanage and wanting to get the computer to work. Tried again with the computer..no luck. Had breakfast at the Hotel, which by the way, I am staying at the Hotel Siberia, and a large breakfast buffet is included with your stay for those travelling to this region. The Hotel is very nice and new. It is actually part of a new convention center. This week is a big meeting for the military people here, so lots of uniforms walking around. I was wondering what was going on up until someone told me today. :) I thought there seemed like a lot of military personnel for this one area of town. I think I was just too tired yesterday to really put it all together.

Anyhow, at 930am my driver Dasha arrived to take me to the orphange for my visit today with the little princess. Today I was by myself with no interpreter as she was busy with another family that is here. The orphanage staff are all very friendly and helpful even if we can't speak the same language. This morning my little princess came to me all dressed up in her winter coat and hat and cold weather clothes so that we could go outside for a walk around the orphanage. Originally I thought they told me I could take her for "a walk around the orphange", thinking around the block. Whoops..not exactly what they meant. after a few frantic hand gestures, I realized that I was not supposed to go outside the fenced in area. I quickly brought the princess back inside the fenced yard and we played on the outside play equipment for a little while until we were both cold and noses starting to run. Once inside we played in a very small office for about an hour. Unfortunately the orphange is being renovated right now so play areas are very limited. It will be very nice when it is all done, just lots of painting and dust, and furniture all moved around right now.

As for the Little Princess, she was much more playful and active today. I even got to see several big smiles. She loves to put things together and take them apart. She is very smart (mama bragging already) and has the cutest giggles. Can't wait until our visit tomorrow, although it will be the last for a couple of months. I am not looking forward to the next wait. I am already praying that I can complete the next set of documents in lightning speed so that I can receive a court date very soon.

After the orphanage, I came back to the hotel and had a nice nap (almost 3 hours). At 445pm the phone rang and got me up out of the bed, thank goodness, or I would have missed the whole rest of the day. The call was from Sveta that she was here with the other family that is here from CHI that I was supposed to travel with. ( I'll tell that story in a different post). Anyway, finally got to meet them along with another CHI family here on trip 2 (another single Mom). We all had coffee here at the hotel, then time for the one family to call it a day. The family for trip 2, myself, our interpreter and a couple family here from Spain all went out to dinner at the German restaraunt downtown by the Hotel Kras. we had a great evenning sharing stories and good German food, all speaking in Spansih ,Russian and English. Quite interesting!!!! :) I had a really nice time and enjoyed all the company. Once back at the hotel we were finallly able to get help in getting me online. So here I am, and after a very long post I now have you all caught up to date.
It is now 1230am and I must get some rest as I have an 8am pick up time to make in the morning for the orphanage and my last visit with the little princess.

paka for now....
Shannon

It's Time to Go!!!!

2008-09-20T04:52:00.000-07:00

Did you see the ticker??? No more days left until time to go. Yippee!!! Suitcase is packed, tickets, passport and visa are in hand. Now I have to shower and get dressed..must not forget that part. :)

Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. Next post....Moscow!!!

Paka,
Shannon

Travel Dates

2008-09-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to update everyone on my travel dates for trip #1. I'll be leaving Michigan 9/20/08 and returning on 9/27/08 provided everything goes as planned in Russia. While in Russia, I get to complete my 8 doctor medical visit in Moscow prior to heading to Krasnoyarsk. I will spend the night in Moscow on 9/21, to complete my medical eval. on 9/22. The evening of 9/22 I believe I will be flying out of Moscow and headed toward Krasnoyarsk to arrive the morning of 9/23. Once in region I will have a meeting with the Ministry of Education to officially receive my referral and get permission to visit the orphanage where she is at. The next couple of days I will spend visiting the orphanage and completing paperwork to petition the court for adoption, provided all goes well. The plan is to leave the region on 9/26 to begin my journey back thru Moscow and then fly home on 9/27.

Other good news to pass on is that another family working with CHI will be travelling to Krasnoyarsk for their referral trip the same week as I am. How wonderful is that?? Now I can relax a little about going on this trip by myself, as I will have another family to share this amazing adventure with.

I am still so excited I can hardly stand it. (But I will, cause I can't wait to go.. :) ) So far, I have managed to purchase the plane tickets to Moscow, and get my visa paperwork on its way to get completed and back to me by the 17th. I've also gone to the bank to get my order in for new money. Oh, and also notify my boss, so she can find a replacement for my shifts at the hospital. With most of the major things on their way to being completed, I can concentrate on packing lists and maybe even putting a few things in the suitcase. By the way, Thank you to all of you for your suggestions on what to bring for the little one at the orphanage. Okay, now I need help with what to bring to make my lap top work in Russia. I have an HP lap top. Also, should I purchase an international calling card, or try to figure out this Skype thing that everyone talks about, or both?

Thanks again everyone for all of the well wishes and please keep the suggestions coming. For some strange reason, once you actually receive your referral, a wierd phenomenon occurs where all of the ideas and plans that you had in your head for packing get completely lost in a euphoric fog. :)

Take care,
Shannon

Happy Dancing!!

2008-09-08T19:04:00.000-07:00

It's really hard to believe that I actually get to type these words now as I am still in a state of shock... today is the day to start the major Happy Dance... and to praise the Lord, as today I got "The Call".

