Friday, May 30, 2008

Here We Go!

We've made the first leg of our trip! Mom took us to the airport last night where Josh and Jill met us and said a sweet prayer for us and told us good bye. We arrived safely in Dallas last night, had a good night's rest here at Ginger and Mike's house and will head to the airport soon. Blaine did great on his first flight! It was so much fun watching him as we took off, he loved it! We won't sleep in a bed again until we arrive in Khabarovsk on Sunday. We go to Atlanta today, then onto Moscow where it will be Saturday morning when we land. Then we leave Moscow Saturday night and arrive in Khab Sunday morning (which will be Saturday night here). We'll try to get on soon after arrive and let everyone know when we're there. We should get to go see Valerie on Sunday! I can't wait to get her in my arms again!
We are about as excited as we can be at 5:30 AM! Please keep us in your prayers. We know they work and appreciate you all so much.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It's been a whirlwind of activity around our place lately! Our passports, visas, and tickets arrived today so we can officially travel now. Hooray! We have a lot in suitcases and several piles of things we really want to take. The problem is there is no way all those piles will fit into our suitcases so it's time to decide what's really important. Of course all of MY stuff is important! Ha ha!

The weather could be quite chilly and it could be very hot. Being that we will be gone a total of 4 weeks, we're likely to see a little of both. I picked up a couple of travel umbrellas this morning as we are bound to get some rain there sometime. Speaking of rain, we got some more last night - 3/4 inch!! We are hoping to not come home to the sand dunes that we are living in right now!

We are just so excited to be going back. We miss that little girl like crazy! We are so ready to officially be her Mama and Daddy! This will also be an awesome experience for Blaine. I am a little nervous about traveling around the world with him but mostly just happy that he's going with us and getting to see and experience so many new things.

Blaine graduated from Kindergarten this morning! The ceremony was really neat and we couldn't be more proud of him. He loved every minute of Kindergarten and was always ready to go each morning! He has grown, changed and learned so much this year. Mrs. Cornelius is an awesome teacher and we're a little sad to see this special time in his life come to an end.
Ok, I'd better quit being sentimental and get back to packing! We leave for Dallas tomorrow night!
I have pictures to post but my computer isn't cooperating. I'll try again later.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Itinerary

We received our confirmed itinerary today. We will not get to Khabarovsk until June 1, the day before our court date. We will fly to Dallas next Thursday night and stay with Ginger and Mike. We will leave Dallas at 9:30 am Friday, May 30 and get to Khabarovsk at 11:10 am on Sunday, June 1. We will not have slept in a bed during all that time! We'll spend June 1 visiting Valerie and being observed with her by a social worker, settling into our hotel, and getting prepped for court the next day. I hope we can sleep on the plane this time! We will ride 3 different planes and it will take around 36 hours of travel to get there. Blaine's never flown before - We're really breaking him in aren't we?

We will be staying at the Markuel Apartments in Khabarovsk. This will be nice because we will be able to cook our meals there and not have to eat every meal out. Because of everything shutting down for Russian Independence Day in the middle of our 10 day wait period, we will be unable to leave Khabarovsk until Saturday, June 21. We will be in Khabarovsk a full 3 weeks.

Then we go back to Moscow for our embassy appointment. We are staying near the Red Square and will be excited to see the sights there! We will leave Moscow June 25, fly back through Atlanta, and arrive in Dallas that night at 8:21. It will be too late to fly home from there so we'll spend another night with Gin who will be excited to meet her brand new niece and fly back to Midland early the next morning.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

We have a COURT DATE!!!!!

I have been sitting at my computer since 9:00 hitting the refresh button every 3 minutes, waiting for some news. Our pretrial was today and we got an email at 12:26 am (4:26 pm in Khabarovsk) that our court date had been scheduled! Woohoo!!! Our coordinator had requested June 4 because our Russian medicals will expire on June 5. June 4 was not available but we don't have to redo our medicals because.......Our court hearing will be June 2!! That is 12 days from now! In just 12 days, Valerie will be ours!! That means we travel in about 9 days. Oh my, 9 days!! Our travel agent had already made us a tentative itinerary but now it will have to be revised and moved up a little. I'll be on the phone with her first thing in the morning getting our tickets and our visas ordered. Talk about short notice - So much to do!

I am crying right now. I think I've been holding my emotions back for the last 3 months worrying that something would go wrong. These are happy, happy tears!! Todd and I have been married 13 years today. This is a great anniversary gift to the both of us!
More details later......

Sunday, May 18, 2008

She's a Growin' Girl!

We got updated measurements for Valerie! What a nice surprise! She has grown 1 inch and gained 2 pounds since we saw her. She must be doing well! It makes me sad that I missed watching her grow and change the last 2 1/2 months but it's a good sign that she's putting on weight. She's a tiny thing! Her feet are 13 cm which I think means a size 5 or 5 1/2. That solves that dilemma.
I'm wondering how much her looks have changed. Has her hair grown any? Will she remember us? Is she walking now? Has she made a special friend or gotten really attached to a certain caregiver? I just can't wait to get my hands on her again! I hope she will come to us as easily as she did last time. Two more days and we'll know our court date!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Time Zones, Temperatures, and Long Days

I was looking online trying to wrap my brain around the time zones we'll be traveling to and what the weather might be like so I'll know what kind of clothes to take on our trip. Here's what I found:

Khabarovsk is 16 hours ahead of us.
Moscow is 9 hours ahead of us.

