Hosting Day 11

We set our alarm for 3:40, got up and got A's backpack packed to the brim with toys, clothes, stickers, a little picture album and other fun stuff. I was going to hide some M&Ms in there, but he found them before I could. Brent got him dressed and we headed down to the hotel lobby to wait for the other kids and A's ride to pick them up. He said he was hungry so we scrounged up an apple, a granola bar and an orange soda to sugar him up before passing him off.
A's ride was a little late and came at about 4:45. Brent and I headed back up to the room and slept in until about 10.

Now we're home and he's gone. In the air somewhere.

I'm sad but not really sad. I'm ready to move forward with the adoption - with new vigor and urgancy. I'm ready to start preparing for him to come back.

I told Brent's mom yesterday - having a six-year-old is difficult sometimes, but not having a six-year-old is more difficult.

We miss you A! It's too quiet here :)

Hosting Day 10

A had his church program today, and he sang so well and loud. Very proud mama here. :)

After church we went for lunch at Olive Garden with my parents, yum yum.

Then we had to take short trip to Oshkosh (half hour away). We had realized the night before that we left A's backpack at home - the one he had to take back to Russia with him. Thankfully, Brent's parents so generously volunteered to meet us in Oshkosh so we wouldn't have to drive all they way back home and spend 3 hours in the car on our last day.

A was pretty much a crazy person all day. It was tiring and frusterating for Brent and I, but I can only imagine what A was going through. All new everything - no routine - no idea what we expect of him - would drive me crazy too. But we made it through with minimal trauma and A fell asleep around 10 PM.

Hosting Day 9

Today we had to get up early and go to Appleton so the kids could practice for their church program. A didn't even want to sing last weekend when we were at VBS but I think he sang the loudest today. I think it was because Brent was sitting in the front row egging him on.

After the practice I called the hotel but they weren't ready for us to check in for a few more hours. So the facilitator said we could hang out at her house for a while and A could play with her son. We talked about adoption and Russia and ate pizza, then headed over to the hotel. When we got to the hotel, A immediately crawled on the bed and fell asleep. Busy day I guess.
He woke up and kind of wandered around the room, obviously bored. He asked to go home and we tried to explain that we'd stay there for two nights, but I don't think he really got it.

We had dinner with my parents and now A is in the bath - probably making a lake in the bathroom. He is having a lot of fun, we can hear that. I hope he's tiring himself out too. :)

One more day :(

Hosting Day 8

Today had lots of not so good parts in it, but in all it was a good day. I think mostly because I enjoy being with A so much and he's so much fun, that I forget all the bad things.

First, Brent took A to get some groceries and out of the house so I could pack his suitcase. We didn't want him to be home seeing me take all the stuff out of his closet in front of him. The stuff in his suitcase is really donations for the orphanage, the stuff we want to give to him (toys and whatever) we will put in his carryon backpack. But it's obvious that the suitcase is his because it matches his backpack and has the same baseball on it.
Anyway, I filled his suitcase and put it in the corner of our bedroom. When Brent got home we ate lunch and then we put A down for nap. Brent went to work for a while and I woke him up later he kind of wandered around the house and I found him back on our bed. I asked if he was tired and still wanted a nap, but he got really angry and ran away. I kept following him around trying to find out what was wrong, but he locked himself in his bedroom - more angry than I've ever seen him. Then he ran back into our bedroom and I found him going through the suitcase I had packed for him. ! He was so upset, and I just didn't know what to say. How could I tell him that we wanted to keep him forever, that we didn't want to send him back to Russia. How could I tell him that we'd come back for him and he would be ours for good. I sat down and just started to cry. He ran over to me and hugged me so tight and patted my back. We sat on the floor for almost 5 minutes just rocking and me crying. Then we went and colored together and I cried all over his coloring book. How will I ever survive on Monday? :(

He seemed to forget about the whole suitcase episode pretty quickly and in the afternoon I met with a friend and her two sons at McDonalds. He had a good time after he warmed up to his new friends. He really wanted to bring his new TMNT into the playland with him, but one of the little pieces underneath and we couldn't reach it to get it out. I asked if the McD's people could get it for us, but they just gave him a new one. Of course he still wanted the old piece, so then he was crabby. He forgot about it after a while and ran back into the play structure. But then he was having too much fun and wouldn't come out. I had to bribe him by telling him that Brent was on the phone and wanted to talk to him. Then I nabbed him and carried him under my arm - no shoes, no coat. He got about 50 feet away and decided he could walk on his own, but I made the mistake of walking him past the Happy Meal display - which reminded him of his missing toy. So I had to pick him up and carry him past the display and then he was fine again. He's easily distracted, but I wish there was a different way to do it than that!

