You Haven’t Brought Them Home Yet?

Sadly, we still have not received the call with a court date in Bryansk. So as we watch the temperatures drop in Moscow (got down to 1° this week), we remain in a holding pattern. Though, there has been more paperwork to renew.

We had to resubmit our I-600 (Petition To Classify Orphan As an Immediate Relative application sent to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, formerly INS). The I-600 renews the I-171H authorization (Notice Of Favorable Determination Concerning Application For Advance Processing Of Orphan Petition document from the USCIS that gives us permission to adopt internationally and bring the child to the U.S.). We finally received that on Wednesday after some delay, had it notarized, took it to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to be apostilled (a cover sheet certification, with a shiny gold seal, which legalizes some documents for international adoption per the 1961 Hague Convention so that the document is accepted in other countries), then rushed it over to our agency.

Our Thursday, we had to redo our fingerprints to renew our FBI clearance (where they check our rap sheet). This is the manual style of fingerprinting, where we go to a third party provider authorized to do fingerprints. They ink you up and roll your fingers on all the appropriate boxes on the standard fingerprint card. It’s sort of like a little dance. The technician grabs your hand firmly, pulls you in close and then you both shift side to side between the ink and the paper, one finger at a time. This is the second time for me, third for Gayle (one set was rejected as smudged). We have also done the electronic version taken by the USCIS (again, twice for me, three times for Gayle) with no ink, but instead large scanners, flat panel monitors, sophisticated verification software…and long lines.

Also on Thursday, our agency’s annual accredidation with the Russian government expired (again). Renewal is in progress. Last year it shut us down for months, this year it should not affect us at this stage in the process.

Still working on the house to get ready for the kids.

The Elmo Room (kid’s bedroom) is mostly done. We have added a few decorations, organized the closet and dresser, and placed glow-in-the-dark stars and planets (Pluto too) on the ceiling (arranged in five constellations, surrounded by random stars). Cool!

We finally found a swing set (small enough for our yard) that was not out-of-stock, and were anxiously awaiting its arrival, but then got an e-mail from the vendor saying Sorry it too is not available. So…??

Still no latches on drawers and cabinets, but have been installing new shelving in closets and laundry to put things out of reach and just to make room for more kid stuff.

So…What’s New With The Adoption?

Well…when we left Russia we were encouraged to hear that Olga thought that the new Committee process would be much faster and that we could be returning in a month. That was a month and a half ago. We have gone from thinking that we will be in Russia for Christmas, to thinking more like Valentines Day. But, who knows!

We assume the kids are happy and healthy. We have not received any info since we last saw them. Andrew had his first birthday without us. We inquired about sending a package to the orphanage for him and the others, but were told that there would be extra trouble for the orphanage staff to get the package out of Customs.

There have been more papers to sign. There are always more papers to sign!

Still making changes to the kid’s room; we call it the Elmo Room. No, we were not considering naming one of the kids after a Muppet; it is due to the, some might say overwhelming, theme of the room. We have added a (Elmo) toddler bed for Bethany. We already had the crib for Andrew. Thought it best to keep them together for now, as they are probably use to sleeping with other kids, and would aid in their bonding with each other. When the time is right, we will vacate the other bedroom (which is being used as an office), and decorate it as a kid room too.

The “child proofing” is behind schedule. Have plenty of door and drawer latches to install and new storage cabinets to replace shelves, etc.

The next big thing will be to buy and setup a swing set for the backyard. There are not that many choices, new or used, in a set small enough for our yard.

We have had several discussions about the Two Trip vs. Three Trip travel plan. Our original plan was for two trips to Russia. The first trip was to meet the kids and start the formal adoption paperwork in Russia; that is the one we completed in November. The second trip was to be for both the court date and to bring the kids home. This second trip includes the infamous 10-day waiting period in between the court date and our picking up the kids to complete their paperwork. It appears that more parents are choosing to come back home for the 10-day waiting period, thus making a third trip necessary. Saves on living expenses in Moscow and on time away from work, but costs more for airfare and the risk of additional loss time due to jet lag and related sickness. No need to make a final decision until we get the call with the court date.

Friends and family threw us a really fun baby shower. We are constantly receiving well wishes and pledges of support, for which we are very grateful and encouraged. Thank you all!