Follow our Journey – Adopting Daniel from Russia

Daniel's Second Birthday

2010-03-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

Once again, my apologies for so much time between posts.

Today we celebrated our first birthday with Daniel. Today he turned two years old. We had a small family birthday party for him last Saturday with members of Greg and Mary’s family present along with his god parents, John and Alice.

Daniel continues to do great. At his 2 year ‘well baby checkup’ today, his pediatrician commented that he’s the healthiest foreign adopted baby she has ever seen. He continues to grow, remain healthy and develop on all fronts. He’s been incredibly healthy. He’s only been sick ONCE since we brought him home back last April (minor upper respiratory infection). His vocabulary grows weekly and he's starting to form small sentences.

Let’s see...what else... Christmas was a blast with him. He didn’t quite understand the ‘ripping into the gifts’ thing. We would help him open a gift and he would find more entertainment in the box and wrapping paper than the gift itself (maybe that’s normal). He had a blast at Halloween.

He and his big sister Katie dressed up as penguins.

Daniel’s also done a little traveling. October of last year he went with Mary and I out to San Francisco for a trip. I find myself being amazed at how much he’s done in just under a year. He’s gone from living in a small orphanage on the outskirts of Moscow, to being adopted, becoming a citizen of the United States, traveling to the West coast, and so much more.

Daniels’ sister Katie has done very well at accepting him into the family. Oh sure, there’s still those moments where the two of them both want to play with the same toys and some conflict presents itself, but hey, their siblings.

We’ve kept up with the Thompson family who adopted Alina from the same orphanage. We’re going to spend a weekend with them in Atlanta this summer. It will be good to see them again, let the kids see each other and get reacquainted.

Another person that’s on my mind today, Daniel’s birthday, is his birth mom. Several times today I’ve found myself wondering how she is, what she’s doing and if she’s thinking of Daniel. Somewhere tonight, about 5,000 miles from here, I hope that she feels the love that we have for her and her son. We pray for her to have peace in her heart and mind for the difficult choice that she made in giving Daniel up for adoption, in hopes that he would have a better life than she could provide.

And now, for what many have waited for...pictures!!

Daniel on his second birthday

Daniel after the fair. He won

Mr. Personality in the baby contest.

Enjoying a ride in the van

g, m, k & d

Has it been that long since I last updated the blog?

2009-08-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, time really does fly doesn't it.

Daniel is doing AWESOME! He's very healthy, well adjusted and is just doing so well. He sleeps mostly through the night, sometimes waking up and crying but quickly going back to sleep. He sleeps anywhere from 10-11 hours a night. He has a great appetite and his personality is so good.

He's getting at least 1 nap in a day, sometimes 2. Each about 2 hour in length.

He loves to dance to music.

He cut 4 new teeth this month.

He's repeating words, saying 'Hi' and 'Herow' to people out and about. He's picking up a lot of words from Katie. "Mine" and "Elmo" are also in his vocabulary. He won't acknowledge with 'yes' he still says 'Da'.

We had him circumsized about 2 weeks ago and he did great other than the first two days following the procedure.

He has the most curly hair. It's time for a hair cut but Mommy doesn't want to cut it.

Out in public he's still a big flirt!

We continue to keep up with the Thompson family who also adopted from the same Russian orphanage. They are all doing great!

Katie (the big sister) is doing great with him!

I'll post some new photos here soon!

Follow up

2009-06-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been home now for over a month and a lot has happened.

Daniel is doing awesome! He's sleeping 8-9 hours a night, he's been walking now for 3 weeks,he's beginning to repeat words. We try to get both his morning and afternoon nap in each day (he's a happier baby when he gets both in ;> )

All his medical tests came back negative. We were concerned that he would have food alergies since he was always broken out at the orphanage, but all the tests came back negative and he hasn't had a breakout since we got home with him. Other blood and stool sample tests came back negative.

We had his combination "Welcome Home/Happy Birthday" party several weeks ago. We had over 75 friends and family come out to welcome Daniel to the family.

His big sister Katie is enjoying having a little brother to play with.

Home for a week

2009-05-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

We've been home for a week now. Daniel's sleeping through the night and usually wakes between 5:30 and 7:00am. He's eating really good and thus far has not had any allergic reaction to any foods we've given him. He has absolutely no signs of the rash he had when we first met him in Moscow.

We've kept friends and family at bay for the week while we work on bonding with him. He's bonded quite well with us. He'll reach up when he wants to be held and cry when Mary or I leave the room. Another positive sign is that when he's frightened, he cries and reaches for us (he's afraid of the vacuum).

We've got a First Birthday / Welcome Home party coming up for him this coming Saturday. We'll have to work on 'protecting' him from all the over zealous people who'll want to monopolize him.

Trip 3 - The Flight Home

2009-04-27T14:00:00.001-07:00

6:00am comes too early sometimes. Especially when its the day of your departure to come home with your new little one. Katia and Vladimir picked us up at 8:30 so we could get to the SVO airport as quickly as possible. With the weather warming up in Russia, many people leave the city on the weekend for their summer homes in the country. Thus, the traffic on the weekends can be unpredictable. Sure enough, Vladimir called it correctly. Traffic was rough going out of the city Saturday morning and it took almost 1 1/2 hours to get to SVO. With no traffic that trip would normally take 40 minutes.

Piece of advice for families traveling with children in Russia. Families with children can jump to the front of ANY LINE in Russia. This includes VERY LONG LINES at the airport. Don't forget this advice, especially if you're traveling to Russia in the summer when the number of people at the airport apparently skyrockets based upon what we've been told.

It took about a full hour to get through baggage X-ray, airline/passport check, baggage screening, check-in, passport control and security. Whew!!!!

There's a great restaurant on the second level of the SVO airport, next to the souvenir shop. The burgers are ok, their Russian Noodles is great.

Be sure to get to the gate for your flights as soon as you can. They started boarding our flight a full hour and 15 minutes before the scheduled departure of the flight.

The flight home with Daniel was great. We lucked out and got the bulkhead sets. He was a real trooper on the way home. He napped twice from Moscow to Atlanta. He flirted with the surrounding passengers and the flight attendants; he laughed and played and never once cried. He wore us out keeping up with him, but it was better than how some of the other parents were doing on the flight. One flight attendant stopped by and commented that he was doing great and that some parents in the back of the plane were fighting with their kids since they had departed. Daniel was funny...he would stand up in his seat, scan the surrounding passengers and when he would make eye contact with them, he would flash that smile of his.

Getting through passport/border control in ATL was fairly straight forward. You get off the plane as you normally do, go the agent, show your passports along with the passport of your little one. They will ask to see the envelope of embassy papers. You hand them over and off you go to a special room for processing of immigration. You are processed in order in which you come off the plane and get into the queues for the agents. Once your packet is retrieved by the agent for processing, it takes them like 5 minutes to complete their part of the work. You'll hear them stamp your little ones passport and that's the moment of magic. That stamp officially declares them a citizen of the United States.

The flight from ATL to Tri-Cities was horrible!!! Delta of course merged with Northwest Airways who was still keeping the old Saab 340s turbo-props in service. OMG I HATE THOSE PLANES!!! They are loud, slow, hot and cramped. Unfortunately Daniel had a messy diaper once we boarded the flight and I had to change him in the lavatory. There is no changing table, not enough room for an adult to stand. I had to lay him on the toilet seat and change him. It was so hot in their I was concerned about passing out. This, coupled with the stink of his diaper...oh my...

We were greeted at TRI by family and friends. Daniel's grand parents, an uncle, some aunts, a cousin, god parents and good friends all came out to welcome him home.

We hadn't eaten much so we went to Cracker Barrel and then went home and CRASHED!!!! Daniel passed out cold before we got home.

Trip 3 - Friday

2009-04-27T13:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday night was totally uneventful. Daniel slept through the night with no problems.

Friday started out with Katia and Valimir picking us up and taking us to the Ministry of Education (MOE). The purpose of the visit to MOE was to sign a document requesting that they take our names off of the registry of potential adoptive parents. The ladies of course took their time to play with Daniel. We saw a good sign of bonding while at MOE. I (Greg) was holding Daniel and one of the ladies in the office held out her arms to take Daniel. Daniel actually paused and held onto me for a few moments before going to the lady. This is a good sign we're bonding well with Daniel. After signing the papers, letting them enjoy a few moments with Daniel, we left them with a traditional parting gift of a box of candies.

