We received an email from the Tver staff (read below). We GOT A COURT DATE!!!!
Dear Yadira,
Thank you so much for keeping us informed about the documents and thank you again so much for your time and efforts that you take in order to prepare them ASAP.
Thank you, we received all the documents that you sent us over the week-end. As soon as you have all your documents apostilled, please e-mail them to us so we could show all the documents notarized and apostilled to the judge. Please hand carry the originals for the trip to Tver with you.
We met the judge today and based on the review of your documents the judge scheduled the court hearing for you for March 20, 2009 at 10:00.
We are going to forward the information about your travel dates to Moscow and St. Louis offices, and we’ll write to you regarding arrival date and your schedule for this trip later today.
Best regards,
CHI – Tver Team
Things as you can imagine are a little crazy...... There are soooo many things that need to be taken care of. We know that we have to leave on March 17, 2009 from the US in order to get to Moscow the following day. That's all we know for know. As soon as we know more, I will let you know. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and prayers....
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
SECOND WEEK BACK COMING FROM TRIP 1
MEETING WITH PSYCHIATRIST
The meeting with the Psychiatrist went super!!! We could not have been any happier. We brought the Dr. the photo album of Maya that we prepared for court on our way while driving to Tampa. It looks so cute!! We filled it with stickers and most of the pictures we took of Maya. The first thing the Dr. did when she saw the photo album was to ask to see it. Once she saw the pictures of our little girl, she was sold!!!! Everything ran so much easier after that. We whole meeting with Mauri and I in the same room took about one hour. We were so glad that things had gone so well!! The Dr. promised to send us all the paperwork completed and notarized within the next 24 hours. Since I had already checked her credentials I knew that there was nothing to worry about! This trip was meant to be, and most of all we were in God's hands. We hit the road as soon as we finished the appointment with the Dr. By the way, her name is Dr. Jillian M. Glass. She is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and a Board Certified Psychiatrist. We truly recommend her. Her web address is: http://www.jillianglassmd.com/
We got home very late, but it did not matter to us. We were happy to know that the biggest obstacle had been overcome. We should hear news tomorrow from the judge. I will post more later. Until then!!!
The meeting with the Psychiatrist went super!!! We could not have been any happier. We brought the Dr. the photo album of Maya that we prepared for court on our way while driving to Tampa. It looks so cute!! We filled it with stickers and most of the pictures we took of Maya. The first thing the Dr. did when she saw the photo album was to ask to see it. Once she saw the pictures of our little girl, she was sold!!!! Everything ran so much easier after that. We whole meeting with Mauri and I in the same room took about one hour. We were so glad that things had gone so well!! The Dr. promised to send us all the paperwork completed and notarized within the next 24 hours. Since I had already checked her credentials I knew that there was nothing to worry about! This trip was meant to be, and most of all we were in God's hands. We hit the road as soon as we finished the appointment with the Dr. By the way, her name is Dr. Jillian M. Glass. She is a Board Certified Psychiatrist and a Board Certified Psychiatrist. We truly recommend her. Her web address is: http://www.jillianglassmd.com/
We got home very late, but it did not matter to us. We were happy to know that the biggest obstacle had been overcome. We should hear news tomorrow from the judge. I will post more later. Until then!!!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
FIRST WEEK BACK FROM TRIP 1
FIRST WEEK SINCE LEAVING OUR DEAR MAYA
Wow! Time has gone by too fast this week. We hit the ground running as soon as we came back Sunday morning. First, Maui and I returned to work, and it was like we had never left the week before. It was just work, work, work, but it is what it is! As soon as Monday hit, I started calling Psychiatrist’s offices to see if we could make an appointment with a Board Certified Psychiatrist. Ohh, my, I started to encounter the same problem we had encountered the first time, before we found our current Psych dr., no availability, and no willingness from either the dr. or the dr.’s staff to assist you. Every time I would call, I would either get a response like, we have nothing available until the end of March, the dr. does not do deal with those types of cases (adoption related) or, it would take at least 4 to 5 psychoanalysis session’s before the dr. could come up with a diagnosis! I called at least 15 dr’s before I started to get desperate. I started posting on adoption chat boards. I first posted a message on the CHI Russia chat board, then on the yahoo, Tver chat group, then my friend (A) recommended for us to post a message on the FRUA chat boards, since FRUA reaches so many people around the US and abroad, we had a bigger chance of finding a Psych (Board Certified) who had dealt with adoption before. Well, I will tell you that we received some responses, some good, some not that good. One of the parents’s recommended a dr. from Jacksonville. We called his office; first they told me that they could fit us in on the following week, then, when I told them why we needed the appointment ASAP, the lady on the telephone changed her tune and said that actually, that Friday was a cancellation, and that they had nothing until sometime in March. I told the lady, I was going to have to call her back. I had to see if we could get plane tickets to fly to Jacksonville. Well, then we got another dr’s info, from another parent in one of the chats, but the dr. was a psychologist, not a psychiatrist, so we could not use him. I even checked with the Tver staff to see if could use a psychologist, instead of a psychiatrist, and the answer was NO.
Well, even our own Psychiatrist, dr. I (one of the most wonderful dr.s I have ever met) was trying to help us out through a colleague of his. He told us to give him a couple of days to help us find someone. Then, my friend A recommended her dr. from Kansas City, MO. She and another adoptive family, the I’s had used them. He was familiar with all the paperwork and there was a possibility he could assist us. Then, the question aroused of whether Russia would accept a dr.’s credential and/or evaluation from a different state. I turned the question to our program coordinator at CHI and at the Tver staff. I only received answers from the CHI coordinator and the answer was NO, the judge will not accept Psych evaluations from a different state. At that point I was feeling desperate, I was to the point, that I was going to contact one of local TV stations asking them for help, but all of the sudden, on Wednesday morning, one of the parents from the FRUA chat boards answered my post with information from a dr. in Tampa, whom they had used with their adoption a while back. I immediately checked her credentials through the web to make sure that she was legit and that she had the credentials we needed. Ohh my, I love the World Wide Web!! I turns out that she was what we were looking for. I called her twice asking her to call me back. This time I did not want to scare her with so much information upfront, so I was very careful with my messages. I did tell her that we were from Miami and that we needed an appointment with her and that some parents who had dealt with her in the past had recommended her. After the second message she called me back. I spoke to her for about 10 minutes. I explained to her our situation. I also told her that she was our only hope and that we were desperate and without her assistance we could not bring our little girl home. She was a little taken off by our conversation; she told me that she was going to help us out. She also said that she was going to try to fit us in on Sunday, February 22, 2009, but that she had to call us back with a time. I was beyond thrilled. I called Mauri and my friend A with the news. Well, as the dr. had promised, she call us back with more information, she will see us from 4:00 – 6:00pm on Sunday, She also gave me the link to download some forms that we needed to fill out from her website so we could bring them to the appointment. I also asked her if we had t bring our Notary Public with us, since all the paperwork has to be notarized, and her response was that it was not necessary since her office manager is a Notary Public, she would notarized everything for us. I would like to thank our Notary Public, MA for willing to travel to Tampa with us; we really appreciate everything you have done for us!!! Thank you….
Well, I went ahead and made a hotel reservation so we could leave Saturday in the early evening and we could come back to Miami after the sessions, late Sunday. I felt that it was going to be too much for Mauri and I to go and come back on the same day, since we have to travel at least 5 hours each day. I will let you know what happens with our Psych evals! God willing everything will go as planed so we could bring little Antonina home.
