Sharing the adventure

The End

2009-11-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

I am so grateful to have had the priviledge to share our adoption journey on this blog. Thank you to our wonderful friend Heidi who created it for us & kept the backgrounds appropriate to the seasons :) It's been almost 2 years since we brought Andrey home. I find myself ready to put some kind of end to the story at least in the written word in this venue. I do not write anymore which tells me that life is just life now...my days come & go & i care for thomas & andrey & i enjoy the highs & am frustrated by the lows. The journey hasn't ended by any means, but my desire to write has. When we first started out there was so much to say, so much to share & so much fear of the unknown. I've written from the start & it's helped me so much...it was such an effective way to share with anyone who was interested in what we were doing. It started out with the birth of Thomas & how my heart hurt so much for orphans. I wanted to do something about it & we did. We did it by the love of so many who came along side us & sent us checks, bought our garage sale items, came to our fundraisers, prayed, hoped & had faith for us, that is why Andrey has a family & i will tell him the story of how he came to be with us over & over. Just as i had desired, there is one less orphan in the world now....he has a mom & dad, grandparents, a brother, cousins, uncles, great- grandparents, a warm cozy house with a backyard & front yard to run & jump & play in. My desire to give a child the kind of joyful childhood i had has happened. That was the dream & how grateful i am to say, it's been accomplished.

What was confirmed for me going thru this journey is that we human beings are powerful...when we come along side one another to get something good done, it gets done. When we've decided that something isn't right, we have the power to correct it. We have the ability to make good things happen. I like to think we're in a partnership with God...both working together to do His work.

The goal for myself now is to bring my best mothering forward. I have a biological son who came from my body & comfortably stayed at my breast for a couple of years. I have a son who didn't join our family until he was 2 years old & his eyes are the same as the picture i saw of his biological mother. I am learning how to be a mother to Andrey which has required that i learn new skills. There are ways i need to be with him that do not come as natural and easy as with our first child. I have 2 different little souls to deal with & there are many lessons in that alone.

Like i always say, if i can go to Siberia twice & survive that, i can do anything!

I will never forget the generosity of strangers & friends - i look forward now to being able to bless someone else's journey.

My e-mail is treesjd@yahoo.com...i will send pics & updates to anyone who may be interested in seeing our growing family.

With a heart of thanks,
love, Jeanette (& greg of course but it's my blog) :)

It's been too long!

2009-08-19T09:45:00.001-07:00

Wow....has it really been since March that i wrote!! Sorry to drop off like that. Here's the latest. Because of the economy & home prices falling drastically, we were able to purchase our 1st home in the spring this year! The home was going into forclosure & it was a reasonable price. The owners were original & had raised 6 kids here...i could feel the warmth in the home. Also, the neighborhood is like out of a page from an older time...you know your neighbors & when you walk out the front door there are kids on either side to play with during the day. I love it & it makes my job of taking care of the boys so much easier because they have their own rooms & a back & front yard to play in. Sometimes while i'm walking around in the house i stop & cannot believe that Greg & I were given another gift. To have a home on 1 income in a nice neighborhood just 15 minutes away from my family, is miracle status. We were patient and waited and it finally happened for us. Wow.

However, We took a risk in purchasing the home because we still had adoption debt that we were actively paying off. But then another amazing thing happened...we finally got to cash in on the adoption tax credit from the government & we got a tax credit for being 1st time homeowners...i couldn't believe it! So although we still have some adoption debt, it's coming down & it's manageable.

Andrey turned 3 years old in April this year, i turned 39 in August. I took thomas out of preschool awhile back because he was bringing home so many colds & then i'd get my sinus infections which have been a bummer. I had the sinus surgery last November & that didn't seem to help all that much. Summertime has been great - we've seen Lyle Lovett & Huey Lewis in concert & visited with friends & have gone to some fun amusement parks with the boys. Greg suprised me this week by secretly having my piano moved into our new home from my parents home. I got the piano when i was a young girl & have waited my whole life to have my very own home to put my piano in. Greg got his head shaved from a cancer fundraiser...not my favorite look but a good cause.

OH yah...we bought a mini van - never thought it'd happen to me but i'm totally over it now..i have no problem driving around a van.. Problem was that our other car only had 4 seats so thomas & andrey would fight & hit each other in the back & it was becoming a driving hazard for me.

PS - andrey continues to do well...he's developed a little stutter. He seems to still be in the terrible two's even though he's 3. He's a happy little soul & continues to enjoy exploring & being like curious george.

brotherly fun

2009-03-04T15:54:00.001-08:00

Lots of celebrations

2009-01-21T12:35:00.000-08:00

I realize as i look at the calendar that we were in Siberia last Feb/March preparing to bring Andrey home. Now, i know time goes by fast & i've tried to slow down time for certain events in my life...like my wedding day..i savored every moment, like each day i spent with thomas pre-Andrey. But after bringing Andrey home i truly cannot believe it's almost been 1 year since we've had him. I realize that i have much less to say about the adoption, about our daily activities, about my relationship with Andrey. I guess it's just every day life now & it's no longer new. That's a relief in a sense..we're just going about our daily life. I just accept moments of each day as they come, some good, some great, some challenging. I continue to love watching the little boys play...oh, they come up with the greatest stuff & it makes me flash back to my childhood when i made forts & dug holes & rode big wheels.
I'm fully aware to that being a mom is about serving..i attend to their little & big needs all day long. Sometimes i laugh because i feel like a waitress! I realize how important motherhood is.. raising up these 2 little monkeys..caring for them, being there for them & fixing their forts & finding toys for them. It's a privilege really. I would say that the relationship between thomas & andrey has become a precious one...they are best buddies. It's great to see.
Recent events - celebrated Greg's 35 birthday & Thomas's 4th birthday.

Merry Christmas

2009-01-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

A few pics

2008-12-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

1st Christmas season

2008-12-11T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well... i cannot find the pics of our tree trimming experience...i dropped the camera that night..who knows. It's a good thing i didn't have grand expectations because while it was fun to get a tree from our local Home Depot, it was a chaotic night... i had to laugh...the boys were trying to hang ornaments, into all the decoration boxes, going kinda nuts. & now there are no pictures to prove it! Andrey was crying, then thomas was going nuts...i'm beginning to think we're kind of a whacky family. It just seems that this is a season of life with 2 small boys who are small animals sometimes.
Ok, so here's so good pics of everyone looking happy at greg's work kids party.

An average day in our front driveway

2008-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00

Andrey's 1st Thanksgiving (he's on left side)

2008-12-03T14:24:00.001-08:00

Andrey really gets how to party & eat & enjoy a big family. We ate out with Greg's side first - andrey got to sit at the head of the table! He loves the attention & gets many laughs. He fits right in. After we go to my side of the family. Andrey hugs & kisses everyone & is genuinely excited to see everyone. We've had him for 7 months now & he's gotten to know & develop relationships with others. I no longer worry that he'll get confused as to who everyone is... some kids from orphanages think everyone's a care giver. At this point, it's in his head for sure that we are his mom & dad & everything comes from us. Thomas & Andrey have been playing very well lately. My stressed has been somewhat reduced. I did have sinus surgery & my deviated septum straightened. I'm still recovering. Being down when you have small children is a minor nightmare as they need you & it's so hard to care take when you need caretaking!

KIDS PLAY

2008-11-24T17:43:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest little joys i experience throughout the day are these moments where i watch thomas & andrey play & i start laughing... i was in the kitchen working & when i came out i saw that the boys had taken all the toys & chairs & baricaded (spelling?) their bedroom door. I don't know where they come up these things. They come up with these real funny things....we have 2 little outside cars that they push with their feet in the driveway...they take trucks & cars & pile them on the roof of their cars & they wear funny things on their heads...i really love watching them. It's just the kind of fun i want for my children & i get the gift of a little chuckle here & there.
Also, here's some pics of andrey at Dorothy's son's 2 year b-day party & a family birthday party sitting with his cousin gennean ..he absolutely has the hang of the birthday song..he sings it loud with his deep Siberian voice!

Next fundraiser Garage Sale - Sat.. Nov. 29th

2008-11-11T14:35:00.000-08:00

Greg's mom will be hosting the next garage sale fundraiser. If anyone has items they'd like to donate, please e-mail Jeanette at treesjd@yahoo.com. Thanks!

Funny Video

2008-11-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone. I was just reviewing some video of my boys and had to post these two from Halloween.

#1 - Thomas doesn't know what day it is, and thinks we trick or treat on Saturday morning.

#2 - Andrey is very obedient. I'll leave it at that.

Andrey's 1st pumpkin day

2008-11-04T14:14:00.001-08:00

Oh Yah, $1189 FINAL TALLY from our sale today!

2008-10-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had our 7th garage sale fundraiser hosted by our dear friend Dorothy. She wanted to do one for us & at first i said "no" because i was so burnt out from pre-adoption yard sales. Dorothy looked so excited about it that i changed my mind after i thought it wouldn't kill me too & so today we had a huge sale. Our total was $889! Wow...what a chunk of money! (dorothy wants to hit $1000 by putting items on Craigs list that didn't sell).

For all the people who donated items to help us, WE APPRECIATE YOU. We had such good stuff & had many people make an effort to look thru their garages & closets for items to give. We had lots of fast cash items too. Thanks to Dorothy, her hubby Dan, my sister Maryann & friend Judy for coming out to set up at 6am! & thanks to the clean up crew, Dorothy & her hubby Dan, my hubby Greg who was running on few hours of sleep & my niece Gennean. & thanks to my dad for his guest appearance. He threw down $20 for a little Virgin Mary wooden Statue (a good Catholic man). :)

Because of this sale i'm so happy to report that we were able to pay off our Wells Fargo loan!!!! (2 more to go). This was a line of credit that we used to pay for the last of the adoption costs. Greg & i hated this loan because just when we thought we were almost paid off another fee came our way...all legitimate fees of course but they just added up.

So we have 1 more loan & 1 more credit card to pay off & i am so hopeful that it can happen. When we first prayed about this adoption, the financial component was one of my biggest concerns. I trusted that God would provide for us but at times my faith was a bit shaky. I really thought that after we adopted Andrey & he was home that we would not be able to do any more fund raising but i was so wrong...we've been receiving so many financial gifts that i do not even know how to take it all in.
I just know that when we are done with this debt, i will find other people who are trusting God with financial challenges, & help them...just like we've been helped.

Never thought it could be done

2008-10-23T14:42:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of Greg putting up some cob web for Halloween....this is one of my favorite times of year & i love putting up decorations - pumpkins, scarecrows, cobweb, etc. This year i was overwhelmed with the cobweb situation....wasn't sure how to put it up so i handed it over to Greg. Now, Greg typically does not get into decorating but i think things may have changed. Here is the beautifully designed cob web covering of our porch. May not seem like i big deal but i love it & i grew up decorating our family home with my dad...so i love to see the tradition maybe catching on between greg & the monkeys (thomas & andrey). I went to my parents recently & my dad & i decorated the house..ah, like a little girl i felt! Still as sweet as childhood memories...me & my dad fixing up the house, my mom making her famous tuna casserole (a fast meal so i could go trick or treating faster). I love passing all this down to Andrey...he'll have great memories of his dad putting up cob web & pumpkins & scarecrows. I'm not much into the spooky halloween thing but i do love celebrating the harvest & i'm hoping the leaves will come down soon!
Here's a picture of thomas & andrey outside the house with our pumpkins.

Garage Sale Fundraiser - Sat. October 25th

2008-10-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

We are holding our 7th garage sale fundraiser event at our friend Dorothy's house She offered to host one in an effort to help us. If anyone has items to donate (big or small) we would very much appreciate it. Please e-mail me at treesjd@yahoo.com if you have anything to donate. (Just FYI - furniture always is a big seller.)
Thanks!!

What i look like at the end of the day

2008-10-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Probably not one of my better looks, but that's ok. It was the end of a long day & i still had my apron on at the bedtime hour! (yes i wear aprons - i think they're sexy!) I'm just happy that Andrey will lay on me like he does. (he's best when he's really pooped) In the adoption world, most of us adoptive parents know that to some children, because of attachment issues, they aren't comfortable being held (so sad!) When we first had Andrey, he would squirm around a lot on me & when i held him he wouldn't form to my body. It was as if he had never been held before. Now he hugs me & holds me with a relaxed body. He knows how to kiss & sit on my lap facing me, not facing away. Although he lets me hold him, it seems his first preference in order to actually sleep is to be put down... it's so weird for me to be the mother of this little boy & to have missed his first 2 years. He was given up a day after his birth. Too bad the adoption process takes so long. Sometimes i notice little things about him that remind me that he grew up in an institution. It's a strange feeling. I'm mommy but i'm also somewhat of a stranger since we only met 6 months ago. I'm mommy, but he didn't come out of my body & he didn't have my milk to survive. Those are the things that initially bonded me with thomas...i have days where i really feel close to Andrey & there are other times where it's more work, where it doesn't come natural. I think it's great that some families are so bonded with their adopted kids & there's no struggle with finding closeness. This blog was set up to share our journey & hopefully inspire others to adopt. I also want to be transparent about the not so pretty feelings because you have to go into this family building with some truth. For some of us, it's going to take a much longer time for the bonding/attachment to become natural & real. I know that my lesson is about loving...it's about loving when you don't feel like being loving, it's about meeting someone else's need when you're too tired or irritated, etc. That's what i find mothering to be a lot about - it's about what my children's needs are...they are small & dependent & my needs have to wait. I learned that early on with Thomas. It didn't matter how sick or how high my fever was, if he needed my milk he didn't care if i was dying! (laughing)...they are needy little creatures & they are not built to worry about my needs. (i still find time for my pedicures though :)) & it's even harder with a new little guy who comes with all sorts of needs & demands & has to learn how to live in a family setting vs. a caregiver/child setting. I've been disappointed in myself many times for not being able to handle the challenges i've been facing with Andrey. Just when i think i'm doing great, he'll do something & i might lose my patience or temper (he has some annoying traits to be honest) & i'll yell one of those yells that feels so good coming out but you're shaking after - & i'll notice our windows open & i'll think "what a loser i am." you know, something like that. I think of what God must think of me during those times...surely he loves that i rescued one of his little ones, but then what does He think of me when i'm out of control & acting like a child myself. I guess He's got to love me either way. Now, i don't love me during those times it gets ugly. I've also learned that doing the right thing isn't the easiest. I guess i thought if we followed God's call to adopt, that somehow there wouldn't be challenges? hmmm...not sure what i thought...except i know for sure i didn't think i'd be a referee so often, breaking up thomas trying to beat up Andrey & fights over sharing toys & who's first & blah blah blah....In all fairness, most of my problems have come from Thomas having to learn how to have a instant sibling. Life is full of joy much of the time though...great moments, some dark moments & somewhere in between, i manage to keep my house lookin great :)

We've come full circle

2008-10-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Andrey at this year's Russian festival at a local orthodox church. He is watching young Russian dancers. Why this is special to me (to us) is because prior to adopting Andrey, we wanted to learn some Russian traditions/culture, etc. so we went to this Russian festival. I bought a Russian cookbook & scenic apron. So when the Russian festival came around this year & Andrey was an actual reality not just a dream, we had to go & enjoy coming full circle!