Katia and Vladimir dropped us off at our flat after MOE. Katia though continued working. She took our information to the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs where she registered Daniel as a Russian citizen. Daniel enjoys a dual citizenship and it is recommended that he be registered as one living abroad. Most agencies leave it to the parents to do this once they return to the states. CSS requires it be done and have the interpreter do it.

We rested and packed the rest of Friday and got to bed early. We knew the flight home would be long.

Trip 3 - Thursday

2009-04-23T20:37:00.001-07:00

Daniel had another great nite Wednesday. He slept all through the nite with no problems whatsoever.

Katia went without us Wednesday and got Daniel's Russian passport and his re-issued Russian birth certificate. This re-issued birth certificate lists Mary and I as his parents and it supercedes his original birth certificate.

Thursday was spent doing some final paperwork. I (Greg) had to go to the Notary to have some documents notarized and then all of us went to the US Embassy for our Visa/Exit Interview. The interview is more of a formality than anything, but it's a critical point in the whole process. The results of the interview is a immigration visa that goes into Daniel's passport which allows him to travel to the US. This, plus a sealed packet of paperwork which we deliver to the Customs officals in Atlanta all go together to making him a US citizen once we arrive in Atlanta.

It was cool seeing all the other adopting parents there in the Embassy. I would estimate there were 6 families there going through their interviews.

I wasn't aware of this but Daniel will have a dual citizenship, US and Russian. He doesn't 'loose' his Russian citizenship when he leaves. In the future he'll have the ability to travel back and forth between the US and Russian, if he so desires. Only potential drawback to that is if he's ever in Russian and the military is 'called-up' and they draft, he could be drafted.

Getting his travel visa and his paperwork pack from the US Embassy is the last essential step here in Moscow. Only thing left to do today is to go to the Ministry of Education, who oversees the orphanages in the Russian Federation, and sign a document that takes Mary and I off of the list of potential adoptive parents. Plus it is customary to take the Ministry staff a box of candies or flowers as a sign of thanks. Whole thing should take no more than 15 minutes.

Rest of the day will be devoted to packing and preparing for a 14 hour trip home. Current plans have us in at TRI at 8:14pm Saturday nite. If the weather is warm enough here, we'll go out today and take Daniel for a walk. He's been fighting a cold so we don't want it to get any worse.

Day after Gotcha Day

2009-04-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

Daniel slept very well his first night with us. All in all he slept 12 hours the first night, solid straight through. When he awoke the next morning, he was in his typical good humor mood.

Wednesday was a much slower paced day. Katia picked us up at 9:15 and we went directly to the hospital for Daniel's exit medical review. Dr. Morodova, who was the doctor who did his initial medical review in the orphanage back in January, was the doctor who did his exit review. Basically a subset of the original review, Daniel did very well. Dr. Morodova commented that the only issues he can see with Daniel is his food alergies and the fact that his weight is a little low for a child his age, which of course can be attributed to having been in an orphanage for the last 9 months of his life.

Next, off we went to the American Embassy. Katia and I went in and filed the paperwork to get Daniel's American visa. We'll return to the embassy tomorrow for the exit interview there.

The rest of the day was a freebie! We stayed around the apartment, spending time with Daniel, playing and getting to know one another. He's all boy!!!

We gave him his first bath last night, didn't go quite as planned. He didn't want to sit in the tub so he stood the entire bath. After bath and a bottle, he was out like a light. He sleeps very well and goes out very quickly on his own.

More later...

Some photos

2009-04-22T03:00:00.001-07:00

OK, some photos...

!! Gotcha Day !!

2009-04-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

We awoke this morning to fresh snow here in Moscow. Temps were well below freezing and the lingering moisture in the air was taking advantage of it. While most of the people here in Moscow went about their normal lives, we embarked on something not so normal.

Katia and Vladimir picked us up at 8:30 and off we went to the court house to retrieve the final court decree. Next, off to the 'Register's office', where we filed the adoption decree. Then, we set off for the orphanage.

We got there a little after 1:00. More snow had fallen in the rural areas around Moscow than in the central part of the city. I don't know if I can fully detail freshly fallen snow that surrounds a children's orphanage...somehow it's a little brighter, a little whiter and it has a power to take you thousands of miles from whatever bothers you.

Normal introductions, yada yada, best wishes, etc... They were all given in typical fashion. They asked if we would like to dress him or if we would like for them to in the interest of time. We were kind of overwhelmed at that moment and Mary decided it would be best if they dressed him before they brought him out. I've heard that they essentially meet you, greet you, put the kid in your arms and then push you back out the door...well, yeah, that's kinda what they do.

Within 3-5 minutes they had him out to us fully dressed in ALL the clothes Mary gave them to put him in. We're not talking 2 layers...4 plus! He definitely remembered us and was giving us his characteristic smile within minutes. About 7-10 members of the staff started pouring in giving Daniel hugs and kisses. Many wanted their picture taken with him. Several were wiping away tears. The young lady whom was primary caregiver for Daniel's group fell to the end of the line and took a few extra moments with him. After we finished and started down the stairs, I caught a glimpse of her pausing and watching us as we went out of sight; Daniel took a little piece of her heart with him today.

He did incredibly well in the car. Very overwhelmed but his personality showed through. He was flirting and playing the whole way to the Moscow Police Station. We had to go there to show Daniel to them so they could verify by pictures taken of him that we had taken custody of the right child. Also they are responsible for issuing the Russian passport so Daniel can get out of the country.

Here comes the second good news of the day! Normally this process takes 2-3 days...we're getting next day turn around because we asked nicely. This means we can leave Saturday!!!! I've changed our airfare (not a cheap thing to do, but we're coming out not too out of whack because of the savings in the apartment) to return Saturday.

We left the police station and went to the CSS offices where everyone took their time playing with Daniel. We were coached on the final 3 days and what to expect with the US Embassy.

We arrived back to the flat after 5:00. Daniel had dinner and we got on a video call via skype to his new grandparents and uncle. He did his typical laughing, playing and such. He's got a really laid back, playful personality.

After some more playing, he eventually wound down and fell sleep on Mary while I was on the phone with Delta. I tried finding the camera before they woke up...no dice. Mary woke up while I was stirring. I placed him in his crib and he's out like a light.

I know someday he'll asked questions about this day. We've captured as many pictures as possible. I can only hope I can retain as much as I can to help him appreciate how awesome of a day this way. The look of excitement and awe were so prevalent on his face at times today. We had the TV on for a few minutes and he watched SpongeBob of all things. He's got a funny sense of humor. He sneezed and I mimicked him. He thought that was the funniest thing. He then proceeded to do fake sneezes for about 30 minutes, just at random, to get a laugh out of us.

I know I'll have more thoughts on this day later. For now, Mary and Daniel are passed out and I'm sitting here looking down on the streets of Moscow.

Trip 3 - We've arrived

2009-04-20T11:14:00.000-07:00

We arrived into Moscow this morning a little later than usual. There was a delay departing Atlanta. With the tail winds you encounter crossing the Atlantic, you can make up a lot of time. All in all, a good flight. Plane was about 1/3 full so everyone had space to spread out.

We were thinking that today was going to be a hectic day...turns out that's tomorrow. We just went to the CSS office for a bit, grocery store and then we got checked into the apartment. Great location next to New Arbat street (a tourist haven), 5-10 minute walk to the US embassy. Clean and comfortable. Dmitry and those guys do an excellent job at Peace Travel.

I won't even try to recount everything we're going to try to do tomorrow, but definately getting Daniel is on the list (somewhere near the bottom actually, later in the day). There's some hope that if we can sweet talk the Moscow Police Station into rushing things for us, maybe, JUST MAYBE, we can leave early from Russian and get home. We're looking at instead of being here until Wed Jan 29th, we could leave on like this coming Saturday or Sunday. Cross fingers, cross toes and say a little prayer...

Mary's passed out sleeping, I'm wide awake posting and emailing...

Countdown to trip 3

2009-04-17T16:11:00.000-07:00

32 hours till we depart for our third and final trip to Moscow. Our visas arrived a little over an hour ago, that's cutting it too close for me. If we didnt' receive them in time it would have cost us somewhere around $750-$1000 to adjust our tickets and accomodations.

We're packing as light as possible for trip 3. It's not the trip going over that is cumbersome...it'll be the trip back! We'll have all our luggage, Daniel (of course) and the stroller. Remember from previous postings that most cars in Russia are small. Packing all of us and our stuff into Vladimir's car will be quite a feat.

Gotcha day is anticipated to be Tuesday. Yes, yes, there will be pictures posted... ;>

We'll be taking my laptop plus webcam so we can communicate to family via skype.

