Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
fond farewell
trip photos here! i can't believe i didn't get one of nk in the pool. guess i was always in with her.
stop by soon if you didn't today! we are open for visitors anytime. just give us a quick call to say you're on your way because we might get crazy and leave the house tomorrow. only if we're going directly to the pool though. this heat is unbearable after that beautiful guatemalan weather.
i hope you enjoyed the blog! i'll miss the chicken bus adventure.
stop by soon if you didn't today! we are open for visitors anytime. just give us a quick call to say you're on your way because we might get crazy and leave the house tomorrow. only if we're going directly to the pool though. this heat is unbearable after that beautiful guatemalan weather.
i hope you enjoyed the blog! i'll miss the chicken bus adventure.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
long way round (our story)
once again, i'm wide awake watching these gorgeous babies sleep and wondering how c can sleep when he could be looking at them instead. it's hard to believe we've pulled it off! pulled what off? well, perhaps i should back up a little and explain.
my high school history teacher was always assigning us news magazines to read as homework. i suppose i was about 16 when i first read an article about all the abandoned babies in china. from that moment, i always pictured my future family as a mixture of cultures. as time went by and i read about adoptions in both china and romania, i started to feel drawn toward eastern european children. c and i talked about adoption for years - before we were even engaged.
when the day finally arrived that we were ready for a family, c presented me with a book about russia. we just knew that we were supposed to go to russia - and not just as tourists! we went to an informational meeting at our agency, but when we saw the cost of international adoption we were shocked. c was a resident and i was working hard to pay off our student loans. so, we thought maybe we'd have a biological child first and adopt later. we tried for a year and by then we'd saved the money to adopt. without a second thought, we filed papers to adopt in russia. that was four years ago this month.
eight months later, we had our darling d home. and we were hooked! we soon began another russian adoption and i think you're all familiar with those results. a came home seven months later (14 months after d). we called him our "surprise" because he came so fast.
as we drove to the airport last thursday, we were listening to the song from a documentary that we've been watching. it's called long way round. ewan mcgregor and a friend of his ride motorcycles from london to nyc - the long way round. they go through some places that were very familiar to us. the steppe near d's birthplace, orenburg, is so unique and the look of the kazakh people is so like a. we watched ewan fall in love with mongolia and read that he later returned to adopt a child there. that's what happens to us, too. we fall in love with these places and these people. and we keep traveling because we want our kids to know that nowhere is very far away and that people are all just people no matter where they live. we've been shown extraordinary kindness by people in guatemala and in russia. even if i never see ludmila (our translator) in orenburg again, i know that she and i are connected by heartstrings that stretch around the world.
so, as we drove toward the airport singing along to long way round, we couldn't help but think that we've sort of gone the long way round when it came to creating our family. our darling d, our sparkplug a, and our little princess nk are THE kids for us - we just had to go looking for them. God puts the right kids in the right homes every time.
for four years, c and i have been working on what we call plan a - getting the kids in the house. today, we begin plan b - preparing them to leave us one day. all the while, we'll be trying to show them how simple it really is to do little things that can have enormous impact on the lives of others. we adopted because we just knew we were meant to, but we occasionally do think about the difference we've made for these three little people.
loads of love from this russian-tajik-guatemalan-nicaraguan-american family
[this message was scribbled on a marriott notepad at 4 am and transcribed at a more reasonable hour. i apologize for its sappyness or incoherentness.]
my high school history teacher was always assigning us news magazines to read as homework. i suppose i was about 16 when i first read an article about all the abandoned babies in china. from that moment, i always pictured my future family as a mixture of cultures. as time went by and i read about adoptions in both china and romania, i started to feel drawn toward eastern european children. c and i talked about adoption for years - before we were even engaged.
when the day finally arrived that we were ready for a family, c presented me with a book about russia. we just knew that we were supposed to go to russia - and not just as tourists! we went to an informational meeting at our agency, but when we saw the cost of international adoption we were shocked. c was a resident and i was working hard to pay off our student loans. so, we thought maybe we'd have a biological child first and adopt later. we tried for a year and by then we'd saved the money to adopt. without a second thought, we filed papers to adopt in russia. that was four years ago this month.
