What Did You Do?

I have been laying awake at night thinking about what I need to do for our fourth and FINAL trip. I have so many questions swirling around my head. One of my biggest questions is "bottle or no bottle". Grace turned one year old this month. The caregiver at the orphanage said she uses a cup now and feeds herself with a spoon. She then said if I want to give her a bottle at bedtime "that would be ok". Both my boys were completely off the bottle by the time they turned one. I slowly weaned and we had no tears or problems saying goodbye to the bottle. I did love not having to "break the habit" when they were older. However, I do understand this is a whole other ballgame. I did buy a couple bottles with drop-in liners. If she has been off the bottle for a while, I don't know if really want to go backwards. But I'm curious what all you APs think. You have gone down this road and I would love to know, "What did you do?"

The caregiver also said she was off formula and onto milk. However, I have read on several blogs that they gave their babies formula. I'm not sure if I should go back to formula for some reason.

I'm totally open to any and all advice. I have been through this age twice, but it has been over 6 years! I found myself in Target wondering what snacks babies this age eat :)

Retail Therapy and More

Our last day! We started off shopping on Old Arbat Street. The weather was so wierd. It was rainly lightly, then sunny, then we had flurries, then sun.... You get it! We got a lot of shopping done and really helped the Russian economy. It was so nice to feel like we could buy things for Grace and not worry about something going wrong. We got her a pretty Russian doll and a traditional dress and headpiece. Even if she only wears it once, it will be a nice keepsake for her to pass down to her children one day. We also found a nesting doll that had strawberries on it. The meaning behind that is this...Grace's given name at birth was Kulpunai (Kyrgzstan). The orphanage called her Katya for obvious reasons. It took me months, but finally through the wonderful internet learned that Kulpunai means "strawberry". It's just a little something, but we feel like we are almost honoring her birth mother and the name she had chosen for her. Plus, strawberries are pretty!

We got to skype the boys after shopping and it was so good to see their sleepy faces. (We skyped right when they woke up.) We then headed to the orphanage to visit with Grace. It was the last time we would go there and leave without her :) She must have just gotten up from a nap. She was quiet and sleepy and had her thumb in her mouth 90% of the time. We just cuddled and played. Now we have almost 2 full weeks until we walk out that door for good!

It finally dawned on me that most of the trees in Russia are painted white at the bottom. Vlad told us it was started to protect the young fruit trees since the bark splits. Also to protect them from insects. But then the "tree painters" decided to paint all the trees! Interesting!

Tidbits of Information

Thought I would share with all of you a little information we gathered while here.

1. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has no authority to suspend adoptions.

2. Once court is over, it is official. A suspension would not affect you.

3. My favorite bit of information came from Vlad (our driver and all around adoption pro)...

When we asked about court and who should speak first, we got this fun little quote, "The man is the head of the family and the woman is the neck!

COURT!!!!

It is official!!! We are the proud parents to Grace Katya! Court couldn't have been any easier! We didn't even get all the questions that I've seen on other blogs. The judge didn't even ask about the latest scandal. Brad went first and it probably only latest 4 minutes. Then I went and answered about 5 questions. The judge was very sweet and seemed truly happy for us. We then went out to dinner to celebrate. Who would have thought that we would have to travel to Moscow to get some really great Italian food!

We visited with Grace today for about 2 hours this morning. She is so sweet and pleasant! Her hair grew in and has lots of curls!!! We had the pleasure of meeting Laura and her son and Dave and Kim with their little princess. It was so nice to talk to them about their adoption journeys. They are both half way through the 10 day wait. The three babies were so cute together. We made sure we got pictures of the three kiddos so when they are older, they can see who their friends were from baby home #3! My favorite part of the day was towards the end of the visit. I had been playing with Grace on my lap and went to put her on the floor next to me. She started to cry and climb back onto me. I wanted to melt! We are so excited to finally get her home, where she belongs! We are going to visit with her again tomorrow afternoon since we are staying an extra day now.

We are anxious to get home, too. We miss our boys tons! Tomorrow morning we are going to Arbat Street for more shopping. We'll be sure to pick something up for them since they have been real troupers the past few months. We are so close to the end, finally!!!

A Monkey???

