72 Hours

In just about 72 hours, I will be boarding a plane to begin the final segment of this great adventure. 72 hours. Wow. I can't believe the time is finally here. In less than a week, I should be holding my daughter in my arms again! I am so happy and excited, yet oddly calm at at the same time.
Of course, over the past week I've had several "freak-out" episodes. I have been so excited at the prospect of seeing HotDog again that I had glossed over many of the issues that could make this trip exhausting and difficult. Then last Thursday night I began to think about the details and suddenly became overwhelmed (it didn't help that Stu was leaving for a 4-day golf trip on Friday). I am taking this little girl out of the only world she has ever known; I think this is a good thing and that she will have a great life, but she doesn't understand any of that. All she knows is that she is no longer around any familiar people, sounds, smells, etc. She is going to be completely dependent on someone who is a complete stranger (I'm sure she won't remember that I visited her 4 1/2 months ago). How scary must that be for her? What if she is inconsolable? What if she cries non-stop? With both boys, we've had fairly easy initial transitions. But then again, they were both older and were able to interact and communicate with us. Also, Stu was with me on both return trips so I knew that I could at least grab a nap or a bite to eat and he could hold down the fort until I returned. This time it is just me. This little girl is going to need me to fulfill every single need for her, 24 hours a day. She is not going to understand that I am in a foreign country where hardly anyone speaks my language, where I have been encouraged not to venture out of the hotel as I am a single Caucasian female and will draw quite a bit of attention. There is no doubt in my mind that I can do this but it is a bit overwhelming to think about. If nothing else, the week and a half in-country with her should be a wonderful, if intense, bonding time for both of us before we return home to the chaos of daily life.
In addition to those fears, I have been trying to make a million decisions before I travel: Should I switch her to the American formula while I'm there or wait until I get home? How many clothes should I pack for a 6-month-old baby? What types of clothes? It looks like it is going to be cool during the days and very cold at night (not to mention that they don't turn on the heat until mid-October). How in the world am I going to pack everything for her, me, gifts, a donation of 30 pairs of shoes for the orphanage, snacks, etc. into one suitcase? I have not even wanted to think about the plane ride home with her. How in the world am I going to travel for over 30 hours by myself with a baby? What if I don't get the bassinet on the plane and I have to hold her for every single one of those 30 hours? What happens when I need to go to the restroom in those tiny little plane restrooms? Again, I know I will get through it, these are just some of the myriad of thoughts going through my mind.
I am definitely ready for this and getting more excited as the hours pass. My suitcase is packed, the carryons are prepared, my paperwork is ready. That leaves the next 72 hours open to have fun with my boys. They are currently on fall break so I have many activities planned for these last few days as a family of four. I am letting them each plan something fun to do: Chipmunk wants to see a new movie at the movie theater (still such a big treat for him) and Monkey has requested a trip to a popular pizza place whose mascot is a giant, somewhat creepy, rodent (I mean, how disgusting is it that their mascot is a rat?!!?). Today I think we are going to have a picnic and ride bikes through a nearby forest/wildlife refuge. It looks like the next 72 hours are going to fly by....

One Month

In one month, our little sweetie will be at home with our family forever. One month! I can hardly believe it. It is all starting to sink in that she is finally coming home. I love to go and sit in her (almost-completed) nursery and dream about the time in the not-so-distant future when I'll be able to go in and watch our little cutie as she sleeps. Our journey of almost two years is finally coming to a close so our new adventure as a family of five can begin! Yahoo!
We have been so busy lately with school, soccer practice and games, and enjoying this nice cool weather. Chipmunk has had a big couple of weeks; not only did he learn to ride a bike without training wheels, he also learned to tie his shoes (big help for mommy and daddy!), and has scored several goals in his first two soccer games. Monkey is right behind him every step of the way and is enjoying his first season of soccer as well. Where did my babies go?!?!
I'm sure I won't be around much before I leave in 17 days (17 DAYS!! Can you believe it!!!). I tend to go into "hibernation" mode when I'm faced with stress. I woke up this morning beginning to freak out a little bit. Not so much at the thought of going halway across the world and picking up our daughter...more so at the thought of everything I need to do before I leave. I know it will all fall into place but until I am on that plane and every last thing is ready I will probably be pretty quiet around these parts. I will definitely post one more time before I leave...in 17 DAYS!!!!
In the meantime, I'll add a couple more pictures of our little Kyrgyz cutie. One is our referral picture, taken when she was one week old. The other is the most recent we have of her, taken at four months old when some friends were at the orphanage. I can't wait to see how much she has changed over the past two months. By the way, our little girl is 6 months old today!! Happy 1/2 birthday sweetie!
P.S. I know many of you are curious about her name. I am uncomfortable with sharing private information about my children on this blog but if you would like to know her name, shoot me an email and I'll tell you. I think it definitely fits her:)
*Photos removed

Introducing HotDog!