Anna from CHI surprised me late this afternoon at work with the mystery call which started "is this a good time to talk?" I was really disappointed that I actually had to say No, I'm in with a patient, and can I call you back. But believe me, I had this gut feeling that I knew what the call might be, so as soon as I was finished with what I needed to do for my patient, I sprinted to my locker to find my cell phone so that I could call her back. Anyhow...as you already know, yes my gut feeling was right. I was still speechless when she told me about my soon to be little Russian Princess. It was just amazing. I'm sure I had every ones attention at the Nurses station though as I was talking to Anna with tears streaming down my face. At first they must have thought something was terribly wrong, until I nudged one of my co-workers and spelled out on a piece of paper that I was getting my referral at that very moment. She quickly got a great big smile on her face and spread the word to everyone else. Hugs and cheers followed!!!

Anna was able to tell me that my referral is 2 years old, her name , along with a few medical details that she thought I might want to think about over night. Nothing seemed to be unexpected, or anything that I wouldn't be able to handle, so I told her I didn't need to think about it. Just let me know when I need to go!!! I can't wait to meet her. I believe I will be leaving for Russia on Sept. 20th, to be in Krasnoyarsk by Sept. 22nd. More details to follow on the exact dates of travel.

Oh my goodness...so much to do now. Isn't it always like that for everyone??? Wait, wait, wait and then huuuurrrryyy up here we go. Okay everyone. it's time to request the packing lists, and list of questions to ask the doctor, etc.. Also what have most of you taken to play with and then leave for a 2 year old?

Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for me all this time. Now I just ask for continued prayers for a safe journey and that my precious little Russian Princess is doing well and thriving, and that our meeting goes well.

Take care all, and God Bless everyone of you!
Shannon

Sad News and Garden Surprises

2008-07-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I received a sad and disappointing e-mail yesterday from my agency rep. The e-mail was letting me know that she was leaving the agency on August 8th. I know many of you fellow PAP's know exactly how I am feeling as you have all had to deal with agency changes. Here I was going along feeling very lucky as I have had the same CHI rep, Marti, since way back in 2007 when my first dossier was completed. I will miss her very much when she leaves, as she has become an important extended part of my family during the most emotional roller coaster adventure of my life, called adoption.

I still have not heard anything from Krasnoyarsk about a referral. Keep the prayers coming for me as I am having a really hard time waiting these last few weeks.

On a side note, this summer I was not up to planting a vegetable garden, just worked on the flower gardens. So I basically let the vegetable patch go to the weeds. Well low and behold ,one day I decided to mow the garden weeds down to keep the backyard from looking like a total eye sore and disgrace, when, I saw these small green plants that didn't look like your ordinary garden variety of weed. I decided to keep these little plants and mow the rest down around them just to see what they would turn into.

Here is the result.

Gotta love the weeds some times......

Take care,

Shannon

Not yet.....

2008-07-20T14:45:00.000-07:00

No word from Russia yet, although I feel like it should be any day now, shouldn't it????? It's been over a month since Registration and the waiting is becoming excruciatingly difficult. I called my SW at my agency last week to get an update but have not heard anything back yet. Hopefully I will get some information tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest.

In the meantime, I did have an appointment with Homeland Security to have my fingerprints retaken on 7/10/08, as they were expiring on 7/25/08. They were taken and my amended I-171H form with new fingerprint expiration date was received in the mail on Friday. Their turnaround time was terrific. I was very thrilled to see it back already. Homeland Security gets a great big Kuddos from me this week. Okay, so now I think everything is up to date once again. Phone ring pleeeaaasssseeee....

Nothing else really exciting happening in the neighborhood. I've just been picking up more hours at the hospital almost every week to try and pay down some loans taken out for this adoption. I know it will all be worth it in the end, so I keep on chugging away. The good thing about working so much too, is that the vacation time is accruing faster. :) I think I have over six weeks PTO saved up now. I want to have as much time home with the kiddo as possible before having to return to work once we are back from Russia.

Please keep me and my Little Russian Princess in your prayers this week as we wait for the MOE and my adoption agency to send us word that we will be able to meet soon. Also keep the following blog friends and families in your thoughts and prayers as they are traveling to Russia this week to meet their children: Kyley and Greg Smith, Russ and Monica Canestraro, and Amy of 4 from Russia?. See my side bar of blogs I follow for their stories as I haven't learned how to imbed the links in my text yet. Also welcome home Becky and Keith and the Peanut.

Take care all!
Shannon

I'm Finally Registered!!!!!!

2008-06-23T12:45:00.000-07:00

Yippee!!! I can do the happy dance again....

I received a call back from my agency rep today (Thanks M. !!! You did make my day!) and we found out that I've actually been registered now since last week 6/16/08. Hallelujah! and Praise the Lord!

So what does this all mean to me now...Well this means that the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Krasnoyarsk, Russia now has officially accepted my paperwork and request to adopt. They will now begin the search to match up my application with my Little Russian Princess and then I will receive "The Call". I pray that the call comes quickly. I'm not sure what the typical wait time is between registration and referral for my region, but will pass on the information as soon as my agency rep finds out for me.

I'd like to send out a congratulations to Becky and Keith who have received their court date and will be travelling back to Russia tomorrow for their "Little Peanut" , and to all the other families who I don't know as well but hope to know soon, who have received calls for either their 1st or 2nd trips. Safe journeys to all!

I'd also like to congratulate my nephew "B" on his graduation from LCN High School. Way to go buddy!

