Adopting Sasha - The Journey 2009

Long Day

Today was our day to visit the clinic for our medical exams. Quite interesting. The building was old, and very outdated compared to what we are use to in America. However, we have not had any unpleasant experiences with anyone we have had to deal with here.  Other than the culture shock the first day it's been a good trip. My eyes have definitely been opened to how good we have it in America. Other than the fact that it is a beautiful city with lots of rivers and canals and incredible architecture, it's very gloomy in many ways.

We had to fast this morning for our Doctor visits...blood drawn, chest xray, EKG, dermatology/oncology/neurology/psychology/infectious disease evaluations....took about 3 hours, no waits, very quick and smooth. Other than the humiliation of being topless for 4 doctors, one translator and my husband....no real complaints.  The lady with the needle was really good...that was my biggest fear of all.  I survived!  The funny part was the psychologist grilled Kevin and only asked me one simple question...what's that tell you?

After our clinic visit, we went and had documents notarized.  We have "Officially" signed the petition for adoption that will go to the Russian court.  Yay!!!

We discussed the potential dates for returning to Russia for court and it will take a lot of prayer to get back before mid January :(  If we don't get a court date before Dec.30th then we won't be able to come back until after Jan 10th because the judge will be off for the holidays.  They don't celebrate Christmas on the 25th, but they celebrate New Year's and Christmas on Jan 7th.  Please pray for speed!!!

We weren't able to visit the orphanage today so after our adoption stuff was completed we took a bus tour of the city of St. Petersburg.  It was a great way to see the highlights of the city without having to walk in the cold damp weather.  It was an audio tour in 8 different languages and we rode on the top floor of the double decker bus so we could see all of the sights really good. This is a great way to see everything especially if you don't care about stopping and touring every spot.  However, you can hop on and hop off if you'd like with an all day pass to ride....real reasonable too, only 350 rubles per person($12.50US).

After the bus tour we enjoyed a delicious dinner at McDonald's! My biggest complaint of Russia is that I have not had a good meal yet.  That's real important to me:) The McDonlad's was packed with Russians because they don't like their food either...lol. No really, it was packed.  We had to sit with another young couple who made out in front of us...for real. I started to kiss Kevin passionately in front of them too, but the smell of the Big Mac on his breath turned me off.  No kidding, we had no where to sit and so I tried to ask this young girl if we could sit at her table...I think she may have actually said 'no', but I pretended I did not understand...well, I really didn't quite understand. But we ate really fast and high tailed it out of there.  Nice experience!

So now we are back in our box...laying on the bed because that's all we have to sit on...and we are watching Russian video channel.

Tomorrow morning we are visiting the Hermitage with Oksana, our translator if it's not raining or snowing.  After that we head to the orphanage to see our baby boy perform in a play....awwww! Oh yes I will be videoing every bit of it. We will be visiting him tomorrow and Sunday before we leave on Monday. Layover in Amsterdam Monday night and home on Tuesday evening.

I miss my baby girl really bad and can't wait to get home.  Perfect time for Thanksgiving after being here and experiencing the depression and sadness of Sasha's little life and past. I have so very much to be thankful for...I have the greatest family and friends! More than that I have an awesome God that has brought me on this incredible journey.  I thought I was changing the life of one little orphan boy but little did I know it was my life that was being changed the most!!! Thank you sweet Jesus!

Trip #1, Days 1-4

We left for Russia on Monday night, the 16th of November.  We got very lucky and were able to get exit row seats, flight was on time and luggage made it all the way to St. Pete. Yay!!

St Pete airport was a little freaky because we had no translator to get us through Customs, but we made it.  Amazingly enough, as we were exiting the plane we met a lady from Georgia who was coming to meet her husband who works here and she was familiar with the customs process so she helped us out....God even handles the little details of our lives too:)

Oksana was there waiting for us at baggage claim and Sergei pulled right up and loaded our luggage and then we were off to our Hotel.  Oksana came in with us and made sure that the hotel got our visas registered and walked us to our room. She gave us our plans for the following day and prepared us for what to expect from the Adoption Committee meeting.  Oksana is a great translator, speaks very good English and is very thorough with her explanations. My only complaint for Sergei and Oksana is that they think my Russian/Georgia accent is humerous.....Sasha appreciates my efforts.