While in the orphanage visiting area, we saw many caretakers singing & playing piano...music seemed to be a big part of Andrey's activities at the orphanage. While Andrey doesn't get that Russian music anymore, i sure hope he likes the Lyle Lovett, Elvis Presley Gospel & Dave Matthews that is often heard in our home :)

From no family to family...

2008-10-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it hits me, i'll be looking at Andrey doing something or playing with thomas or greg & i'll think "he never had a dad, he never had a brother, he never had a teddy bear, he never had a mother to tuck him in at night! And wow, i think - "look at him, he's got a mom, dad, brother, grandparents, greatparents, church, Jesus, aunts, uncles, parks to play in, the sun to make him sweat" (Siberia was freezing most of the time :))

As we leave the season of summer, i believe that we gave him some of the best gifts.. the gifts that were passed down to me...mud, dirt, sunshine, lazy summer days, water, trucks, mud pies, neighbor friends, open fields of grass, swings & slides, smoothies, ice cream & water pops!

I'm in awe of how God works...He speaks to us with a small still voice & somehow it gets louder over time until you cannot deny His message to you. In our case, the message was "you need to adopt a child from an orphanage before you have another child." Um, that was loud & clear! So having survived our call..we are on the other side marveling over what blessings God had in store for Andrey. God really does love & care for orphans.

5 year wedding anniversary

2008-09-30T10:42:00.001-07:00

5 years! that's something...it feels just about right. I love our meeting story..here's the short version. 6 years ago,sitting at my desk at lunchtime browsing the faces of Match.Com i came across greg's face & read his profile...we started to e-mail back & forth & soon after i told my rooommate about him..turns out she knew him from a bible study & the thought had crossed her mind to set us up but she didn't feel she knew him well enough to invite him over. (I always tease her that she should have invited him over because now i always have to say we met on Match.com!!!)...anyway, so after she & I put together that it was the same Greg, Greg & i met for the first time - we had our first date on a superbowl Sunday & he proposed that spring & we were married on September 28, 2003. (i like a man who knows his heart & mind).

Now 2 kids later & greg being a police officer/detective ..we spent our anniversary night a bit differently. After a fun dinner out in our downtown, we came home & thomas & andrey liked my floor length nightgown i wore on our wedding night - so the boys thought it was some kind of tent & covered themselves with it (with me in it) - very halarious. Oh, & then greg got called into work at 9pm. Oh well...times have changed a bit but wouldn't have it any other way.

Bittersweet memories

2008-09-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

These are pics of Andrey's last moments in the orphanage - as we were leaving a caregiver said goodbye to him & in Russian said "he was like my son." My favorite are the pics of the car ride home. I know i've posted some pics like this before but as time goes by i'm actually able to appreciate the experience more. As my love for Andrey grows, things become more meaningful. When i was in Russia, i was in survival mode..doing what i had to do despite my fears/worries, etc. It's taken me 6 months to look back at some of these pics & actually take them in!

Today at the park we met a woman from Russia. I asked if she would speak to Andrey in Russian. I've met a few people throughout the months who were Russian speaking & who did this. Today, i started to cry when i heard the Russian words come out of her mouth to the ears of my little Siberian tiger. The tears came from the emotion of the memories of the caregivers that we heard speak Russian to Andrey, they came from knowing that Andrey would never be a Russian, living & speaking & eating Russian. I actually felt compassion towards him as i know more about his beginnings than he does - what my eyes have seen, what pictures we took, will all be showed to him one day. As the days grow farther & farther away from our month long stay in Moscow/Siberia, i can call upon the sweet memories of our beginning with Andrey. So i'm going to post more & more pics of the beginning as if i'm re-living it in a sense & have more courage now to feel the feelings. I was pretty much on a mission there & shut down of lots of feelings cause i was just trying to survive our conditions.

Maybe I was wrong!

2008-09-23T09:11:00.000-07:00

SOMEBODY CALL ME A NANNY!

"Some call it Autumn, I call it God"

2008-09-22T10:46:00.001-07:00

Today is the 1st day of Autumn! It's hard for me to express how much i embrace this season..the quote above pretty much sums it up. Yesterday, Thomas & I took a nature walk down our street which is lined with big Oaks. We took our buckets & picked up leaves & acorns all the way up until we got to the historic cemetary at the end of the street. We sat in the cemetary for awhile & sitting there with thomas i once again cannot believe how much i love that little guy..how much more can i love him? He told me "mommy, i love walking with you." Eeeesh! just pulls my heart strings. I'm passing down the gift my mom & dad gave me..love of God's creation by playing in it rain or shine.

I have constant joy & unusual amount of energy during autumn. All of God's creation seems to be so alive...i feel it in my soul.

Happy 6 months to our Californian Siberian Tiger

2008-09-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

Some say the 6th month of having your child home is the magic number. It seems it just might be. I have experienced something that i wasn't sure when it was going to happen. I think it's got to be supernatural..maybe it's God's grace, maybe Andrey changed, maybe therapy helped me & i changed, maybe my hormones got back to normal after a female issue. I realize it doesn't matter how it happened but it did & that is that my heart has softened & i have genuine feelings of love & compassion that a mother should feel for her child. Going into this, only knowing the deep love i had of my biological child, i wasn't prepared for what was to come. I had only known a child coming out of my body, breastfeeding & sleeping with me & never being too far from me.

So here comes this little 2 year old Andrey who is so adult like in some unusual ways & infant like in others. I had to get to know him & assess what he needed throughout the phases he went thru. It took effort as many times as i was so tired. The 1st 3 months i did what all the books said, feed him, change him, bathe, hold him, rock him, etc. I made sure my family stayed at a distance just as to not confuse him, etc. Even when i didn't feel like it i did it & i guess that's what real love is. It's doing what he needs rather than what i feel like doing. So i'm trying to work on attachment with Andrey while Thomas was going nuts adjusting to sharing me & toys. A hard lesson for Thomas but necessary for his ultimate growth. I felt more like a referee than a joyful mother.

There are so many feelings good & bad that one goes thru during this journey. Things got better for me when i saw a counselor who specialized in adoption/attachment. I didn't feel alone - i had a place to share those feelings that you don't even want to say out loud. After a few sessions, i felt free..things got better...i read the bible each morning & stayed close to God & asked the Holy Spirit to guide me. It was like in AA when you "work the program." The good news is that it worked.

Andrey & I are doing well & when thomas is in preschool we have a few hours to ourselves. I find that i do much better one on one. He has been helping me wash the dishes, we water the plants together, he helped me make a smoothie, & we do a lot of peek a boo, etc. Those things really help me feel close to him.

Andrey is a real sweet little soul & i feel blessed that God has entrusted us with him. It's been a humbling experience.

Andrey loves to help with the dishes!

2008-09-17T13:29:00.001-07:00

I couldn't make up my mind which picture is cuter of Andrey so i posted them all! So on Tues/Thurs. Andrey & I have some time alone together...i feel like we've been bonding more & really developing a closer relationship. Andrey has been giving more hugs/kisses & maintaining his eye contact with me. I'm not sure if it's me just being more relaxed or if something changed with Andrey but something has changed & our level of love has deepened. I'm so thankful - everyone says it takes time, etc. but it's hard to wait for the closeness to happen. Doing the dishes together is bonding for us..he's helping mommy - by the way..he's too good a helper..you can tell he grew up in a place where he became trained to put away things & clean. So i'm having a good week with him, feeling more patient & having some deep genuine feelings of closeness. It feels good!

Thomas's 1st day of Preschool!!

2008-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

Greg & I walked Thomas down to his first day ever of pre-school...Andrey stayed at home with my neice. What a beautiful new season we've come upon. I love that the pre-school is connected to our church & just right down the street. It was an emotional morning for Greg & I - just seeing our first born gaining a bit more independence & being in his first school setting. Little Andrey & I now will have some good 1 on 1 time & hopefully the time alone will only make us grow closer.

Open house for thomas's pre-school

2008-09-11T10:25:00.001-07:00

Wow - do they look like brothers or what!! And look how nice & clean they look - they must have a wonderful mother who watches over them :) Andrey is on the left, thomas is on the right & this is a picture taken on the morning of pre-school open house. We took little brother Andrey with us to check out thomas's school. I officially feel like a parent. Thomas will be 4 years old in January so he's ready to leave the homefront 2 days a week for 2.5 hours. This will give me time alone with Andrey. Greg took time off of work & we walked down to the pre-school which is located at our church. Here we are walking.

He has come a long way!

2008-09-05T11:45:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post and show you how little Andrey is learning English.. He has always been in to music, but now he is actually singing songs that we can understand. Click on the video below and hear our little guy sing :)

Then & Now

2008-08-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

We've been home 5 months now & we're just starting to look at the pictures we took in Russia....after a month in Siberia it was just hard to look at the hotel room or anything else 1 more time. Now we feel like we're ready to look back at what we endured. I just cannot believe we did it..with thomas, in another country & we took 3 flights to get home with 2 toddlers! God gave us mercy & grace is all i can come up with. So the phrase that's been replaying in my head when i look at Andrey is "then & now" = what a difference...so here's a picture of when he was in the orphanage in Siberia & below is a picture of his new life racing down a slip & slide!

A long time

2008-08-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been so long since i've written...last thoughts were "crazy joy" which i guess i was enjoying the craziness and writing about it. The last few weeks were tough so i wasn't experienced the great joys of motherhood that i was feeling when i last wrote..so sometimes i just cannot write. This blog was set up to share the adventure & hopefully spark some interest in adoption by other families... but when times get challenging i just don't want to write, i don't want anyone to get scared off & sometimes feelings are just better kept to yourself, sometimes i'm so confused by my own feelings that i don't even know where to start...i find that within one days time i run the course of many different feelings..my being female probably doesn't help..complex creatures :) So in one morning i can have great moments & then in the same morning i can be really challenged & get mad fast. I finally decided that it would not hurt to get some support & help with my parenting skills & to have a safe venue to vent my feelings & frustrations. I try to remind myself that Andrey spent his first 2 years in an institution & it did effect him...i've been trying to tease out what is normal 2 year old stuff & what is his behavior as a result of being parentless for his early years.

As for Andrey..he's tan...he's our Siberian tiger & our Curious George. He's loving the summer, the boys are playing in the mud, making rivers wherever pools of water form & getting dirty. This was something i loved as a kid & it really warms me to know i'm providing that experience for them. Other great things are when THomas & Andrey are getting along (meaning that thomas is being good)it's real fun to watch how they play & what kind of games they came up with. I was the last of 5 kids with my closest brother 10 years older than me so it's neat to see 2 brother who are only 14 months apart! Our days are really filled...i'm so grateful for all the friends we have & parks to choose from...really, i've never had more than 1 good friend at certain times in my life..now i feel like i have several great friends & i love their kids too - that's been by far a blessing that i'm aware of almost on a daily basis. There are so many things that i'm still adjusting to...& Andreys still learning too...i really don't like the beginning of relationships..any relationships..i like when you're years into relationships & things are pretty established..right now, seems like things are constantly changing...anyway...sorry to be vague but that's all it got!

Crazy Joy

2008-07-10T13:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot explain it any other way other than to say that this season of life is crazy & so crazily joyful..i didn't think the feelings couldn't really co-exist but i'm experiencing it. I'm so relieved to report that life has gotten easier...it's been 3 months since we got home from Russia & thomas has adjusted to being a big brother & has stopped peeing his pants (he was potty trained) & biting his nails. He still has his moments where i have to protect Andrey but now their time together is spent playing & i love to watch what games they come up with!! There are forts all around my house now, blankets covering chairs & secret hiding places & toys shoved in small areas around the house...it's so great to see them play together!! Now Andrey is really a part of our routine & life wouldn't seem the same without him. We take the boys to the Jungle (big indoor adventure play area) & they really do some good bonding -running, jumping, climbing & i love when they call each other -especially when Andrey calls thomas "tommy."
So our home has more noise, more people, more laundry & dishes but i really feel so involved in the most important aspect of life...loving & being loved... in no other season of life have i experienced being so needed & so loved & so important.
Adding to the pleasures right now is summertime - i love summer with small kids...so much of our time is playing in the water or the dirt or walking around barefoot...i love childhood & having small kids is a way to relive my own wonderful childhood. Before we got Andrey, i would envision providing him all the things i got in my childhood & it made me so motivated to take the risks you face with adoption. Now we have him & i see him running around, playing with the neighbor kids, enjoying the sun & getting really dirty..eating watermelon & icecream cones...it doesn't get much better to me. I thought about my life dreams as i often do - it's an unbelievable feeling to be at a place where they've all come true (except for owning a home- won't be long with greg's determination) - i have a masters degree in clinical psychology (my favorite subject), i was in the work world doing what i loved for 6 years, i got married to a man who brings out the best in me & i had the experience of pregnancy & childbirth & i've taken a small little life out of an orphanage & am providing a happy childhood for him...anything is really extra at this point...i even thought - oh, i hope i don't die just cause i got everything i wanted!! :) I know that God is good & he didn't give up on me & showered me with all my hearts desires. I will be 38 next month & i'm very happy in the midst of being with these 2 little ones all day that sometimes drive me nutty :)

Good times for the Dinis

2008-06-26T21:01:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone :) Sorry it has been awhile since we last wrote. All is well with us. Andrey and Thomas are acting like real brothers, which is code for, they fight, but they mostly play together. That means things are easier for my lovely wife Jeanette. She tells me her days are easier without me, which is great! At the beginning I would worry about her being home with the two boys, but no more!