Ok, now we move from dealing with the Psychiatrist drama to dealing with the judge and the additional paperwork drama. Finally on Tuesday we received news from Tver in regards to the list of documents (additional) the Judge was requesting for court. What was our disappointment, that the judge was not giving willing a court date until we came up with the paperwork? I emailed the Tver staff telling them that they will have ALL the paperwork notarized, apostilled, scanned and in their possession by no later than February 28, 2009, to please try to persuade the judge to give us a court date. Tver answered back saying that the judge wanted to see that we were able to come up with the additional documents before she could give us a court date! I was beyond upset, that would mean to have to wait 2 weeks without any dates and then, we would have to wait and see until when she would schedule a court date. We are concerned not for us, but for or little girl, because the more time she spends in the baby house, the more developmentally delayed she stays. Well, for those of us who know me, you know that I will move heaven and earth (sort of speak) in order to bring Maya Antonina home. Well, I spoke to our social worker and I explained to her that we needed the documents that she was going to provide for us by Friday, February 20th and that we were on a time crunch! In the meantime, the paperwork that I needed to produce was in the works. As soon as I started to receive it and/or produce it, I started emailing it to the Tver staff so they could start translating it for the judge to see our willingness! Granted that some of the paperwork has not been apostilled yet, but the Tver staff said to just email what we had so they could show the Judge that we meant business. We received the paperwork back from our social worker Lori on Friday, as requested, THANK YOU Lori. She has been more than amazing with us, and we have nothing, but good things to say about her and her agency.
I went ahead and scanned all the paperwork to the Tver staff. now, we only need the Psych paperwork and we will be ready for court. I also sent and email to Olga, our translator to ask her if our coordinator had had a chance to meet with the judge. Well, she responded yesterday, Saturday to let us know that they were not able to meet with the judge on Friday and that Monday, February 23, 2009 was Army day in Russia, and therefore a holiday, but that they had made an appointment to see the judge this coming Tuesday to show her the paperwork and hopefully get a court date from her. Please pray for us, that we can get good news on Tuesday with a court date for at least the middle of March. I will keep you posted. Take care and God Bless you All….. Until then!!
Wow! Time has gone by too fast this week. We hit the ground running as soon as we came back Sunday morning. First, Maui and I returned to work, and it was like we had never left the week before. It was just work, work, work, but it is what it is! As soon as Monday hit, I started calling Psychiatrist’s offices to see if we could make an appointment with a Board Certified Psychiatrist. Ohh, my, I started to encounter the same problem we had encountered the first time, before we found our current Psych dr., no availability, and no willingness from either the dr. or the dr.’s staff to assist you. Every time I would call, I would either get a response like, we have nothing available until the end of March, the dr. does not do deal with those types of cases (adoption related) or, it would take at least 4 to 5 psychoanalysis session’s before the dr. could come up with a diagnosis! I called at least 15 dr’s before I started to get desperate. I started posting on adoption chat boards. I first posted a message on the CHI Russia chat board, then on the yahoo, Tver chat group, then my friend (A) recommended for us to post a message on the FRUA chat boards, since FRUA reaches so many people around the US and abroad, we had a bigger chance of finding a Psych (Board Certified) who had dealt with adoption before. Well, I will tell you that we received some responses, some good, some not that good. One of the parents’s recommended a dr. from Jacksonville. We called his office; first they told me that they could fit us in on the following week, then, when I told them why we needed the appointment ASAP, the lady on the telephone changed her tune and said that actually, that Friday was a cancellation, and that they had nothing until sometime in March. I told the lady, I was going to have to call her back. I had to see if we could get plane tickets to fly to Jacksonville. Well, then we got another dr’s info, from another parent in one of the chats, but the dr. was a psychologist, not a psychiatrist, so we could not use him. I even checked with the Tver staff to see if could use a psychologist, instead of a psychiatrist, and the answer was NO.
Well, even our own Psychiatrist, dr. I (one of the most wonderful dr.s I have ever met) was trying to help us out through a colleague of his. He told us to give him a couple of days to help us find someone. Then, my friend A recommended her dr. from Kansas City, MO. She and another adoptive family, the I’s had used them. He was familiar with all the paperwork and there was a possibility he could assist us. Then, the question aroused of whether Russia would accept a dr.’s credential and/or evaluation from a different state. I turned the question to our program coordinator at CHI and at the Tver staff. I only received answers from the CHI coordinator and the answer was NO, the judge will not accept Psych evaluations from a different state. At that point I was feeling desperate, I was to the point, that I was going to contact one of local TV stations asking them for help, but all of the sudden, on Wednesday morning, one of the parents from the FRUA chat boards answered my post with information from a dr. in Tampa, whom they had used with their adoption a while back. I immediately checked her credentials through the web to make sure that she was legit and that she had the credentials we needed. Ohh my, I love the World Wide Web!! I turns out that she was what we were looking for. I called her twice asking her to call me back. This time I did not want to scare her with so much information upfront, so I was very careful with my messages. I did tell her that we were from Miami and that we needed an appointment with her and that some parents who had dealt with her in the past had recommended her. After the second message she called me back. I spoke to her for about 10 minutes. I explained to her our situation. I also told her that she was our only hope and that we were desperate and without her assistance we could not bring our little girl home. She was a little taken off by our conversation; she told me that she was going to help us out. She also said that she was going to try to fit us in on Sunday, February 22, 2009, but that she had to call us back with a time. I was beyond thrilled. I called Mauri and my friend A with the news. Well, as the dr. had promised, she call us back with more information, she will see us from 4:00 – 6:00pm on Sunday, She also gave me the link to download some forms that we needed to fill out from her website so we could bring them to the appointment. I also asked her if we had t bring our Notary Public with us, since all the paperwork has to be notarized, and her response was that it was not necessary since her office manager is a Notary Public, she would notarized everything for us. I would like to thank our Notary Public, MA for willing to travel to Tampa with us; we really appreciate everything you have done for us!!! Thank you….
Well, I went ahead and made a hotel reservation so we could leave Saturday in the early evening and we could come back to Miami after the sessions, late Sunday. I felt that it was going to be too much for Mauri and I to go and come back on the same day, since we have to travel at least 5 hours each day. I will let you know what happens with our Psych evals! God willing everything will go as planed so we could bring little Antonina home.
Ok, now we move from dealing with the Psychiatrist drama to dealing with the judge and the additional paperwork drama. Finally on Tuesday we received news from Tver in regards to the list of documents (additional) the Judge was requesting for court. What was our disappointment, that the judge was not giving willing a court date until we came up with the paperwork? I emailed the Tver staff telling them that they will have ALL the paperwork notarized, apostilled, scanned and in their possession by no later than February 28, 2009, to please try to persuade the judge to give us a court date. Tver answered back saying that the judge wanted to see that we were able to come up with the additional documents before she could give us a court date! I was beyond upset, that would mean to have to wait 2 weeks without any dates and then, we would have to wait and see until when she would schedule a court date. We are concerned not for us, but for or little girl, because the more time she spends in the baby house, the more developmentally delayed she stays. Well, for those of us who know me, you know that I will move heaven and earth (sort of speak) in order to bring Maya Antonina home. Well, I spoke to our social worker and I explained to her that we needed the documents that she was going to provide for us by Friday, February 20th and that we were on a time crunch! In the meantime, the paperwork that I needed to produce was in the works. As soon as I started to receive it and/or produce it, I started emailing it to the Tver staff so they could start translating it for the judge to see our willingness! Granted that some of the paperwork has not been apostilled yet, but the Tver staff said to just email what we had so they could show the Judge that we meant business. We received the paperwork back from our social worker Lori on Friday, as requested, THANK YOU Lori. She has been more than amazing with us, and we have nothing, but good things to say about her and her agency.