Sorry for the delay in introducing our little girl; we took advantage of the holiday weekend to make a weekend trip to Atlanta to visit family.
Without further delay, we are thrilled to show you pictures of our beautiful daughter...I can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks again!

*Photos removed

Excitement is Building

Getting travel dates so far in advance of the actual travel has thrown me for a loop. Initially the thought of having eight or nine weeks until trip #2 sounded like such a long time...long enough that it didn't really motivate me to do much in the way of preparing for travel or for HotDog coming home. I mean, she could come home tomorrow if possible - we have a crib, diapers, bottles, etc. But knowing that we had two months didn't encourage me to put the finishing touches on the nursery, go through her dresser to see what clothes would fit/be in season, start getting my packing list ready. Now, however, I have only 38 days before I leave...38 DAYS!!! That is 5 1/2 weeks from now. That is not long at all and my mind is racing with all of the details I need to complete in the next few weeks, starting with airline and hotel reservations. Fortunately Stu has been in touch with our travel agent and seems to have a great flight for me that we are going to reserve today. Booking a hotel has been another problem; evidently there is a huge government official conference the week we will be in Bishkek and most hotel rooms have been booked for months. But I think one of my travel mates has come to my rescue and booked hotel rooms for both of us at a fairly new hotel that we checked out on trip #1. We are waiting to hear a confirmation back from the hotel. So with those two big things out of the way, I can focus on the details I've been neglecting - checking the weather to figure out what clothes I'll be taking (we are expecting new measurements for HotDog this week so I'm waiting to see what size she'll be in ***edited to add: Holy smokes, my five-month-old baby weighs almost 17 pounds!!! I better start lifting the weights now), figuring out how to pack a big donation of shoes for the orphanage (more on that in the next post), making meals to freeze so we'll have some dinners ready after we get home, scheduling appointments at the pediatrician/international adoption clinic for HotDog in the days after we get home. So much to do and 38 days definitely doesn't seem like long enough now! I wake up each night with my mind racing trying to think about what I've forgotten; I think my body will be used to getting up in the wee hours of the morning for those nighttime feedings:) But it is SO much easier planning for this trip, knowing Stu will be home with the boys so we don't have to deal with childcare/scheduling for them. That is such a relief.
So after a long journey, I am finally starting to get excited and cannot wait to hold my daughter in my arms again. Only 38 more days until the adventure begins!!!

Also, check back later this week...our 30-day after court will be over and I can finally introduce you to our little girl!

Pride and Prejudice

Our family has been enjoying watching the Olympic coverage for the past week. Our Monkey, of course, loves to watch gymnastics and then tries to attempt many of the flips he has seen. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a trip to the emergency room in our immediate future:)
Chipmunk is enjoying basketball, soccer and particularly swimming. He is fascinated by how fast the swimmers are and is talking about joining the swimming team next year. It has been really neat to see Chipmunk cheering on the Russian competitors too. He has always been very interested in Russian history/culture/language and constantly looks at the pictures and video of our trips to Russia when meeting him and picking him up. He is so proud of his Russian background and we are always trying to encourage his interest in learning more about country where he was born. It has been wonderful for him to get the chance to watch and cheer for "his teams", as he calls both the Russia and US competitors. We also been thrilled to cheer for the small group of athletes from Kyrgyzstan. While there are only a few athletes from this country (and they compete in events that haven't been broadcast), two of them have won medals.
While Chipmunk has been feeling such pride in his Russian heritage, he has also started to understand that not everyone shares his enthusiasm. Over the past week Chipmunk has overheard many comments about Russia's conflict with Georgia. He first heard about it on NPR; the boys never pay attention to news radio but I guess he heard the word Russia and his ears perked up. He was concerned because he thought they were invading Georgia in the US, where one of his favorite aunts and cousins live. I gave him a brief synopsis of what was happening and he didn't question it further. Since then, however, we have had two different incidents where some adults have been discussing it and been very critical of the Russians. It is one thing to have an educated discussion about what is happening in eastern Europe; it is quite another thing to call all of the Russians "idiots", "bullies", and believe that the Russians need to "be blown off the face of the earth." I know that many people from older generations have a deep dislike of the former Soviet Union. But it makes me sad to see them passing these stereotypes down to the children and grandchildren. We were in the store a few days ago, in the school supply aisle, looking at a world map. If there is a map around, my boys have to find Astrakhan (Russia) and Kyrgyzstan on it. Chipmunk was so happy to be able to find Astrakhan without any help and shouted it a little loud. Another little boy, who couldn't have been more than 8 or 9, told him that Russia is where all the bad people lived. I know I should have tried to correct him but I did not want to get into a debate with a little boy (and his father, who looked really rough around the edges), so I walked away and tried to explain to Chipmunk and Monkey how some people aren't very happy with some things that Russia is doing, but that doesn't mean that the people in Russia were bad or mean. It is such a hard concept for a 5-year-old to understand. I know I can't insulate my boys from the opinions of some of the idiotic, uneducated people that they will face in the world; I can only continue to encourage their love and pride for the Motherland. But I was really hoping for a few more years before they were faced with this type of criticism. Sigh.....
Onto good news, only 46 more days until I leave for HotDog! I am really getting excited now!

