Sunday, April 26, 2009

Got nothing for you

Sorry nothing new and exciting. We did speak to Anastasia the day after my last post. It was pretty uneventful and somewhat short. We were abrubtly cut off by someone needing to use the phone. She did not know that we had been calling, and I'm not sure she believed us when we told her we had been.
We are waiting to hear if the judge has received our paperwork, which judge we will have, etc.. And of course our court date.
She again brought up death. She asked "what if I die?" Meaning herself. I told her that she was very young and healthy so I wasn't worried about her dying. I think she is definitly going to need counseling mostly because of the loss of her first mother.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tim the Translator

He is one of my best friends right now. He stays up until 2-3 am calling the orphanage for us, trying to find out if Nahstya is out of the hospital. This morning he found out that she is back at the orphanage and doing well, but she was not there she was at the museum. I miss her, I hope to talk to her sometime this week.
I am doing a little work in her room. We are supposed to take pictures of her room to show to the judge. I was already girly, but I'm adding a couple things, making things extra special for her. She requested butterflies, I despise butterflies, but the one thing I got for the walls does have butterflies on it. Now that is love and sacrifice!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

What, this candy contains no artificial sweeteners-but I love artificial sweetners!

That was Cody yesterday, he was saying it to make me laugh-it worked. Silly boy!! We had a very low key Easter. After church we took the kids to Dairy Queen, then I went home and took a nap because I'm still fighting the migraine I started at the beginning of last week-no worries I think it is gone. Gary took the kids to the dollar theater. For dinner I made homemade wheat crust pizza- no your traditional Easter dinner, but we had Easter dinner the night before with friends.
This morning was the first day back to school after spring break. Cody told me on his way out the door that his ear hurts, so I need to make an appointment for him, I'll have to go get him from school. It is pouring down rain. We have no water in our house. The sprinklers wouldn't turn off yesterday so Gary had to turn the water off to get them to turn off. Blah......
Last night the translator tried to call the orphanage last night to see if Anastasia was out of the hospital and if not to try to get some more information. He did not get an answer, he will try back tonight. On a happy note, our paperwork arrived there today!! Now it will be translated then sent to the court. They will look it over with a fine tooth comb (don't we know it), and see if there is any changes they will request of us, or any additional paperwork. Once all that is done, we wait for out court date!!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Get Better Baby Girl

Last night we had the translator call the orphanage so that we could talk to Anastasia. Once he got through they told him that she is in the hospital. He asked why, and they said due to a bad cough, which she also had when we were there.
He tried to get them to tell him what hospital she is at, but they said that they wouldn't let us call anyways.
They seem to "hospitalize" these children for somewhat minor things. But I have worry eating at me, because she had this horrible cough for several months. She said when we were there that her chest hurt. And of course my heart aches because she is laying in a hospital bed, without parents to comfort her.
Please send prayers up for her to get better.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Enough Stress Already Thank You

So, today I get a call from Gary saying that he has been tasked to deploy in the next week for 6 months!! A wonderful, thoughtful coworker stepped up to take his place. This person was due to deploy this year anyways. But at first I was feeling soo guilty, sick to my stomach guilty. I didn't feel better until Gary had time to talk one on one with they guy to make sure his wife and family were not upset by his decision. We know all things are in God's control, and tonight I feel better, with a clearer mind, reminding myself that God surely had a hand in such an act.
We are very thankful to him, and that he had the heart to do that for our family.

Secondly our house that own and rent out has a water issue after the storms last week. Water came in somehow and has gotten under the laminate floors in the kitchen, in the wall at the baseboards, there's mold, it's fun!! So now we are fighting with the builder to pay for the damages because it is due to structural default.

But ultimately and most importantly I had a great day, other things aside. I got to spend a great day with my boys. We went bowling with the another family here in town that is adopting one of Anastasia's friends from the same orphanage!! We had lots of fun, we have become fast friends.