In other news....it's been a fairly wet month filled with storms here in Michigan. Nothing quite as devastating as with the rising flood waters along the Missouri River. (My heart goes out to all of those families who have lost everything to the rising waters. ) My basement did get wet again and I am still trying to dry out some of the flooring. My power was out for four long days and nights. My back-up sump pump that I installed after last years flood waters also failed, so water again came in. Only about 1/2 inch this time instead of 1 1/2 feet. Just enough water to wet all of the carpet and the new tile/ vinyl flooring that I'm having to pull up to dry underneath as it is a floating floor, not glued down. Ha Ha...I just realized...floating floor..literally.!! I can laugh now, but a week ago I was in tears.

I also lost my computer to the power surges from the storm. Even with a half way decent surge protector, it still got fried. Maybe God just knew how much I was contemplating buying a new lap top for my trips to Russia. I normally use a tower HP computer and have an old lap top that my Dad gave me 5 years ago, which makes it probably at least 8 years old. Now I have a brand new small light weight lap top that should travel well. I'm still trying to get used to its new functions, but it sure is pretty. :)

Well this short post is turning into a novel and I need to go pick up my Mom in 30 minutes for ice cream. Yummy...the best part of summer. Even if it is raining again! Got to run....

oh..one more thing..I didn't get to go on any vacation as of yet. My work schedule hasn't worked out for one. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Russia will call and I'll be headed there instead.

The Wait Continues For Word On Registration

2008-06-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some happy news to report but, alas, yet another paper snafu has delayed the registration process for a couple of more weeks. :( Apparently another document change has taken place this year that my placing and home study agencies needed to update. This one wasn't found out until my Dossier was taken to the region to be registered a couple of weeks ago. It was just one document and I didn't have to do anything to update, but my agencies had to take care of completing it and getting it back to Russia. I've gotten word that it (the new document) has now reached Moscow as of last Friday, and that it will be another week and a half before it reaches Krasnoyarsk.

I've been feeling a bit gloomy over the wait time as it is now approaching the one year mark from when my first Dossier was completed and sent to Russia, and yet I still have not been registered in my assigned region. Hopefully Dossier number two is the lucky one and I'll hear news by the end of this month. God is definitely in the drivers seat for the time line on this adoption. I know there has to be a good reason for all of the waiting, right?

As I wait, and wait some more, I have really tried to take on a new attitude about the whole thing. I had been just sitting back on pins and needles waiting for "the call" at any moment, and not enjoying life in the here and now. I've been really trying to stay focused on today. It doesn't always work, but I'm trying... I finished planting flowers in the planter beds in the backyard this past week. I also fixed my front door that the paint had all peeled off of this past winter during the freezing cold. ( A bizzaire event in itself). The door is now a pretty blue- green rather than bright red. (Thanks Mom for your help too!) I've been working extra hours at the hospital. And now I'm thinking of planning a road trip some time in July. Nothing big or expensive (still have to watch the budget), but if Russia doesn't call soon...I still need some sort of vacation. :) Where to go????? Any ideas?

Still Here!

2008-05-10T10:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am still here....just nothing much to report on the adoption front lately. Russia has been busy celebrating with two holidays over the past couple of weeks, May Day and Victory Day, so there has been a slight slow down in processing. Hopefully most people will be back to work Monday with business as usual. I am still waiting to hear whether or not I am registered in my region. Next week will mark the four week time period since my registration paper work was sent in to CHI in St. Louis. That should be about enough time to get everything to Russia and have it translated, at least that's what I was thinking for a time frame. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that I receive a phone call from my adoption rep some time next week. :)

I've been picking up a few extra hours each week with work to keep myself busy and to make a little extra cash. Aside from working at the hospital, I've been busy trying to get the yard back in shape after the long winter. I've cut the lawn twice now, weeded all of the flower beds, fertilized the lawn and just now spent a couple of hours spraying all of the dandelions and thistles that want to keep popping up in the backyard. Everything is starting to shape up and look beautiful again. This next week I hope to purchase a couple of fruit trees to plant in the yard. One for the front and another for the back. I'll have to take pictures when I get them. I'm also looking at new front doors. This house came with a bright red front door when I purchased it a couple of years ago. While it was okay for a while, even though not really my style, the Arctic cold winter this year caused the red paint to peel off. Weird!!! Now I have a half red and half ugly steel front door. I could just strip the paint off the rest of the door and repaint...but then again....forget it. It's time for an update!

Well..that's about it for now. Just wanted everyone to know that I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth. Just trying to keep busy to make the wait go by faster. Thanks to everyone for all of your kind comments and words of encouragement. I really love hearing from everyone! And, yes I know I've been tagged, but I haven't been able to think of six quirky things about myself. I'm too boring, I think, although maybe my friends and family could answer that one better than I could ??? Just be nice...if you decide to participate. :)

Love you all!! Shannon

It's Finally Spring In Michigan!