So.. an activity update. We recently made our first post-Russia road trip. We travelled to Pasadena for our niece Geneen's graduation from seminary. WE decided to stop in Pismo to break up the drive and the boys had a great time! It was easy for everyone involved... They buried me, which is always fun, and we ran in and out of the water all day! We drove into Pasadena the following day and enjoyed seeing "Cousin Neen" as Thomas calls her, graduate. Nice work Masters!!

So we had fun there playing in the park, and spending time with the Scrivanos in Pasadena. We made the trip back on a sunday, left Pasadena early, and spent a few hours in Pismo once again. It worked out perfect. The boiys slept after and the drive was pretty drama free.. DVD's and lollipops.. the perfect combo!

ON a personal note.. my brither and I flew to Phoenix a few days later for our annual baseball roadtrip and watched A's and Diamondbacks... we had fun in the 113 degree heat, and saw probably two of the worst baseball games u will ever see. A's lost both.. but, the brotherly bonding was worth trip...

Anyways.. thanks for checking in.. talk to you all soon...

Go Quakes!

2008-05-24T13:19:00.000-07:00

Thomas and I had a first the other night, we went to the San Jose Earthquakes game (Thanks Kevin). It was Thomas' first sporting event, and something I had been looking forward to for a few days. THere's something about taking your boy to a game, it's something i did with my dad a lot.. good bonding time etc..

Thomas got to have Garlic fries and icecream, two things you must have when going to a game with dad... Thomas enjoyed seeing all the people, the goals, the players, he really absorbed it all! We made it to halftime, which is all i was expecting, and are ready for our next game.. maybe the A's? Sharks? who knows :)

On the way home he kept saying, "That was a fun baseball game daddy!"

Brothers

2008-05-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

Brothers are so fun to see playing & enjoying each other. We'll leave out the not so pretty stuff. Basically i'm tired most of the time!

A big blessing from our friends in Roseville, CA

2008-05-13T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Greg & I came home to a check for $500 in the mailbox to help us with adoption expenses!! Attached with it was a beautiful letter from our dear friend Annie, explaining how she was inspired by Oprah's (winfrey, of course)"Big Give" show & thought about who she'd like to help & our names came to her. She approached her mommy's group The Lady Bug n Baby Bug group & they rallied together, cleaned out their closets & had a 2 day fundraiser garage sale for us. Stacey from the Lady Bugs encouraged Annie to post the advertisements for the garage sale on Craigslist each day so it would stay on top. Annie said that people were really touched by our story & it was effortless to gather the garage sale items.

They also had a bake sale with the food being donated by neighbors Kimberly & Claudia. Thanks Kimberly & Claudia!!

We are so grateful to our Annie, the Lady Bugs & Baby Bugs, neighbors, friends & strangers & some Russians who came to the garage sale & shopped! How blessed you've made us feel - thank you so much! We know what it's like to have a garage sale (we've had 6 of them) how wonderful for you to have one for us!

1st trip to beach

2008-05-11T18:27:00.000-07:00

Learning

2008-05-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

there are 1000 things i need to be doing right now but i feel pulled to write down what i'm learning now that i have andrey. As i get older...now 37, life continues to remind me that it's not about me anymore...maybe i've said that before - i'm not sure why it suprises me so much! I'm thinking that as you journey thru life that the loss of self - the loss of selfishness i should say fades away when you do things you're supposed to do for other people.
It's really kicked my butt to get Andrey (all the work, money, travel, etc.) & now it's kicking my butt again trying to raise him & teach him...he has a strong will & thank God for it. This strong will of his helped him survive orphanage life. He's just one tough little dude...he'll go head to head with me over something he wants that i'm not letting him have & he'll fight til the end. You can say that all 2 years old go thru this stage which they do, but considering he was parentless the first 2 years of his little life & that it appears he's never heard "no" before, it puts a different spin on things. I am aware that i'm an adult & in charge but sometimes i feel so helpless - the toughest is when i'm disciplining Andrey & Thomas is laughing his head off - an evil crazy laugh - it drives me nuts! Managing 2 little souls & meeting each of their needs is difficult. I am so aware that i'm creating a childhood experience for each one - what a responsibility! In the darkest moments of despair, i think how easy it would be to dump them off everyday & let someone else take care of them... a million people a day do it... of course i never would - i'm a big believer in raising my own children, an old fashioned idea it seems.
So i love seeing andrey explore everything...he is curious george times 10. He moves from one thing to the next - it's actually quite tiring to watch him. He runs like a rabbit - i was unable to catch him twice - scared the heck out of me..he loves catchup & cars & any dog he sees he runs after like a crazy man. I cannot take my eyes off of him...hard to do when i'm trying to watch thomas also. The craziest thing of all is that my physical desire to be pregnant again is still there!! EEEESH...i get so sick during pregnancy that it would be crazy..but i just keep thinking it's crazy now..why not? Despite all the energy it's taken from me two keep track & control of these 2 little boys, i can see myself with another baby..i've always wanted another but knew we had to adopt Andrey first.
Anyway...
in spite of every day life & it's challenges, the overwhelming feeling i have is that i'm fully emersed in life right now..i realize it's a season of life that will not last forever..i'm in the childbearing & rearing years which is one of the most joyful & unbelievable great & hard all at the same time..family life so far has been the most satisfying for me. Ok, have to eat some lunch to keep myself fueled.

Baptism

2008-05-05T12:58:00.003-07:00

hi - Andrey was baptized yesterday...it was a beautiful & meaningful ceremony. Don't have much time but wanted to post some pics of Andrey in his suit & some other misc.

1st hair cut in America!!

2008-04-24T13:11:00.000-07:00

i don't have much time but wanted to share these pics because this was the cutest place to get a haircut...andrey started off crying but then found everything very pleasing to him...what a fun place in San Jose! We got his 1st haircut in Siberia & screamed a fierce scream. This was something i'll always remember.

Our Siberian Tiger

2008-04-22T17:51:00.000-07:00

hi friends...it feels like forever since i wrote... i realize that there was much writing before russia & then during russia & now it seems we haven't written at all. It's hard to explain what our home has been like lately...we have had some really beautiful joyful moments watching Andrey running & playing & discovering new things & then there have been the hard moments where thomas is just struggling with the whole little brother concept & life is chaotic...i really had prided myself on having a peaceful home but lately peace can change at any moment. So i'm posting some pictures to share the fun times. By the way, andrey is doing fabulous...adjusting, speaking some english words, understanding most everything i say...he goes around closing all our doors which drives me a bit nutty but all of his habits are most likely from his upbringing at the orphanage so i'm careful how i discipline him, etc. I finally got our announcements out in the mail - this was very special to me because during the adoption waiting i envisioned what the announcement would say, what picture we would use, etc. Our dear friend Heidi helped put it together because i didn't have the time or talent...it's just the way i wanted it & it feels like the last step in a long journey...a joyful step...an announcement that Andrey is finally here with us & happy.
Some of our friends from church had a welcome home andrey reception after church on the playground...it was wonderful! That is one of the pics.

Greg is back to work

2008-04-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

Saying goodbye to staff at the orphanage...
Well after 6 weeks of Paternity leave for Greg he got up early & went to work this morning. I have been very nervous about this day because since we got Andrey, Greg has been superman & handled all our challenges with hope & faith & some physical strength too (Andrey is a strong guy!)... So far so good...greg's mom came this morning & spent special one on one time with Thomas & I did some one on one time with Andrey. I'm so grateful that he's bonding to us & especially to me as mommy. I took him for a nature walk today in the stroller - he loves the stroller..i showed him trees & flowers & leaves...this is what i had dreamt about prior to having him here with us. He's super active & curious & i'm so tired much of the time...i have forgotten what 2 year old are like, & you can imagine everything be new to Andrey that he's everywhere & into everything. We have a pretty good eating & sleep routine now...much less crying. We are getting to know each other..i did not realize that our developing relationship is a process...i just want everything to be perfect & complete now. Thomas is spending much time in his room on time outs until he can keep hands to himself. I thought it was tough when i just had 1 little boy, now i realize that 2 siblings adds a whole other element to being a mother...lots of refereeing & keeping them safe during disputes. I'm doing ok, i am amazed at how we as human beings can change the life of another..i was thinking about all the effort & work & $$ it took though...it occurred to me that doing the right thing is real tough some time even when it brings joy. Andrey is a cheerful little guy..he's solid & strong & needs to learn to cry when he falls..we're working on that..i'm doing my best to baby him :)

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrey!

2008-04-04T09:33:00.000-07:00

hi everyone....today is Andrey's 2nd birthday....we are going to Vasona to celebrate. Real quick, Andrey is doing very well..he's bonding & attaching to us - this is great news as you never know if a child from an orphanage is going to have issues in that area. We have been very busy & have had little time to do anything for ourselves & update the blog. So sorry to all who follow our journey that we came to a screeching halt. Our Thomas has had a difficult time with Andrey - he loves him but it's so hard to share. Thomas has been regressing quite a bit as is normal when a new sibling comes on the scene. Our days are spent helping both boys adjust & we are doing fun things together to help the bonding process. We finally got the eating/snack routine down. At the orphange, they follow a strict routine, so we're trying to keep order with some freedom too.

We will write again..barely had time to squeeze this update out - thomas was screaming cause Andrey got a birthday gift & Thomas wanted to ride it.

Home Sweet Home

2008-03-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

arrived safe last night! Thank you for all the prayers & good wishes...we had many traveling mercies as the 1st flight was 11 hours & the second a little over 5! We are home adjusting to being a family of 4 & the crazy time changes!!

Talk soon,
Love,
Greg, Jeanette, Thomas & Andrey

We are coming home.... early!

2008-03-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, things are better. Sorry for such the downer posting last time, but things were hectic, when you're tired and kids are screaming and your options are limited, you get a little down... Thank you for the wonderful posts, they have been very uplifting to us!...

We arrived in Moscow yesterday and were immediately wisked off to get medicals done for Andrey done and get his visa ordered. The doctor was also nice enough to check Thomas for no charge, becauae he is still coughing. She said he was fine, as long as things don't sound worse. We also got Andrey's us passport pic taken. Then... we have room service... burgers!! sooo tasty! and we slept from 600pm-630a! much needed... so, things are better, this hotel, the Marriot Treskavaya is expensive, but very comfortable.. so that helps...

Due to Jeanette's dads illness we are coming home 2 days early, so we\ll be home tuesday night.. we are very excited about that.

what else... Andrey is great, active and in to everything. Thomas is getting better at being a protective big brother.. the common phrase coming from Thomas' mouth is "Andrey Nyet!" in english - "Andrey No!" but you can see he is getting better, they play together now, and thomas tries to protect his new brother from getting hurt. If we did bnot have light switches that were so fun to play with, that would cut out half the arguements! They are so fun!

well, i am off, thomas and i are going to ride the elevator some.. sounds fun huh?

thanks again, Greg

ps.. here's something our friend Lori posted about what our names mean...and it seems to dfit with our trip

Greg (me) - vigilant watchman... keeping the fam. safe!
Jeanette - God is gracious. thios adoption idea was hers.. she is very gracious.
Thomas - Twin, one of Jesus' disciples..
Andrey - manly, strong, courageous. so true.. his world has been turned upside down, and has ben a trooper.. and yes he is strong. moves tables and chairs in the air with no problems..\

thanks lori...

Get us outta here!!!!

2008-03-17T20:23:00.000-07:00

Not going to lie to you folks. This is the toughest thing Jeanette and I have ever done. We need out, now. Thomas is a sick, struggling big bro. Jeanettte stays with him, I walk Andrey to pass the time. Its cold. This sucks. No one is sleeping well.

I would pay a large amount of money to get out. So, pray for us, we're struggling, no doubt, but we'll make it!

side note: a drunk guy walked into the salon here whuile we got Andrey's super long hair cut yesterday, and caused a minor scene. Security ushered him out, but he came back in a few minutes later.. There are many "tough looking" security guards here, and I was suprised they let him back in. He approached Jeanette Thomas and I... If Andrey had not been on my lap, i may have dropped him. I won't lie, with the emotional, physical state we're in now, and my itch do get back to Police work... He may have gotten hurt :) sorry, just being honest!

alrighty, see you all soon....

Greg

ps.. my father in law had surgery, and was not supposed to make it thru, but he did! he is doing well nowand we are sooo very happy! It was truly a miracle Sal is still with us, and... he was supposed to have been paralyzed in his arm but he has regained feeling, which is another miracle... wheeeeew, quite and emotional week for everyone!

did i mention i want to get the heck out of here?

He has landed.....

2008-03-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin, what a crazy night!

Here’s the play by play... we left the hotel at 430pm, and headed to the court house to pick up the final documents. To our delight, none of Andre’s family decided they wanted him in the past 10 days.. Wheeew! Then we drove to the orphanage. Now I should probably stop and tell you about how we were feeling right about then, and before we left. All day, Jeanette and I were nervous. Butterflies in the stomach nervous. The day dragged by, but went fast at the same time. WE baby proofed the room, got the crib. (Old playpen) 2 familes leave tomorrow, so we’ll get their cribs, real wood ones. But Jeanette and I wanted to get on with it! Enoigh already! But we were nervous. As we left I got kinda giddy, a nervous type giddy, and the ride to the orphanage seememd extra bumpy. Our facilitator said in beautiful broken English, “maybe you are more sensitive today”. And by golly, I think she was right. So, an hour later we got to the orphanage, and walked up to the playroom that we always go to, it was like any other visit. We got even more nervous. Andrey is usually the first once of (remember, we are travelling with the Swingles, and their boy Eli, is always late in arriving) So Andrey comes in with his caregiver and he begins crying, again, like a normal visit. We shove a goldfish in his mouth and bam! He’s our best friend. So the next mission is to put our clothes on him. Jeanette and I have been dreaming of putting him in American looking clothing, and getting him out of the orphanage gear. He let us re-dress him, except for the booties we brought for him, he crunched up his big Siberian toes, and held them crunched together the whole time. Like 30 minutes., we never did get those booties on, ever! So, we got him dressed, and guess who he looked like - -big bro Thomas! Speaking of T, we left him at our hotel in the good hands of Sheri Axtell, another american who is here and will get to bring her 3 yr old girl home next week. So by this time, Eli was here and getting dressed, and we were ready to go. WE felt better now, like we were actually taking Andrey home... It had been the end to a 18 month journey..So, we headed downstairs to leave, and the most touching/sad thinghappenend. Andrey’s caregiver showed up, wanting to say goodbye to him. He smiled and wanted to go to her, she kissed him, hugged him,and was crying. Basically what she said in Russian, we later found out, was she thought of Andrey as her own son, and loved him very much. You could see she was sad and would miss him. It was a very deep hurt.

