Day 1 and 2 - Travel and sight seeing

After 24 hrs, 3 flights, and a new time zone - we are here!!

Our last picture as a family of 5.

We left Fresno at 2:30 and arrived in LA at 3:30. Our flight to Germany did not leave until 9:05 pm so Rob's parents(who live in LA) picked us up and took us to dinner. So thankful we did not have to sit in the airport for 6 hrs. They dropped us off at 7:00 pm and we waited to board.

In LA

We were able to skype the kids while waiting, which was really nice. I think leaving them has been hardest part so far! Our flight left LA on time and was uneventful - thankfully! We flew through the night for 10.5 hrs and were served breakfast just before landing. Funny thing is, it was 5:30 pm in Germany and when we boarded our next flight at 7:00 pm it was dark again. It was two days of night, weird.


In Germany - so beautiful there!

Our last flight was delayed a bit due to some dark clouds so we landed just a little bit late. At 11:10 pm local time we touched down in Ivy's country. To be in our daughters country was a bit emotional and surreal. After months and some uncertainty, we were here. We went through a passport check and picked up our bag that we checked in. Our driver was waiting for us, holding a sign with our last name. He took us to exchange some money and then to the grocery store to buy some food. Some things in the store were easy to tell what it was and others - not so much. I didn't really know what to get and felt rushed since it was so late so I just grabbed things that didn't make sense. The next day we ate potato chips and bread for breakfast.

Our apartment is on the 7th floor of our building. It looks ok from the outside, run down in the entry/stairs, and has a scary old elevator. The inside is nice though with a small living room, king size bed, and nice kitchen. We even have an air conditioner and internet, which aren't always common to have.

Living area

View from our window

Tuesday we walked around on our own and also had Eugene our driver take us on a historic tour. Lots of history and information to take in. Beautiful sights, old churches, parks, and souvenir shops.


Our first "foreign" meal :)

Part of the city from our walk

Beautiful old church

For my Zander who loves turtles

At a view point over looking parts of the city

We ate dinner at TGIF, watched a movie, skyped the kids, and called it a good second day.

We are rushing around like crazy people trying to get everything we need done, and get packed. Word of advice, do not wait until you get your SDA appt. to get the new bills you need to take. It could be short notice which will leave you scrambling. And I am making lists and scratching nothing off - I don't think that's a good sign, ha!

We will be flying out Sunday afternoon and reaching our destination Monday at 10:30 pm their time. Pretty much 24hrs of travel with one very long lay over. Ewes. We will have all day Tuesday to get situated in our apartment and do some sight seeing. Wednesday will be our SDA appointment where we will be shown Ivy's file and officially accept the referral to adopt her - sealing the match between us. It takes 24hrs to process the paperwork from that so we will pick it up Thursday sometime. That night we will take a 12 hr train ride to the city her orphanage is in, arriving Friday morning. I am not sure if we will go to our apartment there first or straight to meet her. Either way we should be meeting her that day. We will continue on with our visitations once daily except Sunday's until we are given a court date. Generally it takes about 2 weeks until we will go to court. Once that is over we have the option to return home during the mandatory 10 day wait or we can stay and continue our visitations. We haven't decided which we will do yet. There are pros and cons to each so we will just have to wait and see what feels right when we get there.

Prayer request's:
Safe travels for us.
Safety for our children at home.
A quick, smooth process.
That Ivy will bond with us and adapt to all the new changes that are about to happen for her.

Amen!

August 17th

We got our travel date this morning!! Our SDA appointment is August 17th which means we will leave probably the 14th or 15th, officially accept her referral on the 17th at our SDA appt. and most likely meet her on the 19th!! Definitely a little quicker than I was thinking and now I'm slightly freaking out. I will post more details as we know them!

No news is not good news.

We are so ready to get our travel date already. This has definitely been the time that has tried our patience the most. It has been said that the end of the adoption process is much like the end of a pregnancy - you are just ready to meet your little one! It is definitely true. The loss of patience, anticipation, and just an overall feeling of being done with it. Instead of being asked over and over if you are in labor, we are asked over and over if we have received our date yet. No, not yet :(

It has also been said that adoptions are quite the roller coaster, with lots of ups and downs and unexpected twists. I have to agree with that too. In general our process has been very smooth and quick, completing everything in just 3.5 months without any major hurdles. We knew all along a possible shutdown may occur and so we worked quickly to finish everything. The same day we received our last piece of paperwork needed, we also learned of the July 11th closure. At that time we were told it may be possible to travel beforehand. We waited anxiously only to find out it wouldn't happen. So we tried to come to terms with our 3 month wait. Then we get news that special needs adoptions will continue and prepare to travel right away, possibly the end of July. We went from 3 months to 3 weeks. We are now almost 2 weeks in to the "re-opening" and still no date. Now the soonest it could be is the 3rd week of August. See where this could play with your emotions? Wait, be ready, be ready quick!, and then wait some more... AHHHHHH! Tis the wild ride of adoption, especially in our particular country.

There is suppose to be more dates given this week. The last 2 weeks it has been on Monday. Pray we hear something soon! As in Monday :)

Ivy's room is almost done!

I had so much fun doing her room! It was especially fun because I have never done a nursery before. Our babies co-slept with us so I did not do a room for them until they were older. I changed my mind about a million times but this is what I finally ended up with:

I still want to get a rocking chair for the bay window and a lamp and other small accessories. And one of the things I am most excited about is still missing! I ordered something from etsy to go over the crib, just waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Love the pom poms though!!

I love old furniture redo's! I almost painted it aqua but chickened out and went white.

We are all ready for a sweet baby girl to join the family!

Wonderful change of plans!!

We were told yesterday that Ivy's country will remain open to special needs adoptions during the closure. That means we will be getting a travel date in the next few weeks to go get our girl!!

This is a huge answer to prayer for all those little ones who will not have to wait months more to be rescued. It really is a race against time, as we are reminded by yet another death of a little one on Reece's Rainbow recently.

This leaves us scrambling a bit as we weren't expecting to travel for at least three more months. Soooo happy though!! Top priorities include: throwing my sisters bridal shower, getting the kids school supplies/clothes, finishing Ivy's room, preparing our rental for the new renters, making a hard cover photo album of our life/family to show to the judge, orphanage, and most importantly - Ivy!, and buying the last bit of Ivy's immediate needs. This does not include preparations for the trip itself. Oye, I just gave myself a stomach ache!

Hold on baby girl, mommy and daddy will be there SOON!!

No more being lonely.

No more days without hugs and kisses.

No more going hungry.

No more sitting in dirty diapers.

No more being forgotten.

Soon, you will be an orphan no more!

Submitted!

Our paperwork was submitted to Ivy's country today!! And apparently this is the last Thursday for submissions before closing, talk about close! We still do not know for sure if this will allow us to be grandfathered in to the new adoptions department but everyone is hopeful it will.

Now we wait. Once they open we will be issued a travel date to go get our girl!!

In other Ivy news, I've started painting her room today.

Sneak peak?