And we're back...

Christmas was great - full of all the regular traditions and lots of "next year blah, blah, blah". Our family does Christmas in a big way with extended family meals for both Christmas Eve dinner (Dad's family) and Christmas Day lunch (Mom's family), tons of food, tons of presents, our immediate family either Christmas morning or Christmas Eve morning depending on my brother's rotation. Realistically, I know it would have been totally overwhelming for a baby who's not really used to a lot of stimulation (it was exhausting for ME and I've done it just about my whole life!) but she was definitely with us in spirit. A thousand times a day I'd wonder what she was doing (uh...sleeping, you dork, she's 10 hours ahead of us!) and wonder what I'd be doing if she were with us. Hopefully we'll bring her home in the next few weeks and be able to introduce her to our world a little more gradually.

I tried to keep up with a lot of you - I was in the land of dial up so comments were a luxury there was just no time for but I DID read. I loved reading the posts from so many that are celebrating their first Christmas with their children.

The day after Christmas, Mama and I went shopping - for what else?...baby clothes! I know that we shouldn't go overboard because several groups have mentioned that they want to give us a shower in between trips but it's so fun to be able to buy her some things now that I KNOW her. Also, I don't have anything small enough for her to wear very soon. And if we get a court date before we have time for a shower, I want to be ready! Twice, Mama and I picked out a big assortment saying we'd just grab things we liked and then pick from those. I think the way it worked was that I looked at the assortment and picked my favorites and then she grabbed the rest. We should be in pretty good shape except for her feet. I don't think she'll be walking so I'm not terribly worried about walking shoes, but I worry about her feet being warm enough if we're out. Any suggestions?

Signed, sealed, delivered

We picked up our apostilled paperwork, dashed off to make copies and get the originals and a copy in the mail to our agency. We got confirmation that it was delivered and then an email from our case manager saying she had mailed it to our coordinator in the region. We're on our way! Next step court date! What a great Christmas present. I'm taking a poll - how long did you have to wait for your court date after you sent your final paperwork in?

I'm on vacation!

I'm officially on Christmas vacation. Yeah for me! What will we do with this time off? Make a mad 3-hours-one-way dash to pick up our apostilled paperwork, make copies for our agency and get them in overnight mail to our agency. Ho! Ho! Ho! We've really been trying to beat the holiday deadlines - our agency is closed next week and our in-country officials are off Jan. 1 - 10th so we really wanted to get the paperwork to our agency before they close so that they can get it to the in-country coordinators before THEY close. All of that so that we might get our Christmas wish of going to Siberia in the dead of winter. Huh? When did my life start to sound like a Lifetime Christmas movie??

On the topic of Christmas, we're in good shape. We made major progress over the weekend. We're not quite as decorated and don't have quite as many goodies but there's plenty of both. For goodies, we have fudge, sausage balls, ginger crinkle cookies, mini-mounds and my husband's family recipe for fruitcake (which HE loves so we make it). We had our annual "debate" over whether fudge is better with or without nuts (me without, him with) but he did the making so nuts it is. What do you guys think?...nuts or no nuts? What goodies can you just not have Christmas without?

You let me know - I'm going for a snack!

Is there a slow motion button some where?

Christmas is coming way too fast! I think we finished our shopping today and cards are ready to mail. My wonderful husband has been making Christmas goodies. Tomorrow, I have to make the Ginger Crinkle cookies that my dad loves and wrap presents. I think we'll make it.

We got our paperwork in the mail to be apostilled yesterday. They should get it Monday. We'll pick it up Wed. and get it right in the mail to our agency. If all goes well, they'll get it out of their hands before they close for Christmas. If not, by the time they DO get it out, we'll be into the Russian holiday season which I think is the first 2 weeks of Jan. That's a 3 week delay which makes me crazy!! I just have to trust that she's in God's hands. She has been since she was born and she will be after she comes home so I just have to remember that he's had this whole thing under control from the beginning.

Amid all the craziness, I want to thank Ginger for being a great Secret Pal. Your comments on my blog have been so sweet and supportive. Your gifts have been thoughtful. I'm extra happy that I participated in this because I feel like I've made a friend that I wouldn't have crossed paths with otherwise. Thank you again.

Now it's off to bed - tomorrow will be the first day at church WITH PICTURES! Then, a full afternoon of wrapping presents, watching football and who knows what else!?

Medicals

First, I can't believe that I forgot to thank my secret pal for the adorable sleeper that was waiting for us when we got back. It's so precious with its pink flowers and bows. I love it! The Christmas ornament is on a tiny tree that we put in her room - perfect. And, I'm not talking about the other thing because then I might have to share it!

Now, who has done the 8 doctor medical form at the American clinic in Moscow?? They say that if we take the results of a couple of blood tests and a chest X-ray, then it's $100 less and only takes 1 day instead of 2. Anybody done that? It's a little nerve wracking to think that we could leave for our court date without that being done. But, waiting until it's done here seems like it would seriously delay things.

At some point, I've got to get back to getting ready for Christmas. Do you know that it's in 11 days! Aaaack!!

Remember me??

Wow! What a whirlwind! Why didn't anybody tell me how amazing it is to meet your child for the first time?! Why didn't you tell me that it was possible to fall totally and completely in love with a little girl in just 9 1/2 hours? Why didn't you tell me how she would fill that little place in my heart that I didn't even know was empty? And, why, oh why didn't anybody tell me how it would feel to have to leave her there after such a short time? Okay, okay, all of you that have been through it have told it, but I just thought you were a bunch of drama queens :). I didn't think it would be like that for ME!

Our little girl is just precious. All the things we were warned about - not liking men, not wanting to be held, not interacting the way you would expect - didn't happen. She did take a good long look at my husband but quickly decided he was OK in her book. She smiled and laughed when we talked to her. She was really content just sitting in our laps reading books, playing patty cake or just snuggling. She fell asleep in our arms at the end of each visit. If I could have placed an order, I wouldn't have dared to ask for so much.

We were impressed with the baby home and the caregivers. The first 2 days we were in a reception area outside of the rooms where they spend most of their time but we could hear the happy chatter and singing. When we asked if we could leave a blanket,a lovey and a disposable camera they asked if we wanted to leave the photo album too.

We had secondary goals of sightseeing, buying souvenirs and absorbing Russian culture and we failed pretty miserably at those. Maybe we'll do better next time. But, if we come home with our Creecher, I think we'll count our trips as success if we never see another matryoska doll or eat a bowl of borscht.

By the way - I apologize for the delay in reporting in but we've had a steady stream of company since we got back and the computer's in the guest room AND I've been swamped at work trying to dig out from being gone for a week. UGH!

And NOW...I'm scrambling to get the last bit of paperwork done so we can file for a court date. Can you even believe that they've waited until NOW to decide that we have to do the 8 doctor medical form? UGH again! But, if that's what they say do, then that's what we'll do. In between, I've just GOT to catch up on what all of YOU have been up to!

We're coming, Creecher!

We keep talking about flights, layovers, meeting facilitators, and then finally, we'll go to the orphanage and they'll bring her to us. We might as well be talking about space men or the big bad wolf or a moon made out of cheese. When does it feel real?

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and meet this little girl that we already love. I just can't quite believe that in a few days, we'll be holding a warm, breathing little body that will become our very own. I already want so much for her. I hope we can give her all she needs. I hope she'll be happy and know that she's loved by so many already. I wish she could understand that there's a home here waiting for her. Please, please let everything go smoothly on this trip so we can start on the last leg of this crazy journey.