2008-04-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post. I apparently needed to just stay home and be quiet for awhile just vegging as I ended up sick again..... This time with bronchitis and laryngitis. Honestly, I believe I got sick because I was feeling totally frustrated, stressed and disheartened about my home study update. It just wasn't getting completed in the time frame that "I had planned". Each time I thought it was done, another piece of missing information would pop up and I'd have to track it down or go and get it done. Once I finally let go of the control and just collapsed, (getting really sick does that sometimes) and just did what I had to do to take care of this missing information, it all fell into place. Amazing sometimes to me that I can't just give it up to God in the first place. Oh I do try, but I always want to take it back for some crazy reason. :)

Long story made short...my home study update, along with a couple of other documents to complete my packet for registration, have now all been completed, notarized, apostilled, sent to CHI and from what I hear, are already on there way to Russia to be translated. Whew!!! Now what happens you may ask??? Well, now I sit back and Wait to hear that I am Registered in the region of Krasnoyarsk. It should take about three weeks for this all to happen if everything goes alright. Once I am officially Registered, then the process of finding a child that fits my adoption profile begins. The referral!

While I am getting very good at the waiting process, I am very ready to have the waiting come to an end. It has been 10 long months since my original dossier was completed and sent to Russia. By normal standards of 9 months..this child is way past due. I am so ready to meet her, see what she looks like, and of course give her all of the love that I have been saving up inside since I made the conscious decision to adopt her back in December of 2006.

In other news...as the title of this post states, spring has finally arrived in Michigan. It has been 70+ degrees and sunny for at least three days now. The grass is turning green. In fact I think I will have to mow it next weekend. My daffodils are blooming. The tulips are growing! Trees are budding! And, all of the birds are back in town. We have lots of Canadian Geese, Ducks and Robins in my neighborhood. I love Michigan in the spring and summer...not so much the winters, but I do love the green and warmth. My spirits are lifting, and I'm beginning to feel rejuvenated.

Last but certainly not least.....Congratulations to Troy and Rachel and Wendy and Slade, just to name a couple of families who have just completed their adoptions, or are just about ready to come home with there new little ones. Congratulations to those of you who are on your first trips, or about to embark on your first trips(Keith and Becky), and to those of you who finally have gotten court dates. While I haven't posted much lately...I have been reading most of your blogs, and have been sending up prayers for all of you. God Bless you all!!

Praise The Lord For Answered Prayers

2008-04-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

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.

Laying Low

2008-03-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Just laying low this week trying to recover from the cold/ flu bug that is going around. It really knocked me for a loop last week, but I'm starting to feel almost human again today. I did make it through work yesterday too, provided I carried my glass of water around wherever I went to prevent a coughing attack. I also had to make sure that I didn't bend over too much so my poor nose wouldn't run. Try not bending over and taking care of patients. That was a major accomplishment. Just had to do a lot of deep knee bends instead.

No news on the adoption front. I am still waiting on the completion of my home study brief. I have an e-mail out to my HS agency to see if it is almost ready for pick up. I am hoping to have it by the end of the week. Stay tuned for news possibly later today on this important piece of papers progress.

On a totally different note...can you believe it is almost spring!! Yippee. Just a couple of more days. St. Patrick's Day yesterday...Spring on Thursday and Easter on Sunday. March is flying by.

Aarrghhh...just got an e-mail back from my HS agency. They are waiting on the state of CA to send back information on my background check. Everything else is ready to go. There is a new procedure this year where Michigan has to check backgrounds in every state you lived in over the past ten years. I hope this doesn't mean another month or two before I can get the last of the new documents done in order to become Registered with my region in Russia. Please pray for the government officials in CA to finish up the paperwork and send it back to Michigan this week.

I think that about does it.....

2008-03-11T12:44:00.000-07:00

I think I have just about gotten everything updated that can possibly be updated document wise. My SW (social worker) from my Home Study agency came over today for her scheduled visit so that she could prepare my Home Study Brief. As I had mentioned previously, my home study report expires at the end of this week. One of the required documents for Registration is the new update. Once my SW has a chance to write the update, and the last of the reference letters and background check information arrives at the HS agency, I should be able to get the new update apostilled and then to CHI to forward to Russia. (Does this part sound familiar?)

I'm hoping to have all of this completed by the end of next week. Then I just wait for the e-mail to say that I'm finally "Registered" with the MOE (Ministry of Education). For those that don't quite understand the international adoption process in Russia just yet, you must be registered with the MOE before you can be assigned a referral. By the way, if you don't understand the process yet, don't feel bad....it seems like it is forever changing anyway. Just when you think you have it, another step is added. It does get easier to complete the steps and the paperwork the more you do it though. The only thing that doesn't get any easier is the "Wait". It just seems to get harder. As I told my SW today, I am so ready for the wait to be over. The Nursery is ready, the playroom downstairs is nearly complete, I've read every book that I can think of on adoption, I'm ready to be a Mama, now all I need is my daughter. :) Hopefully this isn't sounding too negative, I'm just very anxious, and READY for "The Call" to come. I'm still praying that I will hear something by March 28th, 2008. I know travel is coming soon, I can just feel it. It is the not knowing exactly when I will be travelling that is driving me crazy.

On a lighter note, a have really enjoyed reading all of the blogs of those families who are now traveling in Russia for trips one and two. Congratulations! It is truly exciting to see so much movement now in Russia. I gives me Hope, and continued Faith that my turn is coming soon.

More Paper Work

2008-03-07T13:09:00.000-08:00

I found out last week that Russia is requesting more updates to documents. This time mainly from my Home Study Agency. My understanding to all the paperwork lately is that since the new year and re accreditation process completion, verbiage changes have been made to the old documents to standardize the format to make it easier to read and process. ( Or something to that nature). I totally understand making things easier. I just hope that I am getting closer to finishing all of the re dos. I can't think of very many pages that I haven't redone, so it must be close, right? Next week I hope to have my Home study update/ brief finished since my original Home Study report expires March 14th. That should about do it.