Now as far as our hotel goes....let's just say pictures on the internet are deceiving. I will be adding the Comfort Hotel to my list of things "Not to do in Russia". However, I am adjusting and the people are super helpful and speak good English. If I get a chance I will take a picture of the "Free" breakfast that I don't eat every morning.  You've gotta see the sausage and omelettes....and I am going to leave the porridge for the 3 little bears:)

Wednesday was our first whole day here.  We met with the committee...which consist of one lady at her desk in a little office with a computer.  She read us all of the information that she had for Sasha in the Russian database....basically name, birthdate, parents names and ages, when parental rights were removed, which orphanages he has been in and his health history. We were told not to ask any questions, sign the papers where they asked and say yes to the Russian pronunciation of our legal names.  Took about 15 minutes at the most.  This visit gave us permission to visit Sasha at the orphanage.

We left the committee and went directly to the orphanage. I was so excited to see Sasha and couldn't wait to see his expression when he saw us. I think he was actually told we were coming this week, but I don't think he knew exactly what day.  Needless to say the reunion was priceless!

We went to the Social Workers office, Zanaida, another great lady.  She was able to give us more info in regards to Sasha's past.  I had a feeling that Sasha had lived in an orphanage his whole life but the confirmation of the details were sad to hear.  Zanaida said that at 6 mos old Sasha got very sick and his parents took him to the hospital and never came back. Can you even imagine that? His parents still live in St Petersburg. She also said he has never known any of his relatives and they only have record of a paternal grandmother in St Petersburg. 

We visited for a couple of hours yesterday and today Nina, the adoption coordinator picked us up at 11am and we went back for a second visit for a couple of hours. I hate saying goodbye after our visits and I know Sunday when we see him for the last time this trip it's going to be extra hard leaving him....once again. I'll just hang on to the hope that we will all be together really soon, forever!

The visits have been very sweet and I have been trying to take lots of pictures so I can create a scrapbook for Sasha to have for years to come.  We have gotten to visit with alot of other children too and today while we were there one of the teachers asked Kevin and I to speak to her class in English...that was kinda cool and they had lots of questions about America.  Several of them said they really wanted to come to America for a visit.  The sad part is that most of the kids will never get the chance of seeing America or Adoption because these particular children were ages 13-16 and most will be picked over when people adopt.  Such a sad reality...Please pray for the children in the orphanage that want a family so desperately. We told them that maybe we can come back again next month when we come back for court and speak to them again.

So today we had a pretty short day with Sasha and when we got back to the hotel with took naps.  If any of you have been keeping up with us on Facebook, then you may know that we have not been able to sleep much at night...last night we slept from 10pm - 3pm then wide awake the rest of the time...In fact I think we instant messaged several people at 5am. 

Tonight we are going to try to get a full nights sleep because we have to be out of the hotel at 7am to go to a clinic for medical exams....blood drawn, chest xrays, ekg, etc...I'm scared to death of needles, so pray for me. 

Tonight we actually ventured a few blocks away to an area called Nevsky Prospect...huge shopping area in the center of town.  It was alot of fun seeing the sights. It's about 30 degrees here but the shops we went into were about 130 degrees...I don't know how they can stand it. Kevin said we had to go back to the room when I threatened to start undressing in the last shop.

Well that's all I can think of right now....need to update more frequently so not to be too long, but we've been busy and when we get back to the room my mind is mushy.  I'll try to keep up moving forward.

Keep the prayers coming!!

Trip #1

Today's the day!  We leave for St. Petersburg, Russia today.  Who in the world could have ever predicted this southern girl would be going to Russia.....I can't even roll my 'r's.

