The Wait and the Weight

At times, the wait to go get Valerie almost seems unbearable. I look at her pictures and it physically hurts. We are also waiting on one last document from our homestudy agency. We have been working with them on this for the last 3 weeks and I honestly can't tell if we are one step closer to getting it than we were 3 weeks ago. I prayed today that we would get an answer tomorrow, that we would at least know that it is being worked on. I find it hard to do anything else because I am so consumed with getting this document that is the missing piece of our dossier for court, yet it is totally out of my hands. All I can do is try to send increasingly less-polite sounding emails every day asking if there is any progress.

This wait is adding weight to me. Why can't I be one of those who just can't seem to eat when I am stressed? I am definitely a stress eater and I'm not talking carrot sticks here! I get lost in thought about what I can do to speed things along with that final document and the next thing I know that full sleeve of Chips Ahoy cookies is gone and I don't even remember eating it. My Blaine is so sweet - If he minded that his Mama ate more than half the candy out of his Easter basket, he never even mentioned it!

I made the comment a while back that it will be a miracle for us to complete this adoption. The more I think about it, the more I know it's true. Every child is a miracle, a blessing from God, whether they arrive in your family through the miracle of birth or the miracle of adoption. Please pray that our miracle child will be with us soon! As our blog title says, we are still hoping and believing!

Happy Easter!

Here's Blaine at his Egg Hunt at Kindergarten last week. He had so much fun! He also got to enjoy an egg hunt and puppet show put on by our church at the park yesterday. At home, he doesn't want to hunt eggs, he wants to hide them and have us search for them!
We had a wonderful Easter Sunday with an early morning rain, great worship at church, a fantastic lunch at our house with family and friends, and a very relaxing evening at home. We couldn't have asked for a better day (unless Valerie was here with us).
In adoption news, our court dossier was sent to Khabarovsk on Friday! The wild journey around the BIG state of Texas picking up documents and getting them apostilled paid off. We are still missing 2 supporting documents from our homestudy agency that will need to be acquired quickly and sent along as well. But we are thrilled that our paperwork is on its way and we will be filing with the court soon. We were told there would be at least 90 days between trips so we are praying for a court date in early June.
I had all our pictures (tons of pictures!) of Valerie printed at Sam's on Friday and put them in an album. Looking at them all made me relive that wonderful week we spent with her. She is so precious. I'm missing my girl!

One Long Trip!

Did you know it is 530 miles from Monahans to Burnet? Well, it is if you go through Lubbock to get there. On Saturday, I drove to Lubbock to pick up some documents from our homestudy agency. The plan was to drive to Austin Sunday, have them apostilled on Monday, and sent to Anchorage to our adoption agency by Wednesday. But....some of the documents weren't correct. So Monday, Blaine and I drove back to Lubbock, picked up the corrected documents then drove to Jami and Todd's house in Burnet. That is a full day of driving! We won't even talk about gas prices. Todd took me into Austin to the Secretary of State's office to apostille everything and get it FedExed overnight to Anchorage. Talk about down to the wire. Olga, our agency director said she thinks she will have everything to file for our court date. Yay!!!! We are hoping to go back in early June! In the meantime, we are excited to be here in Burnet and Blaine is having so much fun playing with his cousins, Brooks and Paige. The trip home tomorrow should be much better as we won't go through Lubbock to get back to Monahans!

Another Cute Picture!

Valerie loves looking at books, especially the touch and feel kind with the soft bunny, fluffy dog, and woolly lamb. I can't wait to get her home and read lots and lots of good books!

Paperwork

There are extreme amounts of paperwork in the international adoption process. We've had a few new documents to sign since we got home saying we were aware of Valerie's medical conditions, power of attorney for the coordinator in Russia, and an application to the court. Then we had to update other paperwork because it is getting close to expiring. It tickles me that they want another marriage certificate and new copies of our passports. These documents don't change! They just want the apostilles from Austin that we must get attached to them to not be more than a year old. I got a little stressed last time I sent things to Austin because I didn't get them back when I expected them. This time I included a picture of Valerie and a very sweet note saying we had met this beautiful little girl and as soon as we get all our paperwork turned in we can receive a courtdate so if at all possible could they please expedite the documents. We'll see if that makes a difference! We are also waiting on our homestudy update that Olga, our agency director, just found out needs to be in a different format. Now the judge seems to be wanting a fully updated document not just an update added to the end of the old homestudy which is what they wanted before. We've killed more than a few trees in this process! We don't really understand all the reasons for everything required but we'll do whatever they want. It will all be so worth it when we get that sweet baby home!!!

