Ok, this is sort of old news, but I warned you that I would be bad at updating this thing. We found out a few weeks ago that *surprise*, Kazakhstan is now processing adoption dossiers faster (Mark this day on your calendar folks: ”Kazakhstan” and “fast” were used in the same sentence…on purpose). Actually, I think what really has happened is that the Consulate has finally caught up in processing the massive amount of dossiers they received when Kyrgyzstan closed for adoptions and everyone switched to Kaz. They were swamped for a while, which is why the wait times were so long. But apparently, they are caught up now, and timelines are back to usual.

So basically all this means is that our timeline until travel has shrunk. By 6 months. Part of the reason we started the paperwork now was to get in the (what used to be) long line for a Kaz adoption. We thought we had about 18 months AFTER the paperwork was turned in before baby came home. But now we are looking at travel very likely next summer, or latest, next fall.

We have very mixed emotions about this. I feel like I am in the midst of a pregnancy that happened sooner than planned!…wondering how we will cope, will we have enough money saved by then to take the girls with us, will the girls be ready enough/old enough, will WE be ready enough/old enough, on and on.

But then when I see a baby somewhere when we are out and about, my motherly instincts start working overtime. All my worries fade and I know that everything will be just fine, or at least fine enough for us to survive. As we have requested a child 18 months and younger (and almost no one in Kaz gets a child under 9-12 months), and seeing that we will almost certainly travel next summer, you may have surmised at this point that it is quite possible that our child is already born. S/he could be anywhere from a newborn to 6 months old. This thought is really one that is hard to live with…the thought that your child is sitting in an orphanage somewhere on the other side of the world. It is what is spurring me on to kick butt on the dossier (which I am doing, by the way….woohoo!). I feel like everyday that I make some progress on the paperwork is one day less that our kid has to be alone.

Provided that the FBI and USCIS cooperate (and that our notary doesn’t screw up like last time!!!!! Anyone remember that fiasco?!), I hope to have all the documents ready and on their way to our agency by the end of August. I think that THE best part of the summertime travel dates is that we are almost assured to avoid this:














You have no idea how happy I am that we will almost certainly be missing the "Stillettos on Ice" show this time around. Honestly the timing will be perfect to take Gianna and Camille if we go in the summertime. They will be out of school, and traveling to Kaz in summer with 2 kids seems waaaaaay less daunting than traveling in subzeros.

Ok, so I guess that is all the update I have for now. I will post again when the dossier is done, and will post a picture of it, like I did last time (just for fun, we can compare the 2 stacks!). I hope to have it all done and sent off by end of August (or sooner if all the government officials decide they have nothing better to do than cooperate with me!). We are very excited (and nervous too, but mostly excited!), and want to thank everyone for their continued support and enthusiasm! The process of international adoption is fraught with so many unknowns, uncertainties, stresses and questions, so we appreciate all the unconditional support we have received so far!!!

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? ;)