The Stork Visits the Burror Bunch

Yes, it’s true. We have official word that the stork indeed does have a package for us. However, just like last time, there was some sort of mix up and our little bundle of joy was delivered to Kazakhstan. So, we are preparing to go pick him/her up as soon as possible!

Some of you may be shocked, stunned, surprised and other words that begin with “s” to hear this news. Not only are we willingly signing up to be outnumbered, but we are going back to Kazakhstan to make it happen! There was definitely a lot of thought and discussion about which country we would go to, and we just kept coming back to Kaz for all the same reasons we chose it last time. It is still not easy to adopt from there; in fact, it is now harder. We definitely do not look forward to the tough parts of the process, but we feel that Kazakhstan is still the best choice for us and in the end, it will be worth it. Plus, we are really hoping to visit Slava again! ;)

And let me assure you, I felt the same shock you must be feeling now a couple of months ago when I approached Nathan about getting started on the next adoption and he was on board with no coercion necessary on my part! We have always been open to another child, and most of you know that I was gung ho for another shortly after we got home with Camille! But Nathan wanted to wait, and for good reason(s). However, a couple of months ago, I brought up the subject with him again for the first time in a year or more. He was very receptive to the idea, and dare I say, excited!! For anyone who knows Nathan, he does not embrace change quickly or heartily (much to my chagrin, and probably betterment). So for him to be as agreeable as he was so quickly, well, I took that as my cue to start the adoption paperwork like 5 minutes ago. So right then and there, baby Burror #3 was born!

This time around will be much the same and very different, all at the same time. We will have to go through the same paperwork process, once again assuring the Kazakh officials that we are not criminals, love children and still do not have tuberculosis. But it will be very different in that we now have 2 very active and growing children to look after while putting together an entire dossier! That thought makes me as nauseous as one gets after eating recycled Kazakh pastries. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to do all that I will need to do; however, anyone who knows me knows that I am always up for a challenge. So here I go.

Some more specifics: We are open to adopting a child of either gender this time around and have specified the age of 18 months and under. As much as I hate surprises, I am looking forward to being surprised with gender this time around! Gianna very much wants a baby brother, so we’ll see! The process is MUCH longer this time around, which is why we are starting now. After we submit our dossier, we are told the wait will be 12-18 months before travel. Ouch. That’s a loooooooooong wait, which is part of what is spurring me on to get things done quickly now, while I’m still in control of the timetable! So even if I work very quickly, in the absolute best-case scenario, we will have the dossier ready in July or August. So this means we will travel anywhere between summer of 2010 to (please, no more winters in Kazakhstan!!!) winter 2010/2011. I have a bad feeling that my bathroom scale will also be showing me those same numbers by then...I'm a stress eater, ya know. ;)

We really hope that we will be able to take both girls with us back to Kazakhstan. But that decision will have to be made further down the road, and will depend on finances and which region we are assigned to. We are using Adoption ARK again this time, and they have assured us that they are going to do their best to get us assigned to an “easy” (hahahahahaha) region that requires only 2 trips and is more urban and safe to take our girls to. I definitely have my preferences of where I’d like to get assigned to, but we’ll just have to wait and see how it all plays out. Part of me would love to see more parts of Kazakhstan (or would I?), but part of me thinks that if we got assigned to Almaty, that would be ideal as far as taking the girls….and for rekindling my passion for the Ramstore.

So, we loved sharing our journey to adopt Camille last time. And we are looking forward to sharing this journey with all the same people, plus a few new friends we’ve made since then. The blog will probably be updated just randomly for the next year or so; but of course, once we get closer to travel and are actually in Kaz, I will blog more than you have time for.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Advice? Volunteers? ;)