I went ahead and scanned all the paperwork to the Tver staff. now, we only need the Psych paperwork and we will be ready for court. I also sent and email to Olga, our translator to ask her if our coordinator had had a chance to meet with the judge. Well, she responded yesterday, Saturday to let us know that they were not able to meet with the judge on Friday and that Monday, February 23, 2009 was Army day in Russia, and therefore a holiday, but that they had made an appointment to see the judge this coming Tuesday to show her the paperwork and hopefully get a court date from her. Please pray for us, that we can get good news on Tuesday with a court date for at least the middle of March. I will keep you posted. Take care and God Bless you All….. Until then!!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
TRIP BACK TO THE US
TRIP BACK TO THE US
I woke up at 4:00am, I could not sleep, and I was desperate to head back home. We were also sad to have to leave Antonina, but sadly, the only thing we can do is pray for a quick return. We thought we were going to be able to have breakfast, but unfortunately, we were picked up before the restaurant opened for breakfast. We were picked up by our coordinator, it was really cold and it had snowed the night before. Mauri and I felt asleep right after we got into the main road heading to Moscow. All of the sudden, it started to snow really badly, I started to pray for safe arrival to the airport. We encountered at least 10 accidents on the way to the airport, it was kind of scary to see soo many accidents along the way. Then, we started to get concerned that our flight was going to be delayed because it was snowing pretty badly. Finally, after 3 ½ hours we arrived to the airport, we said our thanks and our goodbyes to Alexey. We then headed into checking in and let me tell you that the Domodedovo airport is different to what I have ever seen in terms of security. Thank God we were able to go through all the hurdles without any major challenges. Our flight was delayed over an hour and I am now blogging from the plane. I am trying to catch up with posting in the blog, since I had not been able to do it during the last 2 days. We were lucky that we were receiving internet signal in our room, but for some reason, we did not get a strong signal during the past two days. Our plane landed in Chicago, at the O’Hare airport. We went through Immigration and Customs without a problem (Thank God). We then took the little train to concourse 3, so we could then take our flight to Miami. We had some dinner while still at the airport; we had not realized that it was still Valentine’s Day, so we wished each other a Happy V Day. By the way, Happy Valentine’s Day (even if belated) to all my wonderful friends and family). Our flight to Miami was completely sold out. As always, it was delayed a little. Finally, we boarded and as soon it took off, Mauri and I dozed off. We woke up about a ½ an hour before we landed. Thank God we arrived home safe and sound; we do miss our little girl. Things seem different around the house (even though nothing has moved). I think it’s because now we have met our little princess, and now we can relate her little face with things in the nursery and around the house over all. We pray to God that we will be able to come up with all the new paperwork that the judge it’s going to request, more specifically being able to find a Psychiatrist that will be willing to provide us with the paperwork we need. Please continue to pray for us. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support, and please continue to leave your comments. It makes my day every time I see that one of you left a comment. I will keep you posted…..
I woke up at 4:00am, I could not sleep, and I was desperate to head back home. We were also sad to have to leave Antonina, but sadly, the only thing we can do is pray for a quick return. We thought we were going to be able to have breakfast, but unfortunately, we were picked up before the restaurant opened for breakfast. We were picked up by our coordinator, it was really cold and it had snowed the night before. Mauri and I felt asleep right after we got into the main road heading to Moscow. All of the sudden, it started to snow really badly, I started to pray for safe arrival to the airport. We encountered at least 10 accidents on the way to the airport, it was kind of scary to see soo many accidents along the way. Then, we started to get concerned that our flight was going to be delayed because it was snowing pretty badly. Finally, after 3 ½ hours we arrived to the airport, we said our thanks and our goodbyes to Alexey. We then headed into checking in and let me tell you that the Domodedovo airport is different to what I have ever seen in terms of security. Thank God we were able to go through all the hurdles without any major challenges. Our flight was delayed over an hour and I am now blogging from the plane. I am trying to catch up with posting in the blog, since I had not been able to do it during the last 2 days. We were lucky that we were receiving internet signal in our room, but for some reason, we did not get a strong signal during the past two days. Our plane landed in Chicago, at the O’Hare airport. We went through Immigration and Customs without a problem (Thank God). We then took the little train to concourse 3, so we could then take our flight to Miami. We had some dinner while still at the airport; we had not realized that it was still Valentine’s Day, so we wished each other a Happy V Day. By the way, Happy Valentine’s Day (even if belated) to all my wonderful friends and family). Our flight to Miami was completely sold out. As always, it was delayed a little. Finally, we boarded and as soon it took off, Mauri and I dozed off. We woke up about a ½ an hour before we landed. Thank God we arrived home safe and sound; we do miss our little girl. Things seem different around the house (even though nothing has moved). I think it’s because now we have met our little princess, and now we can relate her little face with things in the nursery and around the house over all. We pray to God that we will be able to come up with all the new paperwork that the judge it’s going to request, more specifically being able to find a Psychiatrist that will be willing to provide us with the paperwork we need. Please continue to pray for us. We cannot thank you enough for your continued support, and please continue to leave your comments. It makes my day every time I see that one of you left a comment. I will keep you posted…..
LAST DOCTOR'S VISIT AND VISIT W/ THE JUDGE
LAST DOCTOR'S VISIT AND VISIT WITH THE JUDGE
Today, we were picked up at 10:00 to go see the Narcologist, you see, here in Russia, everyone who is seeking for a job is required to be cleared by the Narcologist in order to receive clearance. When we got there the place was packed, we waited until our translator registered us and went to pay for the visit. They reviewed our lab results that we brought from the US. We were required to go through a 10 panel drug test, among a full blood and urine check-up. Once we were allowed to go in, we were asked several questions and then we were cleared. Once we were through with all the medicals we felt relieved, we thought, we are now one more step closer to completion. We were then taken back to the hotel, and we were informed that at 2:15 we were going to be picked up to go see the judge. Well, the coordinator, showed up a little bit late. We were told that he was at the adoption center, we imagined that he maybe was trying to register another family. Once we were picked up, the coordinator had to go pick up some papers needed for the judge. Once we reached the court building, we were told that we had to wait for the judge. We were also told that the meeting was going to take place in her chambers. What was our surprise that when she saw us, she said that we were going to meeting in one of the courtrooms. We were so nervous, we did not know whether to make something out of it or not. Well, we went back downstairs to wait for her. Once the judge came in she asked for our passports. She immediately saw that we were born in Central America and she started bombarding us with questions. She wanted to know whether we had renounced to our country of birth (citizenship wise), we told her that we were never asked to do that. She was not very happy with our answer. We also told her that we have been living in the US for more than 20 years, and that the US was our home country. Our coordinator asked her a question about our Psychiatrist’s credentials, and she kept saying nyet, nyet, nyet. We knew something was wrong, but we could not ask any questions. At the end she got up abruptly, she said she had to review the documents first, before she could issue a court date and walked out on us. We were in shock, trying to analyze what had just transpired. We expected a court date, and, instead of getting one we were informed that there were additional things that we had to take care of before we could be considered for a court date. I was really upset and bothered. After all the paperwork we had to get ready for the preliminary court hearing and for court, she was changing things around without a valid reason, just because she felt like it. We know have to wait until next week (hopefully) to get an additional list of documents (whatever she feels like requesting, in addition to everything we have already turned in) and if we are lucky, we will get a court date. At this point, we don’t know when we will be returning and that its heart breaking. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. Please continue to pray for us, we are not even close to finishing our journey in order to bring our little girl home. Tomorrow we head back to Moscow to take the flight back home. I will post more tomorrow. Until then…
