This is a picture of Tennyson this past November.  Don't you like the potty in the background?

I found some drafts that I had written during the adoption process that never were posted so I just posted them.

Home Study Almost Done

So today I received an email from the social worker who is conducting my home study. She said she is almost done with her report and then it goes to the INS for review. Once they figure out that I am not a serial killer or even a one time killer then they will send me to get finger printed.

Back Home

We are back home after a loooooooooooonnnnnngggggg day and a half of flying.  Yep we had an early flight out of St. Pete and a long layover in Frankfurt.  The fact that we were able to hang out in the Lufthansa lounge made the layover much better than it would have been.

Today is catch up day.  Thank you all for the sweet words of congratulations.  I have never been so excited about anything in my life.  Just one week from tomorrow I will be flying back to Russia to get Tennyson.

I haven't blogged in well over a year, but the Russian banning of adoptions to American parents has me hopping mad.  I was so fortunate to adopt my beautiful son Tennyson last year.  I feel so sad for the parents who are now in limbo because they have chosen a child who they now can't bring home.  As my blog states I looked for a Park in Kazakhstan, Nepal and then Russia.  I know the disappointment the adoption process can bring, but there are no words for those families who have already met their child and cannot bring them home.  There is also a huge financial commitment by these families.  I had to travel to Russia 3 times and each time I had to take huge amounts of cash to pay for various fees.  I think much of what is paid is just payoff to government officials.

I remember back on the day when I went to the family court and the judge approved my adoption of Tennyson.  The judge had a huge smile on her face and seemed very happy that this orphan was going to have a home.  I suppose the government officials who passed the ban and possibly Putin himself have never visited an orphanage.

Putin and their government now say they will find Russian families for the orphans. What a joke!  In Russia adoption is very taboo.  This was told to me by the Russian translators helping me with the adoption.  Apparently, when Russians adopt they try to find a child who looks just like them and then often never conceal to anyone that the child was adopted.  My Tennyson does not look like the typical Russian and had been offered to many Russian families.  If I hadn't found him he would still be in the orphanage and probably wouldn't have left until he turned 18.

If you care about this issue at all, please call and write your government representatives and ask them to put pressure on the Russian government to undo this ban.

Thanks for reading!

Laundry Baskets and Water Bottles

Tennyson has some wonderful toys.  I am sure all of you parents are familiar with this.  You buy so many toys that have all of the bells and whistles and your child finds the most odd things to play with.  When we were in in St. Petersburg and Moscow, Tennyson got the biggest kick out of playing with our water and coke bottles.  He would take them all down from the table and put them either on another table or on the floor.  He would then put them all back on the original table.  He did this over and over.

Now that we are home he has found that it is a lot of fun to move the laundry basket from one side of the room to the other and back.  Fortunately he has only done this with an empty basket.  It amazes me how long he can occupy his time with an empty laundry basket.

Now he is playing with his band in a box that a friend gave him.  He is working out what all he can do with the tamborine.  He has drummed on it and now he is looking at it funny.  You have to wonder what goes through their little heads.  Very cute.  He does seem to respond to Classical Music.  I need to get him a keyboard next.

Making Progress

Well Tennyson is starting to accept Dakota, but he is still scared of Arizona.  At least he isn't screaming bloody murder every time Arizona stands up or moves an inch.  Tennyson is adjusting well.  This morning he is playing with his legos that my parents got him.  He really likes to organize his toys.  We also went for a walk around the neighborhood.  Even though we went at 8:15 AM, I almost died from the humidity. (I hope this humidity means that we will get some rain today.)

Today we start working on a schedule.  Tennyson keeps trying to take short naps, but I am keeping him active so he has a good afternoon nap.

Oops, I gotta go.  Tennyson just crawled in my lap and it is time to read.

Adios!