Pick-Up Trip Days 3 & 4

October 6, 2014

We arrived in Yerevan in the wee hours of Monday morning and were promptly taken to our apartment where we got a few hours of sleep and a breakfast.  I then went to sign for and pick up a document that we would need for court.  Around lunch time, the four of us along with our facilitator piled into a car and made the two hour drive to Gyumri where Ella has lived since shortly after she was born.  We had just enough time for a very quick stop to see Ella and let her know we had come back for her.  It was a great reunion.

We had to be in court at 3:00 pm.  The proceedings lasted about 40 minutes with the judge asking Craig and me each some questions, the social services representative speaking on Ella's behalf and recommending her adoption, and the judge then reading all of our dossier items as well as Ella's documents into the record before announcing that we had passed court and that the official ruling would be made public the next day at noon.  After court, we were just exhausted (the 8 hour time difference was not helping), so we decided to go back to Yerevan, grab a quick dinner and get some sleep which we did.

October 7, 2014

Craig and Rex stayed in Yerevan this day as we could tell that Rex needed some time to recalibrate.  The boys spent hours walking and playing at local parks as well as napping, but also did some grocery shopping and laundry for us.  Meanwhile, Emilia, our facilitator and I headed back to Gyumri.  I had to be in court at noon to hear the decision which made us officially a family of five.  Then we went to apply for Ella's new birth certificate as well as adoption certificate, followed by a lunch and then a one hour visit with Ella at the orphanage.  I tried to prepare her for the major change awaiting her the next day when she would be leaving, but I guess she just couldn't quite wrap her mind around the momentous experience to come.  Then Emilia and I as well as our facilitator returned to Yerevan where Craig and Rex were waiting for us with dinner ready.  I tried to get a little more organized that evening in the apartment, but the kids were in need of a lot of attention, so we made that a priority.

Pick-Up Trip Days 1 & 2

October 4, 2014

We left our home at 8:00 to head to the airport.  Everything went smoothly from Cincinnati to Chicago though I will say that the Chicago airport is crazy and we were lucky to have had a five hour layover as it gave us just about enough time to get from gate to gate and eat a quick meal before boarding the flight to Vienna.  The kids did great and slept well over half of the hours on the transatlantic leg of the journey.

Rex is a champion airplane sleeper

October 5, 2014

We arrived in Vienna and had more than 14 hours to kill. Of course, we were pretty excited about this as my sister lives in Vienna and we had already planned to spend the day with her, my brother-in-law, niece and nephew as well as some of their extended family.  We just hung out at their house and caught up while they treated us to some delicious food and relaxing hours.  Later we went for a walk and to a great playground.  My nephew and niece are absolutely wonderful with their younger cousins and lavished lots of attention and affection on Rex and Emilia.  After a very nice day with everyone, we departed for Yerevan at 10:20 pm.

Cousins at the piano

Introducing...

... another Armenian angel, our bright and beautiful new daughter, Anjella.

Ella, as she will be called, is 6 years old and doing remarkably well thus far.  She has been with us since October 8 and we could not have wished for a smoother transition.  We are so blessed to have this lovely girl in our family.  She is a wonderful daughter and big sister.

IAC 293 & 294 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 293 which was held on September 11, 2014:

1) Irish dossier from August 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 2 months

2) Italian dossier from February 2012 referred a male child aged 4 years and 7 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from September 2012 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from September 2012 referred a male child aged 7 years and 11 months

5) US dossier from December 2012 referred a female child aged 2 years and 10 months with features in health status

6) Italian dossier from June 2013 referred a waiting child (#2436) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from October 2013 referred a waiting child (#1248) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) Italian dossier from November 2013 referred a twin brother and sister, aged 8 years and 8 months, with features in health status

9) US dossier from May 2014 referred a waiting child (#2361) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from August 2014 referred a waiting child (#2002) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from August 2014 referred three waiting children (#2241 & #2424 & #2484) with profiles on the MOJ site

12) US dossier from September 2014 referred a waiting child (#2104) with a profile on the MOJ site

13)  US dossier from September 2014 referred a waiting child (#2400) with a profile on the MOJ site

14)  US dossier from September 2014 referred a waiting child (#2315) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 294 which was held on September 19, 2014:

1) German dossier from September 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years and 10 months

2) German dossier from October 2010 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months

3) Italian dossier from November 2010 referred a male child aged 5 years and 9 months

4) German dossier from November 2010 referred a female child aged 4 years and 8 months

5) Spanish dossier from November 2010 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months

6) US dossier from March 2011 referred a male child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from February 2012 referred two sisters aged 4 years and 2 months & 7 years and 1 month with a family history