Today, we were picked up at 10:00 to go see the Narcologist, you see, here in Russia, everyone who is seeking for a job is required to be cleared by the Narcologist in order to receive clearance. When we got there the place was packed, we waited until our translator registered us and went to pay for the visit. They reviewed our lab results that we brought from the US. We were required to go through a 10 panel drug test, among a full blood and urine check-up. Once we were allowed to go in, we were asked several questions and then we were cleared. Once we were through with all the medicals we felt relieved, we thought, we are now one more step closer to completion. We were then taken back to the hotel, and we were informed that at 2:15 we were going to be picked up to go see the judge. Well, the coordinator, showed up a little bit late. We were told that he was at the adoption center, we imagined that he maybe was trying to register another family. Once we were picked up, the coordinator had to go pick up some papers needed for the judge. Once we reached the court building, we were told that we had to wait for the judge. We were also told that the meeting was going to take place in her chambers. What was our surprise that when she saw us, she said that we were going to meeting in one of the courtrooms. We were so nervous, we did not know whether to make something out of it or not. Well, we went back downstairs to wait for her. Once the judge came in she asked for our passports. She immediately saw that we were born in Central America and she started bombarding us with questions. She wanted to know whether we had renounced to our country of birth (citizenship wise), we told her that we were never asked to do that. She was not very happy with our answer. We also told her that we have been living in the US for more than 20 years, and that the US was our home country. Our coordinator asked her a question about our Psychiatrist’s credentials, and she kept saying nyet, nyet, nyet. We knew something was wrong, but we could not ask any questions. At the end she got up abruptly, she said she had to review the documents first, before she could issue a court date and walked out on us. We were in shock, trying to analyze what had just transpired. We expected a court date, and, instead of getting one we were informed that there were additional things that we had to take care of before we could be considered for a court date. I was really upset and bothered. After all the paperwork we had to get ready for the preliminary court hearing and for court, she was changing things around without a valid reason, just because she felt like it. We know have to wait until next week (hopefully) to get an additional list of documents (whatever she feels like requesting, in addition to everything we have already turned in) and if we are lucky, we will get a court date. At this point, we don’t know when we will be returning and that its heart breaking. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do. Please continue to pray for us, we are not even close to finishing our journey in order to bring our little girl home. Tomorrow we head back to Moscow to take the flight back home. I will post more tomorrow. Until then…
DOCTOR'S VISITS
DOCTOR’S VISITS
Today we were picked up at 9:30am to start the medicals. We were taken to a medical dispensary to see the Psychiatrist. We stopped to buy some chocolates for an old lady that works at the dispensary registering patients. Let me tell you, for those of you who have never been to Russia, I can tell you that these visits are more than you can bargain for. We are so lucky to live in the United States, to have jobs and to have health insurance (for those of us who are blessed to have health insurance). Anyways, we had to stand in line in order to get registered. When it was our turn, the lady that registered us was the sweetest old lady I have ever seen; she kept caressing my hair and saying kind things in Russian. Once we were registered, she gave me a kiss and wished us good luck. I will always remember her. I later found out that the lady was adopted herself, and she appreciates the foreign parents who go to Russia to adopt their children. She realizes that we are there to offer them a better life. I think she is one in 10,000. Well, we got to be interviewed by the Psychiatrist, she asked us how long we had been married, the reason why we did not have kids, among other things. Once we were done with her we drove kind of far to the tuberculosis specialist. We had to bring the x-rays that we had taken in the US. After that we headed to the city hospital, ohh my goodness, I was not prepared for that experience…… As soon as you walk in, there is this terrible smell, I cannot even describe it, but it is one of the worst smells I ever experienced. We had to go and be registered. After that we were taken to have an EKG. Well, the EKG machine is so old fachion, they still use cups as electrodes and plastic pliers to put on your ankles and wrists. They asked us who wanted to go first, and I volunteered Mauricio. I wanted to see what it entailed. Well, he had to take everything from the waist up. For him it was pretty uneventful, when it was my turn was when it became an issue for me. You have to get undressed in front of two Russian ladies, our interpreter, and on top of everything you have people peeking in the room while you have you boobies in the air. I was soo embarrassed…. And at the same time I was annoyed at ourselves, I tried to be prepared, since my friends had already warned me about this procedure, that I brought a disposable cover all the way from the US, and guess what, we left it in the van!!!! I could not believe it!!! Anyways, I had no choice, but to go ahead with the procedure, I just covered my eyes, and said to my self, I am never going to see this people again!!!. After we were done, we were taken to another part of the building to see the Neurologist and the Medical doctor. They were both female doctors, they both performed some tests and filled out our paperwork. After that we went to visit 3 other doctors. The last 3 were pretty easy. We were told that the last specialist was not available until the next morning. We were also informed that the judge was not going to be available to see until the next day in the afternoon. We are so hopeful that we are going to get a court date, but we will see what happens tomorrow. In the meantime, we were taken back to the hotel. We were so tired that we went right to sleep. Have I mentioned that I have been suffering from insomnia, I wake up in the middle of the night, and I can’t sleep after that. I have only been sleeping 3 to 4 hours at the time. I miss my bed terribly…. Our hotel is very good and clean, but, yes there is a but, the beds are so hard, worst than rocks. Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep. I will post some more tomorrow, until then.
Today we were picked up at 9:30am to start the medicals. We were taken to a medical dispensary to see the Psychiatrist. We stopped to buy some chocolates for an old lady that works at the dispensary registering patients. Let me tell you, for those of you who have never been to Russia, I can tell you that these visits are more than you can bargain for. We are so lucky to live in the United States, to have jobs and to have health insurance (for those of us who are blessed to have health insurance). Anyways, we had to stand in line in order to get registered. When it was our turn, the lady that registered us was the sweetest old lady I have ever seen; she kept caressing my hair and saying kind things in Russian. Once we were registered, she gave me a kiss and wished us good luck. I will always remember her. I later found out that the lady was adopted herself, and she appreciates the foreign parents who go to Russia to adopt their children. She realizes that we are there to offer them a better life. I think she is one in 10,000. Well, we got to be interviewed by the Psychiatrist, she asked us how long we had been married, the reason why we did not have kids, among other things. Once we were done with her we drove kind of far to the tuberculosis specialist. We had to bring the x-rays that we had taken in the US. After that we headed to the city hospital, ohh my goodness, I was not prepared for that experience…… As soon as you walk in, there is this terrible smell, I cannot even describe it, but it is one of the worst smells I ever experienced. We had to go and be registered. After that we were taken to have an EKG. Well, the EKG machine is so old fachion, they still use cups as electrodes and plastic pliers to put on your ankles and wrists. They asked us who wanted to go first, and I volunteered Mauricio. I wanted to see what it entailed. Well, he had to take everything from the waist up. For him it was pretty uneventful, when it was my turn was when it became an issue for me. You have to get undressed in front of two Russian ladies, our interpreter, and on top of everything you have people peeking in the room while you have you boobies in the air. I was soo embarrassed…. And at the same time I was annoyed at ourselves, I tried to be prepared, since my friends had already warned me about this procedure, that I brought a disposable cover all the way from the US, and guess what, we left it in the van!!!! I could not believe it!!! Anyways, I had no choice, but to go ahead with the procedure, I just covered my eyes, and said to my self, I am never going to see this people again!!!. After we were done, we were taken to another part of the building to see the Neurologist and the Medical doctor. They were both female doctors, they both performed some tests and filled out our paperwork. After that we went to visit 3 other doctors. The last 3 were pretty easy. We were told that the last specialist was not available until the next morning. We were also informed that the judge was not going to be available to see until the next day in the afternoon. We are so hopeful that we are going to get a court date, but we will see what happens tomorrow. In the meantime, we were taken back to the hotel. We were so tired that we went right to sleep. Have I mentioned that I have been suffering from insomnia, I wake up in the middle of the night, and I can’t sleep after that. I have only been sleeping 3 to 4 hours at the time. I miss my bed terribly…. Our hotel is very good and clean, but, yes there is a but, the beds are so hard, worst than rocks. Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep. I will post some more tomorrow, until then.