We're Home!

Here's a picture of Valerie and Todd sharing some Gerber banana puffs! Isn't she adorable!? We aren't allowed to post pictures of her until after we get home from our court trip but I figured I could get away with this.

We were on the flight from Seoul to LA with The Backstreet Boys who I am totally unfamiliar with but Kathy knew them because she has teenagers. They apparently caused quite a stir. It took a while to get through customs at LA and then back through security in the domestic terminal and we were literally running to our gate to catch our flight to DFW. We finally got home after 10:00 on Sunday night. There were storms around Dallas and our flight was delayed. I was about to burst I was so ready to see Blaine. I could see him from upstairs at the airport and when he spotted us he was jumping up and down excited. I was thrilled to finally get that hug and I just teared up all over again! We were gone 11 days and I swear he grew while we were gone. He also has a very loose tooth that he is quite proud of. I am so proud of him for how well he did while we were away. He's a big boy!

It feels wonderful to be home and be in our own bed and familiar surroundings. However, jet lag is rough! I am exhausted but have woken up about 3:00 am for the last two nights and can't go back to sleep. I have never traveled halfway around the world before. I've always heard about jet lag but just really didn't understand how bad it messes up your internal clock.

Thank you to everyone who took care of things while we were gone from covering our responsibilities at church, to getting our mail, feeding the cats, watering the yard, and taking care of and loving on Blaine. Everything seemed to run so smooth as we knew it would because we have so many great people in our lives taking care of us! At one point during the trip Todd commented that everything was really going our way and I said, "Well, look how many people are praying for us!" Thank you most of all for your prayers. We have a good God!

Greetings from Seoul!

We are thrilled to be on our way home. It's 9:14 on Saturday night in Seoul and we're at the Transit Hotel at Incheon Airport. Our flight today wasn't crowded at all. Noone in front of us or behind us so we leaned our seats all the way back without bothering anyone and had noone laying in our laps. Very nice! As soon as we got off the plane, we headed over to the Asiana desk and requested exit row seats for the long flight tomorrow so that we'll have some leg room. Woohoo!! Now we're not dreading the flight anymore. Our flight to LA doesn't leave until 4:30 pm tomorrow so we'll be doing lots of airport walking. We'll land in LA 5 hours before we take off due to the time change. Talk about jet lag! We'll finally get to Midland at 9:40 on Sunday night and I can't wait to squeeze Blaine!!!
We flew right over the orphanage today as we left Khabarovsk. I wish so badly that we could have taken Valerie with us. I am missing that little sweetie! Todd reminded me that we have a lot to do over the next few months to get ready for her. Priority #1 will be turning our guest/scrapbooking/junk room into a little girly-girl's room. That will be fun though!
Donna, I guess it's too late now to ask you to set me up at the chiropractor on Monday. I'll just call first thing. Go ahead and tell Billy that Todd will need all of those classes on little girls - He doesn't know what he's getting into, does he? He's already a great Daddy so I'm sure he'll get it all down even if he doesn't master the ponytail!

Friday - Visit #5 at the Orphanage

This morning we went to a notary public to sign our formal adoption petition before our final visit with Valerie. We had a good time with her but it was hard to put her down and let her play because we just wanted to hold, hug, and kiss her as we knew we won't being seeing her for a few more months. She has learned to search through our bag until she finds the food! She loves those Gerber banana puffs. We had to hide them from her to get her interested in her toys! I'm sure they don't have many snacks and certainly not the freedom to eat while you roam around the room. We brought out the bubbles today and she looked shocked. That was definitely a new experience for her. Todd popped them and she just sat there wide-eyed. It makes me think of all the new experiences that await her such as riding in a car and an airplane, strollers, seeing tons of new faces, ice, a new home. Her senses will definitely be on overload for a while. She is living a very routine, sheltered life right now. Valerie has some congestion and a little cough all week but definitely isn't feeling bad. All too soon, Lena came and said it was time to take her back to her groupa. Todd carried Valerie and I followed trying to hold back the tears. When we got to her room we gave one of her caretakers the photo album we have been showing her this week and a disposable camera with her name on it in hopes they'll take some pictures of her over the next few months. One of the caregivers took her from Todd and sat her at a tiny little table with 2 bowls of food and a teacup (no sippy cups here!) Valerie opened wide and the lady began spooning in the bean soup with a huge serving spoon. With so many kids to feed they know how to get it done fast! She was also having cabbage with ground meat. The lady feeding her told us she will definitely be feeding herself when we come back. We watched her eat for a little while and then kissed her goodbye. It was not easy. The ladies in the room told us through Lena that they would take good care of her and to come back soon. They were very sweet. We hated to leave but know that she is safe and being well taken care of. Come on court date!!

