We got to the airport around 10:30 to discover that the russian flight had not taken off from JKK yet, it was being deiced. We kept getting word that they had taken off from the airport, then word that no they had not. We had a long night, but the boys were wonderful, Cooper slept for several hours, and then when he woke we just laid on a couch and cuddled. Daddy got to go to the gate with the New Horizons people to help bring the kids up from the gate when they arrived. They landed at 3:00 and did not make it up to us until almost 4:00 I think. The train closes at 1:00am so they had to walk the very long distance!! She was very very shy last night, happy but shy.
I couldn't get a picture because she would hide her face.
We got home around 5:45, the boys went straight to bed and I showed Anastasia around. We stayed up for about 1.5 hours gettting to know each other. She "wowed" at her room a lot, and at all the things in the closet, asking "me?" When I would say yes, she would say "OHHH Thank you" and "WOW" She sat on the floor by the closet and tryed on her new shoes. She then crawled over several feet where I was sitting and said, "Mama, thank you" and hugged me. She was so thankful and excited. She was talking russian telling me all sorts of things that I couldn't understand, but wished I could. I changed her clothes, she was quite stinky from being bound up in a pair of tights, jeans, 2 shirts and a winter jacket. She had blisters on her feet and a rash on her leg that was bothering her from where her jeans had rubbed her raw, poor thing. A little sympathy seemed to make it better.
We sat on the bed and looked at all her pretty little things, and she immediately picked out a pink purse I had bought at the goodwill to put them all in, and she has carried that with her everywhere we go. She loves the baby and stroller we had put in the room for her, she was wheeling it around and singing to the baby so sweetly when Gary walked in from putting the boys to bed. It was a different girl from the one he had seen on the way home from the airport hiding her face.
She loves Ginger, she giggled so hard when Ginger did all her crazy jumping around. She kept closing the door, she did not want me to leave the room. So I went and got ready for bed, and laid down with her, she just grinned. I started rubbing her hair to help her go to sleep, and she did the same to me, she's so sweet. She put her arm around me and was asleep in 10 seconds. I woke up several hours later, and went to my bed. All the kids woke at 9:30. I gave her a much needed bath, which was a little scary, because her body is so stiff she kept slipping. She was just laughing, it was me it startled. She ran to her closet after getting dried off and asked something which I figured was something to the effect of "what can I wear" I told her to pick anything, she said "WOW" She picked one of the princess dress up dresses, and as soon as she put it on she said something in russian followed by Papa. I know enough little girls to know what she wanted. So I asked her "do you want to show Papa your dress?" She nodded yes with a big smile. So we went and showwed Gary how proud she was of her new dress.
Gary took the boys to school and I stayed home and took a shower and got "real" clothes on her so we could go to Cooper's Christmas program. She sat well through that, and afterwards we went to Chick fil a.
Her host parents from this summer said they had taken her there, and she recognized it and was very excited. She ate a lot of chicken and french fries and red HI-C, which I actually persuaded her into calling juice. After she got done eating she kept looking at the play place, but I was nervous because I was not sure with her legs if she'd be able to get up the initial stairs that are pretty high. Gary saw her looking and asked if she wanted to go, and she immediatly got out of her chair and headed for it. She was a little slow, but she did it, for about an hour!! She would climb up and go down the slide and everytime, she would yell "mama" and wave to me.
I'll cover this evening and how her relationships with the boys are forming tomorrow, I would love to tell more tonight, but I need to get to bed. We got Cooper's and Cody's Christmas parties at school tomorrow, so I have to get up on time!!
Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers, this is such an exciting,yet of course challenging time, and we appreciate it.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tomorrow is the big day!!!
Oh my goodness, I can't even describe how I feel today, I am so excited!!! And very emotional, on the verge of tears at every second, in a good way, just weepy! Just keeping busy, because if I stop to let myself think about how close we are to meeting her, I cry, so I'm crying right now, of course, cause I have to think about it to type this.
The hosting agency said today that since she is special needs, that they are getting Gary a gate pass so that he can assist her once getting off the plane (crying even harder), at first I was jealous, but he got to see both of the boys first as they were lifted out of my stomach so I think Anastasia should be no different, her Daddy should lay eyes on her first. And I don't have to have my stomach cut into, so really it's a win win situation.
