HOME!

We made it home! It is wonderful settling in with Klaudia, and she is doing great! She has been her shy self with new people, but is starting to warm up. She has been tentative about her new environment, but has been exploring and figuring it all out. She has been eating pretty well, and sleeping pretty well, which is good!

Klaudia did surprisingly well on the plane. Perhaps my expectations were so low that it could have only been better. She took a 1.5 hour nap about an hour after take off, and then didn't sleep for the rest of the travels until 5 minutes before landing in Omaha. My recommendations are the same as anyone would give: dvds, many food options, a mirror, favorite books and non-noisy toys, changes of clothes, etc. It worked well to take the airplane books and toys out of her usual mix for the two days or so before the flight. Then there was a little re-discovery on the plane. The only tragedy on the plane was changing diapers on Lot (no changing tables). I don't know how people do it with infants, but Klaudia just stood and held on with all her might to a bar and cried until we were done.

Despite the fact that she was exhausted and cranky when landing, it worked out so well for acclimating to the time change. We had a great welcome at the airport by both of our families too - a warm welcome home.

Klaudia is still a mama's girl, but she is warming up more and more to dad and to other family. There are things to work on (speech, walking, a little trust that mama isn't leaving her forever when she leaves the room), but these will all happen in time. There is so much I could post - but, as naptimes go, I only have limited time! Here are some photos:

Happy girl on the plane - yay!!

Figuring out the seat belt

First night at home

Playing with cousin Keaton on the first full day home

Playing with friend BJ on the last full day in Warsaw - yes, that is the oven

All Done! Klaudia Is Coming to America!

The Embassy appointment went well today and Klaudia has her immigrant visa to travel to the United States. In other words, we are done and can travel and will make our flight on Saturday!! Here is Klaudia’s “all done” pose taken soon after we received her immigrant visa:



Klaudia will be a citizen upon entrance into the United States. That will be in Chicago on Saturday afternoon. After that, we fly home to Omaha and will be greeted by Ryan’s family and my parents – yay!! It will be so interesting to see how Klaudia reacts. She will be shy, no doubt. Who knows, she could be asleep and out of it. We’ll see! Either way, we are thrilled to go home to all of our comforts and begin settling in.

We now only have one more full day in Warsaw before our Saturday flight. I will say that, while I am thrilled to return home with my daughter, I can’t help but be sad that she won’t grow up Polish. We have taken her away from all she knows, including her country. Of course she will always be Polish and be a citizen. We will do our best to help her identify as Polish and embrace it as much as she wants. On the other hand, she will grow up in America. And there is certainly something to be said for that.

This is likely the last post from Poland. It is almost the end of the journey, and it is the beginning of our new one as parents. All the paperwork headaches, heartache, waiting and frustration are now starting to fade with every one of Klaudia’s smiles. We are blessed.

We’ll see you in America!

Polish Passport Received – Embassy Tomorrow – Home on Saturday!

We are on schedule to return home on Saturday! Today we picked up Klaudia’s passport (with the priceless mug shot). Tomorrow we have an appointment at the U.S. Embassy to obtain her immigrant visa. After we receive that (hopefully by Thursday afternoon), we are free to travel. Klaudia will be traveling as a Polish citizen and, upon arrival in the United States, will become a U.S. citizen. She will be a dual citizen – cool, huh?

The plane ride will be quite an adventure. Hopefully, for other passengers’ sake, the screaming will be at a minimum. It will be long and annoying for Klaudia, but home is on the other end. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to family upon arrival. Please no one take offense if she buries her face and gives mean looks! Magda, or facilitator and translator here, says that she gets mean looks from Klaudia all the time.

The last few days have been good. Klaudia has been a trooper on some long walks, a visit to the uprising museum, shopping adventures and cab rides. She seems to be doing well with us, and communication and trust are improving daily.

I will report back after the Embassy appointment to let you know that we are good to go!

The Order is Final

As of Wednesday this past week, the adoption order is final and no longer appealable. Klaudia is officially, fully, finally and forever ours!

Because of the order's finality, we were able to obtain Klaudia's birth certificate with her new name and a Polish social security number. Yesterday we submitted the application for her Polish passport. This week we also completed Klaudia’s immigration-required medical examination by a doctor on the embassy’s approved list. At this point we just need to receive her Polish passport then we can go to the embassy for the final immigration “interview” to receive her immigrant visa, and then home it is! Cross your collective fingers that we receive her passport on Wednesday or Friday of next week. That should ensure our September 5 return.

We continue to enjoy our days in Warsaw. We met another family who has just adopted a little boy from a town a couple hours north of Warsaw. He is an active little three year old guy, and Klaudia was really motivated to try to keep up with him. We went to their apartment the other day and, although she was shy and clingy for about 10 minutes, she was off and crawling and laughing and following him and his 5 year old brother around the apartment. She wanted to walk so bad, but at least crawled a lot, wanted to be near them, throw their toys, and just laugh. It was like a little breakthrough for her. When we got back to our apartment, she wanted to walk (with help) so much. She would stand and grab my hands and just take off into each room and turn around and go to other rooms. Then she stood in front of a full length mirror and just admired her tall self. She has been wanting to walk more and more since then. So, thank you boys for the encouragement!

