Insomnia

What a whirlwind weekend! Between having to process the fact that we are actually going to Russia and having to get everything together, I've had very little sleep. Right now I am running on empty, but I am extremely happy at the same time.

It's hard to believe that in two weeks from today we will be flying to see Nicholas! This will be the first time I've ever flown more than two hours. It should be an interesting experience.

So,here's how we're doing:
- Business Visas are ordered
- Flights are reserved
- Doctors' appointments are scheduled
- All basic documents are prepared and printed
- Called Georgia to see how to get Evan's employment letter apostilled since his company is located there.
- Mailed FBI record requests and fingerprint cards
- Fedexed our agency the travel fee


Here's what's left:
- Employment letters
- Proof of legal residence (our title insurance company will prepare this document)
- Financial Statement, signed off by CPA
- Find a CPA
- getting everything notarized, certified and apostilled
- pack
- Rest!

That is just a general list. Each night we are making a detailed list for the next day. I know it will all work out, but it just seems like so much to do in such a short amount of time.

But, I have completed my list for the day, so in a few hours I am going to go home and work on the resting part.

Kristin

The Call!!!! (Yes, You Read This Correctly)

So, it was around 3:00 this afternoon when my cell phone rang at work. I noticed the St. Louis area code, so I decided to answer. I was not expecting to hear what I did. EVAN AND I ARE GOING TO RUSSIA!!!! We got our referral ALREADY!!! And the kicker is that we leave on April 14th!!!! My mind is still reeling. I think my response when Rebecca told me was, "Wow". That's all I could say. I was in utter disbelief. I then called Evan, who had a very similar reaction. We are thrilled beyond belief though.

We aren't allowed to give any information on our blog about our referral. The good thing is that we don't know much. We just know that we'll be meeting him in a couple of weeks. If anyone knows me really well, they know that I go to bed early. It is after 11:00 and I am wide awake. I am still shaking as I type this blog. I believe it is partly due to excitement and partly due to the fact that I just found out a couple of hours that we have to have the rest of our dossier completed before we go. That means employment letters, medical reports, financial statements (signed off by a CPA), FBI checks (again). I have no idea how we will pull all of this off, which is why I am not in bed sleeping. My mind won't be resting anytime soon.

I think one of the funniest parts of today was when I told one of my bosses that I was leaving for Russia. I hadn't said anything to either owner of the company yet about the adoption. I wanted to wait until we were closer to traveling. Oops! I thought it would be months from now. Needless to say, my one boss is absolutely thrilled. He even said, "Bye, Mom" as I left this afternoon. I am glad they are being supportive since I am giving them two weeks notice that I will be out of the office for two weeks. With traveling, our trip turns out to be April 14-23.

So, this is what I meant when I said international adoption is unpredictable. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated as we get all of our documents together and pack. Please keep us in your prayers!

Kristin

Back So Soon

Well, I delivered on my promise and I am blogging in a timely manner. I actually have some news. It looks like we will remain in Tomsk! Another agency had a family go to court there in the last week and everything went smoothly. The ten day waiting period was even waived. Then on Wednesday our agency got their first referral from Tomsk, and the family travels there the third week in April. So, things are starting to move. We hope to have a better idea when we will be going to Russia soon.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray that the court system continues to be adoption-friendly to foreigners. Also, pray that they continue to waive the 10-day waiting period. That will shorten our trip, thus reduce our hotel and food expenses. And most of all, pray for Nicholas. Pray that God would prepare him to leave Russia and join our family.

I want to end this blog with some things we are looking forward to (besides meeting Nicholas):

- In a month we are getting our crib and registering at Babies R Us.

- In a little over a month we will be having a garage sale at my parents' house to help raise money for the adoption.

- In about six weeks Evan will finish another semester, leaving 5 classes left before he graduates.

So, we definetly have a lot of good things coming our way. The fact that each day brings us one day closer to Nicholas really does make me smile. I can't wait to meet this baby!

Kristin

I'm Back!

Sorry for not blogging in a timely manner. I have been told by more than one person that it was time for a new entry. So, here it is . . . Thanks to my wonderful husband, Nicholas' room is painted! It looks great! We decided to use a color from the tan family - Ivoire. I think it will look very nice with the bedding we chose. I will try to post pictures soon.