LAST VISIT TO BABY HOUSE FOR TRIP # 1
LAST VISIT TO THE BABY HOUSE FOR TRIP #1
This morning we started the day by going to the notary to sign the formal petition to adopt Antonina. We are so excited; we are going to be parents to a little Russian Princess!!!! We were at the notary for almost an hour, while they prepared all the necessary documents. Once we signed everything we were taken back to the hotel. We were told that we would get a last visit with Antonina. We wanted to say good bye (temporarily), and we wanted to leave her the photo album that he had prepared for her with pictures of us, my Mom and Dad, my 2 brothers and my 2 dearest sisters. Well, there was a little problem; we were told that if we wanted to go to the baby house we were going to have to take a taxi! We were a little bothered by that, just because we don’t know the language, but after some back and forth with the coordinator, we agreed that our translator Olga, would graciously accompany us, and in return we said that that we would pay for her to be picked up and dropped at her house. We felt that it was the right thing to do. Well, since we had a little more than four hours before we could visit with Antonina, We decided to venture out into the city. Let me tell you it’s been snowing every day, so the streets and. the sidewalks are frozen, so it makes it very hard to walk, not to mention that it’s freezing :o). Anyways, we decided to buy some souvenirs, and then we wanted to go to a pizza place called Milano. Thanks to our friends the G’s who were so kind to leave us a deciphered map of Tver, we were able the places relatively easy. We started by the Matrioska store, were they sell the famous nesting dolls, hand painted lacquered boxes, among other Russian arts and crafts. The place has some wonderful arts and crafts. We bought some things for Antonina’s room, the cutest hand painted rattle I have ever seen, a lacquered Russian princess depicted on the box. This will represent our little bundle of joy :o). Then we passed by the Chicken House, the Russian version of KFC. We found some other restaurants, but we did not venture in. We took some pictures until we got to the pizza place, we were so happy we found it. After not eating well for the first few days we wanted something good. Mauri ordered a ham and cheese pizza and I ordered a Hawaiian pizza. Right before we were leaving the pizza place, it started to snow again. Did I mentioned that we were a little far from the hotel! Well, we started to head back and while we were walking I fell on the sidewalk, and then Mauri fell too. It was a very awkward, but funny situation. Thank God we did not get hurt. Finally we got back to the hotel, we were really happy to be back. About a half and hour after we got back it was time to leave to see Antonina, our translator Olga was there with a hired car. Once we reached the baby house, we noticed that they had a full house yet again. There were several couples visiting their babies. Since there were no rooms available they took us to a hallway and brought us a small padded mat so we could play with Antonina. The hallway was pretty crowded, even for Antonina, but we tried to make the best out of our visit. We played with her for about an hour, but her meal time and naptime were running late and she started to get restless, which we understood. As soon as she starts to hear those pots and pans, it’s like, get away from me, we need to eat!!! We got a glimpse of how they line them up to eat, let me tell you it’s a little bit disturbing. Don’t take me wrong, we know the caretakers are doing the best they can, but at the same time it is very difficult to see how they line them out to feed them all at the same time. They only get a certain amount of time to eat and if they don’t do it within their allotted time, they will stay hungry and even if they cry, they won’t feed them separate. We can’t wait to take her home so we can feed her and take care of her. Well, we had to say our goodbyes, we told her, and we will see her very soon. We were heartbroken to have to leave her, but he have to remain positive that we are meant to be together. Tomorrow we are supposed to have our medicals. We need to visit 8 specialists in order to get cleared for the court hearing. In the afternoon, we are supposed to see the judge. I will post more tomorrow.
This morning we started the day by going to the notary to sign the formal petition to adopt Antonina. We are so excited; we are going to be parents to a little Russian Princess!!!! We were at the notary for almost an hour, while they prepared all the necessary documents. Once we signed everything we were taken back to the hotel. We were told that we would get a last visit with Antonina. We wanted to say good bye (temporarily), and we wanted to leave her the photo album that he had prepared for her with pictures of us, my Mom and Dad, my 2 brothers and my 2 dearest sisters. Well, there was a little problem; we were told that if we wanted to go to the baby house we were going to have to take a taxi! We were a little bothered by that, just because we don’t know the language, but after some back and forth with the coordinator, we agreed that our translator Olga, would graciously accompany us, and in return we said that that we would pay for her to be picked up and dropped at her house. We felt that it was the right thing to do. Well, since we had a little more than four hours before we could visit with Antonina, We decided to venture out into the city. Let me tell you it’s been snowing every day, so the streets and. the sidewalks are frozen, so it makes it very hard to walk, not to mention that it’s freezing :o). Anyways, we decided to buy some souvenirs, and then we wanted to go to a pizza place called Milano. Thanks to our friends the G’s who were so kind to leave us a deciphered map of Tver, we were able the places relatively easy. We started by the Matrioska store, were they sell the famous nesting dolls, hand painted lacquered boxes, among other Russian arts and crafts. The place has some wonderful arts and crafts. We bought some things for Antonina’s room, the cutest hand painted rattle I have ever seen, a lacquered Russian princess depicted on the box. This will represent our little bundle of joy :o). Then we passed by the Chicken House, the Russian version of KFC. We found some other restaurants, but we did not venture in. We took some pictures until we got to the pizza place, we were so happy we found it. After not eating well for the first few days we wanted something good. Mauri ordered a ham and cheese pizza and I ordered a Hawaiian pizza. Right before we were leaving the pizza place, it started to snow again. Did I mentioned that we were a little far from the hotel! Well, we started to head back and while we were walking I fell on the sidewalk, and then Mauri fell too. It was a very awkward, but funny situation. Thank God we did not get hurt. Finally we got back to the hotel, we were really happy to be back. About a half and hour after we got back it was time to leave to see Antonina, our translator Olga was there with a hired car. Once we reached the baby house, we noticed that they had a full house yet again. There were several couples visiting their babies. Since there were no rooms available they took us to a hallway and brought us a small padded mat so we could play with Antonina. The hallway was pretty crowded, even for Antonina, but we tried to make the best out of our visit. We played with her for about an hour, but her meal time and naptime were running late and she started to get restless, which we understood. As soon as she starts to hear those pots and pans, it’s like, get away from me, we need to eat!!! We got a glimpse of how they line them up to eat, let me tell you it’s a little bit disturbing. Don’t take me wrong, we know the caretakers are doing the best they can, but at the same time it is very difficult to see how they line them out to feed them all at the same time. They only get a certain amount of time to eat and if they don’t do it within their allotted time, they will stay hungry and even if they cry, they won’t feed them separate. We can’t wait to take her home so we can feed her and take care of her. Well, we had to say our goodbyes, we told her, and we will see her very soon. We were heartbroken to have to leave her, but he have to remain positive that we are meant to be together. Tomorrow we are supposed to have our medicals. We need to visit 8 specialists in order to get cleared for the court hearing. In the afternoon, we are supposed to see the judge. I will post more tomorrow.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
BABY HOUSE VISITS 3 & 4
BABY HOUSE VISIT# 4
We made back at 4:30 to meet with Antonina and the Inspector. We were told that she works with all the baby homes and orphanages in the region. She is considered a very important person. She is the one that will speak on behalf of Antonina at court. Anyways, she started going over Antonina’s file, telling us as much information as she could about the mother and her grandparents. There is no known information about her father. We know that Antonina’s mom abandoned her at the hospital right after birth. That’s all I can share for now (due to confidentiality issues). She also asked us questions about us, why we decided to adopt from Russia, if we had decided to ADOPT her (which the answer is YES), how long have we been trying to have a child, among other things. Then she saw how Mauri was interacting with Antonina (since I was the one answering most of the questions). The she said that she wanted to see how Antonina interacted with me, so we started playing. After that she started laying with Antonina, then she made some notes in her file and told us that completed our interview with her. After she left, we has a little bit more time to play with Antonina, but she was getting tired and hungry since she was missing her meal and naptime. Her caretaker came down to pick her up and asked us if we could buy diapers, wipes and baby cream for her and we said yes. We were told that we were to have a last visit with her before we were to depart back to the US. An interesting thing happened when we were about to leave, one of the US couples that I had mentioned before that were there to visit with their 2 little girls happens to be Melissa, she is one of the mom’s who belongs in the Tver yahoo chat group. She came to me and said, are you Yadira, and am I, yes? She goes I am Melissa, do you remember me? And I go, of course, yes, from the chat groups, you see we had been emailing back and forth, and also my friend AG had been helping her with some information that she needed. Am like, what a small world. They have their court date very soon, so does the other couple that was there. Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow we are to meet with the Notary to formally sign the petition to become Antonina’s parents. Please continue to pray for us. We miss you all very dearly!!!!