So, we took him out to the van and away we went ! It was a great feeling, it was emotional, it felt like we had a kid and were bringin him home. Diiferent from a childbirth thing, but similiar. It was hard to explain.

In the van, Andrey looked at everything, as Jeanette fed him every few seconds. Imagine never seeing cars or anything, and the little guy is seeing it all for the first time. WE were trying to avoid a meltdown, and about 30 mins into the drive, a funny thing happened, Andrey out his thumb in his mouth and went to sleep. Thomas didn’t know he had a thumb until he tunred 3, so this was new for us. He slept all the way back... We did have a small incident in the van, Our new friend Eli got a little motin sick, and threw up a tad. I guess it’s prety common for that to happen. The whole van got a little “tangy” inside.
So we got back and took Andrey upstairs, he had woken up.

We got to introduce him to Thomas.

We walked in, and Thomas looked like he was a bit in shock. I guess it hadn’t really hit him until just at that moment. Also remember, Ole Thomas doesn’t do well after his bedtime has passed (it was now 800 or so. ) So we hung out for a bit and tried to feed Andrey some food. It only is fed pureed type things in the orphanage, so when we tried to mash up some steak and chicken, it didn’t really like it.. So we gave him yogurt and milk and that was about it. So Sheri left and it was just the 4 of us. It was weird, Jeanette and I had imagined him being here, but he actually was.... The I smelled it. Could it be? Our first with Andrey? Yes! It was a big pooper! That was fun, it had been awhile since Jeanette and I had changed one, so we tag teamed it.. Just like old times!

Then, it began.. The sibling rivalry. Andrey grabbed a train, and Thomas erupted. They went back and forth, Thomas just hated it.. I believe that’s when my lovely wife sat on my mom’s digital camera, and yes.. Sorry Grandma Sue, it broke!! We’ll take care of it...

So, off T went to bed, and that left me with Andrey. Thankfully we have a suite with 2 rooms. So I rocked him a little and figured, time for bed! Well, I put him in the crib, and he didn’t like it. He screamed, so after a few minutes, and after Jeanette told me to, I picked him up, and immediately his thumb went into his mouth and he dozed off... I laid him down, in the crib, and that’s all she wrote... he slept until 645am, and he popped up like he had always lived here....

Thats all for now... don't have much more time to write due to now having 2 active children in the room! and... Thomas is sick, but my lovely wife brought antibiotics, so he should be getting better...

Andrey is a handfull!! and its snowing and 15 degreees... we need Calif. badly..

Greg and Jeanette

ps.. my father in law is having surgery right now for a blood clot in his neck.. so keep him in your prayers please :)

Another day... getting closer..

2008-03-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today is our last day as a threesome. Kinda weird if you think about it. It's like Jeanette is pregnant and we have been seeing ultrasounds everyday, and she's due, for sure, tomorrow. No walking to make sure the baby comes out, no having sex for the purpose of helping the baby come out. This one comes out "ready to go", like a furnished apartment, ready for action. We are enjoying being 3 today, but we're all ready to be 4. Tomorrow night we arrive at the orphanage at 6, he gets stripped down of all his standard orphanage issued gear, thankfully! and we sign some paperwork, and he is ours! should take 15 mins.

I spent some time with him yesterday, and we had fun. we flew around like superman, we fed each other goldfish, he then pretended to feed me, then took it back.. little tease! then he made up for it, by biting it in half and feeding half to me.. i thought it was a nice gesture on his part!

so today i went to the bank, they didn't like one of my hundreds because it had some writing in ink on it, a very small letter in ink... so, bring clean money here!! they are not kidding! then i strolled to the grocery store and spent 950... rubles... about 40 bucks, on groceries... need to stock the fridge for our hungry orphan when he makes landfall tomorrow night... the first 2 weeks they eat everything and anything, then after that, they become a normal 2 yr old.. they get picky! imagine that, 2 yrs in an orphanage, and in 2 weeks they forget the gruell, and begin turning away food! :)
spaking of gruell... it's like a porridge, something kinda of food...i hated it at first, but now it's a staple of my breakfast! i would pay 100 dollars for 3 eggs up, hash browns, sausage, oj, and coffee, right now! althought i had a wonderful cafe americano yesterday.. it may have saved my life ..

it snowed overnight, like 3-4 inches, that was nice to wake up to..

by the way... 5 below yesterday.. eeeeash!

so... thanks for hanging in during the wait period... it'll get good again once we get the little (big) guy.. enjoy the pics :).. and again, thanks for all the great posts, i love them!

-GD

TV, made in Russia

2008-03-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

I have an idea for a new TV show in America. American Idol for strippers! Oh wait, they already have it here in Russia, dangit. No really, they do, its everything American Idol, but they are strippers with their pole. It’s on MTV Russia. Another TV show we discovered was one of my wife’s favorites, the Nanny in Russian. They copied it right down to the outfits. Very funny. I then switched over to AS Roma vs Real Madrid and was in heaven. I watched a movie yesterday, 300. Lots of fighting, and blood. I liked it. Jeanette visited Andrey yesterday while I stayed with Thomas. They had a nice time, but again, as I have repeated over and over, we are ready to bring the little Ruskie back and begin the next phase. We can’t really bond with him much more at the orphanage, we need to get him back here so he can start depending on us. At the orphanage, he is still comfortable because he is still in his “hood”. His eyes still light up when he sees his care giver. But that will change soon. We also heard for sure that we will be picking Andrey up for sure on Friday night. We’ll leave here at 5pm, arrive at 6pm, stay for 15 minutes and bring him back with us. So by 615, we will have Andrey out of his standard orphanage issued clothing, and into our lap for good. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to blog about once that happens. I washed some undies in the shower last night, that was exciting! I could use some fabric softener, but other than that, they are fresh! We had a chance to meet some American missionarys yesterday. The Winklers. They are from Visalia and have been living here for 5 years with their 4 kids. They picked us up and we went to their apartment, which was extremely nice. 3 bedrooms, looked very American. Thomas had a great time playing with their kids, ages 8 and under. They fed us, I actually had a sandwich with mustard on it!! I wanted to steal it from them!! Side note, I went to Subway here the other day, and the only spread I was familiar with was mayo, so I had only mayo on it.. But it was actually pretty close to the american version. Cabbage instead of lettuce, but not bad. So, the winklers, it was good to sit and visit with them, it was like having a little slice of America in Russia. We enjoyed it. They are actually supported by Shadow Mountain Baptist church in Morgan Hill.. Small world.... I snowed a couple days ago, which was nice, and after that it got cooooollld. Today it is about 10 degrees. I haven’t been in weather that cold, ever, so it was a new experience. Last night while we were out, the wind picked up, and both Jeanette and I thought our ears would just crack right off if someone touched them right. It’s supposed to get colder this weekend, so hello Siberia! Today I’ll go see him while Jeanette stays with T. We met another couple from california today. (Pleasanton), so that was cool. They are on their first trip. Boy does that seem like a long time ago when we were on our first trip. Let’s see, anything else? We have just been hanging out, waiting, walking. We went out to eat at a German place last night. Had a fun time. Thanks for all the posts.. short sleeves and 70 degrees sounds really good right now. Well, see you all soon...... Greg

Hurry up and wait...

2008-03-10T03:23:00.000-07:00

Waiting is rough, especially when you have a 3 year old that is not used to putting on 6 layers of clothes because its 20 degrees out.

Thomas is not built for cold weather! I’m not either, but I’m an adult.

Our days have been spent walking, playing play dough, trains, smashing our toy cars, all fun stuff, really :) We walked to an open air market today and bought something we were really needing, no not another child, ha!, but some really nice fruit! Our travel partners pointed us towards this flea market/farmers market hybrid thingy. The first place we stopped we spent like 40 bucks on grapes, bananas, (actually good bananas, not leftover bananas that fall apart in your hands, and last 2.3 hours before they become mush. These were good! We bought apples, tangerines, it was nice. I ate that banana like it was the first one I have ever had, it was wonderful...

We go and visit Andrey tomorrow morning, after not seeing him for a few days. We have watched some video clips of him talking and feeding me goldfish like 40 times.

We are ready for him.

What else.... it still refuses to snow. I know I mentioned it got cold, but it’s still sunny most of the time and actually pretty nice. We would like a blizzard for a day or so while we’re here, Thomas would love it. Watch, we’ll get the blizzard the day we leave and get stranded for another week... be careful what you wish for Mr. Dini.

I got some time to myself today. I have been threatening to go downstairs and have a cappuchino for a few days, but I actually did it today. It was grrrreat. I read my fantasy baseball magazine and checked email. Our wi fi connection has been down in our room since Friday, that’s why I haven’t posted pics or anything. It’s supposed to come back Monday. I have our baseball draft the Sunday I get back, so I must be ready.

I may try and sit in the very popular areain front of our hotel tomorrow night and drink a beer and have a cigar. There’s apparently a lot that goes on (prostitution, drugs etc) at night, so maybe I’ll be entertained...

Good night for now...

Greg

Orphanage Strength

2008-03-10T03:06:00.000-07:00

Don't you love the tank top? You don’t exactly know what it is until you experience it first hand. Arm wrestling challenge, Thomas vs Andrey. The Russian would kick his butt.. Thomas is fast, agile, but Andrey is freakishly strong. I tried to pry the bag of goldfish from him, and really had to try hard to get it. From what I hear its from years of protecting what is his is the orphanage. The kids take food and store it, and protect their turf. He reminds me of Mike Nelson. Probably never has to lift a weight in his life, but could pull a locamotive with his teeth, like Magnus vonMagnussen of World’s Strongest Man fame.

So here is a rundown of my two boys possible athletic futures:
Andrey : Wrestler
Thomas : Shortstop
Andrey : Nose tackle
Thomas: QB
Andrey: Soccer Defenseman
Thomas : Soccer outside midfielder (by the way, I have been enjoying lots of Champions League soccer since I have been here, it’s great! Arsenal/AC Milan, nice! Andrey : Hockey goalie/Hockey Enforcer
Thomas: Forward Andrey : Nascar pit crew
Thomas ; Driver of the number 20 Home Depot car! HEEE HAWWW! You get the point... Speed and power!

Or, in all reality , I’ll probaly have to decide between Andrey’s chess match and Thomas’ dance recital.... Which is just fine with me :)

By the way, I did find a coffee shop, thanks Lori! and it was great!! with lots of milk of course...

I think he's a keeper

2008-03-10T02:44:00.000-07:00

I went to visit Andrey this morning, by myself. Thomas and Jeanette were exhausted from the week and the hour long drives back and forth every time we head to the orphanage. Let me expand on that. These hour drives are nutty. The traffic is horrible and there are no rules. We dart in and out of traffic- its tiresome. I can expand more on the traffic later, but until you have driven in it, there’s no way to fully explain it to you.. One quick fun fact. My Police friends will appreciate this. Three cops for Krasnoyarsk (1 million people) handle 148 accidents A DAY! They each handle roughly 50 accidents each! It commonly takes 5 + hours for anyone to respond to these accidents, even when there are serious injuries. I may get a ride along, but we’ll see..

So.... the drive is tiring and Jeanette and T needed a break.. And keep in mind, no carseats, so it’s little sketchy. So I had some one on one time with Andrey, and it was great. He spoke to me, smiled, he really loosened up. You can really see the difference in him from the first day to today. He is becoming more himself. We had fun. I found a Russian keyword that he liked, it is pronounced “Moi mah Lihsh” the last word sounds like “leash” It means, “My baby”. He loved it. We have a great book put together by a woman who did the adoption thing and thought it would be a great idea if some key words and phrases were all put together in a book for adoptive parents. When these kids come out of the orphanage, everything changes for them, the clothes, food, people, so it’s nice for them to hear some comforting words in Russian. So I say the above words to him, along with “good” “I am your papa” stuff like that. It seems to work, cause he doesn’t know anything else that we are saying. Keep in mind it is a book of words to use with kids, and when the guy at a pizza place put our 2 pieces of pizza in a to go box, I said, “”Hah rah Shoh” which means “good”, he looked at me funny, like I was saying “goo goo ga ga good boy!” So I need to use it in the right settings :) So we had fun, Andrey fed me goldfish, and we played and hugged, it was really a good time!

Take a look at some of the vid clips, they are priceless.

Saturday was quiet because it was “Women’s day”. A lot of the businesses were closed and the streets were very quiet. All the women out had flowers in their hands, Women’s day is quite a big deal here.... I would add that if any of my single male blog readers want to find a woman, come to Russia. I can say no more without risking getting in trouble with my own Sicilian Princess. But, I call it the 50 foot rule. Email me for more..... But everyone is good.. We (me) are all actually trying to shake off colds, and the cold weather has come back to Siberia. It is sunny no more... it snowed yesterday, and the temp has dropped 10 degrees with a little wind. I guess there’s prostitution going on in our hotel.

Our pals the Swingles were awoken to some “Bumpin and grindin” at like 6am. And we have heard it goes on here a lot.

We’re getting a tad sick of the breakfast buffet. Even my lovely wife has stopped singing its praises. I drink 2-3 cups of Maxwell house, and with each cup it tastes worse, but an addict has gotta have his fix!

So... that’s all for now.. We’re just waiting for Friday so we can pick up Andrey, so between now and then we’re just hanging out. There’s not a lot of things to do, but its nice to have some family time before we expand to 4 :) and we’ll go visit the orphanage every day this week, Mon-Fri. Feel free to email me or post comments, Jeanette and I love to see who is reading the blog. We actually have a lot of time to read them, so send away :) (It helps pass the time) Thank you for those who have posted so far. I really means a lot to us :) So, one more thing to say : Pah Kah!! (Good bye)

10 down, 21 to go....

2008-03-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

10 down, 21 to go.....