We have arrived! Safe and sound and with all our luggage. We made it to the hotel around 5pm and then headed down to Red Square to shop. We bought a lot of little stuff. The selection at each cart is basically the same. We are planning on squeezing Arbat Street in at some point to do more shopping. While we were at Red Square there was a monkey walking around with clothes and snow boots!!! It was hysterical!




We get picked up tomorrow morning to go straight to the baby home to see our baby girl! Our new court appointment is tomorrow but not until 5pm. So we are doing things a little backwards. We CAN'T wait to see her sweet face!
We are so tired right now, but need to go over some questions for court. Brad will most likely go first with the bulk of the questions. He better know how many years we have been married!!!
We are having email problems, so if you need to communicate with me, leave a comment on the blog.

Update From Jeanette

It's Denise (Jeanette's idol. Oh, I mean, sister). Updating for Jeanette...I just spoke with her and they are through security at JFK and have their seat assignments. Their flight is only slightly delayed at this time, leaving at 8:40pm. So far, so good!! Keep your fingers crossed and the prayers coming!!

Jeanette is also being classy as usual. While trying to take advil at the airport, she spit water in a poor woman's face. Poor Brad can't take her anywhere.

The Real Update from Jeanette:
That's the last time I ask Denise to post for me! The first part is all correct, with the exception of the "idol" part. The second part is not quite what happened. I was trying to take an advil in the check-in line because I had a splitting headache. I went to swallow it with a mouth full of water and then needed to cough. I froze for a second trying to will away the cough. But then I sprayed water all over Brad and a woman from Belarus. She moved pretty quickly, but not soon enough. Brad took the brunt of it and the woman was fairly kind, all things considered. I felt like an idiot!

We are feeling good and can't wait for take-off. We both are so anxious to hold our baby girl!

New Court Date

We got a new court date for Thursday, so we leave tomorrow (hopefully). As of right now, Aeroflot is in the air going to Moscow so it looks pretty good for tomorrow. Let's try this again....

Flight Cancelled!

We were on our way to JFK airport, when we found out our flight to Moscow was cancelled . We are beyond frustrated and upset. We did continue on our way to see what we could get. Which was nothing. No flights going in and out of Europe. We have no idea when we will be able to get there for court and now we need a new court date. So the waiting continues. Hopefully we will hear something on monday about a new court date. We do have a flight reserved right now for tuesday, but according to the news it doesn't seem too hopeful that we will make it out this week at all. I called Marriott and started adding weeks just in case. Of course, I can't get the adoption rate and it is over $400 a night. This just keeps getting better, doesn't it.

I really hope this business with the delegation doesn't turn bad before we have a chance to get there. Although, I don't think they will make it there either. Maybe that will buy us all some time. Thanks for all the support and prayers. We still need them!!!!

Almost There

With my fingers crossed, I am typing this. We are still planning on leaving tomorrow for court on Monday. Nothing has been canceled, appointment or flight! Hopefully, things will continue to go smoothly through the weekend. Please continue to keep us in your prayers as I am not too thrilled with the whole volcano situation! I still can't get over the fact that after 3 plus years, we have to worry about a volcano keeping us from our baby girl!!! It really is quite funny when you think about it :)

We are not quite totally packed since we have soooooo many clothing donations for the baby home. I'm having trouble figuring out the best way to pack it all. Otherwise, just some odds and ends to tie up. Aidan's arm is healing nicely which makes me feel so much better. We will post from Moscow on Sunday and let you know how our flight went. I'm predicting smooth sailing, because how could anything else possibly go wrong???

Totally Confused and Stressed

Now Fox News and some others are reporting that there is no suspension! Woo hoo! I'm still not packing until tomorrow night, though. I won't be happy until I'm sitting in the courtroom. This is one crazy rollercoaster! Now we have to worry about the volcano in Iceland that is erupting and causing flights to be cancelled! Can you believe that? If I can't get to court because of a volcano I may lose my mind! One day we will laugh, right?

Suspension!

Russia is suspending all US adoptions until the US signs a treaty. This is devastating news. Not sure of all the details and if there is any chance of us still able to go to court on Monday. Our agency doesn't know anything yet, as our Russian team had to find out about this on the news!!! The Ministry of Education still hasn't issued a statement or confirmation on this according to the Joint Council. I hope and pray a miracle happens. I knew I shouldn't have let my guard down. I was actually feeling good and thought we could get court in before the delegation arrived in Russia. I guess Russia is using this as pressure to get the US to sign their agreement. Please pray for all of us who are on this emotional roller coaster!