BABY HOUSE VISIT# 3
Well, this morning we headed for our third visit. Again the inspector could not meet us. We were told that she was going to be available to observe us in the afternoon. So that means that we will get to see Antonina again today :o). As soon as we walked in we realize that there were 2 other families who were visiting their daughters. One couple was adopting 2 girls at the same time. I am not sure if they are siblings. I asked the mom hold they were and she told me that one of them was 12 months old. If you saw them, they were very cute, still tiny. I am not sure what it is with Russian little baby girls that they are so small. Maybe it’s to do with what they feed them. Anyways, the other couple was waiting for their little girl too. I had seen their little girl in the database so I recognized her right away. Well, since the room where we were supposed to use to visit with Antonina was so full I requested to be taken upstairs so we could see her interact with her group. At first they told me that was not allowed, but you know me, I was polite, but persistent. It was very important for Mauri and me to see her interact with her peers. Well, finally the Deputy Director agreed and they took us upstairs to a room where we were going to have our visit. Then we were taken to the room next door to see her interact with the other babies. We told the director that we were going to be as invisible as possible, that our only intention was to see her interact with others. All the babies were still in their PJ’s. They were working as a group with the Psychologist. They were 2 babies with Down syndrome who are mainly kept in their cribs, if you only saw what we saw, it was heartbreaking. Then we got to see the babies interact with each other, they were so cute. Antonina did very well, she was the one who kept following the exercises that the Psychologists was giving them, we were so proud of her. She was doing very well. For the first time I felt like a proud Momma. She learns quickly, that’s why we are confident that she will do well. What she needs is a lot of love, perseverance and dedication. Well, after we observed, we were told that she was going to be changed and was going to be taken to the next room for us to play with her. They brought her in one of the outfits that we bought for her. It had “Daddy’s Girl” written on it and it’s purple. She looked so cute. She favors Mauri so much that she is starting to build a little bit of trust with him. You should see them play. My heart melts when I see them together. What can I tell you about Mauri, he is very happy, and so am I. Well, we played for over an hour, and then it was time for her meal and then naptime. You should see how restless she becomes when she starts to hear those pots and pans with the food, it’s like, ok people, I already entertain you, so now it’s time for me to go eat :o). We said our goodbyes and left to be taken back to the hotel. We are do back at 4:30 to meet with the Inspector.
We made back at 4:30 to meet with Antonina and the Inspector. We were told that she works with all the baby homes and orphanages in the region. She is considered a very important person. She is the one that will speak on behalf of Antonina at court. Anyways, she started going over Antonina’s file, telling us as much information as she could about the mother and her grandparents. There is no known information about her father. We know that Antonina’s mom abandoned her at the hospital right after birth. That’s all I can share for now (due to confidentiality issues). She also asked us questions about us, why we decided to adopt from Russia, if we had decided to ADOPT her (which the answer is YES), how long have we been trying to have a child, among other things. Then she saw how Mauri was interacting with Antonina (since I was the one answering most of the questions). The she said that she wanted to see how Antonina interacted with me, so we started playing. After that she started laying with Antonina, then she made some notes in her file and told us that completed our interview with her. After she left, we has a little bit more time to play with Antonina, but she was getting tired and hungry since she was missing her meal and naptime. Her caretaker came down to pick her up and asked us if we could buy diapers, wipes and baby cream for her and we said yes. We were told that we were to have a last visit with her before we were to depart back to the US. An interesting thing happened when we were about to leave, one of the US couples that I had mentioned before that were there to visit with their 2 little girls happens to be Melissa, she is one of the mom’s who belongs in the Tver yahoo chat group. She came to me and said, are you Yadira, and am I, yes? She goes I am Melissa, do you remember me? And I go, of course, yes, from the chat groups, you see we had been emailing back and forth, and also my friend AG had been helping her with some information that she needed. Am like, what a small world. They have their court date very soon, so does the other couple that was there. Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow we are to meet with the Notary to formally sign the petition to become Antonina’s parents. Please continue to pray for us. We miss you all very dearly!!!!
BABY HOUSE VISIT# 3
Well, this morning we headed for our third visit. Again the inspector could not meet us. We were told that she was going to be available to observe us in the afternoon. So that means that we will get to see Antonina again today :o). As soon as we walked in we realize that there were 2 other families who were visiting their daughters. One couple was adopting 2 girls at the same time. I am not sure if they are siblings. I asked the mom hold they were and she told me that one of them was 12 months old. If you saw them, they were very cute, still tiny. I am not sure what it is with Russian little baby girls that they are so small. Maybe it’s to do with what they feed them. Anyways, the other couple was waiting for their little girl too. I had seen their little girl in the database so I recognized her right away. Well, since the room where we were supposed to use to visit with Antonina was so full I requested to be taken upstairs so we could see her interact with her group. At first they told me that was not allowed, but you know me, I was polite, but persistent. It was very important for Mauri and me to see her interact with her peers. Well, finally the Deputy Director agreed and they took us upstairs to a room where we were going to have our visit. Then we were taken to the room next door to see her interact with the other babies. We told the director that we were going to be as invisible as possible, that our only intention was to see her interact with others. All the babies were still in their PJ’s. They were working as a group with the Psychologist. They were 2 babies with Down syndrome who are mainly kept in their cribs, if you only saw what we saw, it was heartbreaking. Then we got to see the babies interact with each other, they were so cute. Antonina did very well, she was the one who kept following the exercises that the Psychologists was giving them, we were so proud of her. She was doing very well. For the first time I felt like a proud Momma. She learns quickly, that’s why we are confident that she will do well. What she needs is a lot of love, perseverance and dedication. Well, after we observed, we were told that she was going to be changed and was going to be taken to the next room for us to play with her. They brought her in one of the outfits that we bought for her. It had “Daddy’s Girl” written on it and it’s purple. She looked so cute. She favors Mauri so much that she is starting to build a little bit of trust with him. You should see them play. My heart melts when I see them together. What can I tell you about Mauri, he is very happy, and so am I. Well, we played for over an hour, and then it was time for her meal and then naptime. You should see how restless she becomes when she starts to hear those pots and pans with the food, it’s like, ok people, I already entertain you, so now it’s time for me to go eat :o). We said our goodbyes and left to be taken back to the hotel. We are do back at 4:30 to meet with the Inspector.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
SHORT UPDATE
Dear All:
Sorry we have not been able to post anything in the past 2 days. Things have been really hectic. We have gotten a total of 5 visits with Antonina. Everything is going well. Tomorrow we have to go through Russian medicals, where we have to visit 8 specialists. In the afternoon we are supposed to meet with the jude for a preliminary court hearing. Please continue to pray for us. I will post more in detail about the last three visits, as soon as I have a chance. Also, the internet at the hotel has been down a lot and that makes it very hard for me to post. Well everyone take care. Will post more soon.
Love,
Mauri & Yadi
Sorry we have not been able to post anything in the past 2 days. Things have been really hectic. We have gotten a total of 5 visits with Antonina. Everything is going well. Tomorrow we have to go through Russian medicals, where we have to visit 8 specialists. In the afternoon we are supposed to meet with the jude for a preliminary court hearing. Please continue to pray for us. I will post more in detail about the last three visits, as soon as I have a chance. Also, the internet at the hotel has been down a lot and that makes it very hard for me to post. Well everyone take care. Will post more soon.