eight months later, we had our darling d home. and we were hooked! we soon began another russian adoption and i think you're all familiar with those results. a came home seven months later (14 months after d). we called him our "surprise" because he came so fast.
as we drove to the airport last thursday, we were listening to the song from a documentary that we've been watching. it's called long way round. ewan mcgregor and a friend of his ride motorcycles from london to nyc - the long way round. they go through some places that were very familiar to us. the steppe near d's birthplace, orenburg, is so unique and the look of the kazakh people is so like a. we watched ewan fall in love with mongolia and read that he later returned to adopt a child there. that's what happens to us, too. we fall in love with these places and these people. and we keep traveling because we want our kids to know that nowhere is very far away and that people are all just people no matter where they live. we've been shown extraordinary kindness by people in guatemala and in russia. even if i never see ludmila (our translator) in orenburg again, i know that she and i are connected by heartstrings that stretch around the world.
so, as we drove toward the airport singing along to long way round, we couldn't help but think that we've sort of gone the long way round when it came to creating our family. our darling d, our sparkplug a, and our little princess nk are THE kids for us - we just had to go looking for them. God puts the right kids in the right homes every time.
for four years, c and i have been working on what we call plan a - getting the kids in the house. today, we begin plan b - preparing them to leave us one day. all the while, we'll be trying to show them how simple it really is to do little things that can have enormous impact on the lives of others. we adopted because we just knew we were meant to, but we occasionally do think about the difference we've made for these three little people.
loads of love from this russian-tajik-guatemalan-nicaraguan-american family
[this message was scribbled on a marriott notepad at 4 am and transcribed at a more reasonable hour. i apologize for its sappyness or incoherentness.]
lack of new photos
i was flipping back through the photos on my memory card on sunday and realized that some of the files i had uploaded here were corrupted on my card. so, i decided not to upload anything else til i get home and can back them up first. sorry, but i know you understand!
Sunday, August 5, 2007
units
we've begun measuring the days in units of time.
breakfast buffet = 1 unit
getting ready for the pool = 1\2 unit
swimming = 2 units
waiting out tropical downpour of rain under the cover by the pool = 1\2 unit
bathing everyone = at least 1 unit
email and blogging = 1\2 unit, maybe a unit if we stretch it
watching spongebob in spanish = 1 unit
chatting and laughing with nk = 3 units
pushing the stroller aimlessly in the lobby = 1\2 unit
explaining a's heritage to other hotel guests = 1\2 unit
trip to mcdonald's = 1 unit
making bottles = 1\4 unit
washing bottles = 1\4 unit
stealing baby spoon from restaurant = 1\8 unit
we are really starting to get loopy. can' t imagine how we did this in moscow for three whole weeks.
breakfast buffet = 1 unit
getting ready for the pool = 1\2 unit
swimming = 2 units
waiting out tropical downpour of rain under the cover by the pool = 1\2 unit
bathing everyone = at least 1 unit
email and blogging = 1\2 unit, maybe a unit if we stretch it
watching spongebob in spanish = 1 unit
chatting and laughing with nk = 3 units
pushing the stroller aimlessly in the lobby = 1\2 unit
explaining a's heritage to other hotel guests = 1\2 unit
trip to mcdonald's = 1 unit
making bottles = 1\4 unit
washing bottles = 1\4 unit
stealing baby spoon from restaurant = 1\8 unit
we are really starting to get loopy. can' t imagine how we did this in moscow for three whole weeks.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
daddy´s girl
i wasn´t very good about taking pictures today. will do better...
mr. a was asleep at 715 and i bet the others have nodded off while i´m here uploading and blogging. the pool really exhausts them which is a huge blessing since there is NOTHING else to do here. maybe we´ll go to the zoo again tomorrow. we really shouldn´t since we won´t get her passport back til monday, but we might be stir crazy enough to risk it.
oh, btw, my back is much better. still not picking the giant three year old up, but probably never will again! finally learned my lesson. lots of love and can´t wait to see you all on tues!
