The judge granted our adoption today! We weren't really concerned, but it is wonderful to have the court hearing behind us. I know that everybody wants details and photos, but we are exhausted. We have to pack since we leave Kostanai tomorrow morning to fly to Almaty for paperwork and we fly home on Sunday. If we can manage to get all of the paperwork done tomorrow by 4pm, we will try to fly home on Friday. There are no flights out on Saturday for some reason.
I promise that I will post lots more information and photos either from Almaty or when we get home.
Well, it finally got cold. In fact, today was stupid cold. When we woke up, it was -25 C, which translates to about -12 F! The high was -12 C, which is about 10F! This, we decided, was stupid cold.
Again, we want to thank everybody for their years of love and support. We know that it will continue, especially once Adam Garrett Belyeu comes home in February.
For now, I will say dosvidanya (see you later) and tomorrow morning we will say paka (bye bye) to Kostanai. This city and country has given us the greated gift of our lives ... Adam.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
We made it!
Yes, we're back and it's COLD and SNOWY!!!!! The trip was, thankfully, uneventful. We visited with Adam today and were so happy to finally see him again. Sorry, no photos today. The internet has been acting up (we couldn't even get on yesterday), so we are going to wait to put photos up. We are all set for court tomorrow and hope to have an update by this time! If there isn't one, don't worry. We may just not be able to get onto the internet. We'll post as soon as we can. Keep your collective fingers crossed for us!
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A Belated Happy New Year
First, let me apologize for not posting since we got home. Next, let me say that we leave in less than a week for our second trip! Our final court hearing is Wednesday, January 14th. Third, we'll be home from that trip in a week from today. Finally, we want to wish everybody a belated Happy New Year.
Our trip home was fairly uneventful (especially considering the events of our trip to Kazakhstan). Larry kept to his word of not eating food on airplanes and didn't get sick once! Once we got home, we didn't stop for quite a while.
We returned in the middle of Hanukkah and Christmas was two days away. We got the house up and running for the holidays and I went right back to work the next day. Within a day or two, we got past the jet lag. The holidays were good. After years of everybody saying "this will be your year," we finally believed that it would be. December 27th is our anniversary and Adam is the best present we could ever hope or ask for. Every day, we look at each other and talk about how much we want him home.
There is a family who posted recently on our blog, and I want to take a minute to talk to them: yes, we are using Adoptions From the Heart. We hope that you get your LOI soon. Please keep in touch. We were lucky enough to have other AFTH families in Kostanai when we got there and they helped us immensely. We would be more than happy to pass on the favor to other families. You should know that Olesya, the interpreter/coordinator in Kostanai is AMAZING. The kids are cared for better than we would have ever imagined. While it is hard to be separated from Adam, we know he is in good hands.
To everybody else, we want continue to thank you for your love and support. Whether we are home or half a world away, we know that there are endless amounts of people and love behind us, helping us get through the process so we can bring Adam home.
Our trip home was fairly uneventful (especially considering the events of our trip to Kazakhstan). Larry kept to his word of not eating food on airplanes and didn't get sick once! Once we got home, we didn't stop for quite a while.
We returned in the middle of Hanukkah and Christmas was two days away. We got the house up and running for the holidays and I went right back to work the next day. Within a day or two, we got past the jet lag. The holidays were good. After years of everybody saying "this will be your year," we finally believed that it would be. December 27th is our anniversary and Adam is the best present we could ever hope or ask for. Every day, we look at each other and talk about how much we want him home.
There is a family who posted recently on our blog, and I want to take a minute to talk to them: yes, we are using Adoptions From the Heart. We hope that you get your LOI soon. Please keep in touch. We were lucky enough to have other AFTH families in Kostanai when we got there and they helped us immensely. We would be more than happy to pass on the favor to other families. You should know that Olesya, the interpreter/coordinator in Kostanai is AMAZING. The kids are cared for better than we would have ever imagined. While it is hard to be separated from Adam, we know he is in good hands.
To everybody else, we want continue to thank you for your love and support. Whether we are home or half a world away, we know that there are endless amounts of people and love behind us, helping us get through the process so we can bring Adam home.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Final Thoughts ... For Now
Our bags are packed and we’re ready to go. Sounds like a song, but it’s true! We had our last visit with Adam this morning. It was a great one. We usually spend time with him and the other kids in his room. We watch him play in the large play yard/play pen with the other kids or put him in the swing until it’s time to feed him. Larry and I take turns feeding him. It’s one of the best parts of the visit. It sometimes turns into a contest … who can stay cleaner … us or Adam. After we feed him, we usually go into a private visitation room and spend one-on-one time with him. We have loved that time. However, today, we stayed in the room with the other kids the entire time. It was awesome! We played with all of the kids and Adam loved having everyone else to watch and interact with while we were there.
