WHAT NEXT?

Lots of people have been asking what we do from here in regards to the adoption. I hope I've answered them all!

1. What happens next?

In Russia, after the adoption is granted, there is a 10 day wait before we can take custody of Evan. Why, you ask? The 10 day wait is where any appeal can be filed. Either by us, if the judge had denied us. Or by Evan's biological family, if they disagreed with our adoption of her. The later scenario is highly unlikely as the orphanage director has had contact with Evan's biological family and they said they would not stop the adoption. What they actually said was much more hurtful, but that is for another post.

2. Will we visit Evan during the 10 day wait?

Yes, but only for 1 or 2 days. Evan's orphanage is about 3.5 hours away from the closest hotel. It is a difficult drive. The roads in Russia are terrible. At points they are almost impassable. Part of the roads we drove on had not been cleared of snow. I joked while we were driving that I felt like I was in a video game. The cars literally swerve all over the road to avoid potholes (into oncoming traffic) and a few times when the driver hit the potholes, our heads crashed into the roof of the car. So, 7 hours of travel, for maybe a 2 hour visit. The orphanage staff also does not speak any english. In addition to hiring a driver, we would also have to hire an interpreter. The additional cost for those 2 services is about $300. You do the math. It would cost us an extra $3000 to make the visits.

We decided that we would visit the last 2 days of the 10 day wait to ease the transition process for her. I actually don't think she'll really have any issues. She loved being with us. If she'll have any issues, it will be when she's in new surroundings and that would happen no matter how many times we visited her. There is no way to prepare for that.

3. Are you coming home for any of the 10 day wait period?

This was the hardest decision for me, the momma. Levi, our 3.5 year old with Down syndrome, had a hard time with his momma leaving, after we returned from our first trip to Russia. Even if I was leaving the house to go to the grocery store for an hour, he would throw a fit and not want me to leave. After talking with all his therapists - especially his OT that deals with his sensory issues, we thought it best for us to not return home only to immediately leave again. It would just be too difficult for Levi. We have one set of grandparents staying the whole time so that he has consistency at home and not different caretakers coming and going. We've done social stories on our trip. We have prepared him in every way possible. He seems to be doing great! He is in his routine and plugging along fine. I think that his momma is having a harder time. :0)

The only thing that didn't work with Levi was skype. We tried it the second day we were gone and both of my older kids told us later that we could NOT do that again. Levi was miserable after he saw us on the computer.

4. Where are we staying?

In Saint Petersburg. We took a 4 hour cab ride from our city of P****, with a cab driver who only spoke Russian. It was interesting to say the least. I kept my nose in a book and only looked up a few times. Two lane roads are made into three. You pass into oncoming traffic while hovering the over the middle line. I'm sure the driver wondered why I kept muttering the Lord's name over and over. We arrived in one piece. We figure this is the 2oth anniversary trip we'd never get, so we're celebrating early. Have we ventured out? No, not really. We are recuperating in our room. Sleep is a really good thing!

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!!