In order to make the paper chase today more fun, I decide to document all of my stops in photos. I am also going to put these in "T"s Life Book so that she can look at them and see some of the people that have helped to bring her home, and the places her Mom went to get the paperwork completed.

First Stop today was to pick up my Mom so she could keep me company and meet some of the people at my Home study Agency who have helped in a big way to make this dream all possible.

Next stop, Ann Arbor, an hour and 15 minute drive from my house to the Hands Across the Water Office to pick up the documents and say "Hi" to all of the people that have helped me out with my Home Study Reports. Unfortunately my Social Worker Alanna was sick, so I'll have to catch up with her next week for a photo op.

Once all the documents were picked up, and notarized at the HATW office, it was off to Detroit to get them Apostilled. Thirteen documents this time. Here I am in front of the Secretary of States Office in Detroit after receiving the golden seals. Long line again today... 1 1/2 hour wait.

Once the Great Seal was affixed, we headed back up north toward home in Chesterfield and New Baltimore, to the Staples store where I always make copies of everything before I send them off.

Then.....to my favorite Post Office in New Baltimore to Express Mail my precious documents off to Children's Hope International. So, Marti, if you are reading this blog today, be on the look out for my package. :0)

Whew!!! Now I'm a little tired and think I'll relax and see what everyone else has been up to today.

P.S. No phone call today regarding travel or a referall, darn.... Maybe all of these papers will help.

It's March 1st....

2008-03-01T08:04:00.000-08:00

Today I'm feeling blue and optimistic all at the same time. Is that possible? Blue because I have no news of a referral yet, but optimistic because I had a nice long conversation with my regional rep from CHI. (Thanks Pam!! You seem to know just when I need to hear from you the most.) Things are starting to move quickly for many families with my adoption agency. 18 families have/are travelling in February. My agency hopes to have 40 families traveling each month from now on. Thus the optimism. I am still optimistic that I will hear something about my referral by the end of March. Since today is the first day of March....that means there are only a few more weeks of waiting...hopefully. :)

On a lighter note...we had more snow on and off all day yesterday. This morning I awoke to a beautiful sunny day with a new white covering of snow all over. While I am ready for winter to be over any day now, at least if it has to be cold I like it a lot more with snow rather than dreary brown and grey yuckness everywhere. Is "yuckness" a word? Hopeful you get my point with that description anyway.

New Friends, Paperchase complete???, and Birthdays

2008-02-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Wow! Time has flown this past week. Lots happening to keep me busy, but no "Call" yet.

Since Monday was holiday, I was unable to complete the adoption paperwork that I had started working on the previous week, so I met a new waiting adoptive family friend, Kyley, for lunch at the Mall. It was wonderful to have a chance to meet in person and talk about our experiences, and to also peek in at all the great children's shops at Somerset Mall. Believe it or not, I didn't buy anything, but will definitely have to go back when I know what size to buy.

On Tuesday, I went to my doctor's office and picked up my medical, then proceeded to my bank to have a few of the other documents notarized. After that I headed downtown Detroit to have them all apostilled. Oh my goodness....there must have been 100 people in the Secretary of States Office that day. I had to wait about two hours, but finally got everything stamped with the Great Seal. Then off to Staples to copy everything. Once I had copies I then proceeded to the post office to Overnight the updated docs to Children's Hope, and another packet to my home study agency as I'm working on getting my home study updated too!! A long day running around, but I think I have everything done now that needed to be updated so that I can have my Dossier registered with the region. I'm still praying that I'll get the call by March 28th, or sooner.

After three more very long days of work Thursday- Friday, Saturday was a day of fun. A group of friends from church, along with my Mom and I went to see the musical Chicago. We had excellent seats in the 4th row, middle of the stage. The performance was great! After the show, my Mom (who is now back from Florida) and I headed for my sister's house to my nephew's 18th birthday party. Brandon, my nephew, was also sweet enough to share a little of the lime light with my great niece, Alivia, who is 3 as their birthday's are only a day apart.

Today has just been a day of printing out pictures from the birthday party and updating photo albums, attending church, and then afterward finding the 70-80% off sale at Kohl's in the Children's Department. I didn't go hog wild, cause I already have several things that I started purchasing over the past year, but I did find some super bargains on a couple of outfits and a dress. I got sizes 18 months and up. If the smaller sizes don't fit, oh well!! I haven't spent a fortune and I can always donate them to the orphanage or families in need here.

For this week...it will be back to waiting!!! And finding a time to meet with my home study agency social worker to complete the update. Please keep me in your prayers that the call will come soon. And, may God Bless all of those families who are now traveling to meet their children for the first time, or who are traveling to bring their children home.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

The past couple of days have been spent chasing paper, and going to appointments to complete the paper chase.

Yesterday I completed:

New Employer letter
New Medical appointment with new PCP to do a medical clearance for homestudy agency and Children's Hope International (CHI)
Completed 2007 Taxes
Got new local police clearance letter for homestudy agency
New Registration letter to Russian Consular Division
New Post-Placement Commitment Letter
New Questionaire Of Candidate to Adopt
New Application letter to Regional Operator of Government Database in Russia
Signed and sent BCAL-1326 form for Homestudy agency to check my background in Michigan. (They still need to send another form for me to fill out for the time I resided in California, since I have only lived in Michigan for 2 years.) They need to check the last 5 years of residency.