Deep Breath...

What a week!!!! And it is only Wednesday!!! I have looked forward to this time for so long and have spent the past week a nervous wreck. But we are moving forward and preparing to travel. We are hopeful with the US delegation traveling to Russia next week, that we will be able to get court in before any possible changes or suspensions. Our agency told us that according to the team in Russia, once court is over, the adoption is considered complete. So, hopefully we won't have any surprises or delays for our final trip. We hope and pray NO ONE has any delays! I know there are so many of you out there who are at various stages of the adoption process. We know how nerve wracking it is each day. Days full of blog reading, internet searching and TV watching for any bit of information you can find. You are all in our prayers!!!

We learned yesterday that there is a chance we may have to extend or change our final trip in order to get all of the paperwork done. It was very upsetting, but I'm not going to focus on that right now. I'm leaving for this trip praying that things work out and we will still be home Mother's Day weekend! I want to be with all three of my children on Mother's Day!

My poor Aidan has a pretty nasty infection on his arm that we are now treating with antibiotics and occasional "squeezing". What?!? I said it was nasty! I hope it starts to clear up before Saturday. I will have a difficult time leaving him if it looks worse. Right now he is in a lot of pain and can barely move his arm. That may have something to do with the "squeezing" we just had to do :)

Thank you so very much for all the support!!! We have the best family and friends! During our tough times, we could truly feel the love. As for my blogger pals, you have been an amazing source of strength. You know exactly what we are going through and have taught us so much about adoption. I am so grateful to have found you out there in cyberland!

Please Help!

Please help Russian adoption by signing the petition on this website!

http://www.jcics.org/Russia.htm

Grasping At Straws

I saw a comment on a fellow blogger's blog. Someone had listed the below information about contacting the Minister of Foreign Affairs and expressing our disapproval of what the mother did to the little Russian boy and asking them to not shut down adoptions. I sent an email and used google translate to translate for me. I know we all feel so out of control of this situation, so this is something we can try. Who knows if it will help, but it is worth a try.

Russia Embassy in the US
(202) 298-5700

Minister Lavrov
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
ministry@mid.ru

Trying Not To Freak Out

I just heard last night about a horrible story. Many of you in the adoption "business" know all about this already. A 7 year old boy was adopted from Russia about 6 months ago by a family in Tennessee. Due to "mental issues" and "violence" the mother put the boy on a plane BY HIMSELF to Russia with a note saying that she no longer wishes to parent this child. Obviously, Russia is furious! This woman has no idea how she could be ruining so many future adoptions. Officials in Russia are now calling for a suspension of US adoptions! I'm trying to stay calm and not freak out, but it's getting difficult since this story is all over the news. I also read that one of the officials calling for this suspension is very close to Putin and doesn't usually make statements that are not in line with his.

We are suppose to leave in one week for court. The thought of this all coming to a halt, scares the heck out of me. Please pray that Russia doesn't act too extremely and that we are on that plane next week!

2 Weeks To Go!

In two weeks...COURT! In four weeks....GOTCHA DAY!!! I'm getting so excited and realizing how much I'm missing our baby girl. It has been about 2 months since we've seen her and I'm constantly thinking and wondering how she is doing and what she looks like. I hope they let her hair grow in and haven't given her one of those stunning buzz jobs. Now that we are down to 2 weeks, I need to start getting busy with all the details of traveling. I'm getting pretty good and efficient at it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! We went to my parents' house this year and ate way too much! The food was all so delicous! Back to the gym tomorrow :) The boys had a great time playing with my sister, Michelle's new puppy. Nate ate so much junk behind my back that he made himself sick. Apparently my sisters witnessed some of this and didn't bother to clue me in on the candy raid. Thanks, girls!

The boys had off today for Easter. It was such a gorgeous day that my friend, Lori and I took the kids to Green Lane Park. We had a great time and it kept me out of the candy and off the computer! I'm slightly addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.

Our casual look after church!


Check out the sleepy eyes on Nate!

Aidan, on the other hand, was up early and eager to get his hands on his basket!

There is a reason you can't see their feet. Nate wore white ankle socks with his bucks!!! Lookin' good!!!

Denise and Dad



Green Lane Gang