Adoption: Part 2

This has been a difficult week for us. For a while now, we have been contemplating whether or not we should keep our application in Uzbekistan. Our agent wasn't giving a clear answer on when to expect referrals, and the information we were getting about UZ seemed to be getting less and less clear.

In an effort to get more info, Eric contacted an agent at another agency this week. She told him that the minimum wait for a child in UZ is now 1.5 years, and that each agency will only be getting 5 referrals per year (an UZ quota we didn't know about). She suggested Kaz or Russia would be easier for us and that if we did them concurrently, UZ would likely be our second and not first child adopted.

Considering that we're technically not even "in line" yet, and that this is much different info we received than when we began this process, we became very discouraged. All of this, in addition to dropping 2 trips on us—I began to wonder if we weren't being tugged in another direction.

After a long week of taaaaaaalking, researching, meeting with our agent... and of course, PRAYING—we have decided to withdraw our application from UZ, and apply to another country.

We started over on our dossier last night.

Adoption: Part 2

I hope this doesn't discourage those of you waiting on referrals in UZ. I know there are many beautiful children waiting there for you, and we'll be praying for your families. Besides, we figure with our luck—as soon as we jump out of this line, it will start chugging along. So really, better for all of you, right? :)

Hang in there, and we'll keep you posted on this new chapter in our journey.

thrift shop project #5324

The adoption blogging world is quiet lately, so I had to break the silence and make a posting for my most recent thrift store find:

A wooden high chair, complete with removable tray! It needs some sanding and refinishing, but that's just another project to add to the distraction list. Maybe I'll monogram Borat's initials on it too...just maybe. :)

Oh, and we found out our dossier is now being translated. One (teensy tiny baby) step closer...

gone, gone, gone!

I finally got an answer about the dossier yesterday! It's officially on it's way to Uzbek. My agent will not give us a tracking number, because "in the past the families did use the trucking information in order to call the facilitator in the country directly asking him/her questions"

Hmmmmm, tricky. It's almost like he thinks we're crazy?!?

Anyway, I've written a poem to celebrate the dossier's journey:

Where have you been,
my sweet dossier?
you've been on my mind
every night and day

When will you arrive?
only Brown knows.
I feel so deprived—
your journey so slow.

Arrive there unscathed,
and translate in a fury,
So I can be ready again,
to wait....and then hurry.

my new pet

In a mad search for distraction, I made a new friend. Here he is:



Tell me, how could this not make you feel at peace?! (or like you're in a drug-induced coma)

He has qualities I look for in all my friends: sick and weird, yet so innocent and happy. And he sits/gallops beside me at my desk all day too. What a companion!

He came with a name, but it's a little racy... so I thought I'd give him a new nickname. Any suggestions?

don'tssier

Rumor has it, after January 15, referrals should start making their way over from Uzbek! Hopefully there is lots of good news this week! (Not for us, we're not even in line yet... but for our other bloggin' friends.)

In the mean time, we're still wondering where the heck our dossier is...We sent it to our agency the first week of November. Then it was sent to DC for authentication, then back to our agency... and as of last week, they were still sitting on it for reasons unclear to us. Grr.

If I hear our agent answer "We will wait and see..." one more time, I may take up the punching bag in my free time. One that looks just like our agent would be especially nice!


This would be perfect! I love that it says:
Warning: use of nails and /or high heels may result in a puncture.

Does this mean I need to take off my stilettos first? dang.

my Russian roots...

OK, so I have no Russian roots. Not even any matryoshka dolls. But soon, we will have a Russian-ish branch in our family tree, and Eric and I have been trying to acquaint ourselves with the traditions and language of the Uzbek people. Starting with language.

When I was growing up, my brother called our mom "mamooshka". He was sure, and convinced me likewise, that it was the Russian word for mother. I went along with it. It was fun to say, and became a sort of nickname for her, and somewhere along the lines this made-up thing became truth in my mind.

Excited that I may already know some Russian, I googled Mamooshka. Nothing came up. I even tried more authentic-looking spellings (Mamuschka, Mamueschka, Mamyooshka, I know nothing about Russian, etc). Nothing. I went to a translation site, and typed in mother. All that came up is "Mat". Lame! They couldn't think of a more exotic word than Mat? really?

I'm sticking with Mamuschka. It's not like I haven't invented my own successful words before. (I could go into detail about this, but will spare you the time.)

Think about it... I'll never have that problem of being in a room full of moms and kids, and someone yelling "MOOOOOOOOM!!" and every mom turning around. I will not turn around because I am Mamuschka, not Mom. And with a name like Borat, my baby will not have the problem of me yelling "PAAAAAAAAAAAT!", and every boy/girl turning around. Yep, this is gonna work out juuust fine.

co-inky-dink quilt

Tasha made an interesting observation about the quilt I made - it's in the same colors as the Uzbekistan flag! Did I mention I started this quilt when I was in college? Funny how things work out...

fart deco

Ahh, the nursery project has begun. But where to start? There is an incredible amount of ugly baby stuff out there. In fact, I'd say most of it is. Why pastels, I ask? Whyyyyy do babies equal pink and blue???

Anyway, here is our crib. We set it up last night! (Along with our rocker... my most recent thrift store find.)

I'm thinking of something modern and sophisticated for the linens. Something I can live with for a few years. I've seen a few things I like, but most of them fall in that "designer" price range. ulgh.

Does anybody have any ideas of places to shop for sexy baby linens, that will fit into my Borat budget? Should be gender neutral, of course...