Last night was fun.. Dad went out to provide for his wife and young son. Off to KFC!!! and you guessed it,, California Pizza Kitchen! I had decent directions so I ventured out. 15 minutes later and 4-5 blocks, I landed at KFC. I mission was easy, do not repeat what happenend at the Moscow KFC on trip 1. It was nightmare. Thomas was starving, it was 1000 degrees inside, and I had to fight through a crowd of Russians that don’t understand the concept of ORDER!! No one stands in line.. In their cars, in line, no where.so this time was better. I barged my way up to the register in true Ruskie fashion, and order a bucket of 25 pieces of chicken, nothing else. Piece up cake... as I left I knew T was pizza so I crossed the street and luckily no one was in line. I picked out what I thought was a cheese piece of pizza and attempted to pay. I assumed it would be maybe 40-50 rubles, (2-3 bucks) so I threw down a 100 rubles bill... (High roller am I) The lady said something I could not understand, it was probably in Russian, so I thought she meant, “Do you have something smaller” Russians hate making change. So I go into my very manly fanny pack and start lookin for smaller bills, and suddenly an older Russian lady comes out of now where takes my 100 and throws it down. The cashier obviously thought it was a different 100 than the one I had put down a few seconds earlier and gladly accepted it and gave me a receipt and change! Wonderful.. Well, it the few awkward seconds I had to wait for the “slice boy” to give me my slice, I gestured to the girl, and I said, “California” as I pointed to the sign, and then poiinted to myself. Like, “Hey, I am cool, I am from California, like the name of your restaurant!” HA! She laughed, the slice boy laughed, we all had a good laugh! It was funny... so I began walkiing back, thinking I am cool, and as I tried to navigate a large pond with small icebergs peaking out, and almost fell and lost all I had worked so hard to get.. That would’ve been tragic! Sidenote ; Since it is like 50 degrees here, everything, I mean everything is melting... all roads are wet and ponds are everywhere.. Go thing I brought my nike air running shoes!! :) When I got back to the room, Thomas said I was number one, and said “This is esciting 50 times, and that’s all that mattered. So....

The next day:
Not a bad day today... we got up at a normal time. 8am... had breakfast, and walked to a toy store with the Swingles.. This toy store was something else...3 stories, all toys, clothes, everything you would need for a kid. Tommy remembered what it was like to drive his Home Depot #20 car and took the Police motorcycle out for a spin. He tried to get some boots for Andrey, but the language barrier was too much to overcome... we will try again.. We did buy some legos and things for Andrey and tommy-boy to play with once we get him.

At 2pm we got picked up and traveled the usual hour long trip to Sosnoborsk to see Andrey. We def. Made some strides today, and began to see the real personality. He laughed he threw balls, and ran around, he threw a fit, it was great! He latched on to Jeanette more today, which was great, he just let his true little self come out.. It was fun. It helped that Jeanette had a steady stream of goldfish flowing into his mouth :)

At the end of the visit, I really wanted to see how Andrey played with his playmates, and find out how he was in his place, where he felt comfortable. So we toured his play area and his bedroom.. He lives with 17 other kids and they all play in one big room. They also sleep in one big room. It is really something to see, 17 cribs, very small cribs, all together. It’s amazing any of them actually sleeps. The 2 caregivers were great, they were eager to tell us about Andrey and what he does and says.. It was really nice to see. When he got into his room, with all his “peeps” he smiled and played like he was on top of the world. He def. Looked like he was top dog at least in this play group. He couldn’t wait to get out of his little dressy overalls that they put all the kids in when they go meet their “parents”. I love the little tank top he had on underneath everything, priceless!! We were sad after, because he looked so happy there, but we know we are giving him a lot, and he’ll be much better off, even though its pretty fun to play all day, and have some lady put you on the pot every few hours :)

So, we just had room service, and Jeanette and T had just gone to bed, I will be there in a few mysself... 8am, we go visit again....it’s 0900pm right now...

Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and prayers, keep up the good work! We’re having fun!

By the way, Thoms has been great, checkout our exercise pic :)

Greg

PS, funny store from the other day.

Jeanette, Thomas and I are in a German restaurant and we have just ordered. For beverages we ordered a beer, a sprite, and a milk and water for Thomas.. Well, the server must have thought we didn’t actually want the milk, so we didn’t get it. So I walk downstairs and in front of 3 female servers ask, “Milk?” and they all give me a blank look, like I am speaking another language, well, I am, actually.. So I say “Milk?” as I am motioning like I am drinking something. Again , a blank stare. So I ask, “Menu?” And immediately nods like she understands and she runs to get me a menu. I feel like all I have to do is point to Milk on the menu and we’re home free. Meanwhile Thomas is nearing a meltdown because he has no “Milk from the fridge.” Well, there is no milk in the menu. So I try again, this time adding some actual cow milking motions to my word, “Milk”. And the russian waitress says, “Oh, would you like a glass of milk?” She said it in such plain English, it sounded like the queen herself had said it! I said, “yes!” but wondered why is was so hard in the first place to understand what I wanted! Eash.....

Anybody seen a Starbucks around here?

2008-03-04T22:17:00.000-08:00

What I would give for a grande drip with a little cream! The instant Maxwell House just ain't cuttin it. I would pay top dollar for a little sip of breakfast blend. Anyways... we went to go see Andrey today- Our first visit since being officially named as mom and dad. The gang fight scar is clearing up, and we just did a lot of holding and walking around. It's good bonding time. We will probably go everyday and visit Andrey until we pick him up on FRiday 3/14. By then he should be pretty adjusted to us. Jeanette and I were both sad today because we know Andrey will be a sad little guy when he leaves the orphanage. It's all he knows, and his eyes light up when he sees his caregiver after we visit with him. He's going to miss everyone. The good news is that he can bond, and he will bond with us, and he's moving on to bigger and better, not to mention warmer things! Well... its 122pm, and I just polished off a PB and J, it's our usual lunch now, and Thomas is going down for a nap. Can you beleive we actually slept in til 6am this morning? it beats the 2-3am wake ups for the first couple days! talk to you all soon! Greg

I now pronounce you, mother and father... and big brother to Andrey Chase Dini!

2008-03-03T21:05:00.000-08:00

It happenend! We are now proud parents of Andrey Chase Dini! We just returned from spending 1.5 hours in court telling a judge and "prosecutor" about everything from our financial situation to why we want to adopt... and... They said we are a great match with Andrey, yes we can tell you his name now :) The man, me, is the one who stands for a majority of the time in court and answers the bulk of the questioning. I think i was "on the stand" for a little over an hour. The translator stood beside me and we made it through. the court room looks similiar to one in America, but is a little simpler and the prisoners sit behind a big white cage. They use this room for both criminal and adoption cases. And we apparently got lucky, because the "stern" judge went on vacation, and we got the judge who smiled a little more. She kept asking why we would want to adopt even though we can have kids. it is something they have trouble understanding. Russians don't want to adopt their own. Anyways... it was good. I think the real plus was having Thomas with us on the first trip. The Ministry of Education (MOE) loved the way Thomas interacted with Andrey, and thought they would be wonderful brothers! so... take a look at some photos, since we can now post them :)

The next step is we visit Andrey now for the next few days until we finally take custody of him, probably on 3/14. They have a mandatory 10 day waiting period. So we just sit back and enjoy sunny and 40 degrees in Siberia! Not bad :)

and just to back track really quick, we did visit Andrey yesterday, and it was great.. we bonded and really made progress getting to know him. (bringing goldfish to eat never hurts the cause) he hugged us, laughed, it was wonderful. Thomas almost went into full blown depression when Andrey had to go. "Daddy, where's Andrey going? When do we get to bring him home?" it was really something to see..

see the attached photos from today and yesterday:) PS, the scar between Andrey's eyes is due to a gang fight in the group of 17 kids his age he lives with. You sholuld've seen the other kid! That's my boy!!

Greg, Jeanette and Thomas.

No "I" in Team.

2008-03-02T21:49:00.000-08:00

Teamwork, that’s the word of the day, and of the trip. With Thomas being on this little adventure with us, it takes good communication and teamwork. For example: airport security, my favorite thing in all the world. We have 5 bags total, 6 if you count Thomas as a carry on, which he is most of the time. Give your passport and your boarding passes, take your shoes off, your belt, your jackets, laptop needs to come out and be in its own tray. Everything needs to be in it’s own tray. I tried to put Thomas in a tray, but they said no. Medication needs to come out, dvd player needs to have its own tray. And keep in mind, this is all happening with a hundred Russians behind you waiting to pass you, and security trying to tell you something in Russian. It’s mayhem, and I hate the 10 minutes it takes to complete it. I hand Thomas to Jeanette, my shoes come off, his shoes come off... you get the point.. And.... we had one instance where Thomas happily took his own shoes off and loved every minute of it, and then the next checkpoint, which happenened to be after we woke him up early after a nap, he did not want his shoes off, and had a mini-breakdown... so.. Jeanette and I have to be on our game to get through it, but we have and we will... We can’t help but imagine how it’ll be with Andrey when we head back towards Moscow and the good ole USA....

So we arrived In Krasnoyarsk this morning... 520am... Jeanette is a super star. Thomas sleeps on her basically the entire flight, so he’ll sleep the whole time, and we don’t have to entertain him the whole time. We are 15 hours ahead of Calif. time. Good flight, good landing...We are at the Hotel Krasnoyarsk, decent place. We got the big suite this time, which is great. Plenty of room to run around with trains and other toys to keep T busy. We had the breakfast buffet that Jeanette loves. She’s been talking about it every since we left for this trip. Then we slept until about 230p, and met our driver and facilitator Sergei and Yelena so we could complete the booking of our hotel room, which took about an hour. Jeanette and T are still asleep, which probably means we’ll have another wake up call at 2am.. I love it

Tomorrow, 2pm, we get picked up to go visit Andrey.. I am very excited There is another American couple here that just picked up two little boys, 20 months and 4 years old... When I saw the 4 yr old it really hit home for me that this is real, and we will soon have another little guy.. The little boy didn’t have a mom and dad for the first 4 yrs of his life, and now he does.. Sweet little guy... We’ll also get to prep for our 2hr court hearing tomorrow. We’ll learn what to say, and what not to say. It’s mostly what to say to make sure the judge is happy...

The weather is great here, by the way. sunny and like 40 degrees!!! Two weeks ago it was 10 below.
and we are having trouble calling out from Krasnoyarsk, so we apologize family for not calling :(

Well, that’s it for now...
See you all soon...
Greg and Jeanette..and Thomas.. we go to see Andrey in 1 hour :)

By the way.. Things are cheaper here... I just paid 3 dollars for an Americano You can’t get anything in Moscow for 3 dollars, except for maybe a strange look.....

Siberia, here we come!

2008-02-29T18:03:00.000-08:00

Well, where do I begin. We are in Moscow, it is 5am local time. We are 11 hours ahead of you Californians. No problems to report. Both our flights here were slightly delayed, but it has been no big deal. We arrived in Atlanta after our red eyes on tuesday night, and slept from 7am-2pm at the Holiday Inn.. It was a much needed 5hrs since none of us slept on the red eye. Except for Thomas, We arrived in Moscow at 11am. It wasn't a bad flight for being close to 10 hrs long! Thomas slept half the time, which was nice, and Jeanette didn't get sick, which was great!

So.. Moscow... the traffic is still crazy, our trusty driver Vlad. navigated us through any potential problems...
We had aour Russian medicals done today. It only took 5 hrs! I'll share more on that later....

We are in the Renaisannce hotel, and wheeew it is expensive, 400/night, and everything, and I mean everything in this town is expensive! It is the most expensive city in the world, i have heard.
a hamburger - 30 bucks
club sandwich - 25 bucks..

our dollar basically sucks against any and all currency right now... for example...
1 euro gets you 34 rubles (Russian currency)
1 dollar gets you 23 rubles.

we get to the good stuff now... we are off to siberia tonight and will see andrey the same day.. and our day in court follows on 3/4.. i wish i had taken some kind of court room testimony class to prepare! it takes 2 hrs! intense questioning...

so.. we feel good except for waking up at 2am and being wide awake! Thomas is doing well, i am good, jeanette is solid.. she marvels at how beautiful and GQ all the russian men/women are here.. they really do it up! they are really a good looking people!

also, we are travelling with another family from Ohio.. a pharmacist and a firefighter... the swingles.. really good people, good travelling buddies!

and, it snowed like crazy over night so Thomas in his brand new snow gear had the time of his life! it was really fun to see him enjoy himself!
okk.. i am out, but we'll talk soon!

Greg, Jeanette, and Thomas

Let the madness begin!

2008-02-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day. WE leave at 10pm from SJ, and land in Atlanta at 5am. We actually have a room at the Holiday Inn that day due to the fact that our flight from ATL to Moscow doesn't leave until 4pm!
Our last few days in the good ole USA have been spent completely redoing our entire house. Thanks to Jeanette and her sis MaryAnn, and our niece... and others, things are organized and in tip top shape,... I believe they call it nesting...
I have been working. (Someone has to pay for this adventure) Below is a copy of our itinerary, so you know roughly where we are, and when we'll be getting Andrey.

2/26 Leave US
2/28 Arrive Moscow
2/29 Medical Exam
3/1 Leave Moscow for Krasnoyarsk
3/2 Arrive to Krasnoyarsk
3/4 Court Hearing
3/17 Pick up "A" from orphanage & Receive documents
3/20 Leave for Moscow with "A"
3/21 Apply to US Embassy
3/24 Receive
3/24 Russian Consulate
3/26 Receive Document Registration
3/27 Leave Russia for US as a family of 4!

So.... keep checking back here , as we will try and update it as much as we can with pics and vids...

Later!!!

Greg

COUNTDOWN TO MOSCOW 6 more days

2008-02-20T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm boring myself with the details of my cleaning & organizing but i find it's become a crucial part of my preparing for "A" to come home. I remember when i was pregnant with Thomas i cleaned the house like a mad woman. I guess i'm doing the same thing now. So we're waiting on our visa's to arrive & for our itinerary to be finalized & i'm working on a last minute letter we may need for court. It's nerve wracking cause of the time crunch. Last night i picked up some medication for "A" in case he gets sick on the way home... i bought him some diapers...everything's more difficult because i don't know his weight & size. Most people tell me that as soon as little ones get the love & attention they need, they grow like weeds & learn to smile & laugh big. I cannot wait for the joyful moments.