Accommodations this time around will be an apartment next to the American embassy. Full kitchen, bath, free Internet (yeah) and calls to the US.

So, that's it for now. We'll probably update everyone once we get to Moscow and get settled in to the apartment.

Home from Trip 2

2009-04-11T11:41:00.001-07:00

We arrived back home early this morning at about 2:00am. This was after sitting in Atlanta for 7 1/2 hours due to the weather rolling through the southeast yesterday. So, to catch everyone up...

Thursday we spent the day going to the orphanage and spending time with Daniel. We took gifts and a cake for the staff. Daniel was in excellent spirits and played with us up until it was time for his nap at 2:00pm. We even got a tour of Daniel's group area where he and the others in his age range sleep and spend a lot of their time. Any preconceived notions of what a Russian orphanage looks like should be tossed out. The area was clean, tidy and functional. Baby beds arranged neatly in one half of the room while the play area was on the other half.

We had lunch with Katia and Vladimir, our translator and driver, and we headed back to the CSS office for a final meeting with them to go over paperwork for the third trip.

Thursday evening was consumed with packing, calling back to the States and catching up family and dinner.

The flight Friday was obviously a lot of fun. The flight from Moscow to Atlanta was uninteresting, but it gave us an opportunity to observe other families just returning with their newly adopted child from Russia. It gave us a chance to plan out how we're going to occupy a 1 year old on an 11 hour flight.

I spent this morning preparing our paperwork for the third trip's visa. I had to scramble around because the Russian Embassey has changed their processing time for visa applications. They no longer offer same day and next day processing of visas. Hopefully our visas will be back before we depart on the 19th...of course if we don't have the visas, I guess we're not departing now are we????? ;>

So, without further ado...here's our first photo we're publishing of Daniel:

We're Parents Again!

2009-04-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

Today it became offical - WE'RE PARENTS AGAIN!

Daniel Allen Artyom Holt is now our child, per the ruling of the judge this afternoon in the Moscow Regional Courts.

Court went well. We were delayed about 15 minutes because the case before ours went over. Our case took an 1 hour, 15 minutes. Questions to us were minimal (2 or 3) because I covered all 'typical' topics in my opening statement. The judge was complete and to the point, but polite and friendly as well.

After court we had to run to the adoption agency's office and then to the Notary Public for some document signings.

We've now made it back to the hotel and WE'RE CRASHING HARD!!! We ordered room service and are crawling in bed for a nap.

Trip 2 (part 2)

2009-04-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

As a follow on to our previous post, a few other things:

Most of the snow here in Moscow has melted now. Outside of the city in the more rural areas, they still have snow on the ground. Temps are in the 40s with the sun trying to pop through.

We presented our donations yesterday. Mostly children's clothing we had purchased in the States or clothing that had been donated from other sources. We included in our donation some diaper rash cream we had gotten on sale somewhere. They were particuallarly happy to receive that. According to Katia, here in Russia there are many products on the market that are nothing more than cheap knock-off products made in China that simply do not work. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes between a 'quality product' and one that is a knock-off, plus paying a higher price for the product doesn't guarantee you anything either.

So, for anyone wanting to know what to bring to orphanages as a donation...BUTT CREAM is a hit! Also, OralGel for the children while they are teething is a welcome donation.

Arrived for trip 2

2009-04-07T16:11:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Moscow Tuesday morning at about 10:30 am local time. The long flight from ATL was made even longer by a few rude Russians who would never shutup. They 'roamed' from region to region of the forward bulkhead area chatting/laughing. They never came near our area but they could be heard throughout.

Smooth sailing getting through passport and luggage. Katia was waiting for us outside of luggage and off we went directly to the orphanage.

Daniel has grown in the past 3 months. He now has 4 teeth that have come in (all uppers), his hair is a little longer and curlier and his skin rash/food alergies are gone. We all believe he remembers us because when they brought him in he stared at us intensely for about a minute. It took him an hour to 'warm up' but when he did he was laughing and playing. He can stand on his own for several minutes (>4) and can take several unassisted steps by him self.

Following seeing Daniel, we left the orphanage for the CSS office in downtown Moscow. Gotta love Moscow traffic!!! Ugggh! Spent a few short minutes checking in with the CSS staff, getting a few pointers on court, then they let us go to go get checked into the hotel.

We're staying at one of the Holiday Inn's in Moscow. Practically identical to HI's in the US. Comfortable room and bed, wireless internet is anonyingly slow during peak hours but at 3:00am in the morning it is nice and speedy. If you stay here try the Beef Stroganoff!!! Awesome!!! And be sure to tell the cook how you want your meat cooked, Mary's burger was still breathing...

Wednesday we're outta here at 9:30 for our 11:30 court appearance. I showed my prepared statements to Katia and she could find nothing wrong with them.

Until then, I think I'll attempt to sleep some more...

Trip 2 is upon us

2009-04-05T09:30:00.001-07:00

We depart for trip 2 back to Moscow tomorrow at 11:30 AM. Quick flight to ATL, sit for a few hours then we settle in for our 11 hour flight to Moscow.

Upon arriving in Moscow Tuesday morning, we'll go directly to the orphanage where we'll see Daniel for the first time since January. Not sure how long we'll get to spend with him since we'll be dead tired I'm sure.

Wednesday we have our 11:30am appearance in court. If all goes well and Greg's prepared statement is sufficient, the entire proceeding may take no more than 15 minutes from start to finish. If the judge isn't quite happy with the prepared statement and wants to 'dig deeper', they will start asking questions. Longest court appearance we've heard of was 2 hours. By this point, the court appearance is no more than a formality. We've passed all other hurdles and we've never heard of anyone being denied the adoption at this stage.

Thursday we'll head back to the orphanage to visit with Daniel one more time before we leave on Friday.

We'll update everyone Tuesday evening once we get into the hotel.

Adjustment to court date

2009-04-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

We got word this morning that our court date has been moved up a day. Now, we'll be going before the judge on April 8th. That adjusts our "Gotcha Date" to the 21st. Now, if we're lucky (and we do mean LUCKY!) we might could finish all the final paperwork and be out of Russia by the 25th. If we're not lucky, then it means we'll be staying in country until about the 28th. Stay tuned for futher details...

Happy Birthday Daniel!

2009-03-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Today is Daniel's first birthday. While we're sad that we're not there with him to celebrate it, we're excited to know that in 8 short day's we'll see him again for the first time since January.

Quick Update

2009-03-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

T minus 10 days till we see Daniel again (4/7/2009)
T minus 12 days till court (4/9/2009)
T minus 25 days till "Gotcha day" (4/22/2009)
T minus 32 days till we bring him home for good (4/29/2009)

Preparations continue for our court trip. I'm putting the finishing touches on my presentation for the judge, plus we've compile a photo album of the types of photos that judges like seeing (family, home, pictures of us with Daniel, etc). We should have our Visas back by Tuesday (3/31/2009). Katie will be on Spring Break the week we're gone for the court trip so that helps.

T- 32 days to gotcha day

2009-03-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Based upon input from CSS, looks like our gotcha day will be April 22nd.

We've got trip 2 planned out now and we're putting together details for trip 3. Looks like we won't be back in the US until about April 29th. Since our gotcha date is on a Tuesday and now there's an extra day of paperwork following the adoption decree being issued, that puts us going over a weekend and of course none of the government offices are open on the weekend. So it pushes us out until the 29th for coming home.

We have our court date!

2009-03-16T08:04:00.001-07:00

April 9th!!!

I've already got our air reservations done. We're departing April 6th, arriving on the 7th, visit Daniel on the 7th and 8th, court on the 9th, depart Russia on the 10th.

That puts our 'gotcha day' on or about April 22th!!!

More details to follow

Another update...

2009-03-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well, we continue to wait for word from Russia on a court date. However we have had some contact with the Motherland...

The Thompson family are in Russia for their court appearance, which went well by the way. Stacye and Andy were at the orphanage to see their little girl they are adopting, Alina, and were able to visit with Daniel for about 10 minutes. They report that he's in great shape, growing up and now has two teeth coming in. They were able to send us some pictures of him. He was in his typical good spirits, smiling and laughing. They reported to us that they gave the staff another disposable camera to take pictures of Daniel with, that we'll get when we officially adopt him and pick him up. Plus they are writing in Daniel's journal, chronically Daniel's life while we're away from him.

BTW, regarding photos...some have asked why we haven't posted any pictures of Daniel on the blog. Well, technically he's not ours, he's a ward of the Russian government. Until he's 'ours' we can't publically post any pictures of him. If we posted pictures and somehow the Russian government found out...well, they could make life difficult on us...

