Time

I thought I would try to explain the adoption process to help readers understand why we have to be here for seven weeks. Yes, seven weeks. Some people escape with child in 3-4, but not us. :) Don't get me wrong, I really do like Ukraine, but there is no place like home. Where you know people and have: Mexican food, peanut butter, Southern hospitality and charm---though I have met a few here who have it as well ;), a reallly comfy bed, less fear when crossing the road, and of course family and friends. But what would I do without Ukraine's AMAZING cookies??? I should probably work on a post just on cookies.

After our awesome facilitator submitted our dossier (big pile of papers that were notarized and then notarized again by the state) we were waiting for our SDA appointment, which we got...September 12. This is when we officially accept our Emory's referral. The next day we traveled to his region and met him. Later we found out that here in this city the judge only has adoption hearings once a month. We arrived a few days too late and would not be able to have our court hearing until October 14. That's the day we're counting down to currently.

After the court hearing, assuming we pass, we still have a TEN DAY WAIT, where we just continue doing what we are doing, living life, visiting Emory. After the ten day wait there are some other important things to do like get a birth certificate and apply for a passport, but we can snatch that sweet boy out of his orphanage finally! Then we head back to the capitol for a few days of visiting the Embassy and medical checks, then we head home!!! What a glorious day that will be. We're hoping to be home the end of October.

My awesome friend Deanna over at Mother the World's trip was pretty short, only about 3-4 weeks. Some people make two trips. Because of the blessing of Matthias' awesome job letting him be gone for so long and a generous donation to compensate his salary while he gone, we have decided to stay the whole time. It seemed like the best and most cost effective thing to do for us. I'm truly so thankful for the quality time we have gotten. Some days we like to just "unplug" and find new ways of having fun. Those days are my favorite.

Emerald is growing a ton. She's talking so much. She calls her new brother  "Bubba" and gives him lots of kisses. I hope they're best friends. Here is a sweet video of Emmy showing off some of her vocab.

That's all for now. I'm hoping to get Matthias to blog some. He says I "never tell stories". I guess I should work on that too.

Much love from Ukraine!