Today, I spent time getting letters notarized and double checking everything for accuracy. Once the medical letters come back from the physician's office next week I'll have to go to downtown Detroit to get them all Apostilled, then sent off to St. Louis, and then Russia. Whew!!!!

Aside from running around chasing paper, I did get to spend a few minutes with my Pastor and friend, Jill today to vent about the stress I'm feeling at having to redo several documents, updates and new forms. Thanks for the shoulder Jill!!! I needed it. She did remind me that I did get positive feedback from CHI about the adoption happening, or referall portion hopefully happening soon. So, I am reminded once again to"keep my eye on the prize". I know this stress will pass and that God is watching out for me and taking care of everything. Next year I'll be holding my daughter and will have forgotten all about this week. :)

I almost have all of the paperwork done again. I Just need to gather the medicals and complete a financial form. Then the Homestudy "brief" can be written. ( You are right Becky, the second time through the paperwork is much faster). Pretty soon I'll be a Dossier writing Pro too...although I sincerely hope that this is the last time for this adoption.

On a cheery note... I got to have lunch with my oldest brother Russ today followed by a tour of his new building which is just a couple of miles from here. In a couple of months the construction will be done and he and his partner will be able to move their business into the new building. It has three times the square footage as the old one. It's going to look fantastic when completed inside. They purchased an existing building and have redone the inside to fit their business needs. He and his partner are in the fire and water damage restoration business. I'm so proud of him, his business has really grown over the last few years.

I've got to close for today. I have to do a few Domestic type duties before another couple of long days at work Friday and Saturday. I also want to make sure that I am done with chores before Survivor starts tonght.

Return from Florida

2008-02-11T14:12:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I'm back from Florida and back to posting after having to work a three day stretch immediately following my return home.

Florida was great this year. The weather was perfect the whole week I was away, unlike last year when it rained almost everyday that I was there and I got the flu on top of it. It was really good to see my Mom and get away from thinking about when my adoption referall might come. The stress and tension were getting to me. I found myself watching the internet news almost every spare minute I had, instead of living my life day to day. Anyone else been there?

While in Florida, I got to see Melbourne Beach where Mom usually stays for a month or two every winter. It's a very nice Beach town, reminded me a lot of Laguana in California. I checked out the area as much as possible for the two days that Mom and I were there before heading to Orlando, as I have plans somewhere down the road to move back to a warmer climate. I'm still not crazy about Michigan winters.

Orlando was really fun. I had gotten 4 day Magic My Way tickets to Disney, so Mom and I went to all four parks in four days. She was a real trooper. I have to give her credit. She made it through most of the time without complaining too much and sticking right with me. There was only one day when she left the park early not feeling well, and came back later to get me. I'm used to 12 hour days on my feet, but Mom isn't, so she was exhausted by the 5th day...

The timeshare that Mom has in Orlando was beautiful, just wish I could have stayed a little longer to enjoy the ammenities. Will have to plan for more time next year. Hopefully "T" will be with us too by then.

Back to waiting for a referall.....today was one of my worst days of waiting. I was feeling at an all time low, not hearing anything from CHI and receiving e-mail messages and a letter from my homestudy agency while I was away, stating that my homestudy is expiring soon and several documents need to be completed again. I called CHI this morning and was able to talk with my representative who was wonderful at helping to raise my spirits. She assured me that my adoption "was going to happen". She also said that Russia has requested a few more documents to be updated, which she said is a good thing because that means that things will most likely be happening soon for me, especially since they didn't request all her families to update docs, only a few. I am still 5th on the list in line for Krasnoyarsk, but 2nd in line for a baby girl. All baby homes are again open to my agency in the region now that we are reaccredited. I believe there are 5 baby homes in Krasnoyarsk. While my agency was waiting for reaccreditation we were only able to work with 1 baby home. This is all good news, even though my CHI representative couldn't confirm that I would be traveling by the end of March.

I was really hoping to have my referall by my birthday, but since that was Saturday Feb 9th, I am now going to pray for a referall by March 28th, 2008 (that's the last business day of the month). Since my Mom and others in her prayer group say that it is best to state a particular date in your prayers rather than just praying for soon, I'm going to ask that all of you who are out there praying for me, please concentrate on March 28th for "the Call and a referall".

In closing, I hope all of you out there in blogland are doing well today. Congratulations to those families who have recently received their court dates. It must be an amazing feeling knowing that you will be bringing your children home very soon now. Congratulations to everyone who has recieved their referalls and will be traveling for the first trip. For those who are like me "waiting", hang in there. God has the perfect child picked out just for us. We just have to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Russia to find our children for us and "Call". May God bless you all!!!!

Packing

2008-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

It's been another busy week here in Michigan. The hospital seems like it has been extra busy lately. My patients have been sicker and there are more of them. I usually work 12 hour shifts at the hospital, but this past week has been so crazy that I haven't gotten out in under 12 1/2 hours, usually 13. Boy my legs can sure tell that extra hour. Luckily I only work 3 days a week instead of 5, because I definitely need the extra time to recoup. The increased patient load I think is due to the freezing cold Arctic type weather we've been experiencing. Brrrrr.... I guess I'm getting ready for the Russian climate this time of the year. This week Krasnoyarsk was showing -22F. We were at +8F. Still almost a 30 degree difference, but I think now that my body feels this cold it wont make any difference.