We're continuing to purchase items to donate to the orphanage. This time of year is a great time to find bargains on winter items.

So, for now we wait.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie

Daniel's room

2009-03-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Daniel's room is close to being complete. Here's some pictures of it:

Final documents to be apostilled before court trip...

2009-02-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

Good evening all,

So our final set of documents to be apostilled prior to the court date have been processed in Nashville by the Tennessee Secretary of State. They are on their way now to North Carolina where CSS staff will get them to Moscow either this weekend or sometimes next week.

We heard from Carol with CSS earlier this week. All indications continue to point to us getting a late March court date, perhaps even one that would allow us to be in Russia with Daniel on his birthday, March 30.

Perhaps we'll hear something definite on a court date early next week.

Regards,
g, m and k

Update

2009-02-19T17:02:00.000-08:00

We're starting to pack for trip 2 which is the Court Appearence trip. Based upon feedback we're getting from the Thompson family, we now estimate that our court date could be in middle March. Another interesting thing we found out is that the 10 day waiting for the Moscow region does count Saturdays. So...doing a little math here...if we have our court date somewhere the middle of March, the 10 day wait following the court date means we COULD either have him home by his birthday or at least we would be with him in Russia on his birthday.

We've been gathering gifts and donations to give to the orphanage. At this point we've got a bunch of stuff like clothes, gloves, diaper cream, lotions, hats plus crayons.

Our "Request to Adopt" petition has been filed

2009-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

We reached another milestone today!! We got confirmation that our court petition to adopt Daniel has been filed with the Moscow region court.

For most families this milestone would have been reached sometime during their first trip to Russia. However for us it was a little different. When Daniel's mother abandoned him at the hospital, she didn't sign any forms formally terminating her rights. This placed Daniel in a little bit of a limbo state. He was legally available for adoption, but only after it was formally recognized that his mother had terminated her rights.

Since Daniel's mother and no one from her family had called or visited him, they had effectively terminated their rights. Therefore it fell to the city government of where Daniel's mother claimed to have resided to 'legally' terminate her rights. Like many things in Russian government, it takes time and a little prodding to get things done. If no one prods, nothing gets done. The longer things don't get done, the more chances there are things will go wrong... But, thanks to Svetlana and her staff, we've got the paperwork squared away. This was the last hurdle to getting our petition filed in the court.

As you can imagine, this takes a huge amount of stress off of us. We're glad to have this hurdle behind us.

Next step, waiting for a court date!

gah

Nuggets of advice - Trip 1

2009-02-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

So now that we’ve had a few days to reflect on trip 1, I decided it was time to compile my list of recommendations, tip, tricks and other assorted pieces of info. Please keep in mind many of these nuggets of advice are general in nature; some may be more specific if you’re traveling to the Moscow region.

1. Don’t’ over pack! Don’t’ over pack! Don’t’ over pack! – It’ easy to over pack for a trip like this. You’re thinking “OMG, Russia…Cold weather, need lots of coats and boots! I won’t be able to find anything I’ll need. I need to pack for every possible contingency”. Wrong… Moscow has everything you’ll need. Other regions like Tula and Kaluga might be more limited in offerings. While the price may be higher, you can find most items. Packing light has several benefits:

· Many cars in Russia are much smaller than those we have here in the states. Thus you’ll have more difficulty getting to/from the airport if you’ve got tons of luggage. We had 4 pieces of luggage, plus 4 carry-on bags, plus a stroller (still in box). We had to resort to some ‘creative’ packing techniques in the car to get all this to the flat once we arrived in Moscow.

· When you go to check in to fly back to the States, security will inspect each piece of checked baggage individually. They open it and rummage through it. The fewer pieces of luggage, the quicker the process.

· Don’t forget that airlines have luggage weight limits.

2. Consider renting a flat instead of a hotel – If you’re the adventurous type or if money is somewhat tight, a flat may be the right choice for you. There are several companies that rent flats (apartments) to travelers. The flats have a kitchen (cooking in, a great way to keep costs low), many have a clothes washer (another great way to cut back on packing so much, wash your dirty clothes and wear them again). You can also find apartments that offer other incentives: Free high speed internet, free or reduced rate calls to the United States and even maid service. Be sure to do your research and pick an apartment that will be safe and convenient not only for you but also for CSS staff.

We stayed at the Duma flat offered by Peace Travel. It had a kitchen with a stove and microwave, dish washer, clothes washer, clothes dryer stand, frig, free high speed internet and free calls to the US. Since we were sharing the flat with another couple, we went with the Duma flat because it has 3 bedrooms. It is located literally just a short 5 minute walk to the Red Square. McDonalds is just across the street if you get a burger craving.

Pros to a flat – Can cost much less than a hotel; you can cook in and save money; wash your own clothes; call home; update blogs and email in private for free; More choices and locations;

Cons to a flat – You’re not in a hotel surrounded by other people, you can’t just wander down to the lobby for social interaction with others; no room service (you want it, you cook it…); Be aware that not all buildings have an elevator, if the flat is on a upper floor and there is no elevator, you’ll be remembering my first tip about packing light…

3. Peace Travel, Inc – We used Peace Travel for several things for trip 1. We used them for renting a flat, renting a cell phone and assistance with documents for getting our Visas for travel to Russia. Plus they will register you in country when you arrive. They offer other services as well. Dimitry and his staff are prompt and courteous. Check them out - http://www.go-russia.com

4. Rent a cell phone – Even if you have a ‘global phone’ from Verizon or any of the other US carriers, the chances of it working as soon as you land in Russia are slim. Chances are you would need a different SIM card. Even if it did work, International roaming charges are outrageous. Peace Travel offers cell rentals for $5 a day and I believe 20 cents a minute for calls within Russia (check with them for specific rates). Calls to the United States via the cell phones are also relatively cheap (I believe 50 cents a minute).

We found it comforting to have a cell phone in our pocket so we could call our CSS translator/guide at any time if we got out exploring and found ourselves lost or ‘in a pickle’. For the 8 days we were there, even though it cost us $44 (8 days and a few calls), that was money well spent because it gave us peace of mind.

5. Fly in a day earlier than you have to – There can be some advantages to flying in and arriving on Saturday:

· It can be cheaper on airfare. Play with different departure dates when making air reservations.

· If you’re trying to use frequent flyer miles, trying different dates for your departure can sometimes mean a huge savings in your miles.

· Departing on a Friday from the United States can mean a less full aircraft going over. This might give you the opportunity to grab a row of seats to yourself and stretch out.

· You can have the remainder of Saturday to rest and have Sunday for sightseeing. Plus you won’t be dead tired on Monday when you go to the Ministry of Education.

6. Store some stuff in Moscow – The CSS office in Moscow has a closet where families typically store items between trips. Chances are there will be some things that you’ll need in Russia that you don’t typically need back home. You can consider leaving them there for you to retrieve and use on your other trips. We left a piece of luggage full of boots, clothes, toys and some snacks. Plus we took a stroller over on trip 1 to use on trips 2 and 3.

7. Perhaps the best advice I can give is the following – Put your trust in the CSS staff. They always have your best interest in mind. We found the entire staff to be courteous, professional and friendly.

I'm sure I'll come up with other nuggets in the coming days and weeks. Plus, I'm sure there will be a whole new list once we get through trips 2 and 3.

gah

Trip 1 comes to a close

2009-02-01T08:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning we got up early and got ready to leave the flat. It snowed a few inches the night before but you wouldn't have known it. By 6:00am there were people out pushing snow off the parking lots. The temps were down into the single digits (F) with the wind chill pushing it I'm sure below 0. Somehow the windchill is much more pronounced there. I've felt below 0 windchills here in the states; it was much more harsh there.

We left the flat and went to the Sheremetyevo airport north of Moscow City. Check in for international flights out of Moscow is horrible. Passport check, baggage check where you actually let them go through ALL baggage, check in, security check and then yet another security check when you get to the gate. We ate lunch with the Thompsons and got to the gate about 20 minutes before they boarded the flight.

The flight from Moscow was about 11 hours to Atlanta. The inflight entertainment system failed for about 1/3 of the seats about 20 minutes into the flight and our seats were affected. No audio, control over your reading light or flight attendant call button.

After having passed through passport control, baggage claim and customs in Atlanta, we boarded our flight for Tri-Cites. Mary's family met us at the airport and we got home at about 8:30 pm, having been up for about 25 hours. Katie was happy to see us and we spent some time with her. After I got her down last night, I got my shower. Mary and I crawled into bed at 11:00 and I truely don't remember anything after turning off the light. I believe I was asleep within 10 seconds.