We wil be in Moscow during the longest days of the year there! It will only be truly dark for about 4-5 hours each night. I hadn't thought about that. One more thing to totally throw off our internal clocks!

Lots of sites said different things about the weather but in general the daily low in Khab will be in the 50's and the high will be in the 80's. Sounds pretty nice to me. People say it can get a little hot because of lack of air conditioning. Moscow will probably be a little cooler but pretty similar.
So I guess we'll wear pants, short sleeve shirts and take a light jacket for the mornings. I got my outfit for court. It's a black short sleeve pants suit that looks dressy but not overly business like. I mainly liked it because I get hot when I'm nervous and didn't want anything with long sleeves or a jacket. Todd will just wear one of his suits.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

A Productive Day

I went to Odessa today with a big shopping list and got a lot done in preparation for our trip. I bought a car seat that's pink with flowers! I still have Blaine's stroller but I also got a little umbrella stroller to take to Russia with us. I hear you can gate-check the stroller when you fly. I bought sippy cups, bibs, diapers, wipes, Tylenol, Desitin, baby bath and lotion, some super cute girly clothes, and a pair of white sandals with butterflies that I feel certain will fit (I think). I also took Kathleen's advice and ordered a pair of Robeez. I also got some banana puffs and other baby snacks for Valerie and plenty of yummy goodies for Todd, Blaine, and I also!
One of my favorite purchases was a cute little red, white, and blue onesie that says All American Girl on it. Valerie will be a US citizen as soon as our plane lands in America. I'll have to put her in her red, white, and blue for the occassion! My friend Renee passed on some of her daughter's clothes to me and I am so glad because some of them are for cooler weather and we might need that while we're in Russia and you sure can't find warm clothes in the stores right now. However, I noticed the cute little weather girl on the side bar is wearing a sundress and it's 72 degrees right now in Khabarovsk - Nice! We'll just take all kinds of clothes and be prepared for anything. I need to have Blaine start practicing pulling a suitcase - I think we're gonna need his help!
Shopping for the trip and for Valerie was so much fun! There's so much cute cute girl stuff out there. Blaine has cute clothes but I've never gone overboard shopping for him. But for a girl... oh my!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

One Week From Tonight We'll Know Our Court Date!

I love chubby baby legs! I just can't wait until I can post a real picture of Valerie. My understanding is that we aren't allowed to post any pictures until the 10 day wait after court is over.
See the booties Todd is wearing over his shoes? We all had to put on masks and those booties each day when we entered the door of the orphanage. Todd had the hardest time finding ones that would fit his feet.
A week from tonight we'll know our court date! Our pretrial is May 21 in Khab but since they are 16 hours ahead of us we should get the news late next Tuesday night. I will be glued to my computer waiting for Olga's email and chatting online with Catherine in CA who will also be anxiously awaiting news of her court date, which will hopefully be the same day as ours. Yesterday I sent off our passports and visa applications to Red Star Travel in Seattle. They will be helping us get our visas from the Russian Consulate in Washington and will also make our flight reservations for us. This will all be very short notice as we expect court in early June. Our fingers are crossed for June 4 or before so we don't have to redo our Russian medicals which require us seeing 8 doctors in Khabarovsk. I am so excited!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Some Fun Pics!

Blaine in his Kindergarten Spring Play, E-I-E-I-OOPS! He 's the one in the blue plaid shirt. He was the Farmer in the Dell. We were so proud of the way he said his lines loud and clear. My super shy kid isn't so shy anymore. He's changed so much this year!

This was the first really hot day this year and Blaine had fun slippin' and slidin'!




Blaine has been helping bottle feed this little blind calf. Aren't they both cute as can be?







Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! We had a really nice day but I missed Valerie alot today. We had a baby dedication day at church and there were 17 babies there. I enjoyed seeing all of them and the service was really nice but many of them were around Valerie's age so I guess that's why it really hit home that she should be here with us. We'll be in Russia on Father's Day so that will be a special one for Todd! Before I had Blaine I really had a hard time on Mother's Day. I remember sitting in church trying so hard not to cry as all the mothers were asked to stand and be recognized. Then I would go home and cry all afternoon. Now I have a precious precious son who made me a beautiful bouquet of flowers out of his sweet little handprints for Mother's Day and I am so grateful for him!! I also have a precious precious little daughter in Khabarovsk that we'll be going to get very soon!! I just can't wait!

Todd and I both were blessed with awesome moms. I try so hard to be a good mom. I had a great example and that helps so much! Happy Mother's Day, Mom and Polly Sue!!

Monday, May 5, 2008

We Got Rain!

Todd and I were standing at the back door last night at about midnight thanking God for the rain that was pouring down outside! There was more than an inch in the gauge this morning! Since the fire I have had to vacuum our windowsills and blinds almost everyday because of all the sand and ash that blows in. My house never feels clean. It has been very frustrating and I am so thrilled for this rain to settle the dust. In a few days we should start seeing some green out there again! An answered prayer!!

Many people have asked if we have to go to Russia for the pretrial. The answer is no, we don't. That is just when the judge assigns our court date. We are counting the days (16!) until the pretrial on May 21 when we'll know our court date and can order our tickets and visas and make some definite plans. We are pretty sure that we'll be taking Blaine with us on this trip. 3 weeks is too long to leave him and it will be such an awesome experience for him. He can't wait to meet his little sister! Yes, we know it will also be difficult at times but we think it will be worth it.