mr. a was asleep at 715 and i bet the others have nodded off while i´m here uploading and blogging. the pool really exhausts them which is a huge blessing since there is NOTHING else to do here. maybe we´ll go to the zoo again tomorrow. we really shouldn´t since we won´t get her passport back til monday, but we might be stir crazy enough to risk it.
oh, btw, my back is much better. still not picking the giant three year old up, but probably never will again! finally learned my lesson. lots of love and can´t wait to see you all on tues!
first batch of photos
little man fell asleep at take off
view from the plane!
foster mom and nk
big brothers saying hello
our little sleepers! (insomniac brother not pictured)
view from the plane!
foster mom and nk
big brothers saying hello
our little sleepers! (insomniac brother not pictured)
groundhog day
i know, i know. you want pictures. i keep forgetting my cord for uploading though. we're having a great day - even if it is creeping by very, very slowly. we swam til we were all limp and now we're having a little computer time. we have another fish in the family!
it's in the 70`s here and just gorgeous outside. the pool is heated, but we have to RUN to our towels when we get out.
the boys are in love!!! did i tell you that already? i mean, crazy in love with their sister. they were snuggled up with her this morning and she started babbling at them. d said, "mom, i think she's doing baby talk in spanish." he is in awe of everything she does. if she starts to fuss even the tiniest bit, he rushes over to hold her hand and cheer her up.
a still loves to wander the hotel telling everyone about his brother and sister and giving out various other misinformation. he still insists that he is 4 to everyone he meets.
well, we should go dry off.
(oh - did i mention that we have the happiest baby in the world? she just smiles and giggles all the time.)
it's in the 70`s here and just gorgeous outside. the pool is heated, but we have to RUN to our towels when we get out.
the boys are in love!!! did i tell you that already? i mean, crazy in love with their sister. they were snuggled up with her this morning and she started babbling at them. d said, "mom, i think she's doing baby talk in spanish." he is in awe of everything she does. if she starts to fuss even the tiniest bit, he rushes over to hold her hand and cheer her up.
a still loves to wander the hotel telling everyone about his brother and sister and giving out various other misinformation. he still insists that he is 4 to everyone he meets.
well, we should go dry off.
(oh - did i mention that we have the happiest baby in the world? she just smiles and giggles all the time.)
Friday, August 3, 2007
visa approved!!
our flight yesterday was smooth and uneventful. we were able to upgrade to first class which was a huge help because the boys could move around so much more. they were so good and little a actually slept most of the way!
our sweet girl was "delivered" at 430 and was all smiles from the start. it was really hard for her foster mom to let her go. i was so sad for her and yet so happy that she was so loved.
our embassy appointment was smooth and easy this morning. we were back here and in the pool by 11. her visa will be ready on monday! we're just so relieved. i can't begin to describe it. i know i'll just be overcome with emotion when we finally board that last flight as a family of five.
now we just get to play in the pool and sit outside in the gorgeous weather til tuesday. i'll sneak back down tonight to upload some pictures.
jb-the package has been picked up.
our sweet girl was "delivered" at 430 and was all smiles from the start. it was really hard for her foster mom to let her go. i was so sad for her and yet so happy that she was so loved.
our embassy appointment was smooth and easy this morning. we were back here and in the pool by 11. her visa will be ready on monday! we're just so relieved. i can't begin to describe it. i know i'll just be overcome with emotion when we finally board that last flight as a family of five.
now we just get to play in the pool and sit outside in the gorgeous weather til tuesday. i'll sneak back down tonight to upload some pictures.
jb-the package has been picked up.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!
twenty-four hours from now i'll be on a flight to guatemala. at 4:30 tomorrow, our baby girl will be placed in our arms forever. we are all excited beyond words!
i'll try to post tomorrow just to let you know that we are there and that we have our sweet girl.
tomorrow is my grandfather's 89th birthday and will also be his first great-granddaughter's gotcha day. how fantastic is that?
i'll try to post tomorrow just to let you know that we are there and that we have our sweet girl.
tomorrow is my grandfather's 89th birthday and will also be his first great-granddaughter's gotcha day. how fantastic is that?
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