Change of Plans!

Here we are, one week after posting about our regional assignment, and I just received word that our agency is recommending we change our region in Russia. So, when they told us international adoption was about flexibility, they were right! Our new region is Kaliningrad. Our other region was in Russia's far east... this region is the farthest region in Western Russia! In fact, it isnt even geographically attached to Russia as you can see in the map (it is situated north of Poland).  Overall, travel should be easier (and somewhat warmer) than Vladivostok, where we thought we were going.  We have prayed about this so much and trust that God knows where the child who belongs in our home is and He is working out the details for us to be together. So, we are trusting our adoption agency's recommendation and agreeing to switch regions.  We will keep you posted as things progress!

Maddie's New Favorite Bedtime Story...

I have to brag on my girl for a minute... Maddie is so excited about going to Russia and talking to her new sibling that she fell asleep last night studing this book in bed.  I'm hoping she can be my translator!

We have a region!

It has been awhile since we have posted, but we are happy to announce that we have some exciting  news regarding the adoption!  We have been given what is called a regional assignment in Russia. This means, we now know (barring unforeseen circumstances)  in what part of Russia our child is living!  Our agency thinks that we should be matched with a child and asked to travel to Russia for our 1st of 2 trips in the next 4-7 months! 

The main city in the area to which we are assigned is called Vladivostok.  If you are like us, when you think of Russia, you think primarily of eastern Europe.  However, Vladivostok is on the Pacific coast and is a major port on the Sea of Japan!  In fact, because of its location (a 6 day train ride or 8.5 hour flight from Moscow), it is much faster for us to fly over the Pacific Ocean to get there (and even that will be close to 24 hours of travel). So, right now, a child is living on the other side of the world who will be joining our family sometime in the next year.

For me (Ann-Marie), knowing where my child is makes the whole experience so much more real for me.  I have felt much more connected to who I am now calling "my third child" and have been praying for him or her a lot over the last few days.  I am specifically praying that God sends special caregivers that show extra special love and care for him or her, until we are there to bring him or her home.  We definitely appreciate your prayers too as you think about us and our child.  I discovered a website for a Catholic Charity that works in the orphanages in Vladivostok (called "baby homes").  You can see pictures of orphans and the orphanage.  This is one of 3 orphanages in the area and very well could be where our child is now living.  http://www.cjd.cc/Help_the_Orphans.htm

So, what happens from here? We are waiting to receive a list of documents that we need to complete for Vladivostok. Once these are completed, everything should be in order for us in the region and we will simply be waiting (very anxiously!!!) to receive word that we have been matched with a child (in adoption lingo, this is called receiving a referral). We will then be asked to travel to Vladivostok to meet the child and to file paperwork to officially adopt him or her.  This will take about 5-7 days.  We will then return home for what will probably feel like a very long couple of months while we wait to receive word that Russia is ready to finalize our adoption in court. At that point, we will be travelling to Russia for a month and are planning to bring Maddie and Dylan.  Here is the intimidating part to me: if the timing follows what the adoption agency is predicting, we will be travelling in the middle of winter.  In Vladivostok, the high temperature in January is 15 degrees and the low is around -15 degrees!  Yikes! Any suggestions on how to dress for this weather are much appreciated! 

We hope to have more updates soon!  Thanks so much for your support and prayers!