In the coming days I'm going to reflect on trip 1 and post some pointers for families who will one day take this trip. I know that if we had to do trip 1 over again, there are several things that we would do differently. I'll collect my thoughts and post them when I can.

For now, we wait. We're here in the States and Daniel is about 5,173.66 miles away (you've got to love Google Earth, I zoomed in to his orphanage will no problems). All that stands between us and him now are some legal matters that have to be dealt with in Russia, our appearance before a judge in a Moscow court room and then the mandatory 10 day waiting period after the judge hands down the ruling. Daniel's birthday is 3/30; he'll turn 1 year old. We're hoping and praying that we'll have him home in time to celebrate his first birthday, here in the States.

gah

2009-02-01T07:23:00.000-08:00

Update for Friday

2009-02-01T05:59:00.000-08:00

Last full day in Moscow...because of our schedule today we were not able to get to the orphanage today.

The day started with Katia picking us up at 11:00. We drove straight to the medical complex north of Moscow. Here at this complex is where all families that are adopting internationally go through their "medical review". There were 4 families there this day, all from the United States. We were the second family to go through.

Stop #1 - The dermatologist / Oncologist (Yep, one doctor, two specialties). He just sat there in his chair behind his office desk and wrote a statement while asking very simple questions. "Have you ever had any major skin diseases?" "Have you ever had any cancer?"... We could have been two Martians with scaly purple skin and bad breath...he wouldn't have noticed. He never looked up...

Stop #2 - (queue Law and Order "Dun-Dun" sound effect) "The Commission of Doctors" - Into the room Mary and I went. Sitting behind a desk were 5 doctors. Each had their own area of specialty, some had multiple. Again with the simple questions but certainly nothing that would have made Dr. Gregory House even remotely impressed (that would have been funny...Dr. House in the room with these ladies...)

Let me take this opportunity to tell you about 'Scary Soviet Doctor Lady"... I would say she's in her 60s, black and white hair, thick black glasses and a Soviet style look in her eye that would freeze water... She steps before me (Greg) and asks me to close my eyes. I did. Something I was happy to do to get her image out of my head... She immediately repeated the question... Ahhh, I do have my eyes closed... She immediately started rambling something in Russia which our translator (who was behind the screen) translated to English. She said something about my right eye wouldn't close and that I OBVIOUSLY needed to be examined by a Neurologist because my right eye wouldn't close (no jokes from those of you in the peanut section). Apparently my right eye was twitching, no doubt because I had "Soviet Sally" here in front of me making me tremble...

We had to take our shirts off and they took our BP, listened to our hearts and our breathing. Finally, "Soviet Sally" took out her hammer to test our reflexes. I have no doubt that Sally here once was on the Soviet Union's Mens Olympic Team for any and all sports (I bet she has a few gold medals). Anyway she proceeds to test my reflexes. God she was good with that hammer. Next, Mary... If there were a football in front of Mary's legs she could have easily cleared a 50 yard field goal with a few yards to spare.

We were done with the 'review'. This whole 'review' thing really is nothing more than a formality. A nice little "cottage industry" if you will. We were charged 38,000 rubles (about $1100 at Friday's exchange rate) for their 8 stamps and signatures, plus, what, 10 minutes of their time (over 2 hours of our time). I guess it is expensive paying for all those gym memberships and protein shakes for Soviet Sally.

(Note to future families: We've heard that St. Petersburg's medical review are very different. Actual blood tests, actual examinations, the whole thing...)

Following the medical stuff, we left to go a local photo store to have Daniel's picture printed so we'd have them for his American passport/visa (trip 3 stuff).

Traffic in downtown Moscow is crazy on Fridays. Everyone is getting off from work early so they can get out of town and go to their 'summer homes' out of the city. Plus, Raul Castro (Fidel's brother whose now in charge of Cuba) was in town visiting the Kremlin, so traffic all around the Red Square was congested.

We decided to run through a down-town store looking for children's books and CDs for Katie and Daniel. Then, that was it. We were done for the day. Vladimir and Katia took us back to the flat and we headed in to complete packing. It was snowing good at this point and the temps were falling quickly.

Update for Thursday

2009-02-01T05:40:00.000-08:00

Thursday started out going to one of the MANY local notary offices to have the court petitions notarized. Following this off we went back to the orphanage to spend more time with Daniel.

He's continuing to bond with us. He comes to us with no problems and enjoys play with both Greg and Mary. We had to wait until he woke from his nap. The caregivers didn't want to wake him up too early because it disrupts their schedule. Disruption of the children's schedule is not desired by the caregivers. I guess I can appreciate that; imagine having I don't know...15-30 kids in one room and one gets upset causing a chain reaction of crying. You get the picture...

We got to spend more time than usual with him today, but, at the end of our visit we had to say good-bye for the last time. We knew there wouldn't be enough time for a visit on Friday due to the medical review.

Saying good-bye was very, very difficult. We knew that in a few days we'd have to fly home, several thousand miles away and leave him here. We took as long as we could saying good-bye.

Knowing that we were leaving on Saturday, we went back to the flat and packed, eating the stuff we had bought at the store.

Update for Wednesday

2009-01-28T14:02:00.001-08:00

Good evening all,

We started the day off by heading to the orphanage and spending almost 2 hours with Daniel. When we got there he was still asleep taking a nap. The caregivers didn't want to wake him because that would throw his schedule off. So we waited until he woke on his own. They brought him into the playroom where Mary and I fed him his lunch. He's a very good eater who prefers to eat fast! After a quick bottle of juice, it was down onto the floor for playtime. He loves it when someone holds him by the armpits and supports him while he walks. He's incredibly curious and loves going from area to area exploring.

The bonding is occurring. He's spending more and more time with us when we hold him. He's giving great eye contact and was even 'baby talking' at the end of the time today. He even snuggled with Mary when he started getting tired.

Tomorrow will be our last day with him until we return on the second trip. That will be hard on us. It's tough forming a bond with a child only to realize that you have to fly home and he stays there. But knowing that we'll be back to see him on trip 2, and then to take him home on trip 3 makes it a little more bearable.

Tomorrow we go back to the orphanage plus we have notarized the court petition that kicks off the adoption process in the Russian court system. At this time we anticipate having our court date somewhere in the first weeks of March. Following the court date, we wait the required 10 days then we can take him home. If we're lucky, he'll spend his first birthday (March 30th) as an American citizen. How cool would that be.....

Friday we have our 'medical review' with the commission of 8 doctors. Primarily a formality. Because of where it is, the time required to go through it and our scheduled time it makes going to the orphanage Friday out of the question.

Saturday we check out of the flat and head to the airport at 9:00am for our 1:00pm flight.

g and m

Quick photo or two...

2009-01-27T22:37:00.000-08:00

The update everyone is waiting on...

2009-01-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

First, my apologies for not writing yesterday. We got several emails wondering how things were going, etc... Sorry, but yesterday (Monday) was a long and tiring day.

Monday started out with us going to the CSS office here in Moscow for a short conference with Svetlana, head of the office here in Moscow. Next we piled into the car and went to the Ministry of Education (MOE). MOE is responsible for operating and managing the orphanages in Moscow. All orphanages are state run, none are private. Here we sat for 2 hours waiting to be called to receive our referral. Finally we got our call... Off we went into the office and before us on the table was the picture of a little 10 month old boy in a orphanage about 1 1/2 hours outside of Moscow. Initial reports were that he was very healthy and well adjusted.

Back into the car we went to the orphanage. Upon arrival we were taken to the Director's office. The orphanage is a 2 story white building situated next to what I believe are apartment complexs. She proceeded to read the child's medical record to us. Forgive us for not giving exact details, but we can't because he's not our child yet so we're obligated to not sharing exact details... Anyway, after going through the medical records they brought him in. He's cute as a button.

Our daughter Katie several weeks ago told us that Daniel would be 1 year old and have dark hair. We had a 'running joke' within the family that wouldn't it be funny if Katie was right. We were expecting an older child...Katie was spot on!! He has dark hair and big brown eyes and will be probably celebrate his first birthday a few weeks after we get him home!!! Score one point for Katie.

Anyway...we were only able to spend about 30 minutes with him on Monday. He started rubbing his eyes, turns out it was his nap time. We let him go and we left for the day.

(As a side note: We went to Hyper Globus afterwards for dinner and to grocery shop. Imagine two Super Walmarts laid end to end; Put a parking garage underneath; Put 60 check out lines in it THAT ARE ALL STAFFED; PLUS add a independant taxi service that will pick you up just to go shopping there then take you home. It was quite an experience, plus the prices were much cheaper than in Moscow.)

