Yet Another Update

So I believe its appropriate for me to write this blog entry on December 11...exactly one month from the day we received our referral from Ekat, Russia. More proof of the lighting speed that the Europeans are accustomed to. Now Michalina tells us that our facilitator Olga says that the region is no longer taking people the last 10 days of the year (New Rule that no one is aware of??) and right after our New Year is their holiday until January 7Th. SO, that means they take no one for 3 weeks...not 10 days, but who's counting??
And now we rush around completing our holiday shopping, hoping desperately that we would have gotten a reprieve this year from additional spending by saying we were going to be in Russia...no such luck. But at least we will be with friends and family this holiday, even if its without our children.
So right now it looks like we will be travelling in January...that is until they change that for another unknown reason again. But, I am assured that we WILL travel in January.
So it will be 2 months from the day we received our referral before we even MEET our referral, let alone probably another 6 months before we take them home. Yes, other countries and their governments move at the speed of a thundering heard of turtles. Appreciate America in that we have several judges, facilitators and our government offices continue to operate even in one person's absence. Have a Happy Holiday and A Merry Christmas to all !!

The Doctors...too many to count

So in our initial quest for agencies and countries, we also had researched doctors. Our first and final choice was CHOP- Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. We chose them for their extensive experience in international adoption as well as their close proximity to us for when we came home with our child. We called them when we got our referral and our "limited" medical information. The response time was very quick and efficient. The doctor called us on a Saturday night and spoke to us for over an hour.
After speaking with CHOP with wanted (or should I say needed) a second opinion. Not because their evaluation wasn't good, but because it just made us feel better. So we contacted the University of Minnesota international adoption program and clinic. They also gave a quick and similar response. We decided that when we travel we will take Dr. Oleg Togoyev with us from Moscow to evaluate the children as well. We want to go in with our eyes wide open. This is a very emotional part of the process, especially when you receive a referral for twins. You can't help but chase the dream, but you want to make sure that all turns out well.
Dealing with a small head circumference and a lower IQ is one thing, but dealing with severe FAE or FAS is another. So we need to make sure what we are dealing with before we decide to take these children home with us.
Michalina called yesterday and has received everything and hopefully sometime next week we should have travel dates. Could that change...you bet it can, and so is the life of international adoption with Russia.
So right now we hope and wait...and wait...and wait.. I think this is my big sister testing my patience !! She always knew how impatient I am !!
I can tell also tell you that its hard to walk into stores at Christmas and not want to buy presents and clothes. It's almost impossible to imagine what the wait time after you accept your referral will be like. Many have old me that for Ekaterinburg it could be 3-8 months in between...the courts move at the speed of a thundering herd of turtles. Its beauracracy at its best !! and we thought NJ was bad ! ha!