After that we visited Brent at work and went over to my Aunt's house for a potluck dinner with all my aunts and uncles. I was a little worried, knowing how keyed up he'd been all day, but he did so great. He charmed everyone and showed off his awesome coloring skills. My uncle builds trains for a hobby so we showed A and he was so impressed.

After his bath he went into his room to get his PJs on and had another fit. Well not really a fit, but he gave me a lecture! I finally figured out it was because I took his clothes from the chair and put them in the laundry basket. He's very very possessive of his watch and belt, so he has to know where they are at all times. He even went so far as to put his shirt back on, put his watch back on (over his shirt because it's too big otherwise), and then take them off at the same time so they would be exactly right. And then he said good night to it. And told us at least twice not to touch his stuff. LOL - strange child. :)

Now he's sleeping for the last night in his bed until he comes back. *sniff*

Hosting Day 7

A range of emotions today. I kind of feel like today was the beginning of the end of the trip. I feel sad, exhausted, happy, confused, thankful, but mostly really mentally tired right now.

Today started off normal enough. A worked a little on his juice pouring skills, and also his cleaning up spilt juice skills. He ran in to wake up Brent earlier than Brent wanted to be woken up, and today I just let him. I yelled in that he had better get used to it because that is how it will be when I go to work and he will have to get up with our lovely early riser.

In the afternoon was A's dentist appointment. We met the translator and A's teacher there and he was so excited to see them. A was so good at the dentist. It probably had something to do with just waking up from his nap, but the hygenist was impressed. He has a dead tooth in front, but it will fall out soon so no concern. He also has two cavities, but the dentist didn't have time to do them before he goes back to Russia. The translator said that they won't be filled in Russia, and if they start hurting him, they'll just pull the teeth instead of fixing them. So I promised them that as soon as we had a travel date to get him, I'd make an appointment to have the teeth filled.

After the dentist, the translator and his teacher came over for coffee and to see how A is doing and answer any questions we had. They told us about A's schedule at orphanage and what he likes about his visit. They told us they didn't really know much about his history before the orphanage, but they had some guesses. After coffee, Brent and I took them to the Kohler Design Museum. They seemed to enjoy it and hanging out with us. I'm really glad I got to meet his teacher - she was so nice and doted on A the entire time. It was obvious that she loved the children she worked with. The translator told me that she really advocated for the kids in the orphanage. She told me that in Russia, families can take orphaned children as foster children and get paid for it. Since many people in Russia are economically depressed so they take in fosters for the money, but send them back when they don't need the money or the kids become difficult. Anyway, A's teacher will ask around town to make sure all of her kids are getting taken care of, and if she hears that they are not, she will go to the family's house and make them send the kids back to the orphanage. She also said this is A's teacher's first visit to America and although she is having an amazing trip, she said the trip would really be worth it if A finds a home.
I'm so overwhelmed with thankfullness to God that A has been so taken care of, and for A's teacher having such love and care for these children - especially since the view in Russia is that orphans are second class and no one cares about them. I've read so many horror stories about abuse in Russian orphanages and it seems that there are no issues with A at all - except for normal little boy things. I wish I could express my overwhelming thanks to A's teacher and the devotion she has showed our son.

A was so excited from the visit and I was so beat, it kind of shot down any sense of order for the rest of the day. Brent's parents nicely brought over dinner for us and A and I watched Charlie Brown before he went for his bath and bed.

There are still so many things running around in my head, I don't know how to type them out. But if anyone feels led, there are other things we're considering and really need prayer that we make the right decision and that we see God's will.

Hosting Day 6

A slept all night without calling for us! Yay! Except then we laid in bed at 7 AM wondering if he was okay, and then he walked in and told us Good Morning!

We went on a few errands this morning and then lunch. This afternoon the social worker came to visit and check in on us. She said all the other families were doing well, but also tired.

Well, I was just about to end this post, saying not much else interesting happened today.......