Tuesday (today) we left Moscow and drove back up to the orphanage. They brought Daniel out immediately and we spent the better part of 3 1/2 hours with him. He's social, makes great eye contact with everyone, smiles, crawls like a bullet, is pulling up to a stand on his own when aided by a stationary object (table or chair). He's sipping from a cup on his own and is a very hearty eater. He is making noises and sounds like he's ready to start talking. He immitates faces that people makes to him and laughs when he's amused by what face you're making. He's also the favorite of all the caretakers in his group of kids (about 30), which is great because that means that he's been held and interacted with during his time in the orphanage.

We hired an international adoption doctor to review his medical records and perform a medical/developmental evaluation. He showed up and we watched while he performed his examinations. Without going into details, he's in great shape. The doctor commented that Daniel could easily pass as a 'home baby' and not a baby that has spent his short life in an orphanage. Developmentally he's on track for his age. The doctor is having his medical records translated to English and will send them to us soon. As soon as we get them, we're forwarding them to a close friend of the family who is also a Doctor for further evaluation.

So that's where we are at this point. Tomorrow we go back to the orphage and spend more time with him. Then we head back to the CSS office to start the legal paperwork. Thursday will be spent going to the orphanage again and going to have documents notarized. Friday will be the day Mary and I go before the "medical commission" for our medical eval. 2 hours, 8 doctors and a load of fun!!! Sounds like a hoot!

First full day in Moscow

2009-01-25T22:45:00.001-08:00

Hello all,

Today is Monday the 26th. Today we go to the Ministry of Education and receive our referral. Then, off we go to the orphanage. To say we have butterflys in our stomachs is an understatement.

Yesterday Katia took us around Moscow for some sightseeing. Red Square was first on the list. Followed by some churches, Moscow State University, some parks and many sights as we drove about town. We stopped at a small gifts shop that CSS always brings their families to for shopping. Katia assured us that the prices were very reasonable and that the items in the shop were authentic. We purchased several items not only for gifts for loved ones back home but items to keep for Daniel so he can remain connected to his Russian heritage.

Stacye and Andy arrived yesterday afternoon. They were zapped of energy and crashed early last night. Mary and I stayed up packing some of the gifts and rearranging stuff in the luggage. We crashed at about 9:00 but were both up through the night. It's tough sleeping here. Because of the low level clouds and fog and the lights of the city, it never really gets dark. More like the light level you would find at say 6:00am in the morning.

We're heading out. We'll send updates this evening. It will be a long day for us. We may not get back to the apartment until after 7:00 this evening.

gah

We've arrived!

2009-01-24T05:25:00.000-08:00

Afternoon all,

Mary and I got to Moscow this morning at about 11:00am local time. The flight was great. The plane was I would say only 40% full. Smooth air all the way through. 10.5 hours passes fast. This was my 5th transatlantic flight and probably the best. Passport control was a breeze, so was getting our luggage. The final hurdle was passing through customs control. I guess since we had so much stuff (4 bags, 4 carry ons and 1 stroller) we some how stood out ;> He made us put all bags on the XRay machine while he stood there flirting with the lady with him. Once once did he glance at the Xray image.

Weather: Cold, snow on ground but none falling. Wind chill will rip through you. Weather is supposed to warm up some while we're here. Up to the mid 30s/40s.

After that we located Katia. We loaded up the luggage and off we went. Traffic in Moscow is very similar to traffic in New York. Stop and go, accidents, takes 45 minutes to an hour to travel a distance that would take people in most cities 10 minutes.at most. Got checked into our apartment. The apartment is just 1/4 mile from the Kremlin. Very secure area.

BTW: For anyone going to Moscow, adoption related or otherwise, be sure to check out Peace Travel, Inc. So far they have been great to work with. We've rented the apartment through them plus I've got the cell phone from them. Probably didn't need the cell but since my BlackBerry isn't getting service over here, we wanted to be safe rather than sorry potentially.

Resting for rest of day. Going to do exploring and touristy stuff Sunday.

g

T-minus 15 hours to trip 1

2009-01-22T20:28:00.000-08:00

15 hours till we depart for Moscow. Packing is almost complete. Katie is spending the night with the grandparents. We're running around the house doing last minute stuff.

Since we live so close to Asheville, we agreed to meet with Carol today from CSS so she could pass off some papers for us to transport to their staff in Moscow. We're also taking some clothes that were donated for the orphanges.

We'll be arriving in Moscow on Saturday and will be in the apartment by 2:00pm. We're renting a cell phone while in Moscow so we can call back home and people can reach us. Peace Travel offers cell phones for $5 a day and .50 a minute to the US. WOW. My BlackBerry through Verizon was going to be $5 a MINUTE!!! Forget that! Plus we get free calls from the apartment. Having the rented cell is extra piece of mind while wandering around a city and country you've never been in.

Sunday will be a down day for us. Probably will spend it walking around, finding a grocery store and resting. The Thompson family arrive Sunday. We're sharing the Duma apartment with them. It's great...we're renting a 3 bedroom furnished apartment and splitting the cost. That brings the per family cost to well below that of a hotel room. Stacye and Andy will be a hoot.

OK...getting tired...thoughts aren't entirely coherent (yeah, nothing new there)....

gah

Another step closer

2009-01-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

We got our Visas back via UPS today. The Russian Embassy took 4 days to turn them around.

2 weeks to first trip

2009-01-10T17:36:00.001-08:00

So, things are starting to get exciting. Here's the latest:

* We're departing Friday the 23rd in the afternoon. After a quick layover in Atlanta we're boarding flight 46 which will take us directly to Moscow. We'll arrive there Saturday morning (their time).

* We're sharing a 3 bedroom apartment with a couple from Birmingham Alabama who is also going on their first trip to Russia. This is awesome because going this route is so much cheaper than us getting a hotel room. They are arriving on Sunday afternoon.

* Together we and the other couple will be going to the Ministry of Education Monday morning to receive our referrals. Chance are incredibly thin that their referral and ours will be in the same orphanage. They will go to their orphanage...we'll go to ours.

* Once we get to the orphanage, WE MEET HIM. We'll spend the first day getting to know him and deciding "is this the one?".

* Tuesday the little guy gets a complete medical review by a international adoption doctor that we have scheduled. He'll do a medical exam, review his records, talk to the staff and other things. Once he has all the details, he'll give us his medical recommendations.

* Either on Tuesday or Wednesday we'll decide if we're moving forward with the referal they gave us. If we don't accept this referral, the orphanage will get us another child for consideration.

* Once we accept the referral, we start the paperwork in Moscow.

* We continue to see the little guy each day until we leave on Saturday.

* Mary and I also have to have a medical exam on that Friday.

* We return home Saturday the 31st.

So, normally it is about a 6 week turnaround for your court date. So...about mid march we should go back for trip #2.

So that's where we're at. We're packing luggage and weighing it to ensure we don't take too much (airline limitations). We'll be taking the laptop so we'll be able to keep everyone up to date.

We'll update everyone before we depart.

Finally some good news for the holidays

2008-12-23T11:20:00.001-08:00

Afternoon all,

First, let me catch everyone up on the events of the past few weeks. We've suffered two losses in Greg's family (I'll spare everyone all the medical details).

First, on November 25th, his mom of 80 years of age, fell and broke her left leg in two different places. This put her in the same hospital as Greg's sister Annette who was battling cancer. Annette died the next morning. She was 58 and was laid to rest on November 29th.

The break on Greg's mom's leg didn't heal due to poor circulation and diabetes. On December 12th the decision was made to amputate her leg on the 17th. She passed away peacefully December 14th and was laid to rest on the 17th.

So, a little good news will go a long way!!!

And...we have it!

We have just received travel dates for our first trip to Moscow. We're departing January 23rd and returning January 31st.

Greg, Mary and Katie

Remember my Roller Coaster analogy?

2008-11-24T09:58:00.000-08:00

Roller coasters are so much fun! All the twists and turns and those loops are killer! Throughout the ride people experience a wide range of emotions. Fear one moment can turn into moments of shear enjoyment the next. Everyone comes off of roller coasters with a wide smile on their face.

Well, our roller coaster ride continues...

So, we are indeed registered with Moscow. That's a huge step forward.

But...now they've once again closed their doors until January 2009.

This isn't so bad. We weren't really looking forward to trying to fit so much into December. Between the holidays, FRIENDS Christmas party, my niece graduating from college and other things going on in the family, it was almost going to be more than we could fit into the month.