Klaudia is no doubt getting a little bored with just Ryan and me. She needs kids around in a bad way. I know she spent her days, and nights for that matter, around other children, and to be mostly only with us, has to be a shock to her system in many ways. We try to get to parks daily, but it isn’t the same because she can’t really get up and run around and play with them like she could at that apartment with the other family. But at least she has some hours of at least observation and minimal interaction.

When we are home in a week (crossing fingers), she will have her cousins Keaton and Kaylee – yay!! We are thrilled for her to meet our families, and for our families to finally meet her. We have been showing her photographs of her cousins and grandparents – it probably isn’t sinking in, but maybe there will be at least a little familiarity there.

Ten Days Remaining

Just when it felt like we had moved to Poland, we are actually starting to envision the end of the trip. We now have (depending, of course, on multiple pieces of the puzzle falling into place) 10 days left in Poland. In the next 10 days we need to do the following:

1) Obtain the final adoption order from the court in Gliwice
2) Obtain Klaudia's revised birth certificate
3) Obtain Klaudia's Polish SS# with her new name
4) Get a US Embassy Approved doctor to do a routine medical exam
5) Get Polish passport and US visa photos
6) Apply for and receive Klaudia's Polish passport
7) Do the US Embassy intrview and obtain the immigrant visa

It is all pretty routine, except that Klaudia's Polish passport can take a few days, a week or more. In the last couple of months, the country "upgraded" the Passport processing technology which, as with any "upgrade" means at least a temporary lack of efficiency. Two months ago it was taking 2-3 weeks. One family that we know of last week got their passport in 1 week, and there was an intervening holiday. We are hoping for 1 week which will mean we will leave on Saturday September 5.

In the next 10 days we hope to continue to enjoy the city, buy a few mementos and explore a bit more. We are planning on doing the zoo one day, and possibly the Warsaw Uprising Museum, along with plenty more visits to parks, old town, and cooking kielbasa and pasta (yes, she eats both!) .

The city is truly amazing. Warsaw is cosmopolitan, a contrast to Krakow which has more older buildings and was relatively unharmed by WWII. Because Warsaw was so damaged, it has taken that opportunity to modernize and become quite an international city. The people take pride in being Polish, even though that has meant being under others' rule at various points in relatively recent history. I could write pages on the people, sights, sounds, smells, food and the hustle that is Warsaw. Perhaps I will do that in the next week or so as we begin to say do widzenia.

I will say that I have an entire new respect for my Grandfather's heritage. One that I wish I had when he was alive.

Here are a few recent photos:

"Sprinkler" still works

Ouch

Klaudia doing a Blog post

Dad and Klaudia at the Chopin Monument

Klaudia watching mom and dad drink wonderful and beautiful lattes at Green Coffee

First playground activity beyond watching the other kids

Klaudia is doing great. She is crawling a lot, and walking with help quite a bit. She is drinking out of a sippy cup just fine and has mellowed out on a lot of her food issues. She knows who mom and dad are, and is trying to figure out if there are rules in this new environmnet. Despite wanting her to be happy and do whatever she wants whenever she wants, we do say "no" when she reaches for an electrical outlet, stove, etc., and we laugh at her petty whining over our taking things like pens away. Our biggest issue is sleep. We will get there, but right now, she despises the crib. We won't fret too much about establishing routine until we are home though.

10 Things About Klaudia

1) Hates anything soft (blankets, stuffed animals, etc.)
2) Loves to people watch
3) Hates the sun and the wind, but loves the rain
4) Barks at dogs
5) Sleeps through loud thunderstorms
6) Throws right handed...and hard
7) Sings in the stroller
8) Makes you earn a smile from her
9) Hates to sleep because she will miss something
10) Has very happy parents :-)

Things have been good this past week. Last Thursday, we were fortunate to meet two other families who have recently adopted from Poland. One of the children, B.J. (parents James and Melanie), is only 3 days older than Klaudia! You can see a photo below of them meeting. B.J. is so friendly and outgoing, such a smile!! Klaudia was shy, but has managed a couple smiles for the family since the meeting. It was also great to meet the other family, Jeff, Debbie, Bartek and Kasia. The kids are so great - and so loved by their parents! With the small number of children adopted to the U.S. every year from Poland (somehere around 80), we were truly happy to have been in the position to meet these folks! We expored the Old Town a bit, had traditional Polish food, ice cream (it is mostly like very good Gelato here...yum!!), received some provisions from Jeff and Debbie and family who were leaving the next day, and shared our experiences as new parents.