Seriously, this journey is not something I could have ever imagined. My life is being transformed from the inside out! God has done and continues to do an amazing work in and through my life. Although there have been many days along the way that I thought I can't do this, the bottom line is that I want to be obedient to God's call on my life. You know, sometimes obedience is tough and my flesh wants to take the easy route. In fact, sometimes it's down right scary to say "God, I want your will for my life....whatever it takes." but deep down that is all I really want....the un-known is very scary.

I had no trouble getting out of the bed today....the emotions woke me at 5am.  Excitement, Fear, Anxiety, Joy, Giddiness, Sadness to leave my baby girl, etc...please pray for us as we travel into this great big 'unknown'. Pray for our whole family. Especially today, pray for Allison.  She is sad for us to leave and be so far away. Pray especially for Allison in regards to how this journey will change her life. It is going to be hard and great all at the same time. Pray she will embrace her new role as a big sister. Pray she will not feel jealous or left out, but that she will feel this is as much a calling from God for her life as it is for ours.  I know the things God is going to teach us through this will make us all better people. This adoption is going to change us more than it will change Sasha, I'm sure.

This is the first trip of the final adoption process.  This week we will meet with the Adoption Committee in St. Pete, the orphanage director and have medical exams(joy). We will have alot of time to visit with Sasha at the orphanage and with any luck, maybe take him out of the orphanage for a little bit.

The next trip will be for court and should be before the end of the year. Then there is typically a third trip to bring him home, which is a couple of weeks after court.  We are praying that the judge would show favor and waive the 3rd trip and let us bring him home on the next trip. As excited as I am to go and see him this week, I am already dreading another goodbye.

Well, enough for now....I will do my best to keep you all updated throughout the week.  You all have been so sweet to take this ride with us...you're probably car sick by now:)

Hang on...Just a little bit further, we need you!

XOXO

~Angie

Pinch Me!!!!!!!!

Finally!! Monday November 2nd, we got the news.  We are scheduled to be in St. Petersburg, Russia on Wednesday, November the 18th for our meeting with the Adoption Committee.

We are frantically rushing to get 4 more documents done....notarized, apostilled and delivered to a family that is going to Russia on Sunday. We also are getting our visas and travel arrangements made as to get the best rates due to the short notice to travel.  Pray for all of that to go smoothly.

I cannot believe we are really going to Russia!  I have been so anxious to get this news and now that it's real, I'm freaking out!!  Now what??? Oh my goodness, we really are going to do this! God didn't shut the door and the time has come....we ARE adopting!  Oh good, oh no.  Can I do this? You can imagine the flood of emotions that I am experiencing right now. Deep down under the flutter in my gut I know I can do this and that everything will be ok because this is God's plan and he will not forsake me or leave me. Dt 31:8 "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

This of course will be the first trip and the second trip will be for our court date.  That should be sometime in December, I would imagine. 

I will definitely take lots of pictures and send lots of Facebook updates while we are there. It's going to be freezing cold in Russia and I have no idea what to pack.....so I better be going now!  Talk to you soon:)

No News to Report

Another week came and went, and no news to report in regards to a travel date.  I have been so blue.  I went to bed on Thursday night thinking "how can I go through another weekend of waiting" ?

Friday came and went and I cried......."Why"?

I decided that I should probably call Sasha and at least let him know that we didn't have anything to tell him, but that we were still working on getting to Russia and bringing him home forever. Praise the Lord, we were able to get him on the phone and he was his usual happy little self.  He asked who was making us wait and for lack of a good answer we just told him the Governor....I don't even know if they have governors in Russia:)  He seemed to be ok with that answer and quickly changed the subject to tell us to bring him lots of toys and surprises when we come. haha..