We are amazed at how much he has grown in the past six weeks. He is MUCH better at sitting up, he scoots like a pro, he plays more with his toys and has figured out how to use his entire arms to bang the toys on each other or on another surface, he almost has a tooth (sorry, but nothing yet to photograph … we tried). We will miss him so much over the next few weeks, but we have no doubt that he is an amazing hands. The caretakers love those kids. They play with them, help them develop new skills, give them attention, tell them stories, sing them songs and are all-around attentive and loving. It makes leaving somewhat easier, although it is NOT easy.We will return in mid-January for our final court hearing. Adam will come home about 6 weeks later. I will post a few times while we are home. There is a lot more to say about our time here, so keep checking the blog.
We want to thank everybody for their comments and e-mails. It has made our time here easier knowing that we have so much love and support waiting for us when we (and Adam) get home. For now, enjoy some extra pics of our little boy.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Shana and Larry go to Court
A prosecutor and a seasoned homicide detective go to court. You'd think it would be rountine. However, the prosecutor is Shana and the detective is Larry. Of course there are funny stories. Here are ours.
Before I go much further, I'll say that everything went well and our final court date is Wednesday, January 14th at 10:30am. We are thrilled. By my calculations, Adam will be home just before or just after his first birthday!!!!!
Okay, now on to the funny stories. Our court time is 4pm. We are picked up at 3:40. We are ready a bit early, both dressed in our regular court attire ... suits. We get to the courthouse (just a few minutes away). We are about to walk into the building and Olesya, our interpreter, asks, "do you both have your passports?" Now, I have been saying for 6 weeks that we need to have them on us at all time. Who leaves their passport in the room? That's right ... me! Oops. Good thing our driver is still there. He runs me back to the hotel and I get it. Got back to the courthouse with 2 minutes to spare. Nothing like timing!
We go into the judge's chambers, which is where the "hearing" is held. Larry, Olesya and I sit on a bench on the far wall of the chambers. The director of the baby house, Dr. Kay, sits on another bench along with someone from the Department of Education. This woman was also at the baby house when we first met Adam. Behind a desk is a male. No coat, no robe. He is fairly young and wearing a shirt and tie. At the table in front of his desk is a young woman dressed in a uniform/suit.
I ask Olesya if that's the prosecutor (meaning the woman at the table). She says yes. I ask her this because sometimes the prosecutor is at the pre-court and sometimes s/he isn't. Larry assumes that the judge is the prosecutor. We go through the "hearing" where we are asked some questions ... why don't we want to adopt from America, are we concerned that Adam won't look like us, when did we get here and why did we choose Adam. He answered the questions and we were given our final court date. We then go to the lobby to wait for the notices for our next hearing (like we can read them ... they're in Russian). Larry is standing there holding his jacket. I ask him why? He says why put on his jacket if he just has to take it off in a few minutes. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that we still had to see the judge! I laughed and said we just did. He was so confused that he didn't realize it was all over. Talk about anti-climactic!
Anyway, we are on our way. We come home in three days and can't wait! We have our last visit with Adam tomorrow and are very sad about that, but it is part of the process and is another milestone in obtaining our ultimate goal ... our son Adam!
Before I go much further, I'll say that everything went well and our final court date is Wednesday, January 14th at 10:30am. We are thrilled. By my calculations, Adam will be home just before or just after his first birthday!!!!!
Okay, now on to the funny stories. Our court time is 4pm. We are picked up at 3:40. We are ready a bit early, both dressed in our regular court attire ... suits. We get to the courthouse (just a few minutes away). We are about to walk into the building and Olesya, our interpreter, asks, "do you both have your passports?" Now, I have been saying for 6 weeks that we need to have them on us at all time. Who leaves their passport in the room? That's right ... me! Oops. Good thing our driver is still there. He runs me back to the hotel and I get it. Got back to the courthouse with 2 minutes to spare. Nothing like timing!
We go into the judge's chambers, which is where the "hearing" is held. Larry, Olesya and I sit on a bench on the far wall of the chambers. The director of the baby house, Dr. Kay, sits on another bench along with someone from the Department of Education. This woman was also at the baby house when we first met Adam. Behind a desk is a male. No coat, no robe. He is fairly young and wearing a shirt and tie. At the table in front of his desk is a young woman dressed in a uniform/suit.
I ask Olesya if that's the prosecutor (meaning the woman at the table). She says yes. I ask her this because sometimes the prosecutor is at the pre-court and sometimes s/he isn't. Larry assumes that the judge is the prosecutor. We go through the "hearing" where we are asked some questions ... why don't we want to adopt from America, are we concerned that Adam won't look like us, when did we get here and why did we choose Adam. He answered the questions and we were given our final court date. We then go to the lobby to wait for the notices for our next hearing (like we can read them ... they're in Russian). Larry is standing there holding his jacket. I ask him why? He says why put on his jacket if he just has to take it off in a few minutes. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that we still had to see the judge! I laughed and said we just did. He was so confused that he didn't realize it was all over. Talk about anti-climactic!