At least now we can enjoy the holidays, rest up and be prepared for travel sometime in January.

That is, unless this roller coaster has more loops it wants to throw at us.

G, M and K.

We are registered!

2008-11-14T11:53:00.000-08:00

So for everyone keeping up with what all is going on, you'll appreciate the irony of all this...

Just when we thought that nothing else would happen this year, and that it would be 2009 before anything would break loose...everything changes!

! We are now registered with the Ministry of Education
in the Moscow region of Russia !

We're being told that the Moscow region realized that they had room for two more families to be registered in their region by end of 2008. So as of Friday, 11/14/2008, we're registered there!

So, what does this mean? Our dossier is now in the hands of the Russian officials there in Moscow. Typically, once you are registered, you're looking at 3-6 weeks before you receive word that you are to travel to the region to meet the child they have matched you to.

We've been told, based upon recent turn around times, that could translate to us traveling to Moscow, for our first trip, either the week of December 7th or December 14th.

Of course the bummer would then be that because of the holidays we probably wouldn't get a court date until middle January at the earliest. Russian Christmas holidays are spread from late December to early January. Most of the country pretty much shuts down until 2nd week of January.

So, the roller coaster ride continues... At least now it's moving in the right direction...

G, M and K

Russia has called a timeout!

2008-11-07T05:16:00.000-08:00

For those of you keeping up at home, you'll remember that several weeks ago we heard that Russia was in the midst of an 'internal audit' regarding adoptions. Turns out part of the outcome from that audit is the realization that they have adopted out too many children through international adoptions for 2008. So, they have 'closed their doors' to any additional adoptions for this year.

This includes any families:

Making their first trip to meet with potential children
Making their second trip to court

So, we'll cool our heels for a while.

bummer...

G, M and K

Update

2008-10-18T14:23:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been a few weeks since we updated the blog. Now that we have the FRIENDS Buddy Walk behind us, we can focus more on other things in life.

(For those of you that are interested, we raised over $24,000 at this year's BW. We estimate we had somewhere over 700 participants this year)

So, where are we on the adoption?

The day before the BW (10/3/2008) we got word about the potential for a referral from Saint Petersburg, Russia. There is a little boy who just turned two that meets our criteria. Carol with CSS asked us if we would like to pursue this potential referral. Of course the answer was an immediate "YES"...but...we knew there would be some hurdles to overcome.

So, what are the hurdles? Well, each region in Russia has the right to have a different set of paperwork requirements for parents adopting from Russia. Saint Petersburg (SP) has some 'unique' requirements. Some of them are:

1. Even though Mary and I have been through very thorough background checks by both the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI...they also want the local sheriff's office to do a background check.

2. In addition to the photos we submitted with our original dossier, SP wants a notarized letter from our social worker stating that she had been to our home and that the photos presented with our dossier are indeed photos of our home. What's the reasoning behind that? Apparently the judge in SP has openly asked during previous adoptions "well, how do I know these photos are of this family's home? Maybe they broke into someone's home and took these pictures." (Writers at SNL couldn't make this stuff up...TOO FUNNY!)

But wait...there's more. This is the part that really 'fumes us'! Before we were allowed to proceed too far with this potential referral, we had to get special permission from the judge in SP. Previous families that have adopted from SP that have children with special needs have encountered resistance from the judge. We got word this week that the judge would have no issue with us as a family proceeding with an adoption in SP.

So...we sit and wait. We keep hoping each day that we'll get a call from Carol one morning and she'll have information for us. We've heard many good things about the orphanages in SP. Many people have told us that all children that come from SP are of exceptional health. Another advantage of getting a referral from SP is that we'll get some medical information regarding the child. I've already prepared Dr. Tasker on this...he's ready to pour over any and all information they give us to help us make an informed decision.

So...that's the update. More as it happens.

Greg, Mary and Katie

The rollercoaster ride continues

2008-09-29T18:07:00.001-07:00

Ok, so it appears that we're back to the waiting game. The referral that was being filed in Tula wasn't for us. ;<

Tula currently doesn't have any children that meets our profile for a child. Apparently there are some that will eventually, but that will be 3 months from now. The children have to be 'in the system' for so many months before they can be adopted out.

We're also being told that Kaluga (pronounced Ka-lu-ga) has no referrals for us either.

So, we're back to Moscow.

The big Russian Federal Audit we've been hearing about is actually happening this week, so CSS staff in Moscow are focusing on that. That's on Thursday of this week (10/2/2008), so it will be early next week before they get back to working on finding referrals for waiting families.

What a ride!!!! ;>

G, M and K

This could be the week for a referral!!!

2008-09-28T18:43:00.001-07:00

Things have been quiet for a while. I spoke with Carol of CSS week before last and she indicated that things may start moving this week. Here's what we know:

1. Carol with CSS has been checking the Tula region for us for a referral. She knows that a family recently tried finding a child similar to one we're desiring from Moscow and they had no luck.

2. Carol informed me that Svetlana of their Moscow office was going to Tula on business and that she would check with their orphanages for a child that matches our desired profile.

3. We have been in touch with a family who was in Tula last week with Svetlana. They know that Svetlana registered a dossier in that region for a family who was 'near the top of the list'. THAT COULD BE US!!!!

So, we may be putting too many stories/clues together and arriving at an incorrect assumption...but...this could be the week!

We will update everyone as we get information.

Greg, Mary and Katie.

The calm before the storm...

2008-09-14T07:21:00.001-07:00

We've gone about a week and a half and no news. We know that the CSS staff in Moscow were both enjoying a few days of vacation and were also preparing for a mandatory audit. Once both of these activities are done, things should swing into 'ulta-high gear'!

There are a number of scenarios of how trip #1 could play out:

1. Our dossier gets registered with the Ministry of Education (MOE), we wait a few weeks more and then we get our phone call indicating they have a referral for us.

2. Our dossier gets registered with the Ministry of Education and we almost immediately get a phone call indicating they have a referral for us.

3. We could even possibly get a phone call with information regarding a referral before our dossier is registered with the MOE. This scenario involves MOE staff giving CSS staff in Moscow information ahead of time regarding a child up for adoption and the CSS staff, knowing our desired profile for a child, would then call us immediately and ask us if we're interested in pursing the referral. If we accepted it, they would register our dossier immediately and take that referral.

Once we get the referral, we would most likely have 7-10 days advanced notice before we would be required to fly to Russia for trip #1.

But...until then...we wait.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie

Offers of help

2008-09-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

We've had several people inquire about how they can help us accomplish our goal of adoption. Mary and I have decided to not 'solicit' for monetary donations...but...since we have to make a total of 3 trips to Russia in order to complete the adoption, we would certainly not turn down offers of Delta Skymiles or Hilton Honors Points.

Update

2008-09-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

So here's the latest update:

Our I-171H, FBI background checks and updated license for the home study agency have been apostilled in Nashville and are enroute to CSS (the adoption agency - Catholic Social Services) in Asheville, NC via UPS. Currently our tracking number shows that the documents will make it to Carol and her staff at CSS sometimes Wednesday. They will go over to Moscow this week to be translated and combined with the rest of our dossier.

CSS staff in Moscow are busy this month. Not only is September is busy month for vacations, they have been told to expect a audit from the Russian government regarding all of the adoptions they have executed since 2001. This isn't a 'surprise' audit or anything like that...just a normal procedure.

So between the vacations and the government audit, it's probably going to delay us just a bit for our first trip to Moscow. We're still hopeful that we'll be able to complete the adoption by end of year, but it appears that completing the adoption January of 2009 may be in the cards.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie

FBI Background Check Complete!

2008-08-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

Well, we have it...the final paper we've been waiting on. Our FBI background check arrived today and we're clean. Now all that we have to do is get this, along with our I171H notarized, certified and apostilled. Then, off they go to Russia for translations.

Our dossier has been in Russia for two weeks now. I've been in San Francisco all week so I didn't get a chance to get an update from CSS on the translation effort. Hopefully I can spare a few minutes on Monday and get an update.

Regards,
G

I-171H received and other exciting news!

2008-08-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

Another milestone has been reached!! Today we received our I-171H from the UCIS. This is a major milestone and reason for celebration! This form allows us to file for Daniel's visa for entry into the United States when we bring him from Russia. Without this form, even if we had successfully adopted him from Russia, we wouldn't be allowed to bring him to the US.

Our dossier made it to Russia the morning of the 9th of August. It is being translated to Russia by CSS staff in Moscow.

