Happy Memorial Day!

Well, still.....no 100% confirmed date (albeit we are told that the 15th is still our tentative slot). Waiting on the letter from the MOE confirming that Zachary is off the database. Hopefully, I'll hear news in a matter of days. Apparently, it is not just us, and there are some other families in the same boat. But, I REALLY want to make our travel arrangements NOW. Good news is the visas are done and back in our hands safe and sound, and I got the room painted, and had the window blind person out. Then, got lots of clothes so the closet is starting to get filled up. So, it is coming along. Now, anxiously awaiting the bedding, the dresser, the shade to be done...and most of all anxiously awaiting our 100% confirmed court date (did I mention that already?).

Still Tentative - Working On The Room

Well, unfortunately no news. I learned today that some VIP named Olga is gone until May 29th. That means we may not get our official, set in stone, date until then or after. Bummer! But, at least I know the hold up is not something else. Status of events. Met with Dr. Kuhl who is a pediatrician who adopted from Russia herself. My friend (also Mike's cousin) Lori kindly recommended her. Thanks Lori! (saved me the time in doing the research myself which we all know is not a hot commodity these days)

She very kindly answered my in depth questions for me at no charge. How nice! Anyway, so now I am armed with what to feed him, and what to do under every possible scenario that I posed to her (what if he has a cold, gets the flu, has a temperature, screams on the plane, has bathroom challenges, has the nasty congestion in his lungs that he had when we last saw him, etc.). And, trying to be as optimistic as possible, I even made Misha aka Zachary an appointment for July 5th. Let's hope he is here for it!!!! (I don't want to subject him to that soon, but we'll get some xrays and blood work to make sure we get him healthy as possible at the soonest possible date).

Made the appointment for the curtain, came home from work for it at lunch, and she "no showed." Gotta love it :) Tomorrow, the painter is going to meet me, and on Friday the person for the window shade/blinds will be here. So, with any luck, the room with tranform very quickly. Got our visas out, tracked them this morning, and they were in San Francisco. Hopefully, I filled out the applications fine and they will be back and properly updated by Saturday (IN THE RIGHT NAME THIS TIME SO I DON'T THINK THEY ARE NOT LETTING ME IN MOSCOW, LIKE ON TRIP #1).

I CANNOT believe that it is only days away from June. While it seems like an eternity now to go get him, if June 15th is still the day, by next week we can say we will have "our son" this month :) Hopefully, good news to follow.

Still Tentative - But Could Be 25 Day Countdown

Well, we have been trying to occupy our time by making everyone sit through our 2 hour video. Our friends and family are very tolerant. Thanks everyone! Not that they don't think he's cute. It is just long. I can recite it word for word now. I am sooooo excited to see Zachary in a matter of weeks. We have to get our visa applications out in overnight mail on Tuesday, and hope that our court date gets set in stone this week. Of course, of all the documents to find, I cannot locate our last visa applications. Not a huge deal, but that means time I have to spend looking up university addresses, etc. Well, we have almost all of the basics bought. Over the weekend, we got the stroller, the high chair, and I finally picked out the bedding. I had Susan, who I always look to for decorating ideas come and give me the "thumbs up" prior to me ordering the bedding. Thanks Susan! I'm excited, but it will not be ready for 3 weeks (that would be about a day or two before having to leave for court). The changing table won't get here for about 6 more weeks. So, while underway, no proof of my work by looking at the room. But, I've expanded on Zachary's wardrobe so am starting to feel like we are looking good there. All that is the fun stuff. Then, I seriously thought the paperchase was over. But, no :( There is a list of items to get together for the final trip. Nothing too bad, though. So, my goals for this week are:
-visas
-if court date set, travel arrangements
-get a hold of a painter to paint Zachary's room
-make an appointment with a window treatment person and get a blind/curtain for Zachary's window
-get embassy paperwork underway
-get gifts for Russian contacts bought-
-And, since I've lost the workout bug, fitting that back into the lifestyle :)

Well, we're holding tight for our hopeful confirming and great news. In the meantime, for a laugh, see how far I have to come on the room? We've got a LONG way to go in very little time.