And of course we mailed our final paperwork to Russia this morning. The boys went with me and they were so excited! They were angels in the UPS store, it took about 20minutes to make copies and get the documents ready to go.

We are going to call Anastasia sometime this week.
This Saturday we have our bake sale.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Whew!

So, after redoing several last minute mistakes on paperwork, I went to Atlanta to do the apostilles. My bestest friend Nicole offered to keep my boys, so that was nice, and it ended up being a good thing for sure!
It's a 2 hour drive one way, so when I hand them the paperwork, I sit in the waiting area and pray really hard that everything is as it should be and that it won't be a wasted trip. So once I hand it to them, I went to the bathroom, then came back and sat down, but this time in a place where I could see what they were doing-BIG mistake. I was so nervous, I felt like I couldn't breath, and I was praying so hard, I felt like everyone could hear me, despite the fact that I was praying inside my head.
Then I see her call her coworker over and they are obviously discussing a piece of my paperwork. UGH! Sure enough she brings out the paperwork and say, "that will be 79.00 for the ones we were able to do, but for these three, when we ran her license, it looks as if she got married and didn't change the name on her license."
Breathe Cara, don't cry, just breathe. So I pay and am on my way, and I don't cry for the record. But I sit in my car, thinking about how to not stress out so bad.
How would you feel if you were pregnant, saw the baby held the baby, then they put it back in (ok, don't visual to elaborately there) then you have to do paperwork to get the baby back out. And if you mess up, it will delay it, not only do you miss that baby and already love it, but you know that it must be missing you, and it is up to you not to mess up, to get things done as quickly as possible. And I know all things are in God's timing, and God is teaching me. I mean I caught at least a dozen mistakes that we had fixed on paperwork, that would have delayed us for sure, so why be so hard on myself? Because it's what Mommy's do, right, you know it, the mommy guilt, blah!
So I head home, and call my hubby to complain. Then I call the office where the notary works and left her a message. She calls back and says that she is so sorry, I can tell she is sincere. She then calls our county to see what she can do to remedy the situation, and then calls me back, I call the apostille office back and they agree. A bunch of people fax each other, etc.. So by this time I've driven 30 minutes, so I turn around and head back. They are able to apostille the documents!!! CAN I GET AN AMEN!!
So I will be sending this off to Russia tomorrow. One step closer to getting her home.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Shame on ME

Last night as I start organizing the paperwork to take it to Atlanta today, I notice that 2 of the notaries we used did not sign the documents the way that their notary seal says their name. Such as if I were a notary and my seal said Cara M Suttles, then I need to sign with the M, not without. So today we have about 10 documents to get redone. Most of them Gary will have redone at work, they are docs that need to be signed by people there. I need to go to the pediatrician's office and beg them to have them done today.
So of course I pitched a fit last night, I was throwing papers, yes throwing papers people! Which are not very satisfying to throw, they don't go far, unless you crumple them up first. I have a temper, for those who don't know. Anywho...........
Of course I was upset, so tired of this stinkin paperwork. Not looking forward to another day of driving around town gathering paperwork, and begging people to do it ASAP, as they look at me like, "what is the big deal, and why do I have to fix this one tiny little thing."
So, this morning I wake up with a new attitude, my attitude was ugly last night, much uglier than I am typing.
I got up early so that I could redo the docs and send them to work with Gary. Notice I never mention Gary getting upset or throwing a fit. Yes, that is because we are complete opposites. Which usually makes me angrier, as I'm throwing things, and he is as calm as can be just looking at me, calmly gathering the things I've thrown, and telling me that even though it stinks, we can fix it. Sometimes his lack of emotion translates to me as lack of caring about the matter at hand. But he is always the calm after my storm.
That is not why I feel ashamed. My husband likes my fiery side!!
As I'm fixing my coffee, a thought pops into my head. Do you remember when I posted about the man at the Apostille office who said it was his 12th time there. I was so grateful that all my paperwork was acceptable to be apostilled, since it is a 4 hour round trip. But when I was eavesdropping when the lady was telling him why she couldn't apostille his document, it was because the notary had not signed with her middle initial, as it appeared on her notary seal!!
Had I not been there to "hear" that I would have never known to check my documents for that very type of error. I should be thankful God gave me that gift. I could have driven all the way to Atlanta not knowing that tidbit. I would much rather have discovered those errors now, then after a wasted 4 hour round trip to the apostille office.
So, I am going to drink my coffee, get all of us ready to head out of the house to get our paperwork done, then enjoy the rest of the day with my boys. Hopefully we can go to the apostille office tomorrow.
If you open this post today, can you please say a quick prayer, that our paperwork will come together. I believe God is listening.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Where Have I Been?

