It’s a girl! ‘Zen’ was born February 5, 2010 in Leningrad Russia. She is 20 months old. Hubs will be going to pick her up in a couple of weeks. The adoption court hearing was very difficult and I don’t want to ruin this happy news with all the drama, so I’ll put that in a separate post. Here are some photos of our baby girl:
Z in April 2011. This is the first time we met her. She was 14 months old
Z on July 1, 2010. This was the second time we had met her. She was almost 17 months old.
This is Z on October 17, 2011 when she was 20 months old; 2 days before we were approved to adopt her.
I am so happy for you guys!!!!!! I have been so worried, I even had a dream last night about you calling me to tell about court. When Todd and I went for our court we told each other that even if it took 5 hours of intense questioning, and at the end we got to adopt Alex it would have all been worth it! You have made my day for sure. Your family will continue to be in my prayers, tell Mr Mom if he needs anything to call me while picking up baby Z. I am leaving on Monday to pick up Alex and I am renting an apartment, so if he needs to do a little laundry or needs someone to help watch her, my sister and I can help. My sister is going with me!
Adri
Are you leaving tomorrow?! Hubs is leaving on the 31st I believe – must book tix today.
Yes I am leaving tomorrow and I will be in SP until the 5th or 6th when I will leave for the embassy. I will email you my cell number when I get one from Boris tomorrow. Boris can also arrange a babysitter if your husband ever needs to go do paperwork and is not allowed to take baby Z with him! I am so happy for you guys and especially baby Z!!!! <3
Great, thanks Adri! We think for our region that he will arrive in SP on the 1st and leave SP about the 7th or 8th for Mosc*w. We’re hoping total travel will be 10 days or less. Sounds like you are going to be there about 2 weeks for Trip 3? Yikes, so expensive. I had always heard 5-7 days total for Trip 3 in most regions. Ali’s region was super fast from pick-up to Moscow so we got a bit spoiled with our last adoption. We picked her up on the 5th and arrived home on the 8th
Thanks for offering to help M while he’s over there. He has been advised to not pick her up until he is ready to depart for Mosc*w, so he should be alright. I think he is staying at an apt.
I just emailed you information about a travel agency I use. They have great rates with United because of a humanitarian contract they have with them and adoption gets a discount!
Our agency is saying I need to plan about 12 days in SP and about 3-4 days in Mosc*w. First couple of weeks in SP is to remove Alex from the registry, get his passport and birth certificate. In Mosc*w we will see the embassy doctor. I will know more once I am there. I will try to keep everyone posted on my Blog. Wish me luck, the orphanage wants me to come get Alex as soon as possible so I will have him for almost the entire trip.
Congratulations!!! So happy for your family!
Congrats! Your family is beautiful, but I think your husband missed the memo not to do a big smile. I cannot wait to see Zenya home and see that light come back.
Hooray!!! Sorry court was difficult, but so glad that she is now yours!! It has been a joy to watch your family grow. Congratulations!
So happy for you!! Congratulations!! Can’t wait to see her home.
Yippee! So happy that court is over and she is yours! Will be so nice to have her home. Congrats!
Congratulations! Glad you got through court and are now a family of four! Love the family picture!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Congratulations!!!! Such a wonderful family photo!!! Absolutely gorgeous! It’s the most exciting thing EVER. We waited until the last second to take our daughter from the Baby Home, because all the running around St. Pete is just crazy. At least her diet and sleep was not interrupted, and we just felt it was best that way. Can’t wait to hear your adoption story – we all have one!
Good idea! I I should write down a summary of how we came to adopt internationally and how we found our girls. Thanks for the suggestion!
Your family picture is beautiful. So much of your description of your little one reminds me of Emma Grace. I will tell you within a few days of leaving the baby home, we saw her changing right before our eyes. It has been amazing to see how much better she looks and acts.
Blessings!
That’s what we did with Ali, too. We picked her up the same day that the court decree was final. In this new region, the facilitator is advising against that because there is WAY more driving around and running around to get the birth certificate, adoption certificate, court statements, close her bank account, etc. We also need to get all the caregivers gifts over there, so they are advising us to get all the running around done first because it would be too difficult for her and for everyone. I wish I could go with my husband! If so, we could spring her right away, poor baby. I’ll look into Juice Plus Gummies – I’m not sure if she can do gummies yet, but I could try…