Needing to remember

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.