Unfortunately, there will be two cats who are very upset that we put the furniture back into the bedroom. All weekend we had the twin bed down in the family room while we painted. Isabella and Gabby were in heaven! They ran across it and fought each other. It was actually very entertaining.

Some news on the adoption front . . . I e-mailed Rebecca this morning to find out if there is any news. She did have some news to tell me, but told me to call her. Easier said than done, since I am at work! So, I quickly called Evan and told him to call so I could find out what she had to say. He finally got a hold of her five minutes ago.

Here is the scoop: Tomsk is a difficult region for adoption. There are people there trying to work things out with the judges and the court system to make it easier. There are some families traveling there at the end of this month, so they are going to see how things go. If it seems like it will be too long or continue to be difficult, then we could be moved to a new region.

I am at peace with this news. Evan and I love Nicholas so much already, even though we don't even know him. I know God has the right baby picked out for us, which makes me feel so much more secure in all of this uncertainty. He knows which baby and which region.

Rebecca is also going to send my travel guide in the mail, which will help us get prepared for our trip. It also contains a book of Russian words. And, I need all the help I can get in that area. I'm kind of slacking because I have so many things I am trying to do right now.

So, we'll wait and see what happens in Tomsk. I will blog soon, I promise.

Kristin

No Reason to Worry

Well, you know it is nothing too major when Anna forgets that she even called me. It turns out she just wanted to give us some precautions. I guess sometimes Russia doesn't honor the "up to 18 months" for our referral age. We may be referred a child that is 24 months. She has just seen it happen. There were also a couple other details that may or may not happen. Nothing too earth-shattering.

I belong to a Tomsk Yahoo Group online and it has been so helpful. They continue to say how loved the kids are in these orphanages. It reassures me that Nicholas is being well cared for right now.

So, that's the scoop. I am hoping we receive a Russia Update e-mail sometime this week. They have been listing how many people have gone on their 1st or 2nd trip each month. If the numbers are high, we know we are getting closer.

Kristin

Snow, snow, and more snow

Well, it has been snowing non-stop since yesterday, so we're kind of snowed in for the weekend. It has given us some time to do some chores and relax. I also figured I should make the time to blog.

There isn't much news to report right now, but there could be on Monday. Friday afternoon Anna, from the Ohio office, left us a message on our answering machine. She was congratulating us on being assigned a region (since she was on vacation when it happened) and then went on to say that there were some changes in Russian adoptions that she wanted to talk to us about. Automatically, I think the worst. It was 4:00 when I got home(because of the snow)so I thought that I would give her a call back. Lo and behold, they left early too. So, here I am wondering what the changes could be? More paperwork, perhaps?

I mentioned in an earlier blog that this adoption was not boring. Well, that's true, but the twists and turns can sometimes be defined as "annoying". While Evan is not concerned about Anna's message, I am doing my best not to worry about it. However, I am blogging about it . . .

Well, I will be calling Anna first thing Monday morning, so I should have an update that day. Please pray that it is nothing major.

Kristin

Tomsk

Well, I did a little research on the Tomsk region. Basically, there were a lot of adoptions here a few years ago, but the region closed when all the agencies lost their accreditation. It just opened again in the last few months. I found a group on Yahoo for Tomsk adoptions. All of the feedback seems very positive. The orphanages are very clean and the caregivers seem to really care about the children.

Many of you are probably wondering where Tomsk is located? Siberia is a large area! Tomsk is located in Southwestern Siberia. It is a four hour flight and three hours ahead of Moscow time (which is 8 hours ahead of Cleveland time). I see some serious jet lag in our future! I found a small map of Russia below. Tomsk is in red.



The City of Tomsk is where about half the population of the Tomsk region lives. There are six universities there, so there are a lot of young people. Many of the restaurants have English-speaking servers or English menus. Also, many of the adoptive parents on Yahoo mentioned going to a pizza place there several times on their trips.

I feel like this will be a great experience. It is so out of my comfort zone, which is why it will be the best thing for me.

I am hoping to get a better handle on when we will be going. For now, I am waiting for the list of documents Tomsk requires to complete our dossier. The paperwork is endless!

Kristin