So Brent was at church and A was relaxing before his bath. Well maybe not really relaxing, because I kept having to follow him around and tell him Nyet - don't pick up the cat, Nyet - don't bang on my keyboard, Nyet - you may not put the R rated movie into the DVD player. Well, he tried to double up on me and go for the computer and movie at once. I tried to grab both and my fingernail caught him across the face. Ack! He almost almost started to cry, but he did run into his room holding his face. I picked him up and held him on my lap telling him I was sorry and I loved him. He was okay after only a minute and gave me a big hug, but I still want to cry! I'm so sorry A! :(

He's feeding me grapes, so he must still like me.

I hope bedtime goes okay since Brent isn't here.

Hosting Day 5b

After Brent got back from his meeting, we left for Milwaukee to check out a children's museum. It was okay, but I think too much for A. He was way excited, but waaaaay excited. We had some issues with the slide, a little boy running over his leg, and another girl who moved in on his velcro apple picking territory. He doesn't really know how to play with other kids, which I don't get, because he lives with probably a dozen other kids. But perhaps he was just too hyper. It could have gone much worse, really.

So we left after about two hours. Brent and I got kind of hungry on the way home so we stopped at McD's and got A a happy meal (great parents, I know!) He didn't really eat it anyway. He was more interested in my fruit salad. But, the toy! All we heard the rest of the way home was "Teeteepaska Inia!!!!" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle) On a whim, we thought we could maybe see the movie. Brent really wanted to see it, and A was so quiet during movies at home so.....

Well A was pretty loud during the previews and got really excited about Batman and 'Gary' Potter. We kept shushing him but there were only a couple of families in there. So then the movie started and he seemed into it, but then after about 15 minutes it was apparent he wasn't enjoying it. He got his hat on and wouldn't sit down. I asked him 'video' or 'dom' (home) and he insisted on home. Since Brent did want to see it, A and I went home. The theatre is only a 2 minute drive so Brent just called us when the movie was over. He liked it anyway - I never got into the TMNT so I didn't care.

After we got home, A wanted a snack so he went to the fridge and ate a pear, a half a zucchini, and six ounces of cherry tomatoes. I can not believe the amount of vegetables and fruits that this boy can put away! Not that I'm complaining!

Then came bedtime. Man, I've heard that institutionalized children thrive on routine, but this was almost creepy! A didn't fight when I told him to get out of the bath, and climbed right into bed and Brent and I didn't even have to stay and wait for him to fall asleep. I'm so proud! :)

Our Russian

Words we can say to A:
Tired
Sleep
Eat
Drink
Water
Juice
Thank you
Hello
Goodbye
How are you
Good
Toilet/bathroom
Bath
Car
Home
Good Boy
No
Yes
Not
Mama
Papa
Uncle
Grandma
Grandpa
Banana
Pajamas
Where
Video
Robot
Blocks
Puzzle
I love you - or love something else
Minute (have to look up the number of minutes still)
What is that?

Words that A says that we pretty much understand:
Music on or off (whatever the opposite is)
Let me do it!
I will not wear any other pants except the khaki ones that were new but are already stained and have a hole in the knee (and if you insist on washing them, I will not wear any pants at all until they are done)
"Tak"- this way or okay or something like that
Is this right?
Cat
You're welcome


Things we're still working on:
Papa is at work
Come here
Go with me

A doesn't really know any English words yet, but he has picked up the songs that he refused to sing at VBS and his pronounciation is pretty good.

For not knowing hardly anything when he came, I think we're doing pretty well.

Hosting Day 5a

The week is half over :(

Today I took A grocery shopping with me while Brent went to a meeting at work.

Some of the things he especially wanted were grapes, an onion, a cucumber, a zuccinni, and a lemon - all to be eaten raw probably. Ick.
Everything else he wanted that was junky, I just had to make a yucky face, and he agreed and put it back on the shelf. Be nice if it were that easy forever.
He was very angry that I was trying to by Coke, even though I kept insisting it was for mama and he didn't have to drink it. I wonder what he thought it was.

Hosting Day 4

Well I can tell you that A is getting used to us for sure!

So, I told you we'd regret that 2 hour nap on Sunday - A woke up at 4:30 Monday morning, bright and shiny. It was still dark, so I told him it was night and fell asleep next to him in his bed. He managed to sleep for another two hours, but 6:30 is still way early!

Brent slept in a bit longer, and A and I made waffles for breakfast. Well, mostly me, but he did the stirring. He ate 1/2 a waffle with jam, 2 glasses of juice, and 1/2 a sausage, which I think is a record! He eats like a bird, and is very picky. We're getting the hang of it though.

