January 13, 2007
Let me answer the question most of you seem to be asking. We still don't know exactly when we will get to come home. On Friday, Jan 19th the adoptions will be final (That will be our "Gotcha Day" ie the day we will celebrate the day we Got them). We will receive all the paperwork from the court hopefully bright and early that morning (they open at 8 am). We will then go to the office that will issue their new birth certificates. That office has promised to turn our the new birth certificates in 2-3 hours (that is incredibly fast for here.)
Now is when the process gets sticky. Gideon will then be ready to head to Kiev for medicals and embassy appointments. N on the other hand, will need to get her second passport (Ukrainian with her new name) before she is ready to head to Kiev. This will require another trip to Birdichiv and a trip to Zhytomer (None of these name spelling are correct so they may not help you find them on the map) We know the passport office in Berdichiv is only open on Tues., Thurs., & Sat. We are not sure if we will be able to submit the passport stuff on Sat or if we will have to wait till the next Tues. N cannot go to the American embassy in Kiev to get her american passport until she has received her Ukrainian passport in her new name. Thankfully N has already done all her medicals so that is out of the way. We will not know when we can schedule our flight until we know what will happen with N's passport
In case you are wondering, Lori has decided that childbirth would be easier (although she has never been through it. It would certainly be faster!). But we wouldn't trade our kids for anything in the world.
We are all beginning to get restless. We are ready to move on and get out of here. N especially seems to be growing a little bored. But she is 16, boredom is what they do best, Right? Gideon was better today and didn't seem to hold the car ride against us. Mama got lots of kisses today (she was trading cereal for kisses if the truth were known) Papa didn't. Gideon just won't kiss the beard.
Funny for Ukraine: If you think soap operas are bad, try watching them in a language you don't understand. It makes you want to bash your head against a wall! (N is a bit of a TV junkie)
We will sign off for today. We are holding each of you in our hearts and yearn to hear the wheels of the plane touch down at home.
PeaceBLN&G