WE HAVE A TENTATIVE COURT DATE!!

Well everybody....the moment I have been waiting for: WE HAVE A COURT DATE! My U.S. coordinator says that this is subject to getting the appropriate letter confirming that Zachary is off of the Russian database. And, as soon as we get that, we should get our information to order our visas and make our travel arrangements. It is a little later than hoped, but that is okay. We have the date, and that is what is most important. More to follow. Yeah!!!!!!

The Waiting Game

Well, hopefully we will hear something this week on an established court date. I have learned that 2 families that went to meet their referral the week before us have their court dates now set for May 30th and June 1st. With any luck, we can be the following Tuesday or Thursday. Even though I'm anxious, I did the math - not very long and lots to do! We have a room ready for a big boy (Anton); not for a 1 year old. So, we have to scramble to get lined up with clothes, shoes, diapers, high chair, stroller, car seat, safety gates, etc. An excited Grandma had a pack & play on my doorstep only days after returning from Moscow. (thank you mom!) So, that's done. We have the crib, are waiting on the dresser/changing table, and I have ordered the bedding. Next week, hopefully we will be painting the room and getting curtains. I am so excited because 3 families from the summer program (who have happy endings unlike Mike and I) are scheduled to be in Moscow around the time I am projected to be. But, right now Mike and I have mixed reviews on what to do we should have our date and/or be waiting out our 10 days. I do not want to leave the baby again. Mike does not want to leave me and the baby by ourself in Moscow. We'll see? Anyway, passing time. Hopefully, good news to follow.....

Our Application To Adopt

Needless to say, we accepted our referral. I wish I could get on a plane now and go back to the orphanage and see him now! To officially move forward, we have to file an application to adopt. We will also need powers of attorney down the road so Mike can come back and work and I can deal with the paperwork and bring Zachary home. This is the point where we HAVE to pick the name. I wanted Mikhail as that is his birthname. Michael wanted Michael. I then thought about Russian tradition (middle name after the father), and we then decided on Zachary Michael. Got our application to adopt filled out and had a courier go get it apostilled (learned about this great courier who can make the trip to Lansing for us and we don't have to take off work or wait in lines). A family was traveling to Moscow yesterday, and should have our application delivered to the Russian coordinators today. Hopefully, it will get filed first of the week. We have been told that there is a possibility we will know our court date by the end of the week. I am SOOOOOOO hoping that this is true. I will feel so much better with a date set in place. Zachary's birthday was Friday (May 12th). I thought about him all day and wished I could have made his 1st birthday special for him. But, we are trying to bring you home Zachary, and will have a 1st birthday with you when we see you. Then, today is Mother's Day. Funny, when we started this whole process I was hoping to be a mom by last December. That did not happen and I have had my heart broken along the way. We hosted a 10 year old boy for 6 weeks and wanted so much to adopt him. I had a bad feeling about the situation because after being in the reaccreditation nightmare, our boy was taken in by a patronat family. This means he was no longer at the orphanage and was placed with a foster-type family. I turned to Zachary as one last ditch effort to make adoption work. After finding out about our DOE appointment, we learned from another host mother that indeed, the patronat situation means he is not adoptable. This would have been devastating to me if I had not turned to Zachary. The phrase everything happens for a reason seems to have deep meaning. We are happy that Anton has found a family. So, hopefully next Mother's Day will finally by my day. So, I will TRY to be patient through the week. But, I'm praying hard for a court date.