We had to cut the call kinda short because it was his dinner time and they were making him get off the phone but he asked that I call him again the next day because he had something to tell me. I have such a sweet Russian friend who translates for me,Irina and she said it would be fine to call again at the same time on Sunday. This morning we called again and were once again lucky to get him on the phone.  So what he needed to tell me was that on his way home from America this summer while changing planes he lost his backpack. I was so upset to hear that....mainly because we had made him a huge photo album to take back to have at the orphanage to remind him of his summer vacation with us. Not only was the album in there, but also his medicines, snacks, toys, letters.  The saddest part is that it has been almost 3 months and he was just telling me this, I guess for fear that I would be mad....poor fella. Well thank the Lord for technology, I have all of the photos on the computer and I can easily remake the album!

Anyway, one last funny for you and I'll be through......as we were finishing our phone call, once again he was heading to dinner and he was telling Kevin that the food there was yucky. (He didn't realize it was yucky until he came back from America) As he was telling Kevin "I love you" and "goodbye", he said "Papa, when you come to see me can you bring me a #3 from McDonalds?"....oh that silly boy!  I doubt he even remembers what a #3 is:)

Pray we get a travel date this week. 

October 19,2009

Well here it is the end of October and we are still waiting!  Shortly after Sasha went home this Summer our agency lost their accreditation and that put a huge stall in our process.  After 3 to 4 weeks of waiting to see what we were going to have to do we finally found out that we would have to transfer to another agency to complete the adoption.  We have been so happy with the change but of course it has presented it's own set of delays and extra expenses.

We have talked to Sasha about 3 times since his Summer visit and he has spent some more time in the hospital since he has been home too.  We are so anxious to bring him home for good and get him healthy. He is so excited to come back and just squeals on the phone when we talk about the time being near. 

We are anticipating to hear from the Russian Adoption Committee this week for our first travel date.  Hopefully we will get to travel within the next few weeks.  After the initial trip we wait for a court date and then we will return for a second time. Typically, the entire process requires 3 trips but we are praying that the judge will have favor on us because of Sasha's illness and allow us to bring him home on the second trip.

We ask that you please keep us in your prayers and that we will travel soon and that we will get the 3rd trip waived.  An additional trip would cost us several extra thousand dollars and it would be so awesome if we could save that money because Sasha will have to spend 3 weeks at Scottish Rite shortly after his return home for post adoption medical treatment and complete diagnosis for his Cystic Fibrosis......Please pray!

OH!!! I almost forgot to tell you.....we got USCIS approval!!!!  Huge Huge Huge Praise to God!!!!! :)  :)  :)

Sad, Sad Day.

Well Sasha had to go back to Russia yesterday and it was much rougher than I expected.  The little fella cried and hugged my neck so hard.  It broke my heart to see him cry and melted my heart to hear him snuff out "I love you, Mama" in English.  He learned quite a few words while he was here and even translated a little for his friends at the airport...so cute:)

The next step is to get USCIS approval and finish the docs for our dossier so we can take our first trip to Russia....hopefully in September.

To be honest with you, the six weeks were much harder than I expected.  I wasn't prepared physically for the high level of energy and I was definitely not prepared mentally for the adjustment to our house rules :)  There was alot more defiance than I was expecting but every week into the visit got easier and easier as we stayed consistent to discipline and love. I'm sure alot was testing to see if we could be trusted to stay true to him.  We passed!!

I know we will have a lot more to get through when he comes back, but I feel we made huge progress and the foundation has been started. I have to keep reminding myself of the life this little guy has had and what we are dealing with. I know I will never fully understand all that he has endured.  Our trip over to the orphanage will be eye opening I'm sure.

The nights when I fell into bed so totally exhausted I would pray "God, are you sure this is what you want ME to do?"  I thought for sure I had misunderstood somewhere along the way.  Everywhere I turn I am reminded that this is not about me....I didn't choose this journey to grow my family or to fulfill some crazy desire for more children...God chose me to care for the orphans (he even sent me the one he wanted me to care for, how much clearer does it get, duh.)and this is entirely about being obedient to God's calling on my life.  At the moment I am very content with that calling....but please don't stop praying because there will still be days when my flesh wants to give up and the enemy tries to make me fall down and be defeated.