After Brent got up, we headed over to the neighbors to play catch with their two dogs. That was a blast and A loved it. It was almost 80 degrees out and sunny. A also helped me hang clothes on the line, and sort of helped me put them away, but it was more like basketball with the clothes and the drawers.

We decided we didn't want to repeat the 2 hour nap thing, but we did want to give him some kind of nap, so after lunch we immediately carried him to bed and all slept for only half an hour. He still was a bit tired when we woke him up, but I guess we won't know until tomorrow morning (hopefully not at 4AM) how it worked out.

After nap we colored some, and then went for a walk in the park with some friends. And Brent dropped A's sunglasses off the side of the bridge in the river! Fortunately he didn't see his precious sunglasses go overboard. Brent felt really bad, but they sank straight to the bottom and there was no chance of saving them. A had fun on the swings and pushing our friend's baby too.

A little note - the translator called me this morning and said she was thinking about us from the VBS and told us that we should make sure A has some down time during the day because trying to run him to wear him out will just wind him up more. I was thinking - yeah, I think we have figured that out! So I thought that the nap and coloring was good enough, but apparently the park just negated it all.....

So, back to the day. After the park, he announced he was hungry, and since that is one of the few words we understand, we went straight for dinner at Chili's (we also happened to be right there - yummy). He did really well there. Ate all of his fries, and a lot of my salad. We thought we could go quick to Kohl's and pick up some new sunglasses for him - before he noticed his old ones were gone forever.

I'm not sure if he was just hyper because of the park, or Brent and I gave him too many sips of our iced tea and soda, but Kohl's was kind of a disaster. He picked out new sunglasses, and then decided to play 'chase me'. I'm sure all of you moms know exactly what I'm talking about. After a couple minutes, we caught him, but then he played 'hold on for dear life to everything so mom and dad can't make me move'. Finally Brent just had to pick him and take him out of the store. As soon as he saw the car, he was fine, just getting there was a bear.

We came home and watched a movie, and then implemented our newly formed bedtime routine.
1. Put A in the bath, and set timer for 30 minutes
2. Tell A 5 and 3 minutes before timer goes off
3. When the timer goes off, somehow explain that it's time to get out of the bath.
4. Drain the bath
5. Remove A from sitting on the drain to keep the water in.
6. Hold the drain open with one hand, and A's hand off of it with the other.
7. When the tub is finally empty, some how explain to A that he won't be sitting there shivering if he would just get out of the tub and let me dry him off.
8. Help A get out of the tub
9. Put his PJ shirt on so he starts getting dressed.
10. Brent helps A finish getting his PJs on
11. All of us brush our teeth (for the first time in my life I am brushing twice a day)
12. A realizes what's next and runs away
13. I find A's flashlight and turn down his bed while Brent carries A into bed.
14. Try to get A to at least fold his hands and say Amen at the end of prayers.
15. Turn off the light and say 'goodnight'
16. Both Brent and I pretend to fall asleep, hoping A will get the picture.
17. Sneak out when we think he's asleep
18. Five minutes later, see his flashlight peek out of the door.
19. Brent goes in and tucks him back in.
20. A is sleeping, and Brent and I have a few hours of peace!


See you all tomorrow!

Pictures

A really likes to play with my camera, so here are some of his finer works. :)

A's leg


Lights at the restaurant


A's fingers - lol



And, finally a picture of all of us :) Says - "A, mama, papa"

Hosting Day 3

On Sunday, Brent went to work (church) and I spent the morning running after A basically. I brought him to church to buy him a doughnut (and show him off.....). He didn't really want a doughnut, but he had a fun time coloring and sharing his raisins with all of my friends. He also played "guess which hand my stuff is in" for a while. Our doctor talked to us and said he seemed great.

We went outside for a while, but it was kind of muddy so we went back to find Brent after church was over. A was so happy to see him and also really enjoyed it when Brent took him up to the top of the sound booth and overlooked the sanctuary. Our drummer showed him how to play drums and then we had to leave.

We had dinner with my parents at my inlaws house, but A was most definately not interested. We just could not get him to come to the table. He's not really a big eater, and he just found all of Brent's old matchbox cars, so that was much more interesting. He did like the strawberry ice cream dessert though.

