Travel Dates

Our dates have been confirmed. We'll be in Kaliningrad from November 9-15. We booked our flights yesterday and applied for our Russian visas at the Russian Consulate in Osaka. 

While in Kaliningrad, we'll be signing papers at the Ministry of Education, talking with the orphanage director/doctor, and best of all...meeting our little guy. I can't quite wrap my head around meeting him for the first time. What will that be like? Will he be completely frightened by us - two strangers speaking a funny language? Or will he be curious about us? Will it take him long to warm up to us? Will the caretakers have 'prepped' him in terms of who we are? 

And that's as far as I can get without my head spinning! Poco a poco. We'll be there soon. But not soon enough.

A Glowing Report

We just got off the phone with the international adoption doctor who had nothing but good news for us. She saw no red flags and told us that we couldn't have asked for a better - or more handsome - referral! We couldn't agree more.  Hopefully, we can post some pictures soon...

She was also very pleased with the number of photos and amount of detailed information that we received regarding his health and physical development. (We received the additional photos and complete medical history the following day.) It's clear that the orphanage is doing an excellent job of taking care of him and recording his progress. And I believe it was FTIA's representative in K'grad that went to the orphanage and took the additional photos for us. It's amazing to me the number of people who are working to make this - and every other - international adoption happen. We have many people to thank for all the work they've done and will continue to do. 

We are tentatively scheduled to travel to Kaliningrad November 9-15. These dates should be confirmed within the next day or two. 

Yippee!!

Referral Received!

He's beautiful! Blond hair, blue eyes, and such a sweet little face. He's 18 months old, and appears to be healthy. We received one photo and a minimal amount of information this morning, and are hoping we can find out a bit more tomorrow once we talk to our coordinator in the States. Of course, we'll then need to consult with the IA doctor to get a medical opinion.

Fingers crossed for good news! 

Sneak Preview

No, we didn't get our referral today, but we got a sneak preview. 

We received an email this morning saying that the MOE in K'grad needed yet another document. The child they plan to refer to us turned 18 months about ten days ago, and since this is slightly beyond our requested age range (which is 8-18 months) they wanted a signed letter from us saying that this was ok. (We've heard that K'grad likes to be precise!) We quickly typed up the requested letter and shot it back to our coordinator in the US. She's forwarding it to the MOE, and thinks we'll hear something by the end of the month. End of the month? We're still hoping for this week.

18 months. That means walking. That might mean talking. Oh, this is going to be fun!  Think of all the books we can read, the puzzles we can solve, the towers we can build out of blocks...!

Time on the Terrace

It's a beautiful Sunday morning here. The cats and the herbs are soaking up the sun, and I'm sipping a frothy latte, my end-of-week treat, as I consider my options for the rest of the day. A bike ride? A walk around the green belt? Maybe - just maybe - I could convince Jon to go on a picnic. The joys of the weekend are many - from lattes to lazy mornings to late-night movies - but my favorite is spending time on the terrace. It's here that I know the weekend has begun. Time slows to a most-welcome crawl out here, and finally, I find time to do all the things that get pushed aside during the work week. Flipping through cookbooks... Repotting plants... Enjoying a slow cup o' joe... And, somehow, everything seems better on the terrace - my coffee tastes creamier, the croissants feel flakier, and the weekend wishes it could go on forever.

I'll still have time for the terrace after the little guy comes home, right? Right?! 

Like the New Look?

Or was the old blue and gray blog easier on the eyes?  Is this too much green? Too many bookshelves? (The librarian in me couldn't resist!) What do you think?

Yes, this is yet another desperate attempt at distraction... Can you hear my thumbs twiddling from there?!

Next week?

We received an email from our coordinator this morning saying that she expects to receive our referral information from the MOE in Kaliningrad sometime next week. Once that information (photos and health records) arrives, we'll send it off to an international adoption doctor who will review it for us. That'll take a few days, I assume. If we accept the referral after receiving the doctor's medical opinion, then the MOE in K'grad will send us our travel dates. 

Here's hoping for good news next week! Jana, Danielle, and Melanie...the odds are in your favor!

Keeping Busy

No, still no word from Russia. So we're keeping busy by... 

bidding on (and winning!) this beautiful Kyoto Circle quilt at the Habitat for Humanity auction. An early birthday present from Jon...

playing mahjong on a wet and chilly Sunday afternoon with the ladies from East Court 5 (I love the tiles, the dragons, the winds)...

battling Los Lemleys in a friendly high-stakes game of Risk online (www.conquerclub.com is our preferred portal to geekdom, what's yours?)...

and hitting the town with the Welbi. Still not sure how I ended up in costume or why I was referring to myself as Tabby by the end of the evening. Has Shelley Jackson left the building...? (gasp!)

Baby wa doko desu ka?

I'm back in bananas (phew!), but there's still no sign of Boris a baby. It's only October 4th, though, so perhaps I shouldn't feel as antsy as I do. And yet, I get the feeling that the month could drag on and on if I don't find something to distract me.

So, how about a game to help pass the time? At the risk of sounding completely pathetic by suggesting that we play baby shower-ish games online, let's play that one where you guess the date, the sex, etc.  Yes, you know the one. The one where the person with the best predictions wins the door prize. Are you game? Okay, good. In order to play along, send me a comment with your predictions of the following:

1.  Date we'll receive our referral

2.  Sex of the baby

3.  Age (in months) of the baby at the time of referral

4.  First day we'll be required to be in Russia

Points to consider: (1) Supposedly, we will receive a referral sometime this month. Because of the Russia/US and US/Japan time differences, we will most likely receive the referral on a Tuesday-Saturday. If you want to increase your odds of winning, don't pick a Sunday or Monday as the referral date! (2) We have requested a child of either sex. There is a long wait for girls, and a much shorter wait for boys. However, it's not unheard-of for a request of 'either' to result in a girl. (3) We have requested a child between the ages of 8-18 months, and from what I understand, the MOE in Kaliningrad makes every attempt to match potential parents with a child within their preferred age range. (4) We'll be expected to arrive in Russia between 1-4 weeks after we receive our referral. At least, that's what I'm guessing since they've indicated that we will be traveling in October.

So, come on. Humor me. Distract me. Play along!