Aside from working long hours this week...on my days off I did start packing. One suitcase for Russia and the other for Florida. Here's a few pictures of the items I've set aside to take for "T"in the Russia suitcase. Three outfits of different sizes from 12mo - 18mo, to see which size she'll fit into, A small quilt that her grandma made for her to keep until she can come home with us, and a few toys to play with during our visits.

I haven't heard any news from CHI this week, so I am headed for warmer weather in the south. I'm leaving Chesterfield on Wednesday and flying into Orlando. Mom is already in Florida soaking up the sun (when its not raining), so she'll come and pick me up. We'll spend a few days in Melbourne Beach where she has been staying at some friend's "park model", since January 4th. She has been fortunate to have wonderful friends that have shared a park lot with her (and Dad when he was alive)for the last few years. This time I get to see where they've been hanging out all winter. Then on Feb 1st, we'll pack up Mom's stuff and we'll head back to Orlando and stay at Mom's time share beginning Feb. 1st. While at the time share we get to go and visit all four of the Disney Parks. Yippee!!! I just picked up our Magic Our Way tickets from the Disney Store today, so we are all set. I'll head back to Michigan on the 6th of Feb. and hopefully by then I'll have some more news to share on the adoption front.

In other news....Pastor Jill had her surgery last week and everything went well. Now we just have to make sure she doesn't over do it :0) and follows the docs orders to rest. Are you reading this Jill??? Be good while I'm away.

I had a chance to visit with my brother Russ's family yesterday, and share a delicious spaghetti dinner. My niece, Samantha has been at home with her parents (my brother and his wife Terri) since she had her little girl Illiana, as her husband was deployed for military duty only 3 weeks after the baby was born. Today, Samantha and the baby had to fly back to their home in Washington (the state). We're hoping that her Daddy will be able to come home soon to see how much she has already grown, and before he misses too much. Yesterday was my last chance to get in hugs and kisses with the baby, until they fly home again in the summer. She is so darn cute. I'll talk to Samantha about posting a pic sometime. My other little great niece who will be turning 3 this year was over as well. She just loves her little cousin so much. I got some great pictures of them together. These are the two little ones that will be close in age to my Little Russian Princess. I just know that they are going to have so much fun together.

My sister Robin and her family came over this morning and joined me for breakfast and coffee. Brandon, her son, and my nephew, just found out he has been accepted to Northwood College in Midland. Yeah Brandon!!!! I can't believe he is turning 18 next month and now will be going off to college next year. Wow, time has flown....It seems like just yesterday, or the day before :0) that I was at the hospital holding him a few minutes after he was born. While I'm in Florida,Brandon is going to stay and watch the house as well as Jake the dog and Grandma's cat, shadow (who is also staying at my house).

I think I have everything ready for my trip now, just have to finishing packing the clothes. I probably wont post again until I get back from Florida. I have to work the next three days, and then I'm off. Hopefully more families will have news of travel and court dates over the next week. My agency's Russian coordinator has been in Russia this past week setting up more regions and hopefully working out any kinks in the old regions to make things run smoother and quicker for everyone.

Hang in there my little "T", Mom's bags are almost packed. We just have to wait for the government to find you and pair us up together. I pray every night that God is watching over you and that you will get to come home soon. Know that you are Loved so very much already.

The Wait continues....

2008-01-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

The long two week Holiday season is finally over and the old feelings of excitement and anticipation of "the call", coming in at any moment have returned. I worked on Monday the 14th, which was a good thing, because I probably would have been sitting with the phone in hand all day long, not able to do anything else for fear of missing that call. I guess I was secretly hoping that by magic the call would come in that day. Anyone else "waiting" share similar wishes for the 14th? Alas, the call has not come in yet... maybe by my birthday in February??? Who knows...it COULD happen! I have to keep reminding myself that God holds the master plan and He has the perfect time in mind. I just need to be patient...., but it is oh so so hard some days.

Yesterday, I kept busy reading a couple more family blog sites and doing the necessary household choirs like laundry and cleaning. It continues to amaze me how one puppy dog can bring in so much dirt from outside and lose so much hair in just a couple of days.

In the evening I went with my sister and her teenage daughter ( now 16 and driving, yikes...they grow up so quickly), along with a friend of my nieces, to the high school varsity basketball game. We won!! Way to go LCN! Oh, I almost forgot...I also went and voted before the game. It was Michigan's Primary voting day yesterday.

Today begins a new day of waiting. After grocery shopping this afternoon, I think I'll start packing a few things for my Little Princess for trip #1. One of the other adoptive families who recently returned from trip #1 said that she wished she had started setting things aside earlier, so I will take her up on her advice.

Tomorrow my friend and our church Pastor is having surgery, so I'll go up to the hospital in the early afternoon and see how she is doing. Please say a prayer tonite for Pastor "J" that she has an uncomplicated surgery and a speedy recovery.

Region Chosen for Adoption

2008-01-11T09:04:00.000-08:00

I have chosen the Region called Krasnoyarsk to adopt from. It is in the middle of Russia, about a 6-7 hour flight from Moscow. I chose this region because it is new to my adoption agency. I accepted in hopes that the wait time will be shorter and that I would be closer to the top of the list. I believe I am about 5th in line at this point. I'm not exactly sure how many of the families ahead of me have requested baby girls, so its difficult to judge the wait time for me. I just know that it is a longer wait for girls than boys, and could be up to 12 months. Hopefully not, but for those asking how much longer....well, there you have it.