8) Italian dossier from August 2012 referred a female child aged 7 years and 10 months with features in health status

9) Dutch dossier from September 2012 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months with features in health status

10) Italian dossier from March 2013 referred a female child aged 8 years and 8 months

11) Italian dossier from April 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 6 months

12) Italian dossier from May 2014 referred three siblings, male and female, 4 years and 11 months, 5 years and 11 months & 7 years and 5 months

13) US dossier from September 2014 referred a waiting child (#2313) with a profile on the MOJ site

14) US dossier from September 2014 referred a waiting child (#2286) with a profile on the MOJ site

15) US dossier from September 2014 referred three waiting children (#2251 & #2252 & #2253) with profiles on the MOJ site

A Rose By Any Other Name

Naming is a hotly debated matter in the adoption community with some seeing the value in keeping a child's birth name, others believing that they have a right to re-name their children, and many trying to find a middle ground between both.

Craig and I gave the issue a lot of thought with all three of our adoptions and have come to different conclusions in each case.  We always waited to meet our children before we made a decision and, out of respect to their biological families and their birth countries, always referred to them by their birth names until they were legally ours.

In Rex's case, his birth name, while a very popular boys' name in Armenia, is a common female first name here in the US which we thought my cause some confusion and teasing.  In addition, it was obvious to us that Rex did not respond to his birth name as we heard him called by it countless times during our registration trip and he showed now reaction.  Given these two factors, we felt comfortable changing his name to Rex which is a family name for us, as is his middle name.  And we have found over time that his name fits him very well.  He is the little king of this family.

Emilia's birth name was a very traditional Slavic name.  Craig and I both thought it beautiful and were using a sweet and very American nickname based on it for our girl while we waited to bring her home.  We were quite tempted to keep the name, but we didn't know at the time if she had been named by her birth family or hospital staff and the name itself held a negative association for us with an American celebrity.  Plus, after meeting her, we realized she, too, did not respond to her birth name.  After Emilia arrived in the US, we had a Bulgarian translator for our initial medical appointments and she tried every single nickname that someone could be called based on her birth name and Emilia showed no reaction.  This made us feel confident that we had made the right decision in giving Emilia a new first and middle name, honoring beloved members of our family.

Making a name choice for Big Sis has been much harder than it was for Rex and Emilia.  Sis is older and she responds to her name.  In fact, she strongly identifies with it.  It is a lovely name and we much prefer her birth country's pronunciation of it over the American version.  This pronunciation also lends itself to a nickname that has been on our short list for girl names for years, despite its recent surge in popularity.  And, the nickname is a family name for us to boot.  Therefore, we decided to keep Big Sister's birth name, with an unusual American spelling that will hopefully reflect its proper pronunciation.  We will use a nickname that can stand alone.  And for a middle name, like Rex and Emilia, she will be given a family name.  We just haven't decided which one yet.

I know that our children may question our choices in naming them as they grow up.  I questioned my parents and that was without an adoption factor involved.  I am prepared for them to tell me they hate their names and make decisions about what they want to be called.  They may even opt to change their names officially and while this will be hard for me to accept, I know it's their right.  But I simply want our children to know that we did not take the issue of naming them lightly and that we thoughtfully, carefully considered what would be best for each of them within the realm of our understanding at the time of their adoptions.

And no matter what the future holds in this regard, as a mother to my children I am with Shakespeare, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose / By another other name would smell as sweet."

Southpaw Makes Us Drool

Some people get excited when their J. Crew, Pottery Barn or TravelSmith catalogs arrive in the mail.  Our family, well, we get all drooly when Southpaw sends us their glossy pages.  We love everything we have ever purchased from Southpaw, so we sit down and look through the catalog over and over, dreaming of all the cool OT and sensory stuff we would like to have in our home to enjoy.  We'll take one of each, please and thank you.

Here's what we're currently googly-eyeing on the Martini wish list:

The 3-in-1 small barrel swing

The small rocker board

The 10-foot resistance tunnel

There's always Christmas or next year, right?

Almond Olive Oil Cake

Several weeks ago after a couple of semi-aimless clicks on the computer - you know how it goes - I came across this recipe for Almond Olive Oil Cake.  Normally I would be freaked out by the idea of baking sweets with olive oil, but this cake had two of my favorite ingredients/flavors, almond and lemon, and looked super delicious and moist in the picture.  So, I kept the link open and let it taunt me for a while.  Finally, I decided to make the cake and it was fantastic with a fragrant and flavorful base and a crunchy topping.

I baked it on a Saturday afternoon and I am not ashamed to say that by Sunday night it had vanished into thin air... or more likely into an extra pound around our middles.