Thursday's post finally published..

I wrote this Thursday Aug 28 and apparently didn't hit Publish Post.. so here it sat.. dormant.. sorry!


We had quite the little day today.. after sitting around doing 'nothing much' for the past few days, we were much more active. This morning, I decided to start packing up the assortment of random items we have accumulated over the past month. I am SOOO ready for Halloween! Ana is going to dress up in her Russian outfit and be herself :) A beautiful Russian Princess. That is one of my random items... well, actually, it is 2. I got one to fit now, and one to fit later... Wait, is that snickering I hear??? That is nothing... I brought home at least 1 suitcase of Moscow last time and I know I have at least that much this time... vodka anyone?? (funny thing is: I don't drink!) I stopped short of buying an entire set of Usbekie (sp??) pottery. I got A LOT mind you, but I didn't get 8 plates, 8 bowls, 8 cups... I am having regrets though.... I wonder if Nicole will mind one rather large, rather heavy extra box to bring back with her??? Nic, are you out there? A little bubble wrap and it will be no problem. I promise :)Sure you will be juggling a baby, a stroller and all kinds of random paraphanailia of your own, but heck what is one more box?? I digress... after my reverse nesting episode, Pasha came to take Ana and me to the US Embassy. It was actually loads of fun! No interpreters were aloud inside, so it was just a bunch of adoptive parents in a waiting room. It was so much fun meeting people who had adopted from the most remote areas of Russia. All the babies were amazingly beautiful, and all the parents are so in love! There was a family from Texas who had hosted a little boy needing facial surgery, and they had brought him back to Russia to formerly adopt him. What a tear jerking story. And, what an inspirational one too. Hats off to the Dr. in Dallas who does this surgery for free and to all the families who care for the orphans while recovering.



The Embassy interview was fairly fast. Because Dr. Boris had notes about Ana needing special care, I had a little extra work to do, but nothing major. I just had to include his diagnosis in my i600 imigration forms. ( She has a ptosis of her left eye and will need to see an optomologist). When it was over, I got a sealed packet that I must keep on me at all times until I get to immigration in Chicago. I am NOT alowed to open it. Once I go through immigration for myself in Chicago, I will be redirected to another area for them to approve Ana. They will take this packet from me, open it, and begin her file as a US Citizen. At that time, she is officially a US Citizen!!! In a couple of months we will get a letter called her Certificate of Citizenship that we can use to get her a passport and SS#. I was also given all of her vital documents, like her birthcertificate and the court decree and I was told to go get a safty deposit box (fire proof) at a bank and guard them with my life, because the are very very hard to get copies of and she will need them as she gets older (think of how often you need your birth certificate!) Some states will issue a new birthcertificate for you, but in Florida you must Re-adopt to get the state to issue one. (the birth place is still Russia, but they issue a form that can be used for schooling or marriage etc.) I also got to hold her Russian Passport!!! It has her US Imigrant Visa in it and everything.. Whenever she travels to Russia, she must use her Russian passport, otherwise she can travel on her American passport.



After the excitement of the Embassy, we went to see Svetlana and Irena who took all my treasured documents away and gave them to Pasha along with something else he will need to register us all with the Russian Consulate.



It was great fun showing them the fruits of their labors. Of course, they were thrilled to see the children with their families. We chatted about the upcoming MOE review of our agency. Reviews are never fun. No matter how organized you are. No matter how by the book everything is. Reviews always stink. My school gets reviewed every 5 years. We are an amazing school, and we know we won't get shut down. But, still, you want to look your best. You want people to recognize the effort that you put into every moment. I know S and I feel the same way. They work so hard. They do it all for the kids.

Princess is up...
That means Paka to me and you.

Michelle