And I am off AGAIN

     Ok so I had a crazy busy week home.  Mattie was very happy to see his mom, he did not get out of his PJ"S on Sunday just so we could "Just Stay Home" his favorite thing to do.  He loved the new shoes I bought him in Russia and of course I bought a pair for his brother Jake, I have to get use to buying things in pairs to keep my boys happy.  He had a GREAT time in FLA with Auntie and Grandpa, and he let everyone know he is the boss.

     I went back to work Monday morning still tired from the Jet lag/time change.  That actually lasted till about Thursday.  Any way the kids were glad to see me and they did great while I was away.  It was awsome seeing pictures of Jake everywhere at school.  I have the best aides in my class so of course everything went smoothly with lots of crafting and I went to the Craft store again so they will be busy easter crafting while I am away.  

     On a sadder note my Dads dog Oliver who is almost 16 with bad arthritis unfortunately had a rough time so the we made the decision and poor sister Sue had to take him on Wednesday and he is now in Doggy heaven.  We have not told Mattie yet he knows Oliver was sick and if he asks where he is we will tell him rehab. until I get home.  I think Mattie might sense something since he has become very attached again to his Oliver Stuff dog.  And well not a good week for the Hurley animals one of Matties frog either couch or chair went to frog heaven on Thursday so hopefully this week will be better.

     SO last night I repacked for my last trip to Russia to pick up m boy on St Patrick's Day!!!  I had to pack clothes for him and some toys.  Svtlana my rep. in Russia had some things deliered to my house so they went in the bag to.  Also a teacher at school gave me 3 boxes of hand made dolls and baby blankets to give to the baby house I think they will love them.  Of course Mattie got sight of them so I think I have one blanket and maybe 4 dolls at home!!

     Ok so now I am in New York the flight was on time this time so no problem about missing my connector to Moscow which leaves here at 4pm.  It is rainy and very cloudy so hopefully everything leaves on time.  So my LONG journey of adopting little Jake is finally done and he will be home with me and his older brother this Saturday YAH!!!  Then the real fun begins with the Brothers.  

     For my Ekat friends I am staying at a new Hotel the Novel, Svtlana took me there durng my last visit and it just opened so I decided to try it out.  It is brand new, not to far from the Park Inn now lets just hope the Breakfast buffet is as good.   

The Judge said YES!!!!!!

     Well court went great and the judge said yes I can officialy be John Henry Hurley's Mommy!!  SO Mattie is finally a Older brother because we do not know how long Mattie will be bigger then Jake.  As Russian adoption famlies know court day is nerve racking, especially in Ekat.  We had lunch in the court cafe while we were wating and who walks in but "The Male Judge" so now I can put a face to the person who was in charge of ALL my paper work  and the REDUE list , really my birth certificate expired??  But as you all know I bit my tongue and re did what ever he wanted.

     So court starts with me telling my story, luckely I had it all typed up, and as  am talking I see the judge looking thru my paper work I can see those shinney gold Apostile seels and it was kind of weird seeing him look at pictures of my house. So after that the questions started most where about how i was going to treat my two boys equally.  Then he wanted to know aout discipline so being the positive person that I am I said I would talk to them about what they did wrong and what they should do and he said I thought Americans do TIme  Out, I said oh no at my house we call it gong into the room to think about it.  I got the judge to laught as well as everyone else in the room he asked who would help care for the boys I said my sister, dad, my dad's girl friend then the laughter started I guess grandpa's in Russia do not have girl friends!!

     When the person from  the baby home talked she said how much Jake likes to perform I thought perfect now he can be on America Has Talent with Mattie.  Oh and Jake's social worker said when she saw my age she was surprised I was adopting she said most women my age are expecting grand chIldren,  YIKES I am not that old.   But she said we were a great match. 

     So now the 10 day wait.  I will come home this Saturday and come back next SUnday and pick up Jake on March 17th!!  I will have to get him a nice Irish knit to wear to Moscow.

     So now that court is over I do not know what I am going to do with all my free time no more documents to collect and notarize and Apostile.    

getting ready for the JUDGE

Hello  Had another great visit with Jake today.  Do not tell Mattie but he had tights on again with shorts YIKES, but he did have his camo sneakers on that I gave him!!  I brought a coat for him to try on he did not want to so I put it on.  His social worker came today to observe me with him and I think I passed.  Well court tomorrow at 2pm so I have been busy working on my speech.  I think I am finally done with it , I feel like I am back at college doing a term paper but the topic is Jake, Mattie and me, I hope the judge gives me an A!!!  

One of the families got to take their son Thomas out of the baby home and they are heading to Moscow.  He looked so cute and so scared being out in the big old world but he is almost home.

When I was at the baby home the other couple I met Sandy and John were there visiting their twin boys, they are adorable.  I can not wait till we can all get together with our boys!!