Well, doing paperwork of course! And enjoying my family, trying to keep a healthy balance.
I don't want to speak too soon, but Gary just has to go to the Police Dept. to pick up 2 corrected documents, and we are done gathering paperwork! I will drive to Atlanta on Monday to have them apostilled and then send them off to Russia!!
(Insert Paperwork Happy Dance Here)
Then we wait for court date. They expect it to be mid-late May if we have no big paperwork Boo-boos.
I can't really remember what I have blogged about lately. In the beginning of June is a huge tourist time in Russia, due to White Nights, where it stays light most of the day and night, you know like in Alaska. So, we pray to sneak in before that, but oh we are cutting it soooo close!! Plus if we have to take a 3rd trip, guess when we would go if our timeline is as expected.
As far at the 2-3 trips goes, it will mostly likely take 3 trips, but it is slightly possible that it could just be just 2 trips, with our next trip being a long one, how long, you ask, well I'm not certain, but maybe 2-2.5 weeks? OMGoodness, we really must have faith in God, right? Truly, I have never trusted so much in God, I am not a person who likes uncertainty, though I've had my share, I do my best to avoid it, I am a planner. This journey has given me new patience and a stronger will, for sure. And never, never, have I felt this close to God before. I feel like he is holding my hand, cheering me on, not sure how people who don't have faith in Him do things like this, where do they get their strength? At every stage when I have doubted myself, our ability to do this, how do we know she is the right child for us, he has sent signs, yes signs people!!! I believe he does this, and he has done it abduntly through this process, and I feel Anastasia could no more be ours if we had concieved and birthed her, it feels that miraculous.

So, how would it be possible for us to have only 2 trips. Well, there is a chance that we could get the "mystery judge", who, upon receiving a letter from a Dr. here in the states, would consider waiving the 10 day wait, due to the fact that it would help Anastasia tremendously to have surgery and recover before school starts.
We have gotten the letter, that's not the issue.
There is a 50/50 chance we will even get this judge and then if we do only a 50/50 chance she would consider it enough to waive the 10 day wait.
Do I have faith this could happen? ABSOLUTELY!!!! Am I banking on it? No, we can't bank on anything. It would save us A LOT of money, and stress, but either way our goal is to get our daughter home, and whatever that path looks like we will take.

Oh, you must be thinking, look how optimist Cara is, so stress free, so thankful. Well I have not been so thankful and optimistic lately. I have been mostly stressed about the money side of things, feeling heavy hearted about the amount of debt we are taking on to do this. Not doubting wether or not we should be doing this, but wondering why in the world did God lead us to her, when this has lead us to so much debt. Debt does not feel Godly to me, I have a new optimism today about it. IF I am to trust Him with this, then it needs to be a complete trust. It's not like we are goint to be out on the streets, my husband has one of the few reliable jobs there is right now. And I am happy to go into debt for this, despite my wondering why sometimes, does that make any sense?
Don't feel sorry for me, it is no different than having a car payment, not in THAT sense, I'm not comparing her to a car, but some people spend this much on a car, you've heard me make this comparison before.
Have I mentioned how excited I am to be almost done with the paperwork, and well on our way to having her home with us?
YIPEEEEEEEE