Finding Malibu: Happy New Year!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of you, and best wishes for a great 2009. Thank you to all of you for your support and friendship throughout the craziness of 2008, and my very best thoughts and prayers and thankfulness to those of you who have shared your journeys with me throughout the last year. To those of you who brought your kiddos home this year, my prayers for a very happy 2009 together and houses full of laughter, joy, and blessings. To those of us who are still waiting and for whom 2009 is going to be "the year", I ask for God to stay close to us on this journey, giving us encouragement and peace and the reminders day to day that this is going to happen for us. My love to all of you!

3 comments:

Craig and Phyllis said...: Glad to see that you have made it back to your blog again! I've missed you! Waiting to hear more updates and we will be praying for you and your family that the wait will not be prolonged.; January 1, 2009 at 7:24 PM
Becky and Keith said...: Happy New Year! May 2009 be THE year for you!!! :-); January 1, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Mama Fish said...: I enjoyed reading all about your time in NY, and I will be absolutely cheering you on in 2009! Thank you very much for all of your kind comments and prayers for us. They have meant so much to me! I agree with Becky- I hope you receive a referral very soon in 2009!; January 1, 2009 at 9:16 PM

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Adoption Timeline

Dec 27, 2010------HOME 1 YEAR!
Oct 17, 2010------K's 2nd Birthday (the first one with us)!
Jan 17, 2010------K's 15 month birthday

Dec 27, 2009-----Finally HOME with baby K

Dec 24, 2009-----To Moscow and to the US Embassy

Dec 23, 2009-----Pick up baby K from the detskii dom in Kaluga--she's ours forever!

Dec 23, 2009-----Finally arrive in Moscow EARLY in the morning

Dec 19, 2009-----Leave (try #1) for Russia with Auntie Susan

Dec 14, 2009-----Final Exams at MSU and Drury

Dec 9, 2009------Leave for home

Dec 8, 2009------Court Date in Kaluga---10:00 am. The nice Judge said YES!

Dec 6, 2009------See baby K again for first time in month and a half

Dec 4, 2009------Leave for Trip 2 to Kaluga

Nov 17, 2009-----Travel dates for Court in Kaluga!

Nov 5, 2009------Last payment to CSS :-)

Nov 3, 2009------Pick up and apostille the notarized copy of Homestudy Agency's new license and Fed Ex to CSS

Nov, 2, 2009-----Homestudy Agency emailed scan of Homestudy Agency's Updated License to Kaluga

Oct 17, 2009-----Baby K's First Birthday

Oct 14, 2009-----Police background checks and updated dossier documents mailed to agency

Oct 7, 2009------Steve's Birthday AND 70th Birthday of the Baby Home in Kaluga

Sept 29, 2009----Petition to adopt baby K notarized, apostilled, and Fed Exed to agency--ALSO, as of today, we've officially been pursuing this adoption for 4 YEARS!

Sept 20, 2009---Our first meeting with baby K

Sep 17-26, 2009--Travel to Russia to meet baby K

Aug 11, 2009----FBI fingerprints taken and mailed

Aug 7, 2009-----Visa applications mailed

July 28, 2009---Travel dates to visit baby K in Kaluga

mid July 2009---Dossier registered in Kaluga region

July 6, 2009---- Dossier pulled from Tula region

Apr 9, 2009-----Dossier registered in Tula region

Feb 24, 2009----Dossier #2 in Russia

Feb 20, 2009----Homeland Security fingerprints renewed

Feb 13, 2009----Dossier #2 apostilled

Feb 11, 2009----Dossier #2 to notary

Feb 6, 2009-----Homestudy #2 finished

Nov 21, 2008----Physicals for homestudy #2

Nov 7, 2008-----Fingerprints done for homestudy #2

Nov 4, 2008-----Homestudy visit with social worker

Oct 21, 2008----Contract signed with CSS

Sept 26, 2008---Received paperwork from CSS

Sept 17, 2008---Visited Dr. and diagnosed with shingles, received call from CHI that Izhevsk is "closed"

Sept 10, 2008---First call to CSS

Aug, 2008------CHI guidelines for correspondence with regions "changed" but no clear communication as to how or what this will mean for us. Follow-up call to agency gives us very different information than just 3 months previously

July 18, 2008---CHI denied Hague Status

May 27, 2008---Visited in CHI office, bad vibes, representative had "lost our file"

Early Feb 2008--Assigned to Izhevsk region

Jan 25, 2008---Dossier #1 Apostilled

Dec 24, 2007---Received Homeland Security Approval

Dec 21, 2007---CHI reaccredited to work in Russia

Dec 13, 2007---First trip to Homeland Security, first set of fingerprints for Homeland Security

Oct 25, 2007---Homestudy finished

Aug 10, 2007---First set of fingerprints for adoption

July 31, 2007---First physicals for adoption

July 5, 2007----Homestudy biographies finished

July 2007------First agencies reaccredited to work in Russia

April 2007-----Began to work on homestudy

July 2006-Spring 2007--International adoptions from Russia basically shut down during this period, while we were also attempting to get settled and moved-in. This was the "black night of the soul" period for me

June 2006-----Moved

Early 2006-----Attempted to straighten out the miscommunication with CHI, began the process of paperwork for homestudy, but then learned around March that we were to be moving in June. Agency advised us to wait until after we were settled in new home to begin the homestudy

Dec 2, 2005-----Applied for new passports

Nov 30, 2005---Contract signed with CHI

Nov 21, 2005----Initial phone conversation with CHI representative (mistakenly told to pursue our I-600 first before the homestudy)

Nov 10, 2005----Approved by CHI

Sept 29, 2005----Initial Application to CHI

Finding Malibu

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!

3 comments:

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The Time in Kaluga

Kaluga

K's File Picture

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Trip One--11 Months

Trip Two--13 Months

Trip Three--14 Months

15 Months

20 Months

2 Years

30 Months (2.5)

3 Years

3.5 Years

4 Years

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