After we got back home, we got him down for a nap, but unfortunately we let him sleep a little bit too long and none of us woke up for two hours (we'll regret that one later).

After the nap we just played around and nothing special really. We gave him a bath, but didn't get him to bed until 9PM.

And then he was up again the next morning at 4:30 AM.... but that will continue in the next post......

Hosting Day 2

A fell asleep about two minutes after I wrote that post, all the while insisting he wasn't tired.

He called out for us a few times during the night, and Brent woke up - I slept right through the whole thing. We're not sure if he was waking up or talking in his sleep or what.
He awoke for good when he saw that we were getting up and walking around. We fed him breakfast and had to leave for Appleton at 8 AM.

The Vacation Bible School program started at 10 and the translator was a little late, so they let the kids play in the gym for a while. A liked that. Very much. It took both of us to cary him out of the gym, all the while him holding on for dear life to every door frame. We finally got him sitting in a desk, one of us on either side, trapping him in. The introductions took about an hour, and A said he wanted to be a pilot. The translator also said he was good with her camera. Then the first lesson, which was about 10 minutes. Then the kids practiced their singing, which meant physically picking A up and moving him over by the piano. He didn't really like the singing too much, but he endured it. Then a craft and lunch. After lunch there was more play time and I told Brent we should not bring him into the gym again, but A raced in there before we could catch him. Again with the two of us picking him up and carrying him to his desk. This time we brought crayons and paper to keep him occupied. There was another singing time, but we just let A stay at his desk and sang with him there. He sort of followed along. Another craft and another teaching. Then it was time for the last craft, but the facilitator just gave it to us and let us go play outside.

One of A's teachers was the chaperone on the trip and she was at VBS. That was an amazing help. She explained to him what was going to happen next, and how to do the craft. I don't know what we would have done without her there. A was really attached to her.

After VBS we went to a Russian grocery store, where the cashier said A was walking around yelling, "I want to eat candy, give me some money!" We bought him some, of course.

Then we went out to dinner with some friends. He was pretty good, although energetic and probably overtired. He asked for pizza but wouldn't eat it, but mostly ate Brent's fries and my salad.

When we got home we gave him a bath and got ready for bed. We tried the 'watch a movie until he falls asleep thing' but it didn't work this time. So we picked him up kicking and yelling and put him in bed. We both pretended to be asleep and he was out in 5 minutes.

Whew, what a long day! He sure keeps us running. Transisions are hard, and he certainly lets us know what he does and doesn't like. But he's all normal and all boy.

Hosting Day 1b

After Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was over, it was about 7AM and A still was not tired. I just got dressed for the day, and Brent went to bed. We had breakfast and then A took a bath and got dressed.

He got his first injury when the toothpaste fell on his head in the bathtub, but I think he’ll be okay.

It was such a nice day out that we went to a nearby park, and he ran right for the swings. He sang and laughed at the top of his lungs and I thought he might wake the neighbors, but he didn’t care. It still was a bit windy and I didn’t have any gloves for him, so I called up a friend who babysits a 5 year old and we went to McDonalds Play land. He loved that. He also loved the fruit and walnut salad that I got to eat, and would have nothing to do with the hash browns. Healthy little boy!


My father in law, mother in law, and mom all stopped by McD’s to say hi, but he didn’t seem so sure of them and just ran back into the playland. After a couple hours we walked back home and woke up Brent.

We had to go to the bank to get one more thing notarized, and then we went to buy him a hat and gloves, and sunglasses. When we got back home I tried to take a nap for a while, but those boys are so loud! : )

We ate dinner and all brushed our teeth and now are sitting watching a movie in our PJs. A is still insisting that he’s not tired, but his eyes are dropping fast. I hope he goes to sleep tonight!

Hosting Day 1a

The phone rang at 1:17 AM and we headed out to the Park'nRide.

He is so small! So skinny! As soon as we met him, all the Russian words I tried to learn left me. I just kind of stood there. Brent was much more welcoming and hugged him and led him to our car. We buckled him in and I managed to ask him 'good?' before we headed out. Although if he would answered anything but a nod, I would have had no idea what to do about it.

When we got home, Beaver the cat greeted him at the door and broke the ice for us. Then Larry the other cat hissed and we haven't really seen him since then. We showed him his room and he immediately went for the matchbox cars and raced them around the carpet. He kind of looked around the rest of the house and he got really excited when he saw the bananas and the Altoids. Yummy!