OK, so everyone is allowed 1 mistake...I've had mine. I forgot one of the forms. In the mad dash to get all the forms filled out, signed, notarized, certified and apostilled...I MISSED ONE FORM!!! ;> Katrina called me on the 8th asking where the form was. I felt like an idiot!!! So...off we go doing the mad dash again. Signing, notarizing, certifying and rushing it to Nashville to be apostilled by the Secretary of State. We're keeping UPS happy with all these packages flying around the state of Tennessee.

But wait...there's more! I got a confirmation that our FBI background check was progressing and that they hope to be done with it within 1-2 weeks.

So, if we can get our FBI background check done and get the results back here in Tennessee, get that plus our I171H notarized, certified and apostilled...WE'LL BE DONE WITH ALL OF THE PAPERWORK REQUIRED HERE IN THE UNITED STATES!!!

(Of course...there's all the paperwork while we're in Russia to take care of...but that's for another day).

Regards,
Greg, Mary & Katie

Dossier enroute to Moscow

2008-08-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

We have handed off our dossier to CSS, who in turn handed it off to a family from Greeneville, Tn who is heading to Moscow Friday 8/8/2008. They are heading over on their second trip which is the trip where they go before the judge.

Our fingerprints are on their way to the FBI for the ever popular background check.

Now that word of our blog has spread, we're fielding some questions. Here's some common ones and the answers:

1. Do you have any information regarding the child you're receiving? - No. We have requested a boy up to age of 18 months. We won't get any information until we walk in the door at the orphanage in Moscow.

2. Is the child you're adopting named Daniel? Daniel is the name we have picked out. One of the final things you get to do when you're before the judge on the second trip is have the child's name changed to something more 'appropriate' for your country. It is highly recommended that we keep some part of his Russian name, but as for the first name we have chosen Daniel.

Regards,
Greg, Mary and Katie.

We've given birth to a dossier!!!

2008-08-05T18:06:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, we're pleased to annouce the birth of a 85 page dossier. It was a difficult birthing process but Greg, Mary, several Notary Publics and our laser printer are all doing well.

;>

OK, so what's that mean???

We've finished the paperwork phase!!! Our dossier (packet of certified documents) is complete and we are taking it to Asheville to be sent to Moscow for translation.

Next steps:

1. Once the dossier reaches Moscow, it will be translated to Russian and registered with the Russian Ministry of Education.

2. We're getting our fingerprints done August 6th for our FBI background check.

3. Wait for the big phone call from CSS to indicate they have a referal for us.

The 'current wait time' puts us at traveling on our first trip sometime in October.

Greg, Mary & Katie

So close...and yet so far...

2008-08-03T05:28:00.000-07:00

Well, we have all the documents notarized and ceritified in the county they were notarized in. They are all now either enroute to the Tennessee Secretary of State via UPS or are already on their way back from the S0fS. We're hoping that by Tuesday or Wednesday we can offically turn the document packet over to CSS in Ashville.

Next step, fingerprints so the FBI can do a background check on us.

g

Update

2008-07-26T13:41:00.001-07:00

Our paperwork phase is coming to an end. We ran into some delays with various offices because of people going on summer vacation. We finally received our completed home-study this week. Armed with this and our completed paperwork, we made the journey to Catholic Social Services in Asheville this week for a paperwork review party with CSS staff. A few minor modifications, which weren't unexpected. Now, almost all of our paperwork is complete and notarized.

Paperwork for many types of international adoption must be apostilled (check out Wiki for a definition of apostille). So, now that the bulk of it has been notarized, the next step in the process is for the notarized paperwork to be 'verified' by the County Clerk for the county in which it was notarized. Then, once it has been verified, it goes to Nashville for the final apostille stamp. Then, and only then, can the document legally stand up in a court of law outside of the United States.

(Note to anyone reading this who is performing an international adoption but who live in a state other than Tennessee: Check with your adoption agency for details specific to your state.)

According to CSS staff, it we can get this paperwork finalized within the next two weeks, we could be doing our first trip to Moscow the first half of October and finalize the adoption by Christmas.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. Katie is getting more and more excited and is starting to go around the house making references to "Daniel from Russia".

Regards,
Greg

The first steps of our adoption journey…

2008-07-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

…began about 7 to 8 years ago. Mary and I had been married about 2 years and hadn’t had any success in having a child. One morning in the newspaper, there was an ad for an upcoming adoption seminar being held at a local church. An adoption agency called Living Hope was putting the seminar on and their President was doing the presentation. We decided to go and check this out. Dr. Fang of Living Hope detailed the process of adopting a child from China. While we were interested, we still weren’t ready to give up having a child on our own. We kept the adoption option in the back of our minds.

Fast forward up to 2001…we found out we were pregnant with Katie. Katie was born in February of 2002 and has brought joy in our lives ever since.

Having just one child isn’t enough. Mary and I both believe that it would be good for Katie to grow up with a sibling. Plus, we know there is more love in our hearts to give…so, off we go.
Now most people would be asking at about this point “Well, why don’t’ you just have another biological child?”. Katie was born with Down syndrome and we felt like the chances of having a second child with DS were a little more than we wanted to brave. So, adoption came to the forefront of our thoughts again.

By early 2007 we were once again getting geared up “mentally” to explore adoption. We had contacted Living Hope once again, attended another one of their information seminars and this time walked away with an application for their program. We were ready to begin the adoption journey to getting our little boy from China. We filled out the application, wrote the initial check and mailed it off to Living Hope around summer of 2007. We were quickly accepted into the program.

Of course for those of you who know us, you know that life around here is, well, NUTS. Between our home life, Katie starting Kindergarten, raising a child with Down syndrome, Greg’s career, the work we do for FRIENDS (www.dsfriends.net) , keeping up with our families, etc, etc, etc…, things were slow going initially. Then around the end of 2007 / early 2008 we got serious. Time to get this ball rolling…Time to adopt from China.

Now for those of you keeping score at home you’re wondering “wait…I thought they were adopting from Russia?!?”. Keep your shirts on…I’m getting to that.

We contacted Adoption Consultants of Tennessee and started our home study. At the same time we started gathering the paperwork required by Living Hope and the country of China for the adoption. The paperwork can be almost overwhelming. We’ve heard the expression many times, from many people, “The hardest part of adopting internationally is all the paperwork”. They aren’t kidding…

During our first interview for the home study, we were asked “Why China?”. We explained our initially meetings with Living Hope and the seminars we had been to. We had prepared ourselves for adopting from China. We knew that adopting a little boy from China wasn’t going to be quick. The Chinese value a male heir in the families more than females, thus there are more girls in Chinese orphanages. But, there are boys, and we were convinced that one was destine to be our son.

Sharon, our home study advisor, proceeded to inform us that adopting from China is taking longer and longer. We were told by Living Hope in 2007 that the current wait times for adopting a boy from China was 12-18 months. Sharon informed us that it was closer to 24-36 months. 3 YEARS. Wow…that’s too long to wait…right? Why the big change? At one point in the late 1990s, early 2000s, adoptions from China were taking 3-6 months. Well, times are changing in China. First, with China holding the Olympics this year, they have been working on improving their international image for the past few years. With China being squarely in the international lime-light for the next few months, they don’t want anything reflect poorly on them, and being seen as the “one stop shop for adopting a child internationally” doesn’t reflect an image they want the world to have of them. Second, China has had more than their fair share of natural disasters in the past few years, leaving many families without children. As a result, more and more children are being adopted internally within China than ever before. Plus, China is now beginning to relax their “One Child per Family” stance on family planning.

So, China seemed to be out of the picture…so now what? Sharon recommended we check out Catholic Social Services (CSS), based in Asheville, NC. They have an international adoption group which facilitates adoptions from Russia. Sharon explained that CSS has an excellent reputation and a very active Yahoo support group of families in the process of adopting or have adopted through CSS.

So, after checking CSS out, visiting their offices in Asheville, talking to other families in our region that have adopted through them and even attending their annual picnic, we’ve changed to adopting from Russia through CSS. Going this route allows us to adopt our son, perhaps, if the paperwork shuffle doesn’t kill us, by the end of 2008. That’s right…by Christmas 2008 we could be home with our son from Russia.

First post!

2008-07-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone,

Well, we've kicked off the blog to allow our friends, family and colleagues an opportunity to keep up with our progress. Throughout the coming days, weeks and months we'll be posting updates regarding our progress, along with tidbits of information regarding the adoption process for adopting from Russia, specifically the Moscow region.

As this is our first blog, we're still learning how to setup the blog and maintain it. Bare with us if the blog is simplistic initially. We'll jazz it up as we have time.

Regards,
Greg