Love,
Mauri & Yadi
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
SECOND VISIT WITH ANTONINA
BABY HOUSE VISIT #2
We visited Antonina for a second time today. We were supposed to be observed by the inspector, but she was still in court, so they told us that we will visit her for a little while, but just us and our translator Olga. Well, they brought her down with one of the outfits we bought for her, she looked adorable!!!! This time it went a little smoother, without so many interruptions. We got to play with her. We discover that she is really taken with sounds. She was a little more comfortable around us too. We asked for medical assistance and we got to talk to the neurologist and the child psychologist. The neurologist went over her medical history with us and everything seemed within reason. When we got to talk to the Psychologist I started asking questions. At first she was a little apprehensive and on the defensive side, but as our interpreter started translating what some of our concerns were, she became more at ease (thank God). She admitted that at the beginning when she started working with Antonina she thought that she was not going to progress developmentally. One of the reasons is because she has been institutionalized from birth. Her mom left abandoned her at the hospital three days after she was born, and the only “home” she has ever known is the baby house. After we talked she started playing with her to see how she reacted to some (developmental) exercises. Let me tell you, I am no expert, but those people are not up to standard :o(
Don’t take me wrong, I am nobody to criticize them, I am only stating my opinion. This visit it was kind of short, it was the end of the day and all the workers were going home. So her caretaker came to get her because it was meal time. They asked us to buy diapers and wipes for her. We will go tomorrow to buy them. We have so much to think about to tonight. We have to weigh the pros and cons to see if we can provide Antonina with whatever care she needs. We know that we are in God’s hands and he will guide us in the right direction. We thank you for continue to keep us in your prayers. We will post more tomorrow when we go for the third visit.
We visited Antonina for a second time today. We were supposed to be observed by the inspector, but she was still in court, so they told us that we will visit her for a little while, but just us and our translator Olga. Well, they brought her down with one of the outfits we bought for her, she looked adorable!!!! This time it went a little smoother, without so many interruptions. We got to play with her. We discover that she is really taken with sounds. She was a little more comfortable around us too. We asked for medical assistance and we got to talk to the neurologist and the child psychologist. The neurologist went over her medical history with us and everything seemed within reason. When we got to talk to the Psychologist I started asking questions. At first she was a little apprehensive and on the defensive side, but as our interpreter started translating what some of our concerns were, she became more at ease (thank God). She admitted that at the beginning when she started working with Antonina she thought that she was not going to progress developmentally. One of the reasons is because she has been institutionalized from birth. Her mom left abandoned her at the hospital three days after she was born, and the only “home” she has ever known is the baby house. After we talked she started playing with her to see how she reacted to some (developmental) exercises. Let me tell you, I am no expert, but those people are not up to standard :o(
Don’t take me wrong, I am nobody to criticize them, I am only stating my opinion. This visit it was kind of short, it was the end of the day and all the workers were going home. So her caretaker came to get her because it was meal time. They asked us to buy diapers and wipes for her. We will go tomorrow to buy them. We have so much to think about to tonight. We have to weigh the pros and cons to see if we can provide Antonina with whatever care she needs. We know that we are in God’s hands and he will guide us in the right direction. We thank you for continue to keep us in your prayers. We will post more tomorrow when we go for the third visit.
FIRST VISIT WITH ANTONINA
BABY HOUSE VISIT #1
Sorry, we did not post anything yesterday. The truth is that it was a day filled with mixed emotions, both happy and sad. Well, let me start from the beginning. We were picked up at about 9:30 to go to the baby house for our first visit with Antonina. Since the baby house is within Tver, we drove for about 15 minutes. Once inside, we were asked to have a seat in a small reception area while we waited for the Baby House Director to come talk to us to go over the medical information for Antonina. At first is so much information that you feel a little overwhelmed. You see, Antonina was born at 36 weeks, right at the beginning of the 8th month and she was born with some complications, which I cannot go in great detailed (we are not allowed to talk about that). Well, in the middle talking to the director the caregiver brought Antonina to us…..Ohh my God, we wanted to drop what we were doing to carry her, so Mauri got her while I continued to make notes. We got to ask a series of medical questions that we had, but only medical. The baby house social worker or inspector as they call it was supposed to be present on the first visit, but she was busy at court. So we were told that we were going to go for a second visit in the afternoon in order to be observed with the Antonina by the inspector. Once we were finished with the medical director we got the one on one with Antonina, oh my God, our heart melted, when we got to play with her. Antonina is 19 months old, but she is soooo tiny, she looks like a 9 month old baby, instead of a 19 month old. She is so skinny and fragile. When you hold her, you worry that you might “break her” by carrying her. Like I said before, they brought her down, she was wearing a blue party dress. Don’t take me wrong she looked so cute, like a precious little doll. I immediately requested if we could change her clothing that we wanted to put her in one the outfits we had bought for her. At first they said no, then after they agreed. Well, the first outfit was too big for her (12 month); the second outfit that we tried did fit her well (9 months). She looked adorable. We took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately, we cannot post them, for confidentiality issues we are not allowed. We video taped her playing with some of the toys we brought for her. She had fun with the one that has music, she starting dancing and she looked happy. We taught her to throw kisses and she learned quickly, it melted my heart when she will bow her head for me to kiss her. It is an amazing feeling. Mauri and I are somewhat concerned because she is so malnourished and she is developmentally delayed about 7/9 months, and also she cannot walk yet. She walks with assistance (when you are holding her hands) but she cannot do it by herself yet. They will allow us another visit in the afternoon, I will post more later. Thanks for checking in on us….
Sorry, we did not post anything yesterday. The truth is that it was a day filled with mixed emotions, both happy and sad. Well, let me start from the beginning. We were picked up at about 9:30 to go to the baby house for our first visit with Antonina. Since the baby house is within Tver, we drove for about 15 minutes. Once inside, we were asked to have a seat in a small reception area while we waited for the Baby House Director to come talk to us to go over the medical information for Antonina. At first is so much information that you feel a little overwhelmed. You see, Antonina was born at 36 weeks, right at the beginning of the 8th month and she was born with some complications, which I cannot go in great detailed (we are not allowed to talk about that). Well, in the middle talking to the director the caregiver brought Antonina to us…..Ohh my God, we wanted to drop what we were doing to carry her, so Mauri got her while I continued to make notes. We got to ask a series of medical questions that we had, but only medical. The baby house social worker or inspector as they call it was supposed to be present on the first visit, but she was busy at court. So we were told that we were going to go for a second visit in the afternoon in order to be observed with the Antonina by the inspector. Once we were finished with the medical director we got the one on one with Antonina, oh my God, our heart melted, when we got to play with her. Antonina is 19 months old, but she is soooo tiny, she looks like a 9 month old baby, instead of a 19 month old. She is so skinny and fragile. When you hold her, you worry that you might “break her” by carrying her. Like I said before, they brought her down, she was wearing a blue party dress. Don’t take me wrong she looked so cute, like a precious little doll. I immediately requested if we could change her clothing that we wanted to put her in one the outfits we had bought for her. At first they said no, then after they agreed. Well, the first outfit was too big for her (12 month); the second outfit that we tried did fit her well (9 months). She looked adorable. We took a lot of pictures, but unfortunately, we cannot post them, for confidentiality issues we are not allowed. We video taped her playing with some of the toys we brought for her. She had fun with the one that has music, she starting dancing and she looked happy. We taught her to throw kisses and she learned quickly, it melted my heart when she will bow her head for me to kiss her. It is an amazing feeling. Mauri and I are somewhat concerned because she is so malnourished and she is developmentally delayed about 7/9 months, and also she cannot walk yet. She walks with assistance (when you are holding her hands) but she cannot do it by herself yet. They will allow us another visit in the afternoon, I will post more later. Thanks for checking in on us….