We managed to ask him if he was tired, and he shook his head (darn). He started asking about the TV and we put in a Thomas the Train video. The remote seemed more interesting though. And playing with the real trains on the floor (thanks Josh).

And he ate two more bananas, and a bunch more Altoids.

Then we watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and he still was not tired. :yawn:

Now, at 4AM, Brent and he are making distorted faces in Photobooth and laughing histerically. I Love it.

Hosting Day 0

I wasn't going to go to work today, but finding out that A's plane wasn't coming in until late in the night, I decided I could go in, and save that vacation day for later.

I'm a lot less worried today - more running around trying to get everything clean and making sure it's all ready for his visit. Keeping very busy.

I went out for lunch with my parents and did some work for Brent. Brent went to worship team practice for a while and I took nap, knowing we might be up very late tonight.

I've also been obsessively checking the OHare website all day, making sure his flight is on time.

His flight lands in 20 minutes.......

Hosting Day -1

I think I have PHS. Pre-Hosting-Syndrome.

I am alternately trying to cheer myself up with stupid digg.com links and worrying almost to the point of insanity that I'm going to personally scar A for life in the short time he's here. Or he won't like us. Or we'll mess up somehow and never be able to adopt from anywhere. Most of the worst scnearios envolve the tragic death of someone.

I've pretty much done nothing constructive today, except go grocery shopping which was a tourturous 1.5 hours. What do 6 year old boys eat?

A's flight comes into Ohare at 11PM tomorrow night. We're about 2 hours away from there, so we'll get to meet A for the first time at a Park'nRide at 1 AM.

He's probably already left the orphanage and is making his 2 day trip here. Will he be exhausted and fall asleep the second he walks in the door? Will he be over-tired and hyper? Will he be a little chatterbox and Brent and I will just smile and nod?

I think tomorrow will be a long day.

Approved

Yesterday Brent and I got our foster liscense in the mail. Everything's perfectly ready now.

Today is Friday, which means tomorrow is the weekend - then Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, then A comes!!!!

Excuse me while I jump up and down. Well, maybe I'll wait until I get home from work.

:):):):):)

The post in which Tracy installs cupboard locks

Our social worker instructed us to put cupboard locks on our cleaning cupboard, so A wouldn't drink the draino by accident.

I didn't want the plastic locks that went on the outside of the doors, and our cupboard handles wouldn't work for those anyway, so I chose these. They are 'press down style' evidentally. When I picked them out in the store, I saw that they required a bit of work to install, which included drilling and screwing and measuring, but I didn't let it deter me (I should have).

Today I installed them. The part that attaches to the door will be called the 'outside piece' and the part in the cupboard will be called the 'inside piece'.

First I called my dad to ask if I could drill the screw into the cupboard, or if I had to drill a hole and then screw the screw in manually. He assured me that I could drill the screw in - just carefully and slowly.

I got out the drill and the bits, and picked the appropriate sized bit.

Got down on the floor and tried to figure out how to hold the outside piece and the screw at the same time, and then slowly drill it in like my dad said. Not easy.

I tried to tape the outside piece to the door. It fell off. I used two pieces of tape. It still fell off.

The bit started to grind the screw instead of turning it, so I put a bigger bit in. Backwards. I put it in right ways. Still didn't work.

I drilled a tiny hole into the door to see if it would help me hold the screw into place. Nope.

Then I finally decided to drill the hole and screw the screw manually. That worked. I put both screws in and shut the door.

It was too high and the door didn't shut.

I unscrewed the whole thing and put it lower. That time it worked.

Now to the inside piece. The instructions said something about marking with a pencil to get it in the right place, but I couldn't be bothered by that.

I drilled and put both screws in nice and tight and shut the door. It was in the wrong place and backward.

Try two, still wrong place.

Try three, finally got it right.

Moved to the other side. I learn from my mistakes well, so I only put in one screw before shutting the door to make sure it would fit. It did and I put the other screw in.

The phone rang. I answered it, and when I came back, I had lost all the inside pieces. They were in my pocket.

I didn't get a pencil when I was up, and maybe I don't learn from my mistakes too well, because I still coudn't be bothered to mark the place where it should go. I thought maybe I could just have better estimating than last time.

Nope. Wrong place.

