Just a quick update - we are finalizing our packing list, finishing up Klaudia's room and doing things around the house (to prepare it for a little change). It has been fun going through her clothes and pulling out ones to bring. (It will be much less fun to pack our own clothes). It is tough to know what will fit her exactly - but we'll see! I'm trying to bring a combo of 18 mos to 2T clothes. We also got her a cute dress to wear for our court date when we will be "official"!
Hope everyone had a nice 4th!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
More Photos of Klaudia!
We are busy packing, finishing Klaudia's room and preparing to travel. Thanks to friends and family, Klaudia has received SO many clothes. We spent a little time yesterday organizing them all. Our packing list is pretty much done and we are just finalizing a couple of items.
I figure since we have a date now, I will post a few more photos:
I figure since we have a date now, I will post a few more photos:
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Countdown!!
We need to be in Poland on July 27th!! It isn't as soon as we would like...but it is the date and it is on the court's calendar! YAY!!!
The judge has scheduled us for a hearing on August 11, and we will have 2 weeks of bonding period before that. We will do this all in one trip. So....we are scheduled and it is official (finally!).
We had sparkling wine to celebrate tonight and will have some time to finalize our packing list and get ready. These days will go slow, I already know that. But once we have her, I know we will just have no idea how we ever lived without her.
Thank you for all the prayers, good thoughts and support. It worked!
Klaudia - we're coming soon!
Come on Judge!
According to our facilitator and lawyer in Poland, we have a pretty non-responsive judge. But our lawyer there says to give her three more days and she will do her best to get our date. She is still optimistic that everything will be able to be finalized without our having to renew our I600A (which means updating the home study). We hope that is true! But more than anything, we just want Klaudia in our arms ASAP.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Hopeful that we will have news this week
We are hopeful that we will have a travel date this week. We haven't heard anything new, but I base this on our agency having been told that we should be able to travel by the end of the month. We pretty much need to have a travel date this week in order to do that. So...say a prayer, think good thoughts, cross your fingers, and it will happen soon!
We are thinking lots about other families adopting from Poland. Another family is waiting for their dates, one family is in Poland now with their two kids, another has just been matched, and we know several waiting families. It is all so exciting! All our best to everyone in the process.
Note the new counter on the right side of the page - you can see how old our little girl is. :) Also - for obvious reasons, I had to change the blog color to the "rose" template.
We are thinking lots about other families adopting from Poland. Another family is waiting for their dates, one family is in Poland now with their two kids, another has just been matched, and we know several waiting families. It is all so exciting! All our best to everyone in the process.
Note the new counter on the right side of the page - you can see how old our little girl is. :) Also - for obvious reasons, I had to change the blog color to the "rose" template.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Thank You!
We have been completely showered by everyone's generosity, encouragement, support and...presents!
Our close friends threw us a wonderful party this past weekend. It was a great time to celebrate our soon arrival. They even had Klaudia's pictures in a slideshow on the TV. What shower can you go to that has pictures already?!
Before that, we had two other wonderful showers. One with family, and one with my friends and work peeps.
Klaudia's room is all ready for her now, and so are we! She has more stuff than she will ever know what to do with. We will introduce these things to her a bit slowly. But we are set for great educational toys, books, clothes, and other cute things.
So many have expressed their excitement. It means a lot to us. It has been a difficult road, and the time for happiness and excitement is finally here. It also helps get us through these last weeks while we wait for a final travel date.
Speaking of time...we do not yet have our date to travel back to Poland to get Klaudia. We are hopeful that it will be sometime this month. If not, we will have to get an extension on our immigration form. It wouldn't be the most horrible thing to do, but we would need an updated homestudy and to redo a couple forms. At this point I don't mind the paperwork. I just don't want to wait any longer to get her!
Since this Blog title is "Thank You" - I need to give our biggest thanks to our parents. Throughout our entire adoption journey our parents have been supportive, interested, available and excited. How fortunate are we? And how wonderful for Klaudia to come to a family with such great grandparents. :)
Stay tuned for a travel date.
Our close friends threw us a wonderful party this past weekend. It was a great time to celebrate our soon arrival. They even had Klaudia's pictures in a slideshow on the TV. What shower can you go to that has pictures already?!
Before that, we had two other wonderful showers. One with family, and one with my friends and work peeps.
Klaudia's room is all ready for her now, and so are we! She has more stuff than she will ever know what to do with. We will introduce these things to her a bit slowly. But we are set for great educational toys, books, clothes, and other cute things.