Well i am going to try to sleep now and be ready for my big day tomorrow so tune in tomorow night to see how I made out at court!!

Another great visit with Jake

     OK his face should say it all who knew balloons were so funny! Had another fun visit with Jake even though he is still called Gena he will catch on to his new name once he meets his brother and will say Jake non stop.  We played with water, books, a balloon, and oh yes there was a miny trampaleen so he was JUMPING.  And his first english word was JUMP, so cute.  And again no tights he has pants on.  I brought some shoes and he picked the camo sneakers and they fit perfectly!!  

     Since I did not visit until 4 I took a walk and found an outside carnival yes outside with kiddie rides and all, Mattie would have loved it and they had beautiful ice scuptures of course I forgot my camera so I am going to go back to take pictures.  Can you believe a otside carnival in -11 degrees but the kids were having a blast.

     When I went down to dine alone with my book I met 2 couples adopting.  One I knew was going to be here I have been emailing her and she brought a package to Jake for me this summer they are actually here to bring there son home.  They other couple is here for the first time to get their referral and all our children are at the same baby house which is pretty cool. The 2nd couple is from New Jersey so we might have to make a road trip to visit my new friends.  So it was great to talk and hear about the couples court date since mine will be one Wed so I better get ready for my big day.   

I made in FInally!!

     Ok so I finally made it to Ekat Russia Friday night at 9PM.  Yes one day late due to a unforeseen delay in New York.  It was not pretty, I was 5 minutes late to get my boarding pass in New York on Aeroflat due to Delta's delays weather, no pilot and light broken on landing gear.  So I land at 5:50 get to Aeroflat check in at 6:10 for a 7:00 flight and they told me check in ended at 6:05.  Oh was I frustrated and upset the plane was there, they would not check me in and Delta was no help even thougth it was there fault due to all the foolish delays.  So I spent the night at the Best Western and not sure where my luggage was.

     Thursday I go to check in I actually was the first one in line of course in the same clothes so I am sure they recognized me and they had the pleasure of telling  me that my ticket was never changed by my travel agent.  Now I talked to the travel agent Wed night and told everything was all set WRONG.  So after a few calls a few more tears I have a ticket and I am thru security Jake here I come.  Tired and in dirty clothes hping my luggage is on its way.

     For my MHS friends of course I had Flat Jackie in my carry one so to cheer me up we shared a diet coke at the Best Western in New York.  I do not know how to rotate the picture so here  is Jackie side ways!!

     Ok now for the HAPPY stuff i got to Ekat and the Park Inn no problem Sytlana picked me up at the airport, my luggage arrived in Moscow so now I have clean clothes YAH so back to LIFE is GOOD.  I check into the Park Inn and rest before my big visit with Jake.

    We get to the baby house at 10 am and in comes Jake to the new play room.  He was so cute came over to me and h had pants on no tights so Mattie will be happy to hear his brother had pants on not tights.  Not sure if he remembered me but he did not cry and loved playing with my water bottle especially the water in the bottle.  So I think he likes water Yah since we have a pool and love the beach.  We played for about 2 hours he was laughing and running having lots of fun.  They came and took him for lunch and  can visit tomorrow at 4.

     So back at the hotel I took a nap then went to the toy store to get Matties new Russian police car because the last one I brought him home was broken so he will be happy.  Then I took a walk in the -20 degree weather but it was not so bad found a store to get some diet pepsi and then headed back before it got dark.    So day one in Ekat was GREAT!!!  ENjoy the pictures of my boy and me!!!

Court date!!

     Hello,  I finally got THE CALL this past Thursday telling me my court date in March 3rd so I leave for Russia this Wednesday and get to see Jake Friday the 26th.  I am so excited and busy trying to get things done at home, spend time with Mattie, pack and plan my trip to Russia.

     So I will be in Russia for a week and a half then I will come home for about 6 days then back to Russia.  If all goes as planned I will pick up Jake March 17th so Happy St. Patricks day for us.  I think I will have to get a nice Irish knit sweater for Jake on Gotcha Day!!!

     Mattie is excited that his brother is finally almost home and is picking and choosing what toys Jake can play with and what he can't let the brotherly LOVE begin!!!!  Oh and of course Mattie wants a new car from Russia so off to the toy store when I am there.

     

     

Possible court dates!! YAH

     OK I got the best email of 2010 today!!!!  I have two possible court dates either Feb 26th or March 3rd, so yes 2 weeks from tomorrow I can be meeting with the judge in Russia and be one step closer to bringing Jake home!!!  Yes Jake mommy will be seeing you soon maybe in little over a week!!

     So Feb. school vacation starts tomorrow so that will give me time to pack, make plans for Mattie, finish my MCAS Alts for work , and get the house ready for Mattie's little brother Jake to finally come home after almost a year!!  

     Well it is 10PM and Mattie and I still have to frost the cupcakes for this school party tomorrow so I will post more details when we get them.