Second time I got it; and now, with a few extra holes, our cupboards are nice and safe. :)

Maybe I should leave all the future home improvment things up to Brent, but I'm not sure he'd be much better than me.....

A's room

Cute sunshine light fixture


Roadmap rug that Brent picked out


This sign says "A's Room"


Whole room


Bed and cute animal pictures



It's kind of a small room, but it will work.

First Home visit

We had a social worker come to our house yesterday.
Brent and I spent most of the past weekend cleaning, and our house was all sparkly and nice.
I wasn't very nervous, which is unusual for me - I'm a wreck when company comes over. But she asked for a tour and we showed her the whole house - all the smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, our lovely fire escape plan. She said the only things we needed was a child lock on our cleaning cupboard, and to make sure we stayed vigilant on the outlet covers (I had missed one). She complimented us on our nice home and said we seemed mindful of the needs of children, even though we don't have any yet. It took about 20 minutes - not bad at all.

She is coming for another visit when A is here, just to see how we're doing. She said that one will be about an hour and we'll just play and hang out. Again, nothing formal.

She also said that she usually deals with situations where children are taken away and being put into foster care, so it is nice for her to see a family who cares and really wants to bring a child in. :)

Just in case you're ever visiting

This may be vital information...




Here are a few questions I have though...

Why are we escaping the house when the fire seems to be outside - and in the fire pit even?
Why would someone choose to go through the kitchen or living room windows if there is a door not more than two feet away?
Why did I have to mark the bathroom window as a valid escape if I don't even think the cat could fit through there?

We are required to post this in a public area of our house for all to see. We were considering putting it in a fancy frame and displaying it with all of our family photos, but we don't have such an area. So we're just hanging it up in the hallway. It seems kind of silly. It's not like A could read it anyway - but if WI says we have to do it, then we will.

Tax Return Shopping and a Social Worker Visit

Yesterday Brent and I spent much of the day shopping and getting almost everything we need for A's visit. We got a bunch of clothes, some shoes, a pillow, a backpack and suitcase, cute kid towels, a toothbrush, some crayons and paper and 2 new smoke alarms and a carbon monoxide detector.

We still need winter coat, hat and mittens - but this we're waiting until the last minute to see what the weather will be like. We need a car seat, but my parents said they'd buy that for us. And we need curtians, but picky me could only find ones that I liked at Ikea, and my parents are going to visit my sister and will pick these up for us on their way down there.

A's room looks so nice. I can't wait to post pics, but I want to wait until the curtains are in. It seems so weird that this room is actually functional now and has kids stuff in it instead of just junk storage.

Now the junk storage room is Brent's office, which we were conveniently putting off cleaning until we got a phone call yesterday from our mini-homestudy lady saying that Wisconsin is requiring her to make a home visit. Eek!
There is soo much that I wanted to get done before we had to deal with this home visit. Really the only things I need to do are put up the smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detector - she's not looking for June Cleaver's home. But I still want to make a good impression - and our home is far from that. It's one thing when guests come over and just stay in the living room and kitchen, but this is going to be a full house inspection - including basement ~shudder~

Ok, I'm done panicking. I have a room by room list of all the things to do. And actually this is a blessing because we haven't even applied for our real homestudy yet and this home visit is just something we won't have to do later. So anything that speeds up the process is a good thing.

Excuse me while I get to work. :)

One month and one day

I can't believe that this hosting thing is all happening so fast! One month from tommorrow!

On Saturday we had a meeting with all the other families - outlining the schedule and talking about what to expect. The adoption coordinator was there too so we got to talk to her and she gave us more paperwork and things to do.

So now we are applying for our homestudy, applying for our I-600A (Govt. form for adopting an orphan), and getting our pre-lims together (telling Russian govt. that we are interested in adopting A). All that means is a lot of paperwork, a lot of apostiles, and a lot of filling out the same information over and over again.

Yesterday Brent applied for his passport, which put us over the $1000 mark for spending on this adoption. It seems like a lot, but in the whole process, it's just a drop in the bucket.

A cool money story though - we plan to apply for financing and grants and such to help pay for the process, but we can't really do that until our homestudy is finished, and that in itself costs $3K. If we had to save that all up it might take us a couple of months, and we sure didn't want to wait. We also did our taxes right hoping we'd get an extra hundred that would help. Nope - we're getting enough back this year that it will pay for our homestudy, plus all that extra stuff I listed before (almost another thousand). That was completely unexpected! Previous years we've had to pay in thousands, or come out exactly even. So we're very very thankful for that, obviously - and now we have a little more reprieve before the big expenses come.