Today we checked in at the US Embassy and got "into the system" to facilitate Klaudia's immigrant visa processing in two weeks or so. Right now the ETA in Omaha is September 5. Below are a couple of recent photos. Note Klaudia's use of a sippy cup (yay!).

Klaudia Eve Andrews

Her proud parents present to you...
Klaudia Eve Andrews!!!




As of August 11, 2009, according to the court in Gliwice, Poland, Klaudia is our daughter!! Needless to say, this family of three is ecstatic!

The day was quite a journey...only fitting, considering the journey the entire process has been. We woke up at 6 a.m. (Klaudia wakes up soon after the sun, no matter when she goes to bed), and were picked up at 9 a.m. Rain storms and insane toll booth lines lead to us being about an hour behind schedule. This meant we were not able to stop by the orphanage on the way to our 11:45 a.m. court hearing in Gliwice. We were supposed to stop by and pick up Klaudia’s medical information, and leave her there during the hearing because children are not permitted in court. Let’s just say, we were not disappointed that we were not able to leave her at the orphanage during the hearing. I can’t imagine what she would think about us leaving her there. Maybe she would have been fine, but it was still the last thing we wanted to do.

Instead, our driver, Tom, was going to watch her in the court hallways. However, when they called our hearing, our lawyer asked if Klaudia could come in, and the 3 judge panel agreed. Apparently this is pretty rare. I’m glad that Klaudia reciprocated with being very quiet and attentive. She fussed at little at some points, but hey, the rest of us would too, if we could.

The court hearing took about an hour. We understand this is on the relatively short side. The panel was three judges, all women. I was glad to see that at first, but despite that, I do not think we received one smile! I think they want to make sure the seriousness of the hearing is not compromised by emotion. The lead judge went through our whole file. They looked up our passport numbers in some database, read through all of the documents in the file, stated the evidence for the record, asked us questions individually, and asked the orphanage director (who has been listed as Klaudia’s guardian) a series of questions. It was serious enough, that it made me wonder if there was a chance they would find that it was not in Klaudia’s best interest to be placed with us. There was no fact that made me think that, just the reality of going through every detail of our application, our reasons for adopting, our reasons for adopting from Poland, etc. added a seriousness that I had not expected. Perhaps it was just making a good record.

The director of the orphanage was wonderful. She is thrilled to place children in homes, and despite the great care they give at the orphanage, she admits that the children thrive immediately on being placed in homes. Although there have been times that I felt mean for taking Klaudia from the place and people that she knows, the directors confidence in her placement in our home and all children placed in good homes, has helped us get through some of the more difficult moments. Her testimony at court was great. She explained Klaudia’s history at the orphanage, knowledge of her biological parents, and her thoughts on Klaudia’s placement with us. She and I do not speak the same language, but we exchanged several words and smiles that, at a minimum, said thank you. It was touching when she said goodbye to Klaudia and gave a blessing with the sign of the cross on her head. I do not speak Polish, but I understood every word she said then.

Also at court, there was a prosecutor present. She is in the position of scrutinizing adoption petitions to ensure the placements are in the best interests of the child. She asked us both one question related to the care of Klaudia when we return to work. We answered to her satisfaction, and she did not have anything further.

Following the hearing, we waited for the court to issue the decree/order. After about 20 minutes, they called us back in and read it to us for accuracy. It was all good in our book, so they said it would be issued that day, and considered final after 21 days. Then our lawyer stood up and talked, and the prosecutor responded. Magda turned to us and said, the prosecutor is fine with shortening the waiting period from 21 to 14 days! Apparently this is VERY rare in Silesia, but she agreed to it because our US Embassy expiration date is approaching in 2 weeks. We were amazed and grateful! This means we should be able to return home on September 5 instead of September 12, giving us one more week to settle in at home. 

Following the court hearing, we lugged all of our luggage to the train station and took a 3.5 hour train to Warsaw. The train was fine, and Klaudia (although getting tired, but not tired enough to nap) was a trooper. In the pouring rain, we got to our Warsaw apartment and are thrilled with it. It has a washing machine, bathtub, deck you can stand on without getting accosted by pigeons, a couch that you can get up from, internet access from one spot in the kitchen window, and a bed that creaks, but not every time you breath. Sigh . . . we can stay here for a few weeks just fine!! We had our first day of exploring today, and there is a lot to see here. It will be a fun few weeks. We even went out for thai food for dinner.

Klaudia is doing well. She loves the apartment, probably even more than we do. She has been crawling like crazing and pulling herself up on every doorway, chair, etc. She only crawled once at the Krakow apartment, and now she doesn’t even want us to hold her, she wants to explore! She even drank out of a sippy cup tonight for a few minutes (here is hoping it wasn’t a fluke). She despises naps unless she is in mama’s arms, but we will work on that one.

OK...enough for now. We will update more soon! Looks like we are meeting up with two other families in town tomorrow – yay!