I am just cleaning house, since we will be so busy once she gets here. Finishing up my last Christmas shopping odds and ends, and that's it. The children arrive very late, 11:35, so I think after dinner tomorrow will be the hardest, killing time till it is time to go. Ok, I really have to stop sobbing, so I'll write more in several days once she gets settled in. Please keep us in your prayers, especially her, she has no idea who she is coming to stay with until she gets on the plane. She probably is under the impression it will be the family that kept her during the summer. It will be natural for her to be upset and disappointed when she realizes it is not. But on the plane they will read her our letter and show her our pictures we sent.
The hosting agency said today that since she is special needs, that they are getting Gary a gate pass so that he can assist her once getting off the plane (crying even harder), at first I was jealous, but he got to see both of the boys first as they were lifted out of my stomach so I think Anastasia should be no different, her Daddy should lay eyes on her first. And I don't have to have my stomach cut into, so really it's a win win situation.
I am just cleaning house, since we will be so busy once she gets here. Finishing up my last Christmas shopping odds and ends, and that's it. The children arrive very late, 11:35, so I think after dinner tomorrow will be the hardest, killing time till it is time to go. Ok, I really have to stop sobbing, so I'll write more in several days once she gets settled in. Please keep us in your prayers, especially her, she has no idea who she is coming to stay with until she gets on the plane. She probably is under the impression it will be the family that kept her during the summer. It will be natural for her to be upset and disappointed when she realizes it is not. But on the plane they will read her our letter and show her our pictures we sent.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
19 Days!!!
I can't believe it's been more than 3 weeks since I've posted. Those of you who are here know why. We moved this past week, with the help of some wonderful friends!! It was stressful to say the least, then I had to add a 3 day Christmas Show with my Uppercase Living stuff. And in between that we drove to Atlanta twice, once for an all day Hosting Training, and the other for a 15 minute fingerprint appointment. I know, now, that I am not Super Woman! But we got through it.
Our social Worker came Monday to do our Safety visit, and update our homestudy with our new home information.
We love living in a one story again, love it!!!
Cannot wait for Anastasia to get here!!! Time has flown by, my plan to stay busy is still working.
We may do a seperate Hosting blog while she is here. We have had to tell Cooper that we are not getting to "keep" her, he is heart broken. But Cooper loves to talk. Cody know the truth and that it is a secret. And if this is mentioned in front of her or the chaperones while they are here, we will be in trouble. It's hard to explain why.
Your part in this is that adoption is no longer mentioned in front of the boys. We just talk about how excited we are to have her coming to visit. No more talking about their new sister. I know we had to get them used to the idea for the homestudy and know we have to reverse it. But all for a good cause.
I'll post more later, I've got a little boy with an ear infection that needs some cuddles!
Our social Worker came Monday to do our Safety visit, and update our homestudy with our new home information.
We love living in a one story again, love it!!!
Cannot wait for Anastasia to get here!!! Time has flown by, my plan to stay busy is still working.
We may do a seperate Hosting blog while she is here. We have had to tell Cooper that we are not getting to "keep" her, he is heart broken. But Cooper loves to talk. Cody know the truth and that it is a secret. And if this is mentioned in front of her or the chaperones while they are here, we will be in trouble. It's hard to explain why.
Your part in this is that adoption is no longer mentioned in front of the boys. We just talk about how excited we are to have her coming to visit. No more talking about their new sister. I know we had to get them used to the idea for the homestudy and know we have to reverse it. But all for a good cause.
I'll post more later, I've got a little boy with an ear infection that needs some cuddles!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
6 Weeks till Anastasia is here!
Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Things are moving along smoothly.
We are in between sets of paperwork right now, so I am getting a breather.
We are moving into a one story house in several weeks, we've got military renters moving into our house. This will not only save us a chunk of money every month but foremost it will provide a much safer environment for Anastasia with not having stairs.
Supposedly Atlanta is now caught up on their paperwork, so we got a letter from homeland security saying our INS paperwork should now only take 3 months rather then 5-6. This is great news. And given everything else goes smoothly we have no reason not to beleive that she will be home with us permantly before summer break.
The break in paperwork is nice, but it allows all the everyday concerns to start creeping in. Like, how will the children get along. How hard will it be to communicate with her in the beginning. What if she doesn't like us? How do I take 3 kids into a grocery store-one with Cerebral Palsy? What do put her in when we go places-a stroller, a wheelchair? People ask me repeatedly are you nervous, are you scared, are you worried? I know it is strange but no I'm not. Is Gary- yes, I think a little, but not about any of those things, mostly about being a girl Dad. I tell him he'll be fine, I've seen him with many of our friends' daughters and they all love him.