I'm focusing also on the reality of having a child who's making a major transition from institutional life to family life. I've read the books & am aware of the issues/risks. It helps to recall my grad school years of clinical psychology too so i feel like i have the knowledge. We are going to have to teach "A" that i'm his mom & Greg's his dad. Sadly, i'll be just another care giver to him for awhile until it kicks in that i'm it & Greg's it. I'm looking forward to getting the food "A" needs - fruits, veggies, etc. I'm looking forward to taking him to the school across the street - we spend many hours there as it's like a beautiful park with a big mountain as the back drop. THere's a huge field & "A" can run around & feel the sun. Ok, today's projects are laundry & getting the itinerary taken care of. Yesterday my sis & i cleaned out thomas's closet - she was doing that...i was on the phone with unexpected adoption business & well, i'm getting used to working under pressure & deadlines.

COUNTDOWN TO MOSCOW 7 more days

2008-02-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

My body is tore up from cleaning & moving so much. I've been in work mode since we got the news on Valentine's Day that we are going back to Siberia to pick up our little "A." I'm having cleaners come in on Wednesday - i cancelled the service for awhile to save money but i must have the nest clean - super clean. We had a huge Sunday, put the new car seat in for "A", put up the crib - greg did a great job. We got "A" a little booster seat for the dinner table. My sis helped go thru all the kitchen drawers & cabinets & she re-lined the drawers with pretty paper. I'm in my kitchen about 70% of the day so it's important to me! The boys room - i love saying that..looks cute - i just need some decorations for near "A's crib so he has something to look at. It's weird having the crib up - it's thomas's old one that he hardly ever slept in as he hated sleeping anywhere but with mom & dad. Each day i have my to do list. We Fed Ex'd the visa applications yesterday & we're still pinning down the itinerary. With so few days, it gets kind of nerve wracking but i've learned that everything comes together in the end. Thomas is talking lots about his new brother & we assigned a stuffed animal to be "A" so thomas could pretend. We already put stuffed "A" in his car seat. Then we put stuffed "A" in his chair at the dinner table. Ok, off to start the days doings.

Preparation Day #1

2008-02-15T14:10:00.000-08:00

well i have a moment to relax, thomas is asleep now. Yesterday (Valentine's Day) was the best ever. Greg left 3 little sweet cards for me, 2 in the house & 1 in the car. I love little suprises. Then Thomas & I started out our day by doing our usual Valentine deliveries..it's one of my most favorite holidays, even when i was single. There's something so sweet & fun about giving & getting little pink & red valentine cards..the sillier the better. I started my Valentine cards over 2 weeks ago to make sure i'd get them all done! Greg made fun of my efforts but i stayed strong & kept at them.

After Thomas fell asleep the phone rang & the area code was from Virginia which is where our adoption agency is. I just knew this was the call with the court date.. there had been a mysterious silence the last few days & i could feel that something was happening. Sure enough, it was our family coordinator wanting to conference Greg in..as she was trying & i was left to wait, the feeling was of shock, joy, bliss & oh my goshes everywhere! I knew she had our court date & this was the moment we were waiting for & it happened on one of my most favorite days! Since Greg was at work we couldn't reach him & i told him later..he suspected though because of the message i had left saying we had some good news. So great joy yesterday, great joy. We are so grateful to be going back to take care of business & bring "A" home. I must say that i thought we'd have lots more notice but as it turns out i only have a few days to get the visa's, etc. At least i've done it once before so this time isn't as hard. I have a sister who acts as my administrative assistant (because she was one for HP). So The hardest part will be preparing to be on our Eastern European vacation for so long & delegating stuff that needs to be done. Also, we need a car seat for "A", snow clothes, & a bunch of other stuff that he'll need. That's not even mentioning what i need to get for the trip. Anyhoo - no problem - it's just wonderful to be simmering in the joy & wonder of it all.

announcing a COURT DATE!

2008-02-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

hi friends...i only have a second..got the call today that we are leaving for Moscow on February 26th!! After a few days in Moscow we'll be off to Siberia (5 hour flight) & our court date is March 4th. We'll be traveling with another American family from our agency which is a blessing! More to come...!

Wednesday

2008-02-13T15:29:00.001-08:00

On Monday our adoption agency received hopefully the last 4 documents from us. I fed ex'd everything Friday before 5pm - it felt so good! We are assuming this is all the judge will need from us but we'll see. We arranged thomas's cozy bedroom to fit a crib. We are now really preparing the house...cleaning, moving furniture & getting clothes ready. This is the part that i waited until last to do. Thomas keeps talking about Russia & "A" & we continue to pray for "A" & discuss him daily. I'm preparing emotionally for having 2 boys. That's all for today.

Getting Excited!

2008-02-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Got a request from our family coordinator at the adoption agency for another document. She said the judge is requesting it. It's an easy document to obtain but it got me so excited to think that the judge was actually looking at our paperwork! I'm looking of pics of "A" & i think i'm ready to go to Siberia! I think i'm ready to do the 3 plane rides & go into action with keeping thomas occupied. I think i'm ready for the cold...all of asudden i feel very brave. I'm ready to face the challenges and maybe even crack a smile. Well lets not carried away! It was hard to smile during transport as i was always terrified of the city traffic & no lane thing - oh, & the no seatbelt thing didn't set well with me either. I was talking to my brother's doctor who turned out to be from Moscow...she is a pretty woman. I noticed while in Russia that people are most attractive & dressed so nice. The women wear stylish boots, jackets, hats & scarves...the men are dressed up & i did not see people wearing jeans & sneakers. People are walking everywhere there & they don't have the custom of eye contact & a polite hello when you're walking head on with someone, like we have here. Thomas is asleep in the car & his granparents are going to spend some time with him today & that means i can go & fed ex the last of the documents out...oh, i didn't mention...i missed the delivery of our 3 last documents that were apostilled in Sacramento - the delivery guy brought them to the post office so i have to go to the post office & pick them up. It's amazing how important people become to you when they're holding your precious documents. I think i've said before, i love the mail man, the fed ex man, the guy in Sacramento who knows us & certifies our documents, & the man from immigration who got me what i needed. Depending on people can make you feel vulnerable but we all have to do it & again..that's why i think it's important that we all try to help each other out..sooner or later we're all going to need something from someone else.

nap time thoughts

2008-02-05T14:12:00.000-08:00

It's nap time for thomas & that means free time for me! I feel like i need to write..i know when i start writing in my head that's it time to write it out. I have been thinking about this adoption journey & what i continue to learn. Aside from the joy of anticipation, i've experienced feelings of great impatience & desperation. I realize from time to time that those feelings feel familar - it's not the 1st time i've struggled with them. It's a different challenge but same feelings! I'm thinking that maybe i'm ready to learn the lesson & move on.

Before i met Greg, my Mr. Right, i spent many of moments in despair feeling like i would never meet the right guy. I could not believe that God would provide for me a husband who would meet all my quirky requirements. I just couldn't believe it would happen. I had been a bit boy crazy my whole life...finding a husband was something i desperately wanted for all the right reasons. I wanted to share my life.

At 30 years old my then boyfriend of 3 years off & on proposed...i had been waiting a long time to hear those words..long story short..i broke it off even though all the wedding plans were in place & the dress bought! We just saw the world so differently & i was more focused on getting the proposal than if we were actually compatible to be hubby & wife. I met greg i think around 2 years later... it's easy to say now but i wish i had trusted God, i wish i had believed it could happen to me.

I think of how peaceful my life would have been if i had waiting patiently & believed that God had a plan for me, that He would send me the man just for me. But i couldn't see it thru the fear that often crept up. I would have done so many things differently if i had hope & confidence.

So the fun thing about life is you get another chance at doing things the right way with the right attitude! Here's a chance for me to trust & believe that God will take care of us & provide. Instead of fear & worry which today i'm pushing over to the side, i'm going to believe that we'll be provided for in all ways. Now tomorrow, i may have to give myself a little pep talk again, but that's ok...it's allowed :)

I

The mail never looked so good!!

2008-02-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

So greg just opened up the mail - i though for sure that the document we've been waiting for from dept. of homeland security/immigration would come in a big envelope so when i didn't see one in the mail today, i was irritated that we didn't get the doc. yet & i'd have to contact immigration again (which is no easy task)...then Greg handed me a smaller envelope with Dept. of homeland return address & sure enough WE GOT IT!!!!! I loved the mail man for bringing it, I loved the guy at immigration who helped get that to me & i loved Greg for not believing me when i said that we didn't get the doc yet. AND also in the mail today the document came that we needed from our homestudy agency - JACKPOT! When it comes together, it really comes together - seems you have to get to the pit before all the good stuff comes flooding down. So now i have the 3 documents in my hand that we need to get a court date. Next step is send these to Sacramento to get the state seal & then they're off to the adoption agency (back east) & then we should be given a court date! Now i feel like we're back in the game where we should have been in the beginning. I was so scared to open the documents in fear i'd accidentally rip a corner of the page or spit on it or some horrible tragedy would fall upon the paperwork...this is the kind of insane fear that happens when these documents are the way to your child...by the way..a child that you want to get out of the orphanage asap!! Today is a good day!

Am i on candid camera?

2008-01-30T15:32:00.000-08:00

The good news is thomas turned 3 years old on Sunday & we had a wonderful celebration. Greg used his birthday money to buy thomas a dream car - it's electric & halarious to watch him ride around!
Yesterday i had to laugh after i started to cry..it was one of those days where you're just thinking "what in the world is going on!" I felt like i was back in my old social worker days talking on the phone, putting out fires, calling here, calling there.. for over a week i've been trying to get my brother's high blood pressure medication dosage corrected. I thought it was all taken care of until i called the home where my brother lives & was told that that hadn't received the new dosage...i call the pharmacy, they say they didn't receive it from the doctor's office, called the the doctor's office, they said they faxed it...i was irate as my brother still wasn't on the right dosage of medication & it's been a week! I finally got it taken care of but it made me so upset. Then i was on the phone with Direct TV trying to take care of an issue for an former client of mine that is now my friend..she lives in a nursing home..i was on the phone on & off for several hours & each time i was getting somewhere i got disconnected!!! I had to laugh, it was such a joke! Then i found out that my neice is having a NO CHildren wedding in Santa Barbara which sounds beautiful but i will have 2 little ones by then & i cannot leave them here..so in a dilemna over what to do there. And the worst probably was a document that i had been waiting for came in the mail - it had a mistake on it so it was unusable & so it will take a few more days to obtain a corrected copy. All of this while thomas wouldn't go down for a nap & while he was into everything...i was running around with one hand on the phone & the other on a geotrax remote control. I still haven't receive the document from immigration i'm waiting for & the adoption fees just went up.

RELIEF!

2008-01-24T13:55:00.000-08:00

I had my face to face appointment with the homeland security (immigration) people this morning..my sister & I waited over an hour & then it took 1 minute to ask for what i needed & to get the wonderful reply of "we'll mail it out next week." I couldn't have been happier as we need a document from them in order to get a court date in Siberia. In our whole process we haven't had anything like this where we couldn't obtain a document. I was so nervous..i had visions of security having to come over because i would be so upset trying to get this document. The nice thing about waiting over an hour is that your nerves are pretty much shot by that time so i no longer felt nervous but was just thrilled to see a live person ask me what i needed.

I was telling my sister how much i realize that we humans rely on other humans to get things done & sometimes things go real smooth when our helpers are efficient & pleasant & how others can let things slip thru the cracks. When you're in a situation where you're depending on another person for something as crucial as an addition to your family, you feel vulnerable & so grateful when you feel like they really care. This is one of the reasons i make an attempt to help those in need - because it feels aweful to be in need & not get the help you need. Of course, God is our greatest help but i believe He expects us to take care of one another.

Paper chasin

2008-01-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of my niece Gennean & thomas giving a thumbs up because we made it back from trip #1 safely! She came to pick us up a SJ airport & she along with the SJ airport were wonderful to see! Even though we've been back since early November, i love to look at these pictures to remember it was real!

in adoption, you'll often hear of the paper chase.. we have been done with our documents for awhile now until i got word that the court needs 2 documents + another document that i thought would be here by now. So that threw me in a tail spin..actually i collected my thoughts & got down to business...making calls, reviewing documents, etc. I worked in social services for 6 years before i quit to be with my little thomas & thru this adoption, i've kept those skills so sharp! I've learned new skills in new areas that i'm thankful for too. Anyway...i've been trying to contact the immigration office for a document that i need - we cannot get a court date until i obtain that document. Well, no one at the local immigration office responded to any of my contact...i sent 2 e-mails, 1 urgent & i even faxed a request thinking it would fall into someones hands..so finally i figured out how to make an appointment & i go tomorrow. Greg reminded me that everything for us has going extremely smooth so this can be our 1 snafoo..is that a word? So this paper chasin idea is when you literally feel like you are chasing paper everywhere...that's what i've been doing this week. Now, the good news is that a couple who had their 1st trip the same time as our received a court date yesterday. If we had all of our documents together i'd imagine we'd be next but this is going to hold us up i think. I wouldn't mind so much if they were documents that were new that i needed but 2 of them are documents i already sent in that they're asking for another original which means, another notary & then going to Sacramento to get it apostilled (state seal). Hmmmmm...all good things worth the wait & work.

Good things!

2008-01-17T15:16:00.001-08:00

Well the good news is that several other families from our agency have gotten court dates! They had traveled before us to meet their child. We are so happy for them because this means they can go & pick up their child pending a successful court date of course. It also means that we'll get our turn next..& the way it's moving, it's looking like March. Greg thinks February but i don't think so. Another blessing is that there were 2 documents that the Russian court said that we don't need & that's wonderful news because our agency was having trouble getting them! - so big relief on the paperwork front. Greg & I will begin to do our lab work here & then we bring the lab results to Moscow - we'll be doing a series of medicals there. This is a new way of doing the health portion implemented a few months ago.

I guess now is a good time to get thomas's room ready for his little brother. I've put it off not wanting to have to stare at an empty crib for too long but i feel like "A" is in reach now & it's just a matter of weeks now. Thomas will have to share his little room...what an adventure this will be in itself. I only know how to have 1 son, now i will have 2 little ones & that means double the fun - double the trains, cars, trucks & playdough stuck to my floor. By the way, i did make a call to get my carpets clean as i wrote in an earlier post that dirty carpets upset me so much. My focus now will be to prepare the house & keep learning my Russian.

My focus has also been to try & plan another fundraiser but i've come up with no great ideas yet. Thanks to my friends who came along side of me in my distress & put the word out that we're still needing contributions..when i go to the mailbox & receive loving letters & checks from people i don't even know (& those i do know), it gives me such hope that we're not alone. I know that one day soon i'll be cooking dinner & setting a place for "A" & this will all makes sense!

eeeesh!