That's it for now. :)

First Homestudy appointment

We had our mini-homestudy appointment this past Monday. It went great. The lady was really nice, and she said she was looking forward to working with us. She said she normally counseled unwed pregnant mothers, so it was a nice change to be talking to a couple who was excited to adopt and become parents.

This appointment was mainly a criminal background check, and then she gave us the application packet for a real homestudy. I plan to crack that open this weekend, and I'll make Brent and I work on the autobiography part on Monday maybe. It's long, but doesn't seem near as bad as the other application we were working on.

After the appointment we met the facilitator of the hosting program - we had to sign some paperwork her, and she gave us a DVD of A (boy we're hosting). We went to Fazoli's for dinner and Brent had brought his laptop so we could watch the movie right away. My heart melted all over the floor when we watched it for the first (and second) time. Since then we have both watched it a couple times a day and showed it to all family and friends. (We're working on getting it online to show our non-Sheboygan family). He is the cutest in the entire world. I am not at all bias - he actually is the cutest. ;)

We also got his medical history and there are no concerns with that. We found out he has some siblings, but have no idea if they are orphaned or still with their parents or what. All it said was that his mother had birthed 3 children before him.

That's all we know for sure. I can't believe it is next month already. We both are getting so excited.

Oh yeah, the facilitator also said she adopted through this program 2 years ago and the whole process only took her about 6 months. So if we can have A home by Christmas (and his December birthday) it would be so awesome!

Heard back from the hosting place

We submitted our application for the Lighthouse on Monday evening, heard back from the director on Tuesday, and had a lenghthy conversation with the program facilitator on Wednesday afternoon, and now we need to apply and get going on a homestudy ASAP. The director said we only needed a mini-homestudy (basically background check) for the hosting week, but if we wanted to adopt, we may as well get the whole thing so we can start the adoption as soon as the hosting is over.

The facilitator said that if they didn't get enough families, they would cancel the March trip, so please, please pray that they get enough.

The Lighthouse Project

We have some friends who know we are planning to adopt and, thinking of us, they kindly stuck a newspaper ad in our Christmas card for The Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project.

This program takes school aged orphans (7-15 years old) and sends them on vacation to America for 10 days. They attend Vacation Bible School and do other fun things. They stay with a host family and get to experience some family life too.
The goal is not only for these kids to have a great time and wonderful experience, but also to be adopted into a family.

We are applying. Eep!

So we're sending in our application today, and if we are accepted, there will be a little guest in our home from March 23 to April 2, 2007. Hopefully everthing will go well, and after he goes home, we'll take steps to adopt him and bring him back to us.

How does this differ from a normal Russian adoption:
- In a normal international adoption, you get your homestudy, send your paperwork to whatever country, and then they match you with a child. The waiting for the match is the long wait part. It takes months or sometimes years to get a referral for a child. With the hosting program, you already know the child you are adopting, so that step is skipped, and you just have to wait for a court date to make the adoption official.
- You only have to travel once to Russia. In a typical Russian adoption, you go to Russia the first time to meet your child and accept the referral. Then you go home and wait for a court date (could be months) and go back to Russia for court and to bring your child home. Since we already have met our child, we only have to go on the second trip. This could save $3-4K in travel costs.
- You can really meet the child you are adopting. When you visit an orphanage in Russia, you may have only a few hours or days to play with your child and then decide whether you want to adopt or not. The Lighthouse Project is only 10 days, but there are other hosting programs that last 4-6 weeks, and your family can really see if this child will fit well with you.
- The children are older. Well, that's not really a difference, since you can adopt older children without doing a hosting program. However, after orphans get past toddler age, their chances of being adopted drop dramatically. This hosting program gives familes an option to 'try out' an older child adoption even if they were not previously considering it. (like us)


So, wow. When Brent looked at the ad and said he thought it was a cool idea, my head just started swimming. There is soooo much I want to do to prepare, and only three months before it happens. Not to mention the mini homestudy which we are so not ready for. Yikes.
I am pretty freaked out.
I also want to jump up and down from excitement.

And one more thing - speaking of adoption, everyone should go over to Three Sons and A Princess and congratulate Jennefer who is finally bringing her little princess home as I type! After two years it's finally happened for her! Yay!!!