Anyway, we are on our way. We come home in three days and can't wait! We have our last visit with Adam tomorrow and are very sad about that, but it is part of the process and is another milestone in obtaining our ultimate goal ... our son Adam!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Scenes From an Italian Restaurant
Please disregard the placement of the pictures. For some reason, blogspot isn't letting me move them today. I didn't think you'd all mind, as long as there are pictures of Adam posted.
I'm feeling much better today so I was able to visit Adam. This was an especially good thing since after today we only have 3 days (6 hours) of visitation left. The reality of leaving hasn't hit us yet. It will probably hit us on the 10 hour flight from Frankfurt to Miami.
When we walked into the play room Adam is in today we only noticed one thing. GARLIC. There was a bowl of sliced garlic in the play room and another in the crib room. I'm talking about a big bowl of garlic. Probably 10 cloves per bowl cut up. All we needed was rolls and butter and we'd be in business. We don't know if it's supposed to be healing or if the vampires come out this time of year, but we hope it does its job.Adam didn't seem phased by the smell. He was all smiles again. He is getting better at sitting up. We are working on his muscles and he has come so far in such a short time. He has also discovered that he can wave and move his whole arms and can even bang things together. It's been such a joy to watch him grow and develop. No official sighting of his first tooth, but we could feel it today. We know that we will miss this tremendously for the next several weeks, but he is certainly worth it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Another Milestone
In the adoption process, there are milestones. You learn not to count time, because that gets too depressing. You count milestones: the paperchase (getting together a crazy amount of paperwork to document all aspects of your life), getting in your dossier (getting that paperwork notarized, apostilled or state certified and filed with the foreign consulate from where you are adopting), getting on a list and having some sort of idea how many families are in front of you, being close to next, being next, getting your date to leave, applying and receiving your visas to travel, meeting your child for the first time, completing the official bonding period, getting your pre-court date. These are the milestones that Larry and I have been through in the past few years.
After finding out that our pre-court date is this Friday, the next big milestone was a meeting between Adam's biological mother and the judge. What this meant was that our interpreter, Olesya, and our driver, Andre, went out to a remote village yesterday near the boarder of Russia to get Adam's biological mother and bring her to court. She came and was asked by the judge whether she still wished to give up her rights to Adam. She had already signed paperwork saying so before he was placed on a registry which makes him ultimately eligible for adoption. But part of the process here is that the biological family is asked againd during the adoption process. If she were to say that she didn't want to give up her rights, it would be an uphill battle for her and would ultimately be up to the judge to decide. This time, however, she said that she still wished for him to be adopted by the family that has been visiting with him for the past few weeks. This is a huge milestone for us and we believe that everything should be smooth from here on in.
We haven't taken many pictures of Adam in the past few days. I started getting sick yesterday and didn't visit with him today because the last thing we want is for him to get sick again and end up in the infirmary. So, Larry went alone. Adam was fussy for much of the time, so photos weren't in the cards. He still has an ear infection. This may very well be because he's teething. Nothing to take a picture of yet, but we believe that one tooth is about to break ground. We hope to see it while we are here. We hope to post some more photos tomorrow or Thursday.
On a final note, it finally got really cold. The high will not get above 20 for the rest of the time we are here. This is what we expected the weather to be like for the entire time we were here. We have been very lucky but our luck with the weather has finally run out. Now, it's just COLD.
After finding out that our pre-court date is this Friday, the next big milestone was a meeting between Adam's biological mother and the judge. What this meant was that our interpreter, Olesya, and our driver, Andre, went out to a remote village yesterday near the boarder of Russia to get Adam's biological mother and bring her to court. She came and was asked by the judge whether she still wished to give up her rights to Adam. She had already signed paperwork saying so before he was placed on a registry which makes him ultimately eligible for adoption. But part of the process here is that the biological family is asked againd during the adoption process. If she were to say that she didn't want to give up her rights, it would be an uphill battle for her and would ultimately be up to the judge to decide. This time, however, she said that she still wished for him to be adopted by the family that has been visiting with him for the past few weeks. This is a huge milestone for us and we believe that everything should be smooth from here on in.
We haven't taken many pictures of Adam in the past few days. I started getting sick yesterday and didn't visit with him today because the last thing we want is for him to get sick again and end up in the infirmary. So, Larry went alone. Adam was fussy for much of the time, so photos weren't in the cards. He still has an ear infection. This may very well be because he's teething. Nothing to take a picture of yet, but we believe that one tooth is about to break ground. We hope to see it while we are here. We hope to post some more photos tomorrow or Thursday.
On a final note, it finally got really cold. The high will not get above 20 for the rest of the time we are here. This is what we expected the weather to be like for the entire time we were here. We have been very lucky but our luck with the weather has finally run out. Now, it's just COLD.
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