Cell Phone Update

We received many more phones over the Holidays and this time we found $399 worth of phones to send in! That is pretty good. We have been through about 120 phones, now. So it wasn't the amount that I thought we might raise - but $400 is GREAT!!

I will return to work on January 21st - and am looking forward to putting some normalcy back in my life. I can't wait to meet my students and talk about physics again. I have missed my friends at work, too.

Since I'm going back to work and actually can't get the LOI (without a whole lot of trouble) - we might just hear something. : ) We shall see...

I can't wait to celebrate the New Year. I would like to put 2005 behind us. It has been a rough one. Plus, in 2006, we just might become parents.

My super fabulous Husband

This week has been a rough one for me. I have been feeling a little...angry at the whole situation. I guess mostly feeling sad that Christmas has arrived and we don't have our son to celebrate. But yesterday, my wonderful hubby reminded me why we want to bring a child into our family. We have a lot of love between us. We have come so far and maybe soon we will get that LOI. After a cry-fest, he held me close and told me he'd love me forever and that even if I'm crazy, I will make a good mom. Then he took me for sushi! What a sweetpea. He is very strong and I need to rely on that right now and that is okay. : )

Thank you Jason. I love you with all of my heart.

Happy Birthday Maksim Ignatova

Happy Birthday Maksim Ignatova

A little venting so : P

The Sapp's returned home and as promised, they sent more pictures of our rapidly growing boy. They are too fabulous. I was worried that Maks was getting so big. The new pictures make him seem like a little boy still. I can't wait to get my arms around him.

Why is this adoption thing so f...ing difficult! Every adoptive parent says the same thing but I am really starting to lose it. Ask my dad, he'll tell you. I have some pyscho blah blah blah. He's right you know! And so the f... what. I feel nauseous (how do you spell that) all the time. Food doesn't taste, look or smell good. Well - except for sushi. MMMM Hawaiian Volcano Roll. So I should be losing weight, right. No.. I am gaining. It is alright if I go crazy! I am an expectant mother. You try to carry a 22 month old baby until he is over 3!!!!!! That's over 20 pounds.

My husband thinks I have lost it. He doesn't even like me anymore. I am not really the same person, anyway. Deal with it!! I am a pregnant woman who is 3 months late. Yeah that's right. 3 months late. Really, I am 6 months late, but who's counting?? A warning: Don't you dare ever tell me " atleast you won't have to go through labor!" You'll draw back a nub. LOL

Not only did I not get to pick up my baby, but I lost my job (temporarily I think), my ability to workout (knee surgery) and my appetite. My hands are sore, I have huge bruises on my legs, and stinging cuts on my thumb and fingers. Fish trapping is not for 120 pound, pencil pushing, female physics nerds. I have a perma-sunburnt chin and upper lip. Yes - I have been wearing sunblock. And my son's room sits empty, still.

I am not getting a Christmas tree. I did not put up any lights. I am not buying any presents - can't afford it. Our adoption costs are around $17K and we haven't given the orphanage donation or traveled.

Some days I wonder what the f... I am doing.

I am becoming a mother.

We made it through the Consulate!!

We just found out that we made it through the NY Consulate! Our paperwork is traveling to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as we speak! Yeah!! This international adoption thing is definately the roller coaster ride everyone has talked about.

Our agency says that it should be around 6-8 weeks before we will receive our letter of invitation. Sounds familiar! We'll see.

:) :) :)

Update

1. No, we haven't heard anything - except that two documents from our dossier have gone "missing". Don't worry - just spend another $500! (sorry I've almost had it)
   
2. Yes, the pics of Maks are missing from the blog. Someone told me that a family lost their referral by posting pictures. So I removed them. Once I see his little face in person, I will re-post them.
3. When it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!! We have gone through about half of the cell phones we collected. Only 1 of them was worth anything: $4. We have raised $4. LOL There were many phones that had potential to be worth something - except they had a broken latch or battery or.... We do have a large stack from the Santa Barbara area. Maybe they'll be worth something!
   

Thank you to everyone that sent the old phones to us. It was worth a try.

I will be returning to school on January 21, without having traveled to Kazakhstan. What in the world! Why didn't I go back to work when the chance presented itself? (Because they told me we would be traveling soon! Don't listen when they say "soon") Hopefully, we will at least travel around the time of Spring Break (March 27-April 7) so I won't go over the 30 work days that I can be gone legally (my maternity leave days.) Good thing I didn't use those, yet.

Just keep waiting....