The Rest of The Trip

The rest of our visits with soon to be Zachary were even more amazing. On the second day, he came right to us and we were asked to take him outside for our visit. We walked him in a buggy, walked and played. He is nearly walking, but really likes to dance. We got him saying "da." Could be dad? Could be yes in Russian? I like to think it's Dad. I again try to share him with Mike. But, at this point, I LOVE this little one and it's hard to share. Video footage reveals this. It's all baby and me, but for a couple minutes. Sorry Mike :) Day Three was my birthday. What a great birthday present. First we toured the Kremlin. Here's some tourist pictures. Then, off to Baby Home #3. The last day, we got him to laugh out loud, crawl, and he smiles so big when you kiss him. This little boy is so precious. I am so anxious to get him home with us and kiss and hug him all day! I was not looking forward to our goodbye. But, I was strong for the goodbye at the orphanage. The ride back on the airplane, however, it caught up with me. I hope the time until we see him again is only weeks, as anticipated. We love that little boy.

Meeting Our Son

After we left the DOE, we were off to the orphanage. After meeting the Medical Director, we are put in the special occassion rooms and are told that they are getting our baby. Here is us waiting. Our meeting with him was amazing. He came right to me, grabbed my coat, and just looked at Mike and I again and again. He looks like us. Big brown eyes (like me) and hair color like Mike's hair. I had him during the whole time that we asked questions about his birth information and medical history. Even though this is really important information, I want to pay attention to the baby. Our video is quite humourous of me asking very important questions, and then talking/playing with the baby. I try to share him with Mike, but....easier said than done. After we are done asking questions, we are told we can visit until 2:00 pm. I got him some stackable cups which went to the mouth instantly. After walking and playing, the baby attempts to keep his eyes open for our photo and play and cuddling sessions, but is losing the battle. We decide that he has had an overwhelming day so we reluctantly give him back early because he was falling asleep. Mike and I go out to dinner and discuss names: Zachary for sure on the first name, Michael or Mikhail for the middle name. And, we wait with anticipation to go back and see him the next day.

Trip #1 - The DOE Meeting

Okay, back to our trip...That was Day 1 - Wednesday. Day 2 - Thursday went perfect but for breakfast! We got up, and I ordered room service for breakfast before our big day. As Mike and I have breakfast, and I ask him to do the conversion for 2800 rubels that I had signed for the bill, I learned I just spent over $100 on breakfast. Yikes! (That didn't happen again) After that, we met the driver in the hotel lobby, and off we went for our appointment with the DOE. We understand this meeting is to get an official referral and authorization to go to the orphanage to meet our referral. We are taken to a parking lot and are introduced to somebody else, but we cannot understand the introduction (as the driver nor her speak English). We wait a few minutes, and the translator arrives. We now understand that we have met our coordinator. We are off. Things could not have went better. Walk in, I say "Dobre Ootra" (good morning in Russian), Inspector joked on how long did I practice, he looked at our passports, and signed the form. Wow! That was easy. We sign some documents, and off to Baby House #3 we go to meet our son.

Getting To Moscow

Our trip there was long. No getting around it. We both worked half day, got on a 6 pm flight. We connected through Germany, and get to Moscow in the afternoon the following day. Here's our view of the planes in Frankfurt. As we get to customs in Moscow, they flag Mike right through. Me? Well, they look at my picture. According to Mike, my photo looks like a girl on some picture in the booth. Then, 4 or 5 people come and look, the guy waves me back. I cannot figure if he means stay or go back behind the line. I stay. I have no clue what the hold up is, and start to panic. 5-6 people go. Finally, I get flagged through. I was told as I re-entered the U.S. that the visa listed my maiden name, not my married name. Anyway, find our driver with the "Armstrongs" sign, and were off to the hotel. We get there, check in, our driver was wonderful and made sure that we could understand the whole process. He reiterates, our big day is tomorrow and a driver who does not understand English will pick us up in the morning for a 9:45 meeting. We are told to meet in the lobby in the a.m. Mike and I get to the room, get our romance package welcome, and await the countdown for the morning. I call home and ask questions I have already asked a million times - what to do? wear? say? how to act? I try to remain calm, but obviously I was not.