Thank you to everyone that has prayed for us!

So Funny:)

I was riding in the car tonight with the translator, Ksenia and Sasha and the subject of adoption came up.  Sasha told the translator that he has not seen me 'preparing the documents' at the house and wants to know why not.  We have not really come right out and told him we are adopting, but he's very wise and has let it be known that he wants to be a part of our family.  I told him that I have been working on the documents but that we are waiting for Russia to tell us if we can or not.  Then he proceeds to tell the translator that he will write a letter to the President of Russia and that I should write a letter too.  Awww! Too cute and precious!

The real truth is we are working on documents and at the moment we are waiting for final approval from USCIS to adopt internationally. We have an appointment on the 14th for a second round of fingerprinting.  We will be taking Sasha with us and hopefully he will charm the man in charge:)

Please pray for this next step as it has been the major hold up so far.

Summer 2009 with Sasha

Thursday night, June 25th Sasha arrived to spend 40 days with us. The adoption is moving along....slowly, so we decided to host him through "New Horizons For Children" hosting program.  It has been so great to see him again and have him here with us in our home.  This time will give us the opportunity to bond a little, learn some english, and lay down some foundational rules and set some expectations....for all of us:)  

He has been so excited to be here and told the translator on the way home from the airport that he wanted to stay forever.....melted my heart. We are having alot of fun...we've been to Stone Mountain, lots of swimming, a BIG birthday party for his 10th birthday, Arts and Crafts class, Freedom Fest for the 4th of July, the lake, JumpZone and bowling tomorrow.

It is so fun to see him do things for the first time in his life.....the things we take for granted.

On July 2 we took Sasha to see a Cystic Fibrosis Specialist and he was a little champ.  The doctor was so awesome.  He was so warm and compassionate and spent a huge amount of time with us.  I am so thankful we found him.  He did a chest xray, and a few breathing tests on Sasha and is almost positive that he does have CF.  He wants us to bring him in one more time before he leaves to go back to Russia and he wants us to come to the CF clinic so he can do some further testing and start Sasha on some additional meds. He feels pretty confident that some of the damage to his lungs and other organs can be corrected with proper diet and consistent healthcare and medications. 

We have 28 days left with Sasha before he has to go home and I am already dreading saying goodbye again.  He said last night at dinner, "Allison, Papa Russia - Sasha, Mama America"  such a little jokester.....it makes my heart smile to know he really wants to stay here with us. I cannot wait for the day that we get to confirm to him that we are bringing him home to America FOREVER!

Keep praying!! We are hoping to travel to Russia around the 1st of September and then again for a final trip to bring Sasha home by Thanksgiving.  

20 Days 'til Little Man Gets Here

Sasha will be here June 25th - August 4th with the hosting group through New Horizons for Children.  I am so excited to see him!!  I have been working on his bedroom and scheduling appointments for him to see a Cystic Fibrosis specialist, have his teeth cleaned and get a haircut.  We have lots of fun things on the calendar to do with him while he's here......We're going to take him fishing, to the lake to ride on the boat and waverunner, Stone Mountain Park, the Aquarium and lots of new things he's never experienced.  He turned 10 on May 24th and we promised to have a birthday party when he got here too.

I talked to him on the phone on his birthday and he wanted to know what day he gets to Atlanta. I told him we will pick him up at the airport on June 25th. He asked me if he gets to stay forever this time.  Unfortunately he has to go back for a little while longer.  This process has been so frustrating and long. It's so sad when he ask things like that and I can't give him an answer...we are truly at the mercy of the Adoption Atty and the Russian govt...and they are in no hurry.  We are hopeful to travel at the end of August to Russia for our first trip and then back for court sometime around October or November.

Please pray for things to be smooth and quick and for Sasha to be emotionally ready for all that is about to change in his little life.