We got to the Embassy and stood in line to go thru security. All was fine and dandy until Nicky saw that articles of clothing (jackets, belts, etc) were being removed & then he had a mini melt down! I guess he was scared we were going to chunk him in the bath tub or something! He settled down once we walked thru the metal detector and thru the crowd of wannabe immigrants looking for window "4a". We then saw 2 other families ahead of us with their new adoptees, and realized that we should be at window "4", then onto window "6" - you pay at the first window, then walk two windows down to window "6"...why not just do it all at the one?! Whatever...then we went to the waiting area, which quickly filled up with other new adopting families. Apparently there used to be anywhere from 50-60 families going thru the Embassy for adoption visas each day. The day we were there there were a total of 15 of us, which was a new record. Since the Russian adoption process has gotten so much more difficult and strict, the number of families adopting has dwindled.
Anyway - we were 3rd in line so we didn't have to wait too long before we were "interviewed" by the agent. He only asked us if we were aware of his medical history and where Nicky was from...not much of an interview - we were nervous for nothing! As we waited for the visa after the interview, we looked around at all the other kids. All of them looked so different and most were at least 1yr - 3 yrs old. We quickly decided that we had the cutest kid in the bunch...but we're not biased at all! :) Nicky was awesome while we waited! He played with us, laughed, hugged on me and got tickles from daddy...all the while the other parents & kids looked on in amazement! We realized at that point how lucky we truly are to have the little guy in our lives! We picked up our visa shortly after that, then met up with our coordinator to go back to our hotel. We also received a sealed manila envelope, which contained copies of all our official adoption papers, along with Embassy specific info. We were to keep it sealed until we landed in Dallas, and were to present it to immigration.
When we got into the car, the coordinator asked us how it went & we told her it went really well. That was it - as soon as we answered, she got on her cell phone to talk to another new mom to see how their appointment had gone (there were several families that used our agency there at the same time as us). She spoke with the other lady all the way back to our hotel, then when we got there told us to be ready at 4:15am to leave for the airport...yikes! :(
We decided we were done with trying to read menus in Russian & trying to figure out what we were eating, so we headed too TGI Fridays for dinner! It was surprisingly good...and Americanized! Russian food uses a lot of black pepper, dill and cucumbers, so it was nice to get exactly what we had ordered, without it being American food with a Russian twist! Nicky decided he liked daddy's french fries better than the pasta we ordered for him...at least he drank all his milk!
We went back to the hotel and it was on like donkey kong...bath time!!! Kris climbed in with some bubbles we had bought and I brought Nicky in with one of his cars (so we could "wash" it too)...all about making it a game! He lost it when I took off his clothes, but after getting him in the tub (standing only), it went pretty well. Kris blew bubbles and had him play with them while I scrubbed him down, then we hosed him off & he was fine! He's more of a fan of the after bath (lotion time!) than he is the bath itself. He sits so still while I slather him up and clean his ears, etc, so I guess the whole process could be worse!
1 comment:
Thank you so much for sharing your story! We're just beginning the process, so it's great to hear stories of those who have been through it. Nicky sure is a cutie-pie!
Post a Comment