After we left the orphanage we had an appointment with a social worker who asked us some questions about our family and our plans for including Valerie. Lunch today was a hotdog from a vendor on the street. Not quite the same as an American hot dog. Tonight we are going to dinner at Scalini's to celebrate with Catherine and Kathy. Catherine met 2 beautiful children this week as well. Kathy adopted from Khabarovsk in 2006 and just came along for the ride on this trip with Catherine. These 2 have become special friends over the course of this week. Having been here before, they have been awesome tour guides! They have shown us so much and made our trip really fun. Tonight we will pack up. Nicolai, our driver will pick us up to go to the airport tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 and our flight back to Seoul leaves at 5:00 pm. We'll post again from there.

Thursday - Visit #4 at the Orphanage

Each day gets better and better with Valerie! We waited until about 15 after 11:00 and when they did not bring her to us, Irina told us we could go to her groupa room to get her. They were still dressing her when we came in. They get her all fixed up for us each day in velvety little dresses. Today was a red velvet with a white collar with little flowers on it. She looked beautiful. Of course, each day she is wearing several layers and yesterday she really seemed happy when we peeled them all off to try the clothes on her. It is quite warm in there but they keep her bundled up tight. She said Mama several times today. We also taught her how to blow kisses and she did a great job with that. It was so sweet. She smiles, laughs, and plays so freely. She makes good eye contact and likes to be held and loved. The only problem with today's visit was that it ended too soon! Leaving her tomorrow won't be easy. I can't wait until we get her home.

I guess we've brought a little west TX weather to Russia. Irina told us that today was the warmest March 6 ever recorded in Khabarovsk. The high was about 37 degrees. Almost all the snow around town has melted. We had another nice afternoon today. We went to a 5 story shopping mall with a big grocery store inside. We had ice cream at a Baskin Robbins. The sign was in Russian but had the 31 on it! We bought a few snacks for our room. We walked through a neat park that had trees carved into all kinds of animals and people. Kinda like the bears in Ruidoso but more detail. Now we're in the room relaxing. I'm going to the chiropractor when I get home!!

Cultural Experiences

Despite being homesick and really missing Blaine, we are having a great time and learning so much about Khabarovsk. We have had beautiful weather. Today was actually above freezing. It is very unusual for this time of year. The ice sculptures around town are melting! We've been able to get out and do a lot of walking and see lots of sights. Sunday afternoon we walked to the Amur River. We went down to the beach and actually out onto the frozen river. There was a fishermen's village set up out in the middle of the river for ice fishing. Now there's something you don't see in west Texas. We visited a children's park with a playground and little carnival type rides. Kids could even pay to ride a real reindeer!! I have pictures for you, Blaine. You told us there were reindeer in Russia!

We have visited several shops and have purchased souvenirs such as a music box, some matroyshkas, children's books, Christmas ornaments. My favorite thing was a traditional Russian dress for Valerie. It is blue and will be beautiful with her big blue eyes! We walked through Lenin Square and saw the huge courthouse where we will go to court to complete the adoption. We visited the Blue Church with beautiful blue and gold domes. The inside was so golden and ornate with high ceilings painted blue with silver stars. Lots of beautiful murals were painted on the walls and many people came in and lit candles while we were there. The Blue Church is a Russian Orthodox church. The visitors cross themselves opposite of the Catholic church. We flew over the Gold Church on the way in and have seen it from afar but haven't visited it yet. It's so pretty.

