We are playing
the waiting game right now. We
think/hope/pray that the endless process of doing, redoing, notarizing,
apostilling, FedExing, redoing, re-notarizing, re-apostilling, and re-FedExing
documents for our dossier is finished. For people who pride themselves on being
prompt and efficient, this has been a very frustrating and discouraging
process. The (again, hopefully) last
batch of documents is on its way to Victor right now. Once he has a chance to look the documents
over and translate them, he will submit them to the SDA, and then we will wait
some more. We are guessing that we will
be heading back to Ukraine around the beginning of November. Earlier would be great, but we’ll take what
we can get at this point. It’s likely
that we’ll miss Thanksgiving at home, but we’re cautiously optimistic that
we’ll all be home for Christmas.
We are
grateful for the many friends who are offering to help take care of Cassie and
Clay while Curt and I are in Ukraine. It
will take a village to get them everywhere they need to go and to continue to
encourage them as they prepare to make their own sacrifices for the good of
these two new siblings. I am so proud of
the attitudes Cassie and Clay keep; I think they really do understand our
calling as a family to be the hands and feet of Christ.
I have been
reading The Connected Child by Purvis, Cross, and Sunshine, and watching
Adoption Foster Rx by Terry Meeuwsen.
The baggage that orphaned children carry is overwhelming, and it’s very
important for us as parents to understand the developmental, biological, and
psychological effects it has on them.
These resources are helping us to prepare for the worst as we continue
to hope for the best.
Other modes
of preparation are in full swing as well.
The downstairs guest room is being converted into “the boys’ room.” Guest room furniture has been moved
upstairs. The closet has been cleaned
out. Cassie and Clay have both gone
through their closets and discovered that lots of too-small clothes would be
appropriate for Illya and Svyatik, so the boys' new closet is already filling
up. The boys’ bathroom is ready for
them. I have two twin beds picked out
for them, but Curt and I have decided to wait; we’ll buy them in celebration
when we finally get our court date.
Cassie and Clay and I have completely revamped the upstairs playroom,
cleaning and organizing toys and games.
All of the goodies up there will be overwhelming for Illya and Svyatik,
I’m sure.
Nesting. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in this
mode. It’s funny how our primal
instincts kick in, isn’t it?