So many have expressed their excitement. It means a lot to us. It has been a difficult road, and the time for happiness and excitement is finally here. It also helps get us through these last weeks while we wait for a final travel date.
Speaking of time...we do not yet have our date to travel back to Poland to get Klaudia. We are hopeful that it will be sometime this month. If not, we will have to get an extension on our immigration form. It wouldn't be the most horrible thing to do, but we would need an updated homestudy and to redo a couple forms. At this point I don't mind the paperwork. I just don't want to wait any longer to get her!
Since this Blog title is "Thank You" - I need to give our biggest thanks to our parents. Throughout our entire adoption journey our parents have been supportive, interested, available and excited. How fortunate are we? And how wonderful for Klaudia to come to a family with such great grandparents. :)
Stay tuned for a travel date.
Friday, May 22, 2009
No Date Yet
Well, we are still waiting for a court date, but we should have one any day now. All of our documents and the petition for adoption have been filed with the court, and we need the judge to focus on our case and assign a hearing date. When we get that date, we can book our tickets and finish packing!
The date that the court will be setting is the beginning of the bonding process. Basically at that first hearing the judge will tell us that we need to spend X amount of days with Klaudia as a bonding period before a final placement hearing takes place. During the bonding period, we should be able to have Kladuia with us day and night. We will likely be in Krakow and rent an apartment there for the bonding period time. From what I understand, that is usually around 2-3 weeks.
At the end of the bonding period we will return to court and at that hearing the judge should order adoption placement with us. At that point we can leave Krakow if we want, but we won't be able to leave Poland until the order is considered final. An order in Poland is usually considered final (not appealable) after 21 days. The judge, in his or her discretion, can shorten this to 14 days. So, we will then have 2-3 weeks and may split the time between Krakow and Warsaw.
Once the order is final, then we can get the paperwork done (get her birth certificate with her new last name, passport, etc.) and embassy work done (issuance of visa) and then head home! It is quite a process!
Once we travel, we will plan to put a checklist on the Blog. Also, I will post pictures then. I have been hesitant to do that until we have appeared in court and have her with us. Bare with us though...pictures are coming!
For now we wait for the court date. If the judge is taking his or her time about scheduling it, then our contact in Poland generally starts to inquire and encourage the judge to schedule the date. I have heard that sometimes she even has the orphanage director call and encourage the judge to schedule court dates. I would love the Director at Klaudia's orphanage to do that...she is a pretty senior (in experience and rank, not age) sister there and she could inflict some Catholic guilt on the judge!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend all! We will be grillin', chillin', sleeping in (while we can), doing some things around the house and in Klaudia's room. I will be doing my best to avoid work for three days. Should be fun!
The date that the court will be setting is the beginning of the bonding process. Basically at that first hearing the judge will tell us that we need to spend X amount of days with Klaudia as a bonding period before a final placement hearing takes place. During the bonding period, we should be able to have Kladuia with us day and night. We will likely be in Krakow and rent an apartment there for the bonding period time. From what I understand, that is usually around 2-3 weeks.
At the end of the bonding period we will return to court and at that hearing the judge should order adoption placement with us. At that point we can leave Krakow if we want, but we won't be able to leave Poland until the order is considered final. An order in Poland is usually considered final (not appealable) after 21 days. The judge, in his or her discretion, can shorten this to 14 days. So, we will then have 2-3 weeks and may split the time between Krakow and Warsaw.
Once the order is final, then we can get the paperwork done (get her birth certificate with her new last name, passport, etc.) and embassy work done (issuance of visa) and then head home! It is quite a process!
Once we travel, we will plan to put a checklist on the Blog. Also, I will post pictures then. I have been hesitant to do that until we have appeared in court and have her with us. Bare with us though...pictures are coming!
For now we wait for the court date. If the judge is taking his or her time about scheduling it, then our contact in Poland generally starts to inquire and encourage the judge to schedule the date. I have heard that sometimes she even has the orphanage director call and encourage the judge to schedule court dates. I would love the Director at Klaudia's orphanage to do that...she is a pretty senior (in experience and rank, not age) sister there and she could inflict some Catholic guilt on the judge!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend all! We will be grillin', chillin', sleeping in (while we can), doing some things around the house and in Klaudia's room. I will be doing my best to avoid work for three days. Should be fun!
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