2008-01-17T09:44:00.001-08:00

i wrote a whole bunch & then some how erased it or something... :(

The 1st time i saw him

2008-01-05T14:41:00.001-08:00

I was thinking back to our 1st trip to meet "A" & love looking at the pics to remind me it was all real. I still cannot post "A"'s picure until the adoption is final. This is Greg loving up little "A" - I cannot wait until i can show everyone his sweet little face. I saw his little face for the 1st time in the referral picture the adoption agency sent us via e-mail...he looked so much like our Thomas - that made me want to cry. When we got to the orpahange (just took 1 hour from our hotel) we got out of the van & it was freezing..we walked into the orphanage & i was just taking steps..not absorbing the hugeness of the experience but just kept moving. We got in & had to put blue booties over our feet & then we continued to walk to this big playroom...thomas had fallen asleep so we carried him in. I walked in & saw across a big empty room a caregiver & a little tiny boy standing near her leg. He wasn't moving but just standing their as if he were waiting..i'm sure he's too small to really understand that he was meeting his parents for the 1st time but we understood that we were meeting our son & there was never a doubt since we had first been told that we were matched with a little boy from Siberia, that he wasn't ours. That moment was so full of emotion, so beautiful... & then when we tried to set thomas down he woke up!! So we had our moment & then it became brother meeting brother & that was amazing...especially when we got to feed "A" his snack & we let thomas feed him..

..so at that 1st meeting "A" who had been a mystery for so long became a reality..we finally knew who we had been working so hard for. Through all the garage sales, the dance, the letter we sent out & the spa party, we didn't know who we were doing it all for, we were going on pure faith. How wonderful to know now who God prepared for us. It's so humbling to be given a child to adopt, to be trusted with a little life..to be allowed to take him home with us, to be able to give him a new life. Now we're just waiting for that court date which again, we'll have to live on faith that we'll go back soon to bring him home.

Needing to remember

2007-12-31T10:27:00.001-08:00

Picture of me & thomas tracing "A"'s sweet little foot so we could bring him back shoes that fit on our next trip. Pic of me, thomas & Greg after i threw up 25 times, not looking my prettiest. Other pic of thomas in orphanage playing.

Well, i'm in bed with walking pneumonia...i don't feel terrible..just was wheezing last week. So i'm resting & reading other people's adoption blogs from America World (our great adoption agency). We are all able to talk with one another also on a yahoo group & that's wonderful because we can give tips to eachother & keep track of who's meeting their child & when. It's so mind boggling to me that each of these families is changing the life of a child & there's so much excitement & anticipation along the way. Now that we're coming nearing to the end of our journey, it's fun to help people who are at the beginning. So i was thinking of "A" & our first meeting & how in shock i was that i was there...i was just in a survival/travel mode so i look forward to when he's actually home & i can feel free to love him. My mom said that she loved "A" the other day & it made me so happy. My mom had that concern that many people do..how will i be able to love him like he's our own type of thing..so to see her journey to this place where she's so excited for us to bring him home, is a blessing to me. I want to post a few more pics of our trip to Siberia so i can remember that this is all real.

A mom & dad for Christmas

2007-12-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to everyone & to my Jewish friends, hope it was a Happy Hanukkah. What a wonderful Christmas we all had! Today we're relaxing & organizing presents we received & we've watched thomas delight in playing with his new toys.

I had so many thoughts of "A" during this Christmas season.. thoughts of how he will soon have a family - a big Italian family at that!. And over & over it occurred to me that he has never known having a mom & dad..of course when you think of an orphan, that means, no parents but it really really struck me what that means. I think that Christmas brings up so many joyful memories for me growing up that it made me think of all the memories "A" does not have but soon will. My whole childhood was shaped by the love of my parents..my security, safety - all my needs met by these 2 people....i still cannot get over that some children, lots of children are born into this world & do not have parents! That is where i feel that adoption is such a miracle...here is a child, given up shortly after birth, grows up in an institution for almost 2 years & then by adoption, we get to be his mom & dad & boom, his life changes forever - what an awesome concept! I wish this for every child out there...

I look so forward to giving "A" what i had in life.... i want to let "A" run around all over grass & dirt & mud - just like my mom let me...i want him to smell the arouma of birthday cakes cooking in the kitchen while he's in his cozy bedroom..i want him to experience the warmth & magic of the sun shining thru his bedroom window...watching the seasons thru the windows, the trees changing, the wind, the rain...all the wonders of nature. I want him to know that magic of opening up gifts & the beauty of Christmas trees...I want him to know what it's like to have a brother & hopefully a sister some day :) I want him to grow in his relationship with our Creator...Creator of all that is good & wonderful & to celebrate that joy! I cannot wait for him to eat meals with us, to have a place at the table, to have jobs to do around the house - to have an allowance. There are such great joys awaiting him & i must say that because i was loved, i am able to love him.
I will be there for him like my mom was there for me all day long...we will cook together, & we'll learn new things together & i especially look forward to showing him the outdoor joys of nature.

humaness getting in the way

2007-12-14T14:22:00.001-08:00

Well there's so much to be grateful for & then there are the moments that you feel like you want more, need more, etc. There are times when i feel a complete joy & closeness to God & every other living thing & then there are the moments like now where i'm feeling a disconnect - there's no pleasure in that...& silly as it sounds, it all starts with my carpets - the stains are starting to come up again & they need to be cleaned but we have to wait til after Christmas. Now this isn't a joke, when my floors are dirty, it depresses me...then i start wanting my own house even though i love this one we rent..then the "I wants" kick in & in the bible it's referred as "coveting" - once you get on this road, it's real hard to get off of it because it just gets worse as you move away from gratitude & get towards greed. Ok, anyhoo..so that said, I am fighting a cold, thinking about Siberia...thinking about what below 0 degrees means & the cost of the hotel each night. Now, i'm going to give myself 2 minutes on the pitty pot & then i've got to get off of it. Sometimes you just have to allow yourself to moan & groan & then it's over. So here i go...i don't want to freeze, i don't want to leave my home for 3 weeks (trip #2)...i don't want to be on 3 airplanes for a total of 20 hours..i don't want to have to play "trains" every second to keep thomas occupied...i just want to win the lottery & i want "A" to be home now. OK, DONE.
I'm grateful that i'm alive & well...i'm blessed to have such good friends & family & i cannot wait until i have 2 sons instead of just 1 little crazy thomas. I'm grateful that we didn't have to wait long for "A" like other families who got big delays in the process. I'm grateful for the resources we do have & grateful for Greg who doesn't mind working hard. Ok...so that's it for today..sometimes my humaness gets in the way of my spiritualness & it's annoying!

REMINDER - tax deductible gifts timeline

2007-12-04T13:08:00.001-08:00

A reminder: In order for donations to be tax deductible for the 2007 tax year, your check must be dated & postmarked before or on 12/31/07.

Please make checks out to "America World Adoption Agency" & in the memo line write "Jeanette & Greg Dini." Please mail to The Dini's at PO Box 112478, Campbell, CA 95011 & we'll make sure it gets to our agency.

Donations are so appreciated & go directly towards helping bring "A" home - thank you from our whole family!

If i were pregnant

2007-12-03T15:36:00.000-08:00

i've been resting lately & it's felt wonderful...really resting... i've thought about next year this time having "A" with us to decorate our Christmas tree & how we'll be a family of 4 instead of 3, etc. I've also thought that it's strange not being physically pregnant but expecting another child.. When you're pregnant there are physical signs you're pregnant, when you're adopting, you just have a big stack of paperwork to show!! :) I loved being pregnant with Thomas & I love this experience i'm having bringing "A" into our world. Sometimes just for the fun of it i say i'm eating for two, or i should rest because i'm getting farther along :) It's silly but it helps me pay the attention i would pay to myself if i had "A" growing inside of me, - instead, the love i have for him grows in my heart & it gets bigger & bigger each day as i prepare myself for our next trip to bring him home. There are great blessings in having a child both ways... there is the same joy & same longing to have him here as i had with Thomas. This time though we know it's a boy & he just happens to already be 18 months old! I've experienced our adoption to be fun too - there was the anticipation of who would be our son, how old, what would he look like, what would his story be, etc... there was the pure shock & joy when we received "the call" that "A" had been matched with our family...i will never forget that moment like i'll never forget when the pregancy test had those 2 little lines!
You worry a bit too just like when you're pregnant that you want the baby to be healthy & happy, etc... but just like when we were expecting thomas, we were going to accept him however he came..that's how i feel with "A" - whatever issues/health or otherwise, we're going to deal with them the best we can. I think the greatest joy for me has been knowing that we are taking in a child who already exists, (we didn't make him) & realizing the power we have to change one little life..to bless this little child with love & family & to nurture his relationship with God, etc. It's very exciting & it makes me want others to experience it. My hope is that reading this journey inspires someone else to go on this adoption adventure or to follow another calling.

Grateful to all - preparing for trip #2

2007-11-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

hi everyone.. i was just thinking about our next step in this adoption journey. Seems like i was never going to finish round #2 of the paperwork but i've gotten thru the toughest part. We have about 5 documents left that need to be notarized & apostilled (state certified)... So we hope that after the judge reviews all of our documents, he will give us a court date. On the average, we're looking at 3-4 months from the time of our 1st visit (which was end of Oct., beginning of Nov)...so February or March? Well, March is the coldest month of all so wouldn't that be something to go then! It'll be so interesting that we'll take off to Russia a family of 3 & return a family of 4! Hmmm...it's exciting...

On this eve of Thanksgiving.. Greg & I want to thank all of our friends & family again, for the continued support & encouragement given to us during this whole process. We have not felt alone on this journey & are grateful for the continued prayers, donations, cheerleading, practical help like babysitting Thomas, copying documents, etc. We feel so humbled by the interest in our growing family.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Up before dawn

2007-11-16T05:51:00.000-08:00

Wow...what a whirlwind..i thought after a successful first trip to Siberia & back that i'd get some rest time. Just a day after coming back I was knee deep in paperwork updates & new paperwork requirements for the Russian court. After our paperwork is sent in we hope to hear back regarding a court date (trip #2). At court, a judge will review our case & papework, etc. & hopefully grant us custody of "A." We'll be coming home a family of 4!

It was no small task to complete adoption documents while keeping Thomas safe & occupied. Usually i limit DVD time & usually he can have 1 little piece of candy every few days..the last 2 weeks, he's gotten his fill of Bob the Builder DVD's & he got into the Halloween candy which kept him busy for over an hour one day.
Of course i'd trade him for nothing but trying to work on the computer, talk on the phone to confirm/obtain document information, was a bit of a small nightmare. It's not meant that mom is home but mom has her back to you cause she's on the computer all day!

I have missed my normal daily household operations & i've missed spending fun time with thomas & Greg. But that's all going to change soon because we are at the finish line! Greg will take all of our notarized documents to Sacramento to get the state seal & then they're off to our adoption agency & then off to Russia.

I woke up at 5am this morning so i could have some time to myself. There's nothing like right before the sun comes up...it starts me off very grounded. I have a picture of "A" up on my desk so in the midst of my "to do" list i can remember that this is for him. I've never before had to rely on the "baby steps" approach to life as much as i've had to with trip #1 to Russia & this paperwork. It's helpful to trust that if you just keep moving forward, doing as much as you can even in little increments that eventually it gets done! Now, today, it's back to my fun life with Thomas (Greg's been working non-stop it seems)...we'll go visit grandma & have lunch with her, we'll hang out at the park later on, we'll cook up something good to eat & we'll look forward to Greg coming home from work. There's nothing like the joyful sounds of thomas when he hears Greg coming home.

Moving forward - pic of us in Siberia after signing docs to continue with adoption

2007-11-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

We are home & settling in! We are sorry we did not post more in Russia... i was just trying to survive the travel & time changes & i had severe motion sickness on the 10 hour flight to Moscow...it was nightmarish but it passed. Note to self: take Dramamine before the flight!! Greg & I were joking that it's morning sickness for our new guy! Well, all went smooth & Greg & I were a great team & we met "A" (cannot post his name) & got lots of time getting to know him. PS - Thomas watched DVD's on the plane & it really helped pass the time for him!

It was wonderful to go as a family to meet our new family member. We signed paperwork stating that we are continuing on with the adoption (we never had a doubt really) so the court date will make it official - the judge in Siberia will have to give us custody. I have another batch of paperwork to complete - yesterday was not good as we had just been home a day & i found out all that had to be done before trip #2. Trip #2 will happen in 3-4 months. There is a 10 day wait period on trip #2, so it's going to be a long haul (2-3 weeks) but at the end we get to come home with "A." "A" is an energetic, curious little 18 month old that looks like he'll fit right in with us. Greg was so wonderful with him...making him smile & being playful with him. When i was there i just couldn't believe it ..everything was so surreal. Thomas did so well at the orphanage...he played & even got to feed "A" some of his snack. Because of confidentiality we cannot post pictures of him now. Here's some pics of us in Russia - it was a great learning experience to go to another country...Moscow was a big city where people were going in all different directions...there didn't seem to be that yielding to pedestrian rule that we Americans live by :)

Siberia (Krasnoyarsk) was kind of what i expected....lots & lots of apartment high rises left over from another age. The weather is harsh & the people are tough. It was cold but what we were more uncomfortable with was how hot it was inside! We kept taking our jackets off each time we walked inside & we noticed that the Russian were very comfortable in their winter gear...next time...easier jackets to remove & less carry-ons. So now back to the paperwork & preparation for trip #2. Thanks again for all the positive thoughts & prayers - we really felt God's hand guiding & protecting us.

HOME AT LAST!

2007-11-05T14:17:00.001-08:00

We made it home last night around 11:30pm - so good to see the SAN JOSE AIRPORT! Thanks to all who have been thinking about us & praying for us. We'll write later about the details and our new little guy...
Trip one was a success!