So during our little paperwork break we will be moving houses! Then as soon as we are in our house we will start the next set, so that way it will all have our new address.
Right now I am really praying about where to go for the financing. We've got over 25,000 in costs coming up. And no I'm not worried about that either! We don't have 25,000 dollars laying around, so we need to get a loan. So I am really praying to be lead to the best loan possible, as far as interest rate goes. We have the resources to pay on a loan every month. Thankfully due to the fact that God has lead us to a debt free life. So since we have no debt, people are more than willing to loan us money so that we can have debt!!! The American way! We had sold our minivan about 6 or so months ago, and bought Gary a little Toyota with cash and I took back the CRV. With all the travel we do, 3 kids will not be comfortable in the CRV, especially if we have a wheelchair to transport also. So the money we save every month by renting out our house, we go toward a car payment.
So for you prayer warriors, we need prayer for some good loans!
Both of the boys are doing wonderful, and are really excited about Anastasia coming, even Cooper!! They are wonderful boys, and will make great brothers for a little girl.
I am curious however how Mr Chatterbox Cooper is going to deal with a child who doesn't speak his language! That should be very interesting!!
We are in between sets of paperwork right now, so I am getting a breather.
We are moving into a one story house in several weeks, we've got military renters moving into our house. This will not only save us a chunk of money every month but foremost it will provide a much safer environment for Anastasia with not having stairs.
Supposedly Atlanta is now caught up on their paperwork, so we got a letter from homeland security saying our INS paperwork should now only take 3 months rather then 5-6. This is great news. And given everything else goes smoothly we have no reason not to beleive that she will be home with us permantly before summer break.
The break in paperwork is nice, but it allows all the everyday concerns to start creeping in. Like, how will the children get along. How hard will it be to communicate with her in the beginning. What if she doesn't like us? How do I take 3 kids into a grocery store-one with Cerebral Palsy? What do put her in when we go places-a stroller, a wheelchair? People ask me repeatedly are you nervous, are you scared, are you worried? I know it is strange but no I'm not. Is Gary- yes, I think a little, but not about any of those things, mostly about being a girl Dad. I tell him he'll be fine, I've seen him with many of our friends' daughters and they all love him.
So during our little paperwork break we will be moving houses! Then as soon as we are in our house we will start the next set, so that way it will all have our new address.
Right now I am really praying about where to go for the financing. We've got over 25,000 in costs coming up. And no I'm not worried about that either! We don't have 25,000 dollars laying around, so we need to get a loan. So I am really praying to be lead to the best loan possible, as far as interest rate goes. We have the resources to pay on a loan every month. Thankfully due to the fact that God has lead us to a debt free life. So since we have no debt, people are more than willing to loan us money so that we can have debt!!! The American way! We had sold our minivan about 6 or so months ago, and bought Gary a little Toyota with cash and I took back the CRV. With all the travel we do, 3 kids will not be comfortable in the CRV, especially if we have a wheelchair to transport also. So the money we save every month by renting out our house, we go toward a car payment.
So for you prayer warriors, we need prayer for some good loans!
Both of the boys are doing wonderful, and are really excited about Anastasia coming, even Cooper!! They are wonderful boys, and will make great brothers for a little girl.
I am curious however how Mr Chatterbox Cooper is going to deal with a child who doesn't speak his language! That should be very interesting!!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Yea, oh Happy Day!!!
Our homestudy is finished, our wonderful social worker just emailed to let us know, and I will be able to pick it up and mail in our INS forms today or tomorrow!!!
I feel like I just peed on a pregnancy test, and got 2 lines!!!
59 days till Anatstasia is here!!!
October is flying by, my plan is to keep busy, and it is working. This month I started my business with Uppercase Living, had my first Open House.
Listed our house with a Realtor.
And have been busy getting donations for our Fundraiser Rummage Sale this Saturday.
Our wonderful friends the Mandleys are coming to visit Sat-Monday, we are so excited they are coming!!
I met another woman online, through a yahoo group for the hosting agency. She is adopting a little girl from the same orphanage Anastasia is in!! They hosted their little girl this past Summer. They are using the same agency and just mailed in their INS form yesterday, so we will be able to share our journey together!! So that is really nice to have right now.
I feel like I just peed on a pregnancy test, and got 2 lines!!!
59 days till Anatstasia is here!!!
October is flying by, my plan is to keep busy, and it is working. This month I started my business with Uppercase Living, had my first Open House.
Listed our house with a Realtor.
And have been busy getting donations for our Fundraiser Rummage Sale this Saturday.
