Frosting on the cupcake

One of my new and wonderfully supportive and empathetic adoption friends is Amy of cupcakeandthecaseys. She and her husband are also waiting to return to Russia to be reunited with their cupcake. I found myself thinking of them today as I was driving for some retail therapy.

I headed to my favorite locally owned children's toy, book and gift store (The Learning Tree). Imagine my surprise when I rounded the corner from the parking garage and found, across the street from the toy store, a CUPCAKE BAKERY!

So, today's post carries the moniker of Frosting on the Cupcake for a couple of reasons, one kind of obvious (the actual cupcakes I bought), but also because I found myself thinking of the toys I was buying and the artwork we ordered for the room as the fun frosting on the cupcake of the adoption! We've trudged through paperwork, endured endless phone calls and personal questions, written countless checks, scanned thousands of pieces of paper and have driven to my childhood home of Topeka for documens to be apostilled more times than I can count. All necessary, but hardly what I'd describe as fun.

But this stuff? This stuff is fun! Here are some new pics of the room, the artwork, the toys and, of course, the cupcakes!

The bed with the new spread and shams from my parents. There's another twin trundle that pulls out.

The drawer knobs I found on sale for half price, waiting to be attached to the dresser and chest of drawers.

Dress-up wooden dolls with fun clothes.

Both girls will get their own doll after they become officially ours!

See, cupcakes!

The artwork. Brian saw two of the panels one day and really liked them. We ran all around Kansas City trying to find them, but had no luck. Then he spent hours online looking for them and...eureka! They should be delivered next week!

Dessert.

Heart twinges

We're both really missing the girls today, more than the every day.

Take THAT, paperwork!

Today begins with a brief, I'm certain, moment of euphoria.

Just sit quietly for a moment. Take it all in. Do you sense it?

I have no adoption documents to bird dog. (Well, technically one, but give a girl a break and let her enjoy.) Yesterday our psych evaluations were finished and I picked up two copies of our verification of mortgage payment and account good standing on ORIGINAL, color, there-is-no-way-this-could-be-a-fake letterhead and added them to our very large pile of other signed, sealed and delivered documents (including the long-awaited FBI background check clearances - special thanks to Sen. Sam Brownback's office for their assistance in requesting that these be processed a bit more quickly than the FBI indicated they would be). I headed to Topeka and had all 48 documents apostilled and threw then in a FedEx box that is winging its way to our agency in St. Louis for arrival this a.m.

Good riddance, stuff! Fingers are now crossed that all of the documents are acceptable and no new requests come lobbing in at the last minute. Our agency will forward them to our staff in Russia, who will translate them and file them with the court. We hope this means a new court date will be coming soon!

Keep the good thoughts zooming into the universe for the girls. I promise that it makes the mommy and daddy to be's (that's us!) feel better as we endure this time without them.

P.S. I'm pa-thet-ica-lly sore from this little Wii adventure. So sad. Tennis shoulder from "serving" - really? Upper thigh aches from "bike riding" around "the island." Are you kidding me? I guess it's doing what we'd hoped, but it's also confirming that I'm so incredibly, woefully, pa-thet-ica-lly out of shape! :)

Wii had no idea

One of the things we've done to tighten the belt is to cancel our membership to the Y. We hated to do it - though I wasn't going as frequently as I once had we really liked it overall; with a number of locations in Kansas City we could pick and choose programs, exercise rooms, etc. But, the monthly hit to our bank account simply needed to be eliminated, along with some other stuff.

But.

We both felt like sloths. The cheap mac and cheese and pasta we're eating was making itself known. The weather is far, far too cold (for us at least) to get out the bikes, pump up the tires and go for a ride.

And.

Because we're the last people in the United States without a working gaming system, I hatched a plan. What if this Valentine's Day we made an investment in a Wii, something we gave each other? With the fit stuff we could have that at home and justify the expense by it all being less than a few months Y membership. Plus, I knew it would make Brian very happy and sometimes you just do stuff because it makes your spouse happy.

I told Brian of my little plan and he was happy. Until yesterday, when we actually started looking for a Wii. Because everyone has them, we had.no.idea they are IMPOSSIBLE to find. I'd heard of shortages during previous holiday seasons, but this year all my friends who didn't have them bought them and had no problem. We went from store to store to store to store yesterday and the console shelves were empty. To add insult to injury, early in our quest we'd actually found some at a WalMart but left without buying them, having no idea we wouldn't be able to find one at another WalMart since Brian wanted to check out one more place for a better deal.

An hour later we went back and the consoles were GONE. Doh!

So last night Brian sat calling store after store after store after store, his once lively and peppy voice turning exasperated and annoyed. What the heck? we kept saying. What is going on? And then one lovely young woman told him she thought that a WalMart truck was bringing some Wii components to them overnight! This a.m. Brian left bright and early for a WalMart about 40 minutes from here. He walked in and the shelves were empty. Then a clerk finished a transaction and went to a stocking cart and turned the corner with it and the clouds parted and the light shone through and the music played because there on the cart sat TWO Wii consoles!

So this Valentine's Day will end happy, with the good news that was received before 8 a.m. even! Wii win!

No new date yet, but feeling better

We haven't gotten our new court date yet, but things look and feel better. Because we never really felt that we'd be able to make the Feb. 18 court date, it almost didn't feel real. But, knowing we'll be able to (fingers crossed!) have everything wrapped up before a court date that's a bit later, it suddenly seems real, if that makes sense - and if it doesn't that's OK, because I'm used to people telling me I don't make sense! :). 

Our agency approved some of our in-the-works documents today (always good!) and the list is getting dramatically shorter. We've also made progress on the Great Psychiatrist Saga (old friends who are willing to reach out a hand when it's needed are so wonderful, as our new contacts who offer assistance and suggestions) and hope to have a resolution soon.

Now if it could just suddenly be spring. Maybe?

Hard decision: Asked for a later court date

We asked our agency yesterday to ask the judge for a later court date. We just feel that it's unreasonable to expect that everything will come together and we'd be able to be there for court on Feb. 18. We are still unsure when we'll get our FBI clearances; our senator's office contacted the FBI and they were kind in their reply, but could make no promises about getting our paperwork through any more quickly than the 10 weeks. The good news is that we were logged/started processing as with a Dec. 17 date, but that puts a 10-week window at Feb. 25.

Plus, we have some issues with apostilles; I won't bore you with the details. We're also having trouble finding a psychiatrist who can help us; yes, it has to be a psychiatrist. That's on my to-do list today, if I can muster the engery.

SO. We just felt the best thing to do was to ask for a later date. Because of the fluid situation we hadn't been able to make travel or visa arrangements. A later date allows us to make more reasonable arrangements. It's the right decision, we feel, but it's a tough one and my heart hurts a bit today.

A day-by-day approach

We continue to do what you all do...slog through day after day. We think our FBI clearances are in the works. I was told last week that our first batch of requests, the infamous December ones, were received and are being processed, but to expect a 10-week wait. We have no idea right now what that means to our court date. We don't know if we'll manage to be lucky and get the FBI stuff and keep the date or have to release it. If we release it, we have no idea when we might be invited back, or when we might know.

So.

Otherwise, January has bled into February and it's cold and grey and non-inspiring. Life's not all bad, not at all, just in kind of an odd groove, for a huge variety of reasons. Here's hoping there's a lot of sunshine soon for everyone!