WOW!

What a difference 24 hours makes... after a long journey, lost luggage, an interminable afternoon and evening, a 10'x10' hotel room, and a late night trip to the Polish equivalent of Costco for a change of clothes for me (Tom's luggage made it, the bags with my stuff, Hayden's stuff and Paulina's stuff didn't!)... we got a good 10 hours of sleep and finally met Paulina. She is beautiful and so sweet. I'm not exactly sure how to describe seeing her for the first time, and can undoubtedly not even approach conveying it in words... but it was amazing, lots of happy tears and hugs. Hayden gave her a hug and kiss, a couple of times, he was super!

We spent most of the morning with her, playing in their "therapy" room, which was a large room with lots of gym mats and LOTS of toys, including a tricycle which was great for Hayden. We held her most of the time and she took a short nap on Tom's lap. She was super quiet and seemed wary at first, but VERY observant. When she woke up, I think she decided we were ok, she relaxed a lot and started babbling a lot and playing with the toys. She can crawl like a champ and wants to walk everywhere... she can't quite do it alone yet, but with even a few weeks practice she'll give Hayden a run for the money :-)

Nap time at the orphanage is 12-3, so we went back to the hotel to let Hayden sleep also. He has been a champ, by the way. When everyone woke up, we returned to spend the rest of the afternoon with Paulina. We stayed outside this time and she perked up even more. Hayden started running laps around the yard and she wanted to join… she can’t walk on her own yet but is VERY determined when you hold her hands.

We are unfortunately in a hotel right now, and the director at the orphanage will not allow her to go home with us until we’re in an apartment, understandable. So, Magda is working on it – hopefully we’ll be settled by tomorrow afternoon and she will come to stay with us on Wednesday. Fingers are crossed – it was really hard to leave her twice today… she cried, and we cried, it’s just tough to leave…

Going to try and sleep now – more later in the week. This silly blog thing is timing out when I try to upload photos so hopefully I can find a land line and get some on tomorrow...

FINALLY!

OK, 22 hours and counting :-) At least until our flight leaves... Hayden just left with Mamaw and Papaw to spend the night so Tom & I could pack and get everything ready to go. We're also going to have dinner at Pappasito's since it will be awhile until we see Mexican food again!!

We arrive in Warsaw around noon on Sunday. Magda, our facilitator there, will pick us up and we'll drive the 2 or so hours to Czestochowa. We may have to stay in a hotel for the first few days... hoping not, but sounds like there may be an issue with the apartment until August 1. Not perfect, but in the grand scheme of this journey, no big deal! On Monday, we meet the regional adoption officials first thing in the morning - my understanding is that this is essentially the first hearing in the adoption process. We then meet the director of the orphanage, and then finally, Paulina. If all goes well, we could get custody as early as Monday!!

Hopefully our next post will be less of me rambling about preparation and more good stuff!!!!

are we there yet?

So, Lina called today with tough news. There was a personnel change at the adoption center in the region where Paulina is located. They have a new director and she is not available for our current dates, and the adoption cannot proceed without her. So... we're delayed about 2 1/2 weeks. New schedule is:

7/27 arrive in Poland
8/12 1st court date
9/13 travel home with Paulina

It was horribly disappointing at first, but after having the afternoon to process it, and after successfully rebooking all the tickets, it doesn't seem so bad. Actually, the schedule is easier - it is less time total for Hayden and I away from home, and it allows more time to get the paperwork done after the 21 day waiting period. It's also 2 1/1 weeks more to learn Polish :-)

Thanks to everyone for all the support...

More details

OK, we now have tickets to Poland, I can cross that off the list. We're all leaving on 7/9, Tom is returning to Houston on 8/3, hopefully if everything goes as planned we'll all return on 8/30. We'll be staying in an apartment at the orphanage in Czestochowa 7/10 - at least 8/2. Depending on the size of the place, etc. we may move to Warsaw after that.

We'd been talking to Hayden about getting a little or big brother or sister since we started the application process last year. But since we received the referral, I'd been kicking into high gear and showing him Paulina's picture as much as possible and telling him he's getting a little sister. I'm 99% sure he didn't get it - but this morning, I said, "you're getting a little sister like Rosie, on Caillou" - and the light came on!!! I KNEW Caillou would eventually be good for something!!!!

Nine days????

Hi everyone! Well we got the call yesterday afternoon telling us we had to be in Poland on July 10 to meet Paulina on July 11. WHAT????? We're traveling in nine days???? So I haven't slept much since receiving the referral on June 17, but I may as well forget about it now (or magically produce a whole lot of Ambien).

I'm now frantically on craigslist trying to find another crib, little girl bedding, etc., etc.. Paulina is currently living in an orphanage in Czestochowa, Poland. This is south of Warsaw and is considered the most beautiful part of the country. It's mountainous with lots of picturesque little towns. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cz%C4%99stochowa , http://www.krakow-info.com/czestoch.htm

So, logistics! Tom, Hayden, and I will depart July 9 - arrive Warsaw July 10 and travel by car tot he Czestochowa. Paulina is living in an orphanage there - we'll meet her on July 11 and the bonding period will officially begin on July 14. Hopefully the judge will allow us to have custody sometime that week, otherwise, we will visit her as much as possible daily at the orphanage. Our first court date is July 31. After that, Tom can come home. Hayden, Paulina and I have to remain in Poland until August 29 to get the final adoption decree in Czestochowa and then the US visa in Warsaw. We'll get an apartment in Czestochowa 7/11 - 8/1, and then 8/2 - 8/30 in Warsaw. I was fortunate enough to find a family in Round Rock who just completed their Polish adoption in January of this year, and they have been a HUGE help on the logistics part and understanding what to expect daily. It has been an enormous comfort just meeting someone who has done this before us. Because the program in Poland is so small, there aren't a lot of online resources or support, so it's been a little tough finding information...

So, that's all I have for now - we still have to book tickets and all that good stuff... if anyone is going to be in Europe this summer, hop on a train and come visit us :-) We're going to try to update this at least weekly while we're there.

PS - we're taking the house in Houston off the market and putting off the construction on the new house. ENTIRELY too much going on to go there right now!!! I am hugely relieved.