Our wonderful friends the Mandleys are coming to visit Sat-Monday, we are so excited they are coming!!
I met another woman online, through a yahoo group for the hosting agency. She is adopting a little girl from the same orphanage Anastasia is in!! They hosted their little girl this past Summer. They are using the same agency and just mailed in their INS form yesterday, so we will be able to share our journey together!! So that is really nice to have right now.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
68 Days- Some New News
Yeah, we are so excited. W
After some of my deep research, you guys know I love to research. I ran across something that lead me to beleive that we can in fact travel on our first trip, before INS approval. I know all this is hard to understand, but Atlanta is taking 5 months to process adoption INS forms, other states are currently taking 1-3 months. We had been told that we had to wait until our INS form was approved before we could travel on our first trip. NOT TRUE-yours truly, one very determined Mama Bear, found out that is not true, and confirmed it with our agency last night!!!! So we could travel as soon as February, when we thougth it would be May at the soonest, so this is good news for us, one less day in the orphanage is great news! So months is even better.
We've had one tie up with our homestudy, that we are getting taken care of today. And then it will be finalized.
Also Gary's passport is holding us up a bit, since he was born in Greece while his Dad was stationed there, we needed further proof that he is a US citizen, which luckily his father had, and he has mailed to us, and it will be in the mail today to the passport office.
After those 2 things, we will be sending off our INS paperwork (I600A). Yea!
We also discovered that one of our friends whom also is our neighbor not only has studied Russian culture extensively, but also speaks it! So that is great for us, we feel blessed to have her experience this with us!
After some of my deep research, you guys know I love to research. I ran across something that lead me to beleive that we can in fact travel on our first trip, before INS approval. I know all this is hard to understand, but Atlanta is taking 5 months to process adoption INS forms, other states are currently taking 1-3 months. We had been told that we had to wait until our INS form was approved before we could travel on our first trip. NOT TRUE-yours truly, one very determined Mama Bear, found out that is not true, and confirmed it with our agency last night!!!! So we could travel as soon as February, when we thougth it would be May at the soonest, so this is good news for us, one less day in the orphanage is great news! So months is even better.
We've had one tie up with our homestudy, that we are getting taken care of today. And then it will be finalized.
Also Gary's passport is holding us up a bit, since he was born in Greece while his Dad was stationed there, we needed further proof that he is a US citizen, which luckily his father had, and he has mailed to us, and it will be in the mail today to the passport office.
After those 2 things, we will be sending off our INS paperwork (I600A). Yea!
We also discovered that one of our friends whom also is our neighbor not only has studied Russian culture extensively, but also speaks it! So that is great for us, we feel blessed to have her experience this with us!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Just plugging along
We had our last homestudy appointment yesterday, she came to our house, looked around, talked to the boys, etc... It went great, our social worker is wonderful though.
74 Days until we meet Anastasia, that is when she will get here for the month she will be here over the holidays, we can't wait!
We are having a Fundraiser Garage Sale Oct. 18th, we are putting the word out there, and as people contact me I am going and picking up donations!
I have signed up with an at-home business, Uppercase Living. Something I swore I'd never do, but this is right up my alley, since I love decorating.
Check out my new website http://caras.uppercaseliving.net
Other than that nothing new to report, the social worker has to finish putting the report together, than we will send off a copy of our homestudy report with our INS form to Atlanta, and wait for our approval, and our official fingerprint appointment. Yes we've already been fingerprinted, on 2 different types of cards, but obviously there is something else they need to fingerprint for. This is the approval that takes so long here, Atlanta takes 5 months most other states are processing them in 1-3 months. And we can't take our next step until we get that approval.
74 Days until we meet Anastasia, that is when she will get here for the month she will be here over the holidays, we can't wait!
We are having a Fundraiser Garage Sale Oct. 18th, we are putting the word out there, and as people contact me I am going and picking up donations!
I have signed up with an at-home business, Uppercase Living. Something I swore I'd never do, but this is right up my alley, since I love decorating.
Check out my new website http://caras.uppercaseliving.net
Other than that nothing new to report, the social worker has to finish putting the report together, than we will send off a copy of our homestudy report with our INS form to Atlanta, and wait for our approval, and our official fingerprint appointment. Yes we've already been fingerprinted, on 2 different types of cards, but obviously there is something else they need to fingerprint for. This is the approval that takes so long here, Atlanta takes 5 months most other states are processing them in 1-3 months. And we can't take our next step until we get that approval.
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