Sunday, February 8, 2009
TRIP TO TVER, RUSSIA
Dear All:
Sorry we could not post from the Chicago Airport while we waited for our next flight! You see, my sister Claudia and her boyfriend Donnie picked us up at the airport. We then went to have breakfast. After that we went to the outlet mall to look for insulated winter gloves for me. I have been looking for the right type for quite a while and I had not been able to find them. Well, this time we did, we went to the Spider store and we found my gloves. We also found gloves for Mauri. I was also looking for a hat (per say), but I did not want any winter hat. I wanted something that looked good me. We we went to a couple of stores, until we came accross a store that had some nice hats. So, Claudia and I ended up getting the same hat :0). After that, We rushed out of the mall, then went to pick up our stuff to their house, and then we rushed to go have lunch. time went up so fast that before we knew it it was time to go have lunch. Anyways, we went to this place that we like, Famous Daves to have chicken and ribs. We ate there and then we rushed to the airport because we were running late. Finally we got to the airport, we said our goodbyes, we ran to our councourse, go through security, just to find out that the computer had picked us for additional security screening. Well, let me tell you, that was very interesting to say the least. We went through the same thing in Miami, but TSA Miami was nothing compared to TSA Chicago. For a moment I though that we were going to miss our flight, just because we had 5, yes, 5 TSA officer going through all of our stuff. Don't take me wrong, I know they are just doing their job, but, they got everything out from our carry-ons, so I think they over reacted a little bit. Anyways, after TSA screening we ran to our gate L8, just to find out that we were right in time. Yeahh, we were heading to Moscow.... I won't bore you with the details from the flight. Just let me tell you that it was long and a little uncomfortable, but ohh well. The important thing was getting to Moscow safe and sound.
Well, 10 hours later...... When the plane landed, we realized of my goodness, we are in Moscow. We also said to ourselves, oh my Gosh, this has been a long trip!!! Dima, our driver picked us from the airport. When we exited the aiport we felt the cold air, and yes, it is freezing (to say the least). We headed directly to Tver. I guess that because of the weather we took longer than other couples. It took us 4 hours to reach Tver. By the time we got to the hotel we were beat. Thanks to our great friends (A & K) we were able to venture out to buy some gorceries and kind of walk around. A & K were so thoughtful that they left us a translated menu, a deciphered map of the city and some rubles for us to be able to buy some things. You see, dollars are not accepted at the stores here. It is forbidden for citizens to exchange foreign currency outside a bank. In other words, they cannot and will not am to accept our dollars.
Thanks A & K, you guys were life savers.. When we go meet our little girl tomorrow, the staff will take us to exchange dollars.
Well, I got to go to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a great and beatiful day for us.... We will get to meet our future daughter. It is excciting and nerve racking at the same time. Please continue to pray for us. We are in God's hands. I will post some more tomorrow. Thankyou for checking our blog.... Please leave us comments so we can know who's following our blog :o).......
Sorry we could not post from the Chicago Airport while we waited for our next flight! You see, my sister Claudia and her boyfriend Donnie picked us up at the airport. We then went to have breakfast. After that we went to the outlet mall to look for insulated winter gloves for me. I have been looking for the right type for quite a while and I had not been able to find them. Well, this time we did, we went to the Spider store and we found my gloves. We also found gloves for Mauri. I was also looking for a hat (per say), but I did not want any winter hat. I wanted something that looked good me. We we went to a couple of stores, until we came accross a store that had some nice hats. So, Claudia and I ended up getting the same hat :0). After that, We rushed out of the mall, then went to pick up our stuff to their house, and then we rushed to go have lunch. time went up so fast that before we knew it it was time to go have lunch. Anyways, we went to this place that we like, Famous Daves to have chicken and ribs. We ate there and then we rushed to the airport because we were running late. Finally we got to the airport, we said our goodbyes, we ran to our councourse, go through security, just to find out that the computer had picked us for additional security screening. Well, let me tell you, that was very interesting to say the least. We went through the same thing in Miami, but TSA Miami was nothing compared to TSA Chicago. For a moment I though that we were going to miss our flight, just because we had 5, yes, 5 TSA officer going through all of our stuff. Don't take me wrong, I know they are just doing their job, but, they got everything out from our carry-ons, so I think they over reacted a little bit. Anyways, after TSA screening we ran to our gate L8, just to find out that we were right in time. Yeahh, we were heading to Moscow.... I won't bore you with the details from the flight. Just let me tell you that it was long and a little uncomfortable, but ohh well. The important thing was getting to Moscow safe and sound.
Well, 10 hours later...... When the plane landed, we realized of my goodness, we are in Moscow. We also said to ourselves, oh my Gosh, this has been a long trip!!! Dima, our driver picked us from the airport. When we exited the aiport we felt the cold air, and yes, it is freezing (to say the least). We headed directly to Tver. I guess that because of the weather we took longer than other couples. It took us 4 hours to reach Tver. By the time we got to the hotel we were beat. Thanks to our great friends (A & K) we were able to venture out to buy some gorceries and kind of walk around. A & K were so thoughtful that they left us a translated menu, a deciphered map of the city and some rubles for us to be able to buy some things. You see, dollars are not accepted at the stores here. It is forbidden for citizens to exchange foreign currency outside a bank. In other words, they cannot and will not am to accept our dollars.
Thanks A & K, you guys were life savers.. When we go meet our little girl tomorrow, the staff will take us to exchange dollars.
Well, I got to go to sleep, tomorrow is going to be a great and beatiful day for us.... We will get to meet our future daughter. It is excciting and nerve racking at the same time. Please continue to pray for us. We are in God's hands. I will post some more tomorrow. Thankyou for checking our blog.... Please leave us comments so we can know who's following our blog :o).......
Friday, February 6, 2009
FEBRUARY 2009 (CON'T)
Well, the past few days have been non-stop. We still cannot believe that we are leaving tomorrow morning!!! We have a mix of feelings, between being excited and being nervous at the same time. Everything is packed!!! We cannot fit anything else inside our luggage. We have had to fit all our stuff, the baby's stuff, and some gifts for the baby house in 2, 50lb pieces of luggage and 2 carry-ons. I know it sounds like a lot of luggage, but when you put everything together, the clothing, the winter wear and other things. They take a lot of space. And if you know how We are also taking our laptop, video camera, and photo camera so we can take pictures of Antonina. We leave at 6:00 from Miami to Chicago, then we have to wait for 8 hours before we can get on our plane to Moscow. The good thing is that we will get a chance to spend time with my baby sister Claudia, her boyfriend Donnie and their dog Buddy. We can't wait to see them!!!
I will try to post more tomorrow. I think that there is free internet at the Chicago airport. I will try to post more then. Please continue to pray for us. Until then...
I will try to post more tomorrow. I think that there is free internet at the Chicago airport. I will try to post more then. Please continue to pray for us. Until then...
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
FEBRUARY 2009
Things continue to be crazy in the Guillen household. Between packing and weighting the suitcases, and then having to rethink and repack some things (sorry Mauri), trying to make sure we are not forgetting anything. We bought some cute outfits for Antonina. We hope that they will fit her. We are trying to estimate what size she is based on her current weight (about 14 pounds) so we purchase for 9 months and 12 months, but the truth is that we would not know for sure until we meet her and we take some measurements. We are waiting for paperwork to arrive today and tomorrow. We have been using Fedex so much in the last few days. Today, we are expecting the 18 Apostilles we sent to Tallahassee and tomorrow our passports along with the visas. We also expecting the warranty deed to be sent back from Tallahassee, one its been Apostilled and Incumbent. Mauri has to run to the police station today because yesterday I realized that his FBI fingerprint clearance will expire on February 18, and we need a "fresh" FBI clearance for court. Mine expire on March 16, but I pray to God that court will be past us by that time. You see, fingerprints expire every 90 days, along with our medicals. Some things are valid for one year, while others for 90 days.
My brother-in-law Nelson was so kind as to let us borrow his Vonage account so we can call home via internet. He installed and tested the software for us. Thanks Nelson.
Things are also crazy at work, there so much to leave ready before the trip. I am not getting to much sleep these days. Time goes so fast, that I don't seem to have enough time to do all the things that I have to, but God will provide whatever we need. Well, that's all for now, I will post again before we leave for Russia on saturday. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
My brother-in-law Nelson was so kind as to let us borrow his Vonage account so we can call home via internet. He installed and tested the software for us. Thanks Nelson.
Things are also crazy at work, there so much to leave ready before the trip. I am not getting to much sleep these days. Time goes so fast, that I don't seem to have enough time to do all the things that I have to, but God will provide whatever we need. Well, that's all for now, I will post again before we leave for Russia on saturday. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
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Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed, Red Square
