Not today

Another week has passed and no court date.   Usually the judge gives about 1 weeks notice and wants people there between 7 and 4 days before court.  And, with her vacation coming up on 7/30 that means there's only a few days left to get a date - maybe a week.   If I don't get one, then I'll have to get busy re-doing documents so that they're not expired upon her return in September.   

It's good to see the pictures of the girls playing in the yard and the good reports from Carla regarding the care Nicholas received there.  I want to get them out of there now but I don't think they are doing badly.  They don't know what they're missing but, every day they're there, they fall a little further behind emotionally,  physically and developmentally.  

They've been there 7 months too long already!

Another Day - Not a Word

Tuesday I was asked to re-do one letter.  A simple letter - just remove the notary.  Everything else had been accepted by the judge.  The email said that if I was able to email a color copy of the revised letter that morning than the judge could assign a court date.  I sent the letter.  I figure a day for translation - Wednesday - and a day to deliver and assign the date - Thursday - today.  But, nothing.  It's 9:25 AM Friday in Ekaterinburg - I'm hoping that they assign the date and tomorrow morning I will get the word.  But, everyday I think it's going to be the day.  

In order to make it before the judges vacation,  I have tomorrow and a few days next week to get a date - after that I think it's too late.  Another week I suppose I'll know for sure whether it's this month or next Fall.  It's crazy that this is not handled better.  I can't believe the judge would want to go over all of the documents a second time after they're all renewed.  Just about every document will expire if I don't get there this month so, basically, we'll all be starting over.  It just makes no sense.  I have to believe it will be this month.

CM must be very busy with Nicholas - there have been no postings since the day she picked him up at the orphanage!   They should be in Moscow right now getting to know each other and finalizing his departure.   I can't wait to see pictures of little Nicholas and the many pictures she  took of the girls before leaving the orphanage.

Hoping for tomorrow . . . 

No date but a good day anyway

CM, whose blog idea I'm using, picked up Nicholas today!  She visited Nicholas 1 month before I visited Camryn & Courtney - hopefully, I'm right behind her.  What a day for Carla and Nicholas!  And, Carla visited the girls during her last visit to their orphanage.  She took tons of pictures that I'm waiting to see and she said they were happy and busy playing outside.  They were all smiles!  

Hope to hear something good tomorrow!

Right around the corner

My first adoption blog.  I thought this would be a great way to communicate to everyone who has been following this journey from the beginning and who are interested in hearing the details between now and bringing the girls home.

It's been 7 1/2 months since leaving the twins in Orphanage #8 in Nizhny Tagil, 2 1/2 hours outside of Ekaterinburg.   Since then they've celebrated another Christmas, another Easter, and, another Birthday (4/15/06) without their family.  

 It's been 7 1/2 months of documents, delays, more documents and more delays.   I've always thought that court was right around the corner and feel lucky that today, I still believe that.  I had a scare last week when I heard that we may not receive a court date until the Fall as the judge is leaving for over a month at the end of July. Today I learned that they're still trying to complete our case before she goes and that they have all my documents.  Right around the corner.  Tomorrow I hope to hear - how many times have I said that?   I can't begin to describe how the slightest news elevates or plummets my moods so I'll leave all that alone for now and won't bore you with those details.  Anyone around me knows - and they thought pregnancy created moods!

I don't have any pictures of Nizhny Tagil or Ekaterinburg to post.  I have hundreds of pictures of the twins but can't post them.  I was so focused on meeting the girls and quickly getting home to Katy that I didn't think to look around me while there.  I know there's a beautiful forest between the two cities but to me, it was just more traveling on top of an already grueling trip.   Next time I will take pictures and hopefully they will include Camryn, Courtney and, of course, Katy too.

I have been so lucky to have Katy during this time to keep me busy and to keep me focused.  I have many reasons for wanting to adopt again but one of my reasons is I want Katy to have siblings.  Once meeting the girls, there's no turning back but, at my lowest points I just look at Katy and know how important the girls will be in her life too.  And, it's scary to think of Camryn and Courtney growing up in that environment and what their futures would be.  That keeps me going.  

I can't imagine having to have gone through this torturous wait for the first adoption.  I don't think I would have believed that it would ever happen.  I wouldn't have had this amazing little girl to divert and demand my attention!  She has been such a joy this past year and is growing leaps and bounds.  I have a new Katy story every day that has kept me and everyone around us entertained.   I feel so fortunate to not have gone through this with her adoption.  7 weeks after meeting her, her adoption was finalized in Russia - 7 WEEKS!  What a difference.  

I'll fill in back details later for those who are interested.  I just wanted to get started now so that I'm proficient at this by the time we get back to Russia - which, hopefully, is right around the corner.  But, for now, I'm off to pick-up my little Katy and enjoy our afternoon together.

lh