Paperchase and Conferences

             For most people who adopt, everyone seems to agree that the hardest part is the wait. What to do during the wait, what will go wrong, what they need to get done before baby comes home. Not for me, though. For me, the hardest part is the paper chase- so much to do, so little time, so many aggravating barriers in the way. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat, I can barely function knowing that there is something out there that needs to be done and I can’t do it yet because it’s in someone else’s hands. It’s not that we haven’t gotten a lot done- we have. As a matter of fact, we passed a big hurdle last week when we turned in our home study packet. There’s still a whole lot to do, but that was one big thing to get done. So here’s our checklist of what we have done:

FBI, other FBI, Police, CPS, DMV, Doctor, other Doctor, Pediatrician, Net Worth Statement, other Net Worth Statement, tax return, letter from Rin’s teacher, Marriage Certificates, typed up and printed out are all 13 letters and copies of our passports.
And what we still need to do:
Meet with our social worker at our new house on Saturday, get her report and some other things from her agency, get the bank letter now that I tracked down the girl who did it last time, take photos of the house (once we finish unpacking), wait for all the clearances to come through (FBI, other FBI, CPS, Police) and get everything notarized, certified, and apostilled in DC, MD, AZ, and VA once we have it all.

Shall I go on? What- you mean you don’t want to hear the blow by blow of our lives? OK I’ve got it out of my system now. I will tell you about my sweet boy instead. He is just so darn cute. The other day I asked him if he was going to teach his brother or sister how to do something (draw I think?) and he said “No. I teach about Kazatan (Kazakhstan). I tell how to say PakaPaka and Davedanna (das vidanya)” My little sweetie. And he keeps putting toys in the baby room and telling me he wants to share it with his baby brother or sister. And speaking of his sweetness, as Rinat came running down the sidewalk toward school the other day his teacher said “My favorite part of the day- when Rinat comes running into school” with a big smile on her face. And she and I talked and she was asking if I knew of the debate between nature vs nurture. She told me that she now thinks it more nurture because he is so happy and excited about the new house and is always positive and sweet and she noticed that every single day when I drop him off, I have a smile on my face and am so calm even in the midst of moving and the adoption stuff and it most definitely has rubbed off on him. It just filled my heart to know that other people see the happiness just emanating from him because that is, of course, the main goal of any parent- to raise a happy and healthy child. Seems like Peter and I are doing a pretty good job so far. Yay us! And at his teacher conference, they talked about how curious he is and what a fantastic vocabulary he has and what great manners. The only problem they had was that he does Kung Fu in class sometimes. A pretty good report I think. Other than that, we have just been trying to get all settled into our new digs and we have been to visit the grandparents for TGiving and up to NYC for a weekend and Rin has loved every second of it. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and enjoying all the fun to be had this time of year! Love -m