court photos

I finished taking the photos for court today. I already had a photo of Eli's room in the photo album, but after I worked in his room, it just looked so cute. I decided I wanted a more recent picture to show the judge. Normally, I order my photos from Shutterfly, but since we're leaving on Saturday, my sister A. had a great idea. I uploaded the photos to Walgreen's, and we can pick them up later this afternoon. Love the technology!



This shows his toy box and the adorable kangaroo that my sister brought. Both belonged to my nephew. The kangaroo is full of colorful wooden blocks, and Eli can push it once he learns to walk. My nephew really loved it, and pushed it all over the house.


Inside the toy box. I still have some toys upstairs in his room to put in here later.

1 week/month

Counting down the days...1 week until we leave for Moscow again, and 1 month until we bring our sweet Eli home!

bad dreams

I had bad dreams last night. I dreamed that we really overslept. I was hurrying and rushing around, trying to get everything together and get out the door, but I wasn't able to. There wasn't time for us to drive to Atlanta and catch the flight to Moscow. Then I dreamed I got online, and tried to change our flight to the next day, so we could still make it to Moscow in time for court. I dreamed when I finally found a flight, it was $9000, and we couldn't afford it! Thankfully, that's when I woke up, and realized we aren't leaving for another week!

I do seem to have more anxiety about this trip than I had about the first one. I think that's because I'm really dreading having to leave my son again. I'm excited about seeing him again, but I hate that we have to leave him again. I know he doesn't understand, and I'm sure it's confusing for him, and it's definitely very hard for me. I wish we could skip the 2nd trip, and just go straight to the 3rd trip, when we'll take him out of the orphanage and have him with us forever.

serious nesting

I have really been in the nesting phase for the last 2 days! I've been working in Eli's room. I unpacked all the fabulous toys my sister M. brought and got them organized. We have a lot of things here in the house now that belonged to my nephew, and I really love that. There are such happy memories from seeing N. playing with those toys, wearing those precious outfits, and sleeping in that crib.

I ironed the comforter cover she brought, and put it on the twin bed in his room. R. took the crib (still in pieces, but only until this weekend), and moved it into our room. We want Eli to sleep in the room with us, at least to start. He has never slept in a room alone before. I've been washing the baby clothes (such adorable little outfits), and there is a load in the dryer right now. I've hung the 18 month clothes in his closet. Tomorrow, I'll take the clean and cute clothes and start packing them in ziploc bags (1 outfit + socks per bag!) for the 3rd trip. (Thanks again to Lori for that great tip!)

By the end of this weekend, I'll have all the packing stuff removed from his room and into the guest room. Then I'll be ready to take a picture of his new and improved room, just in time for court next week. (And also to post in the blog!)

Just to keep life interesting, our heater decided to stop working this week! We think it's the thermostat. The repairman is coming Monday morning, bright and early. We're hoping it's just the thermostat, and nothing more serious. Thankfully this didn't happen while we were in Russia, or even worse, after we bring Eli home.

news about our boy

God blessed us today with some news about our sweet Eli. M. and L., another family with our agency, were in Moscow a few days ago for their court trip. They went to the orphanage on Sunday. They asked about Eli, so they could pass along some news. They were allowed to see him! He has grown a little and his curly hair is a little longer. He is crawling much better than last month. She said he is fast now! He can sit up on his own now (he was a little unsteady when we were there.) The best news of all is that he is healthy. I was so relieved to hear that.

I did some packing today, and I also worked in Eli's room. I hung his clothes in his closet, and I put his toys in the toy box that my sister brought me. I sorted through the stuff I had stacked on the twin bed in his room, and now I have all the stuff for the 3rd trip together. It's starting to look like a baby will be living here soon! Very exciting! We see our sweet Snuggle Bunny in less than 2 weeks, and if all goes as planned, we take custody in less than a month!

visas

Our passports arrived today from the Russian Consulate in NY! Now we have dual entry visas for trips 2 & 3! We looked them over, and everything looked fine, which was a relief. We paid for 6-10 day processing and got them back in about a week, which was great.

Only 10 more days to wait and then we'll finally be on our way! The packing officially starts tomorrow!

time with the girls

The last few days have been quite busy, and that has thankfully helped to pass the time. We leave for Moscow in less than 2 weeks now!

My sister and her son (my most adorable 3 year old nephew) have been at my mom's, visiting during her spring break. Saturday, R & I had dinner with them at my mom's. Then yesterday, M. left my nephew with our mom, and then we went to see one of our other sisters. The three sisters had not been together, just us girls, in a few years, since before my nephew arrived, and it was great! We had girl time! We shopped until we dropped! We went to AC Moore (craft store), and I got little canvas tote bags for our caregiver gifts and some pretty gift wrap and ribbon for our other gifts. We went to Swoosie's, and M. got some treats for my nephew's Easter basket, and the cutest black and white stuffed bunny. We went to Off Broadway Shoes, and M. found some adorable little spring shoes. We went to Whole Foods, then had dinner, then on to Target, and I got some final items for trips 2 and 3. Then we went to Kohl's!

M. and I spent the night at A.'s house, so we had a girls only slumber party! This morning, we all slept in, and had a great time just hanging out talking. Then we had lunch (yummy Greek food) and finally M. and I arrived back at my mom's about 4:30 this afternoon. That was the longest M. had ever spent away from her son, and I know it felt strange to her.

I really enjoyed being able to spend some time with them!