Clearance

Yesterday I received the required clearance I was waiting for. I spoke to a very helpful woman at the FBI, I explained my situation to her and she processed my clearance immediately. I got very lucky, if not for the compassion she showed towards my plight, I could have been waiting until July for this clearance.

This week this document will go to Russia and with all of the other documents that have been prepared by me and CHI they will be submitted to the Astrakhan court to request a court date. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later but I have no way of knowing. The sooner I get my court date, the sooner I see my little man again!

I hope to update you all again soon with a court date. Take care, Chris

It’s Been Awhile

I know it’s been awhile since I’ve posted to my blog, I thought today might be a good day to post an update in light of all of the adoption news coming out of Russia the last few days.

I’ve been busy over the past couple of weeks preparing additional documents requested for the court. I finished the documents last week. I am waiting for one of my clearances to come through; as soon as it does it will go to Russia with all of the other documents I have prepared.

As you may know, for good reason there is outrage in Russia right now towards the U.S. adoption community. I can’t imagine what that woman was thinking, I hope the little boy is well taken care of now and that he recovers quickly from everything he’s been through.

I can only hope and pray that her actions do not prevent me from bringing my little man home soon. All I can do now is wait for my clearance, hope that adoptions continue in Russia and continue to pray for a quick and successful outcome to my adoption journey. I ask that all of you continue to keep me, my little man and all of the other adoptive families and children in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks, Chris

Happy Spring!

Today, the first day of spring is my favorite day of the year; it is the beginning of three beautiful seasons of natural colors, great weather and outdoor fun. I can’t wait to bring the little man home and have him experience all of this.

Today was a beautiful day with temperatures in the low 70’s. I hope you all enjoyed the day. Take care, Chris


Here's a picture I took in Holland, Spring 2008, it shows off many beautiful spring colors.  Enjoy!

My Documents Are Done!!!

Yesterday I picked up the last document (I hope) I will need for court. Today I went into Manhattan with all of the St. Patty's Day revelers (I'll bet they had more fun than me) and got all of the necessary signatures, stamps, seals, copies, etc. on my documents. Then it was off to the post office and they were over-nighted to St. Louis. CHI will review them and send them to Russia on Friday. Once they arrive in Russia they will be translated, stamped, sealed, etc. and submitted to the court in Astrakhan.

I have been preparing adoption documents for over four years now. To say that I think I have completed my pre-adoption documents is HUGE!  Thanks to all who very willingly assisted me in this process, doctors, accountants, social workers, family and friends. A special thanks to those of you who have been listening to me about these documents, encouraging me to continue to push through them and covering for me while I had to run out to get a document, a signature, a stamp, a seal, etc. I could not have completed this task without you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all, I'm hoping I have the luck of the Irish as I continue through this process. Take care, Chris

Court Documents

Just a quick update, with the help of others I'm getting all of my court paperwork done.  I'm hoping to have it all completed and in my hands on Friday.  If I get it all done, then next week I'll head into NYC to get all of the required stamps.  Once that is done, everything will be sent to St. Louis then to Russia for translation and submission to the court in Astrakhan.  These may be the last documents I have to do before the court decision that allows me to bring the little man home, notice I said may be..... 

I hope everyone in the North East survived the snow storm last week, I lost power for a few hours but I lost my television, Internet and phone for four days.  It was very quiet in my house for awhile.  There are trees and branches down everywhere, once the snow melts the cleanup will continue.  I'll post again soon.  Chris

Home

I went to see the little man Friday afternoon. He was happy to see the car in my bag but took everything out of the bag looking for the second car. I can’t put anything past him; he’s a smart little boy who will keep me on my toes. When he left me he had the car in one had and the bag of cookies in the other, he knows what he likes, cars and his food!

From there I went to the airport, despite heavy snow in Moscow and fight delays on both flights, I made it home Saturday night. Now I have more paperwork to prepare. Once mine is done and the paperwork that needs to be completed in country is done, it will all be submitted to the court and I will wait for a court date. I’ll keep you posted.

I thank all of you for following my blog, for your posts, for your words of encouragement and prayers. I’ll post again soon. Chris

Better Day

This morning I was unable to see the little man because I had to take care of some paperwork. The papers I signed today will officially begin the process of me bringing him home. We still have a lot of work to do and this will take several months, but I made the decision that I want to adopt this boy and bring him home; so the next step in the process has begun.

The little man and I had a much better visit this afternoon than yesterday. He was happy and playful. The only problem was he was most happy about a couple of cars I borrowed from Michael & Jennifer. I had to return the cars to them which meant taking them away from him when I was getting ready to leave, let the crying begin. I gave him a cookie to ease the pain of loosing the cars, he stopped crying and took the whole bag of cookies, and apparently he was not leaving me empty handed! He waved victoriously as he walked down the hall away from me.

Tomorrow I will see him once more before I leave for Moscow. I couldn’t very well leave him without a car of his very own. Before dinner we walked over to the toy store and got him a little red car, he will be a happy boy tomorrow.

Have a good night. Chris

Posted February 18, 2010 10:40 PM