Why 4 Trips?

The first day of school! Blake 4th, Will 3rd, Audrey 2nd Just too big...

Starting another school year is always so sad. I miss my babies while they're gone all day. Blake told me, "It's going to be hard to remember to follow all the rules and sit still. All summer we didn't have to obey at all." I asked him if I should be more strict next summer. He gave me a little smirk and said, "I don't think so, Mom"

I have been getting a lot of questions about our number of trips to Vladimir. So, I thought I should explain it a little better.

Our little girly is in the city of Vladimir. Since it is just a couple hour car drive from Moscow, we are going with the option to just fly back and forth from Moscow to US instead of staying in Russia for four weeks. The four week stay is typically what people are doing with the second trip.

With a Russian adoption, nothing is easy. It used to be one trip to Russia, meet your child, go to court and come home. But, not anymore. The typical routine is as follows...
First you wait for Russia to call with your referral (child). Trip One usually takes about seven days. You travel to the region in Russia to meet the child and get the court documents started. Then you come back to the US and wait for Russia to schedule your court date. There is typically 4 - 8 weeks between your first visit and court. Trip Two takes about four weeks. You go to court when you get there, but the adoption is not finalized until after a 10 day waiting period. Then you have to get your child's Passport and Visa from the US Embassy (we have not done this part so I don't know for sure what all happens with that).

BUT - for us, we have decided to NOT stay in Russia for four weeks (sometimes more). We are just coming home between things that need to be done in Russia. We do not want to be away from our kids at home for a month. Plus, we wouldn't get to see our girly in Russia everyday anyway. Another thing about Vladimir is you apply for the passport in person and that happens after the 10 day waiting period.

So, what we have chosen to do is this:
~1st Trip - August 16th-22nd~
We met our little girl in Vladimir, Russia - yeah!
~2nd Trip - set for Sept 19th-22nd~
Go to court in Vladimir Monday, 21st
~3rd Trip - probably around Oct. 1st
Apply for her passport in Russia
~4th Trip - probably around Oct 15th
Bring her home!

That's the plan. Hopefully that makes more since. You see, the problem with explaining everything is - I really don't know what I'm doing either! :)