Hello from Moscow

2007-11-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

hi family & friends.. just a quick note to say we made it from SJ to Atlanta, Atlanta to Moscow (10 hours!) & Moscow to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia (4 1/2 hours). Things went fairly smooth & Thomas did well - the DVD player we borrowed from friend Jack saved us. We met our little boy (can't use name) & got to spend 2 days with him at the orphanage in the play room. Thanks for everyone's prayers...it was not even an issue having thomas with us at the orphanage.. thomas & our new little guy played together & we got to feed him his snack - even thomas gave him some spoonfulls. The whole experience has been surreal & a bit of just trying to survive as i was terribly motion sick & jet lagged for the first 2 days & not expecting that at all. We've been taking 1 step at a time... we are heading home tomorrow...just arrived back in Moscow today. Throughout the trip i just kept not believing we were really here...when we finally got to meet our new little guy, he was just standing there with a caregiver & we walked in & there he was, so tiny & just waiting... we got to see some of the other children the 2nd day cause we were in the play room which is their music room too...seeing all the faces made it so real & it was a mix of feeling...we were at least able to take 1 child from that place. We took tons of pictures...the sights here are like out of old movies...lots & lots of tall tall apartment buildings in Krasnoyarsk...cannot explain in words...ok, bye for now...again, thanks for all your prayers & well wishes for a smooth trip = it's been a success.

All packed & ready to go

2007-10-28T21:21:00.001-07:00

It's the eve of our big trip & we finally finished all the last minute packing. It was tough deciding what to bring & what not to - especially packing for Thomas! We're feeling much better now that we are ready to go...we're excited! We're grateful for all the encouragement & nice send off's! Talk to you soon.

Leaving Monday October 29th

2007-10-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite time of the year & what better news than knowing we're going to meet this little boy somewhere across the world...i have a feeling that after this trip i might know a bit more about how other people live..i've never been outside of USA before. So it's 1:50am...couldn't sleep of course..so i'm working on stuff & cleaning & doing the little things that are hard to get done with thomas around. I'll have 2 boys in the coming months if all goes well & it's a strange thought that it will be instant. This child that we've thought of, dreamed of & have done so much to achieve our goals will (God willing) finally show up here & then it will be a new kind of life - i'll be having my second baby too like so many of my wonderful friends, but he'll already be 2 years old probably!

We rent this house in Saratoga built in 1928...it's got that old country feel to it & it makes me want to have lots of babies for some reason. There's a good spirit here & all around..it's near the mountains, trees all around...a big field across the street to run around in & play. It smells wonderful & i enjoy spending each season here. It's a wonderful place for Thomas & I to be during the day when Greg's at work. Lots to do, lots of neighbors to play with - especially the Hess family next door. There's a little path connecing our front yards that THomas & his buddy Ryan use to get to each other's houses. I look forward to having another little boy join us so he can enjoy the things that we do. I've come to see how adults have the power to change a childs life by giving him a meaningful childhood full of love & exploration & guidance. Looking forward to the new little guy.

VISA'S & FLIGHTS

2007-10-23T16:22:00.000-07:00

I've had heart palpultations for the last 2 days..i think it all started when i stopped breathing when i found out the travel dates I've been working on getting visa applications completed & fed ex'd & booking flights all while taking care of thomas (who has been real difficult of all weeks!) I have my admin, my sister, Maryann at the help desk doing my managerial work for me :) I couldn't have done it without her...even my previous 6 years in social work couldn't prepare me for the confusion & blankness i felt when all the information came from the adoption agency...good info. on what to expect, who to contact, tips on travel, etc., but overwhelming at the same time. I just found my voice to be too weak to talk on the phone so my sis was my voice for a few phone calls. The good news is that she was able to get the visa apps. out today & she just confirmed that our flights are booked & she's writing up the itinerary. I feel a thousand times better which is good cause i'll need a strong heart for the next 14,000 things to do. Greg has been in training again ths week. I keep looking at the pic of our new little guy @ try to focus on meeting him. We'll get 2 hours 2 days in a row with him. Due to confidentiality i cannot post pics.

We're off to MOSCOW- travel dates!!!

2007-10-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

Travel Dates just in - 10/30-11/3.....gotta run & do the visa applications!!!!!

ITS AN 18 MONTH OLD BOY - Got the call!!!!

2007-10-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, (Greg was & still is in Sacramento for a police training) I was shopping at the dollar store. I saw the adoption agency phone number come up on my cell phone & thought nothing of it & for a second almost didn't answer. Our family coordinator started to talk & i thought she might have news of more delays, etc. Next thing I knew she said she had a referral for us of an 18 month old boy. I couldn't comprehend this as we had not been registered yet at any orphanages. She said that as of today we were registered & this was our referral. She said that he looked like Thomas which almost made me cry - she said that i'd come home to find an e-mail of 7 pictures of him & some medical information!!!! So i called Greg & he was on a break & i told him & he was shocked! I rushed home, got the e-mail pictures & couldn't believe how much he resembled our little thomas. We have decided to accept the referral which means we'll go to meet him within the next few weeks! Ok, so i thought we had about 6 more months to a year before all this would take place. What a difference a phone call can make!!

Greg got us on the Radio

2007-10-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Garage sale this last weekend at my parents house was ok. It was lots of work. We didn't have the big ticket items that we usually have like couches, furniture, etc. Set up took about 2 hours & my brother Lou helped unpack many many boxes...we were out there all day & had lots of shoppers & met some good folks. Thomas was running around like a crazy little boy with too much energy - i was afraid he was going to run over a shopper ..so Aunty Mary took care of him at her house around the block. Here's a picture of thomas sprinting up & down my parents driveway!

Greg was calling a radio show to try & win something & the DJ asked him how he was spending his Saturday & he told her that we were having a garage sale fundraiser for the the adoption of a orphan, etc.. a few minutes later she played their conversation on the air! We turned the volume up so everyone could here...the DJ asked where the sale was going on & she wished us well... it was great.

Small News

2007-10-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

I e-mailed our family coordinator at the adoption agency yesterday because i wanted to see if we'd still be registered in our region in an orphanage in Oct/Nov. It appears that there are a few families ahead of us now that weren't ahead of us before. (Due to other regions not having children in their requested age range). These families have had an agonizing wait period as they got caught up in the delay of reaccrediation so I'm happy for them that they're getting closer. So don't know when we'll be registered...the thing about being registered is that 2-3 months after registration is when we can anticipate a referral of a little boy between 10-18 months old. I figure this gives us longer to save up money. And this gives us some more time to learn some Russian & read some books on Russian culture & adoption related issues, etc.

This is a picture of me with my Russian apron on & thomas helping me bake.
However, Greg has suggested to me that if what I'm reading makes me more worried than i should stop. Do i really need to read that you shouldn't bring any children under 4? (due to complicated travel). Thomas is coming with us so that's that....do i really need to know that there's a lot of pushing & no lines in the Russian airport experience? & do i really want to know the temperature of Siberia in the winter...i keep imagining myself freezing to death... So we're on the eve of the city wide Campbell garage sale tomorrow. This marks 1 year of garage sales...we made $900 last year at this event. It's raining right now but I'm sure the clouds will part & the sun will come out if only over my parents house so we can sell some stuff!

2007-10-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Ladies Spa Event

2007-10-01T09:17:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, September 29th a few ladies came together for a wonderful spa treatment morning at my friend Kathy's house. I met Kathy at church and she sells BeautyControl Spa Products for the home. She offered to do a spa morning for us & donate half of her profit to the Dini Adoption Fund. So I took her up on her offer & it turned out to be a relaxing time of socializing & trying out spa products (Hands, feet & facial)...We ate some scones & croissants & I made Mimosa's(champagne & OJ) for the 1st time. I was a bit anxious at first as I seem to always be before any event. After being irritated at myself for my uptight ways, I decided that it's just because I want everyone to enjoy themselves. I'm aware that time is valuable especially Saturday morning!

One of my favorite people is Tony Robbins (the motivational speaker)...I've learned so much from him over the years. He taught me thru his books that if you want to grow that you have to intentionally do things that are new, different, out of your comfort zone, etc. This adoption is a huge huge challenge in all aspects for me & during the process I can already see where i've become stronger, more confident & better for it. It kind of makes me wonder what else i'm capable of doing but i stop there cause lets not get crazy!

Happy 4 Years!

2007-09-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

On September 27, Greg & I will be married 4 years...congrats to us :) It's been a peaceful & productive four years. We met in January, married in September & had Thomas in January 2005. Then we got the calling to adopt in 2006 & here we are celebrating our 4th anniversary & expecting to meet that little boy soon. I am grateful to Greg for the marriage bliss we experience. He's just an easy going,
non-moody, peace making kind of guy...this is why the public is blessed to have him as a peace officer. I on the other hand would be giving tickets out & clubbing people on my bad days - just kidding of course.

Adoption speaking, we are hoping to be officially registered in our region in OCT/NOV. We are in the process of updating lots of our documents that will expire in the next few months. Just when you think you don't have to look at the paperwork anymore, it turns out you do. This time around though it's easier because we know what we're doing. As we update documents & continue to ride out this "wait" period, I've been reading books that are helping me to be more couragous ...Pastor John Ortberg's "If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat," & Father Flanagan's Boys Town. I love to read books about ordinary people who are called by God to do extraordinary things. There's a common journey a person takes when having a heavenly task at hand..they start out swimming in the unknown & end up marveling at what God's done thru them...they get past the fear, the unanswered questions, the financial concerns, etc. So i'm learning from those who've been there done that & it's given me a real sense that we'll be just fine.

Did you dance with the Dini's?

2007-09-01T12:46:00.001-07:00

Are you one of the people dancing the electric slide?

I think I see my neighbors & neice Gennean in there & Greg's mom! This was our Spring Dance Adoption Fundraiser evening on March 24, 2007 from 6:30-10pm. Due to the serious generousity of family, friends & friends of friends, this event was a success! I had a serious headache for several weeks after from all the labor that was involved but it was well worth it. Who knew that putting on parties took so much effort and work; thank God for other people who are more talented than me. I've learned that it's good that we are all differently talented...if we weren't we would have had 10 Dj's, 10 decorators, 16 cooks, etc...instead...we had my co-chair & dad, Sal Scrivano who helped with creating the invitations & raffle tickets to selling raffle tickets at the dance (it was the one time i could boss my dad around).& my mom who stuffed envelopes & stuck stamps & then there was my sister Maryann who organized & decorated our raffle prizes by putting them in attractive bags with themes. Then there was the infamous Sue Dini (greg's mom) who did a little of everything for me including cutting up a watermelon in little balls for the snack table shortly before the dance started!! There was Greg's dad who arranged for us to use the high school & who filled in for Greg DJing. And of course there was Greg Dini himself leading us in a night of dancing & fun. We were especially grateful for the people who showed up & danced - without dancers it would have been embarrassing! A special thank you to those who donated money to the planning of the dance so we could decorate nicely & have good food. Thanks to the people who helped set up & stayed late to tear down. A special thanks to my brother Lou for lugging a huge popcorn machine to the dance. We're grateful too for the non-dancers who just came & chatted with others.

Many memories were made that night -my favorite was seeing my Thomas & his little friend Ryan on the dance floor chasing the lights on the floor from the dance ball above. This event was for a child in need & what better way to remind ourselves of the joy that children should have by seeing little ones laughing & running.

Will you take .50 cents for that?

2007-08-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

When you have a huge goal you're striving for, i've learned that you have to take it in little steps... you have to believe that you'll get to the finish line eventually & that it might even get fun at some point. So as it turns out international adoption is expensive & what do you do when you don't have the money but you have the will to succeed? It's this little thing called
the Garage Sale...

THE GARAGE SALE...yes, this is where you take stuff out of your house or better yet, have people donate their stuff & you throw it on the lawn of someone's house & put little price tags on it & people drive by & pay you quarters & dollars for stuff. I was new to the garage sale world unlike Greg who grew up exposed to them. Our first success was at a city wide garage sale in Campbell - we had it at my parents house & we brought in over $900 - our friends & family were amazing in helping us & donating items for us to sell. It seems that we must have enjoyed that sale so much that we've done it 3 more times with another one on the way. Our official garage sale site is at Greg's parents house (lots of garage sale hungry people). I like to let Greg & his mom do all the work & i show up with Thomas a bit later... i find that when i get nervous when big crowds come my brain goes blank & i'm unable to count change back to people. My masters degree didn't prepare me for the simple stuff :) Really though, this is where Greg shines - he goes & picks up all the donations with his dad's truck & lifts & moves stuff & then wakes up at 6am the day of the big sale to get to his mom's. He & his mom joke with people & deal with the "will you take a quarter for this" situations. I prefer to watch from a distance with Greg's dad in the safety of the garage.

Of all the fundraising we've done, the garage sale fundraising is the easiest because most people enjoy getting rid of their stuff for a good cause so it's a win win for all involved. The clean up is exhausting but the cash in Greg's hand is worth it...we know that we worked hard for every quarter & there is something about laboring for quarters & dollars that makes the quarters & dollars much more valuable. We know that we're doing this for some little boy out there who has no clue how many people love him already & who has no clue that his life is about to change from Siberia to sunny California.

why adopt when you can make em

2007-08-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is a question that's been asked many times since we have no infertility problems. As we hear other people's adoption stories, we've come to learn that we are not alone here...many people choose adoption not just as an alternative but as a way to build a family.

Greg & I were always open to adoption but it was after the birth of our son Thomas that it really struck us what it would mean for a child not to have the love & security of parents. The love we had for Thomas really sparked the desire to help another child & then God just grew the desire bigger & bigger until we couldn't rest until we did something about it. Our journey started locally with Greg & I taking foster/adopt classes through the county. At the end of the class we did not feel that this is where we were suppose to be. We spent a lot of time in silence trying to hear God's voice. Slowly, the thoughts of orphanages & children who did not have enough care takers, enough nutritious food & enough affection/touch began to haunt us & then Russia started popping up over & over again & then there was that tv special about a family's adoption story in Russia which made me cry hard. Greg & I researched Russian adoption, prayed for guidance & after pushing several fears & concerns aside, we said "Yes!" We chose America World Adoption, a Christian agency.

The hardest part was finding our way to the place where we said "Yes" - yes, we'll go to Russia. From then on it's been one step in front of the other & on my part, a constant ignoring of every fearful & anxious thought.

Adoption Moving Forward

2007-08-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! We just got word from our adoption agency that our paperwork "dossier" is in the city of Krasnoyarsk waiting to be officially registered there. This means that our child is at an orphanage in this city. After being officially registered there we are told that a referral of a child can happen between 2-3 months. We are pleasantly suprised at how quick this happened & now we at least know where our child is waiting.

Here is a link to some information about that area of Russia.

KRASNOYARSK

Us

2007-08-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

This is our story beginning with our Russian Adoption and beyond....

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name,
welcomes Me"
Matthew 18:5