See You Soon!

I am happy to say that we now have official travel dates to pick up our HotDog!! At the beginning of October I will travel to Bishkek and she'll be in my arms forever. While these dates are a bit later that we had anticipated, we are thrilled to finally have an end-date in sight. It gives us plenty of time to plan for childcare, prepare the nursery, and get Chipmunk and Monkey ready for their baby sister. Up until now I think it has been more of an abstract concept for them. Now we can really start to help them understand what it will be like to have a baby around the house.
In less than two months, I will be with HotDog again!!

Blog Awards



I just found out that Mom to 2 Angels has given me a Brilliant Blog Award. I am so touched. She has a handsome son from Russia and a gorgeous girl from Kyrgyzstan. She has been such an inspiration to us as we've gone through this adoption.

I am supposed to answer these questions starting with every letter of the alphabet and then pass the award on to other brilliant bloggers:


A. Attached or single? Happily attached


B. Best friend? Stu


C. Cake or pie? Cake


D. Day of choice? Sundays (Stu lets me sleep in as late as I want, hence my answer for letter B.)


E. Essential item? It is a close call between Diet Coke and chapstick


F. Favorite color? Blue


G. Gummy bears or worms? Bears


H. Hometown? Bardstown


I. Indulgence? Ice cream in any form, shape, or flavor.

J. January or July? January - I so much prefer cold weather over the sticky, humid days of summer


K. Kids? 3 (i LOVE being able to say that!!)


L. Life isn’t complete without? Hugs and kisses from my boys each night


M. Marriage date? 05/13/00


N. Number of brothers & sisters? One older brother, one younger brother...yes, I am one of those dreaded middle children:)


O. Oranges or apples? Yuck, really the only two fruits I don't care for


P. Phobias? Spiders


Q. Quotes? It could always be worse. My mom always said this; I can't even count how many times I've chanted this quote to myself throughout this long adoption journey. It's become my own personal mantra

R. Reasons to smile? After almost two years, we finally have a daughter!!


S. Season of choice? Fall, followed closely by winter.


T. Tag seven peeps! (see below)


U. Unknown fact about me? I have an incurable addiction to....ice. I adore crushed ice and honestly can't pass a Sonic (hands-down the best ice on the earth), without feeling a physical need to go through the drive-through for a diet coke with an extra cup of ice. That got expensive, so now I just buy their bags of ice.


V. Vegetable? I'm a veggie fanatic. My favorites would be brussel sprouts and lima beans.


W. Worst habits? I usually start many different projects at one time, then get frustrated I don't have enough time/patience to finish them.


X. X-ray or ultrasound? ummmmm, ultrasound I guess??


Y. Your favorite food? Italian


Z. Zodiac sign? Sagitarius

Now for my Brilliant Blogger Awards:


Okay, I know I'm supposed to give this award to seven fellow bloggers. But I hate to single out just a few of the blogs that I follow. There are so many amazing families out there and I love being able to share in their journeys.
When I began this blog, it was simply an easy way to keep my friends and family updated about our adoption journey. I never expected to make so many genuine, true friendships. The adoption blog community is an amazing circle of people full of such special families. I am honored to be one of them.