Jeremy, no we have heard about the squatty potties (holes in the ground) but we try to just go at the hotel and the orphanage and they are similar to ours except for you pull a knob on top to flush them! Donna, I have yet to see a Sonic! However I just walk a few blocks to the market and can get a Coke Light out of the cooler there. We haven't been gone that long and have really eaten some pretty good food but a burger or a burrito is starting to sound pretty good. We have eaten in our hotel restaurant, twice at a really good pizza place, a fancy meal at The Rooski, and also at the Intourist Hotel. They brought us shots of Vodka before our meal at the Rooski with a toothpick with a slice of pickle, a pepper, a little chunk of bread and a little chunk of lard! Each thing is supposed to represent something but I can't remember exactly what. I could handle it all except the lard, which went from my mouth discreetly into my napkin! Eeeww!



Khabarovsk is a huge city of 700,000 with busy streets and lots of people walking. We walk almost everywhere but did take a cab once after dark. The women are very stylish and almost every one of them has at least 3 inch heels on their boots even in the ice and snow. I have to say I feel a bit frumpy around all of them! Khabarovsk is quite an interesting mix of modern and old, rich and poor. It is all very different from anything we've experienced before and we've really enjoyed it!

Wednesday - Visit #3 at the Orphanage

We signed papers today saying that we agree to adopt Valerie!!! Irina came in and asked us if we had made a decision. It definitely wasn't a hard one. We had made up our minds about 2 minutes into the first visit. She is a precious child and we will be so proud to be her parents. Today's visit was really fun. We took fewer pictures and video today and just really enjoyed playing with her. She still loves that cell phone! She made lots of silly noises today. We were looking at our little family photo album with her and naming all the people. I pointed to my picture and said mama and she said mama just as plain as could be. This of course was the highlight of my day! We got her to say it a couple more times but of course would not say it for the video camera! We were in that same tiny little closet of a room today. It is ok but we don't get to see her crawl or help her walk around much because there's simply no room. If we are in the same place tomorrow we plan on taking her out in the hall so we can see her move around a little more. She can crawl really fast and cruise around on the furniture but isn't walking alone yet. She did stand alone today for a little while so I'm sure she'll be walking when we come back for trip 2. I hate to miss her first steps but we'll have lots of other firsts. We tried some 12 month size clothes on her today and they were tight so we'll try 18 month ones on tomorrow. I was so glad that she is larger than we thought based on her referral measurements. Those were just the last measurements on her chart when she was referred to us. We got a special treat today from the social worker. She gave us a picture of Valerie that was taken when she was 8 months old. How wonderful to have a baby picture!! We're leaving a disposable camera and hopefully they'll take some pictures for us between trips. It was another great visit!

Tuesday - Visit #2 at the Orphanage

We had another great time with Valerie today! We got to the orphanage about 10:30 and were told that she was still having her morning nap so we waited until a little after 11:00. They brought her to us and has us go to a tiny little room with a couch and no toys for our visit today. It was definitely not as fun a place as the big room yesterday but it didn't really matter. We had brought toys with us. Valerie really came out of her shell today! She initiated a game of peek a boo by putting her hands over her eyes and then throwing her arms up in the air! She laughed and babbled more today and was so cute. She still loves the bear but the favorite toy today was the little cell phone that rings and plays music. We would push a button and pretend to answer and she immediately did the same and would say d d d when she put it to her ear. Then she would put it to our ears. We went back and forth with this for a long while and she really got a kick out of it. When the music played she would sway back and forth and laugh and clap. Again today she never got upset or cried even once. She is so calm and such a happy girl. Our visit ended way to quickly because we had to see 4 more doctors today for the required in-country medicals for Todd and I. Irina came to get her and I asked if we could see her room. She said yes but not for long because we needed to get on the road. We saw her room for just a minute but I had time to snap a few pictures of her room and of Valerie with one of her caretakers. I hated to put her down and as I did she reached out to us which made us feel good. I think she is really loving the individual attention instead of just being one of many. Friday is going to be hard to leave! She is in a clean nice place and obviously being well cared for but I just can't wait until she can experience a real forever family! Blaine, when we showed Valerie a picture of you today she said "ooooo" and patted your picture. You two are going to love each other. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and sweet comments on the blog. Todd and I were talking last night and realized that Valerie was born about 2 weeks after my miscarriage in 2006. We know God has always had a plan for us even if we were impatient at times!!!

We met our little girl!