Mom has been telling everyone that she knows about her soon to be adopted granddaughter and has everyone praying that she will arrive soon. The power of prayer has moved mountains in the past, therefore, I'm counting on it helping to bring "T" home quickly for her sake and mine.

As the wait continues I continue to find things to do to occupy my time. I'm trying to pick activities that are either geared towards adoption, or activities that I might not be able to do with a toddler at home. Here's a list of some of the things I've done over the past year to stay busy:

1) Went on a cruise to the Carribean last March with Mom (which I had promised myself I

would do after graduating from Nursing School in Dec. 2005).

2) Once Dossier completed, bought "T's" crib and started working on the nursery

3) Painted the kitchen and living room

4) Re-did the basement after it flooded last spring. (That's a whole story in itself) This project

has taken many different days of sweat, blood and tears over the course of at least 8

months.

5) Read adoption books by Dawn Davenport "The complete book of International Adoption",

and John Maclean " The Russian Adoption Handbook". I highly recommend both of them.

I sit at my kitchen table every morning that I don't have to go to work and read a chapter

in one of them. ( I am now re-reading them for about the 3rd time.) :)

6)I've become very active in church activities, and making new friends through church. I'm

new to this area, as I just moved here 2 years ago now, so this group of friends has been my

constant source of strength and encouragement. I Love you all !!!!

7)Spending time with family

8)Joined on-line chat groups which are adoption oriented for support from families going

through the same process.

9) Planning a trip to Florida at the end of January to visit Mom, whose down there now, and

also to see one of my favorite places on earth " Disneyland".

Yep!! I'm a Disney nut, I'll admit it. Before moving back to Michigan to be near family, I lived in California for close to 10 years. I was out in Southern California near Disneyland, so now every year I have to go down to Florida to get my Disney fix. I sure hope "T" will like Disney as much as I do.

Learning how to blog!

2008-01-10T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well....I'm taking the leap and learning how to blog. (Notice I said learning...as this has not been as easy as others make it look).

I have begun to create this blog site to share my journey of adoption with my family, friends and other families who are on this wonderful emotional roller coaster of a journey called adoption, or with those who have already adopted or those who are considering adoption.

I actually began this journey a little over a year ago now. It was December 15th, 2006 when I realized how much I truly wanted to have a family of my own. This wasn't the first time that the thought had crossed my mind, oh no...for I had thought about it many times before. But, it was the first time that I felt God working in my heart telling me it was time to do this and that adoption was the way to go. I prayed all night long that night. I was scared..not sure if I could do this by myself. God just kept speaking to me and saying that he would be there every step of the way. All I had to do was " Build it and she would come", like the field of dreams. The next day I awoke and began doing the research and contacting adoption agencies. On January 3rd, I signed an agreement to work with Children's Hope International. I had also decided at about this time that I would adopt a little girl, an infant if possible, but definitely under age two. I chose Russia as the country to adopt from, mainly because that's where I felt God was leading me. I just heard him say " your daughter is in Russia".

From those days a year ago.. the ball has just continued to roll. I keep trusting God to bring "T" home soon. There have been many emotional roller coaster days in between then and now. A few of the hardest times were going through, or preparing for my homestudy. I was so afraid that I would be rejected as a parent, but my social worker made the home visits very comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. She remains very supportive to this day and continues to stay in touch even though my homestudy was completed and approved on March 14th, 2007. I just love her and will continue to use her knowledge and support.

Another scary sort of thing for me was getting fingerprinted by the Homeland Security personnel for the I-600A and I-171H forms. It was just so official I guess, though looking back I wonder what was so scary about it. Then there was the psychologist visit. Again other person to pass judgement on whether or not you would be a fit parent. I've passed all of the tests and paperwork.

Once all of the pieces were complete it was stressful and exciting all at the same time gathering everything together and getting everything notarized and the apostilled. I will never forget the feeling of excitement I had on the day that I finally had all of the papers completed in my hand with their gold stickers on them and carefully putting them in an envelope to send off to Children's Hope, saying here is my completed Dossier. That was June 6th, 2007. On June 29th I received word that my dossier had been sent to Russia. And so the celebrating began and so did the very long wait that continues today.

During the time between completing my dossier and now, Children's Hope International's accreditation with Russia expired making it more difficult for the agency to complete adoptions in that country. Wait times for everyone were beginning to drag on and get longer. We were all feeling depressed, and then the rollercoaster of emotions started again. Children's Hope received it's new accreditation on December 14th, 2007. This time it is non-expiring in Russia. Yippeee!!! What a great Christmas present, even if I didn't get my wish of having a referall by Christmas, this was the next best thing.

This past week has been Russia's Christmas and New Years celebration, so no adoption news has been taking place although my adoption agency has sent out emails stating that they expect things to begin happening quickly beginning next week. They have also continued to say that anyone adopting a little girl will take longer due to the availability of girls under 24 months. More boys are available for adoption than girls, because Russians are adopting more of the girls apparently.

While I have been waiting I have pretty much completed "T"'s room. (That's as much of her name that I want to reveal to everyone until I see her for the first time). Here's a couple of pictures to share.

It's been sooooo much fun putting this room together. I just can't wait to bring my Little Russian Princess home. I will be adopting from Krasnoyarsk, Russia. A region in the middle of the country. I'll try to insert a map on my next blog. Hope you all enjoy.