Todd and I woke up very early this morning with much anticipation and excitement for our first meeting with our little girl. We met Lena, our translator, in the hotel lobby this morning at 10:00. Then we picked up Irina, our coordinator, and headed to the orphanage. Talk about butterflies. We first met with the orphanage doctor who filled us in on Valerie's health over the last 18 months. We got to ask many questions and she was very patient and helpful. Then we waited just a little while and watched Catherine as she met one of her little ones. Then before we knew it, the door opened and in walked Valerie in one of the caretakers arms. She looked a little unsure of what was going on. I snapped a quick picture. I have dreamed about this moment for over a year now and our first meeting exceeded all expectations. The caretaker walked over to where we were sitting and put Valerie down beside me. She reached up with both arms and I picked her up and snuggled her to me!!! It was incredible!!! After I sat there and held her a little while we went over to the rug and sat down and played and she got right up in Todd's lap. She wasn't afraid of either of us and loved to be held. We played with lots of the toys we brought. She looked scared and threw the bear down when we first handed it to her but when we made a game out of tossing it back and forth she loved it - Thanks, Gin! One of my favorite parts of the whole visit was when we went to this blue mat right in front of a mirror. She had a ball playing with herself in front of that mirror. She would kiss and pattycake. She can imitate everything we do. She was very quiet the whole time but towards the end of our visit began to laugh out loud, blow her lips, and make cute little noises. Her little personality began to come out and we think she is precious. She loved to sit in your lap and throw her body backwards and lood around the room upside down. We have some great pictures and video and can't wait to show her off! At the end of our visit she seemed to be getting a little sleepy and I just stood there and held her. She laid her little head down on my shoulder and totally relaxed. It felt wonderful! She really seemed to enjoy Todd today and went back and forth between us often. We could not have asked for a better 1st visit and just can't wait to see her again tomorrow.
Blaine, I miss you like crazy. You are the best son ever and are going to be the best big brother in the world!! You're gonna love Valerie!
Thank you all so much for your prayers. This has been quite a process but today we definitely feel it is all worthwhile. God has truly blessed us in so many ways! We can't complete her adoption for several more months so please continue praying. We love you all!


Kelli, I haven't even been paying attention to the post times! I'm borrowing Catherine's computer and it's on Pacific Time! They just got WiFi here and I'm sick that I didn't bring my own computer as I thought I wouldn't be able to get internet. Anyway, it's `3:59 pm here on Monday, March 3. We went to 2 doctors today for the medicals for Todd and I after our visit with Valerie.

We meet her tomorrow!!

We are in Khabarovsk, Russia. Today is Sunday, March 2. It is election day here. Russia is electing a new president. We arrived yesterday afternoon and were met at the airport by Lena. The money exchange place at the airport was closed as were all the banks when we got here. Luckily we could eat in the hotel restaurant last night and charge it to our room. We had pelmeni (little meat ravioli type things). Mine was plain and Todd's was in broth. It was ok. I almost said nothing to write home about but I guess that's what I'm doing! We slept really well last night. The hotel is nice. It is so hot inside that we had to open our window to cool off! This morning we walked down the street with Catherine and Kathy to a bank and got our rubles. We got many stares as noone in there spoke any English. Then we walked to this market. That was a really cool experience for me. Part of it is outdoors and a little like a flea market with all kinds of things for sale. Indoors was the food. There is a produce section, meat section, bread, etc.... You pay for each thing at the booth you buy it from. After much pointing, grunting, and exchanging of money, we left with bread, cheese, salami, grapes, apples, and juice. Kathy showed us these little fried pie type things that had potatoes inside. They were awesome! We ate them on the way back to the Amethyst (our hotel). The weather is really beautiful today. It was cold but not at all unbearable and we enjoyed walking around town a bit. We may go out again later today.

Tomorrow is the big day! We will be picked up at the hotel at 10:00 and get to visit the orphanage until 1:00. I can't tell you all the emotions I am feeling. I just can't wait to meet her and can't believe that in less than 24 hours we will! We were told that the kids are being quarantined at the orphanage due to chicken pox and the flu. I hope that she is well for our visit (and always). We have a bag of toys and snacks to take to entertain her and a list of questions we are wanting to ask the orphanage director and doctor. Please pray that our first meeting goes well.

We meet her tomorrow!!