We received a call last evening from our adoption agency. Apparently the SDA gave them the wrong appointment date for us. Instead of it being Feb. 15th, it is Feb 12th! We are really excited that we're going to be able to get in sooner. I was worried though that re-booking our tickets at this late date would cost us a fortune. However, our travel agency (Golden Rule Travel - I highly recommend them if you're adopting internationally) was able to re-book the tickets for a minimum price. HUGE relief!
Now we're leaving for Ukraine on February 8th - next Friday!! I'm going to have to adjust the countdown clock :) Now the scramble to finalize everything - and Scott is out of town for work this week, and I've got a conference part of next week. We were looking forward to that extra weekend to get everything done and relax a bit (i.e. - sleep a lot!) before we go. Oh well - I guess our kids need us to come sooner.
I've got a total adrenaline rush going on right now. It's terribly hard to concentrate, knowing that we're leaving next week. Seriously, I cannot wait to get on that plane! 2 weeks from today is our actual appointment and hopefully we'll be posting some really positive news!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Travel Details
Our countdown clock today says 21 days to go - 3 weeks! Now we're down to the nitty gritty, but we've had more than enough time to prepare. I've never done this for any major trip/vacation before, but we actually purchased travel medical & evacuation insurance for this trip. It really wasn't that expensive, but most of all it provides peace of mind.
Scott's insurance is fairly good about what they'll cover for him when he's out of the country. Mine, on the other hand, would treat any medical visit overseas as "out of network" with a $2500 deductible and only 65% coverage beyond that. Of course, if something major were to happen and we'd need to get a higher quality of medical care than can be provided in Ukraine, we'd rack up a ton of expenses trying to get out. I think since we'll be gone so long, it's better for us to play it safe.
We also registered with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv today - check another box off. We're working on getting some meds to take with us - again, just in case - and need to pull together all of the documentation that we need to take with us. Our agency will send our dossiers over, but there are still a few things that we need to take (tax returns, employment verification letters, etc). Seriously, the list of documents is neverending. I understand the need for some of it, but the process (in any country) is just so complicated. I hope that someday it becomes much easier - and cheaper - to give kids in orphanages a good home.
I haven't seen anyone else discuss this, but I wonder if any of the adoptive parents try to stick to their workout schedule while they're overseas? You know how I am about that... My trainer is giving me some exercises I can do indoors without needing much equipment, and I am taking bands with me. If it was warm, it would be alot easier, but I don't want to pack all of the clothes that I'd need to run outside, and I have a feeling that the streets won't be plowed very well anyway outside of Kyiv. I don't imagine that we'll have a lot of downtime, but I gotta believe that with the stress of the situation, it will be helpful to be able to burn off some energy, as I'm known for my patience :)
Scott's insurance is fairly good about what they'll cover for him when he's out of the country. Mine, on the other hand, would treat any medical visit overseas as "out of network" with a $2500 deductible and only 65% coverage beyond that. Of course, if something major were to happen and we'd need to get a higher quality of medical care than can be provided in Ukraine, we'd rack up a ton of expenses trying to get out. I think since we'll be gone so long, it's better for us to play it safe.
We also registered with the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv today - check another box off. We're working on getting some meds to take with us - again, just in case - and need to pull together all of the documentation that we need to take with us. Our agency will send our dossiers over, but there are still a few things that we need to take (tax returns, employment verification letters, etc). Seriously, the list of documents is neverending. I understand the need for some of it, but the process (in any country) is just so complicated. I hope that someday it becomes much easier - and cheaper - to give kids in orphanages a good home.
I haven't seen anyone else discuss this, but I wonder if any of the adoptive parents try to stick to their workout schedule while they're overseas? You know how I am about that... My trainer is giving me some exercises I can do indoors without needing much equipment, and I am taking bands with me. If it was warm, it would be alot easier, but I don't want to pack all of the clothes that I'd need to run outside, and I have a feeling that the streets won't be plowed very well anyway outside of Kyiv. I don't imagine that we'll have a lot of downtime, but I gotta believe that with the stress of the situation, it will be helpful to be able to burn off some energy, as I'm known for my patience :)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
5 Weeks and Counting!
We are at just under 5 weeks and starting to get pretty antsy. We really just want to be on the airplane at this point. I'd rather have had only 3 weeks to get ready instead of 3 months!
We've purchased most everything we think we're going to need for the trip. I've never taken so much non-clothing items in my life. In doing research on what other families do to pack for 4-6 weeks (esp. in the winter with the bulky clothes), it seems like most couples don't actually take many clothes for themselves, since there's so much other stuff to take for a trip that long. Just some of the random items we've purchased are: a sink stopper (to wash clothes in case there's no washer in our apartment - there are no laundromats); a clothesline to dry the clothes; toilet paper (it's supposed to be really rough over there, and not in most public restrooms); travel converters; money belts; lots of ziplock bags (don't ask - everyone just recommends them); hand disinfectent (lots of it); reading lights (some regions have regular brown-outs); our gifts for the orphanage workers and our facilitator; disposable cameras (so if the kids are old enough, they can take their own pictures of their friends and care workers to have); toys, games, and leapsters for the kids to keep them occupied and provide Scott some bit of sanity on the long plane ride home; etc, etc. Scott's also been burning lots of DVDs to his iPod, and we're taking a bunch of books, soduku, travel scrabble, etc.
We purchased a webcam for the computer we're taking and have set up a Skype account. If anyone has this capability and wants to Skype us, let me know and I'll email you our Skype account information. As long as we have an internet connection, this will be a really good option for us to communicate with people back home. We're also going to try to get on email daily if possible. No guarantees though. We'll also be blogging and posting photos as often as we're able.
But, until after the court hearing and the kids are officially ours, we're not going to post any pix of them - don't want to jinx it!
We had to re-do a bunch of our paperwork back in Oct so that it would not be close to expiring by the time we get there (most of the dossier paperwork is only good for 12 months). We think there are one or two more things that we'll have to get re-done before we go; we'll see. We have a doctor lined up in the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital in Denver who can help us understand any medical conditions the kids may have (treatable or non-treatable; long-term or short-term illness).
My biggest hope, as I have way too much time to think about this whole thing, is that our choice is clear for us when we're looking at the pictures of the children. I hope we can get this done on the first trip, and not have to decline any of the kids we see because they're too ill or too old. A lot of couples have to go back for a second or third appointment (up to 90 days later) because the kids were sicker than they were willing to take on. Fingers crossed that it happens for us the first time.
We've purchased most everything we think we're going to need for the trip. I've never taken so much non-clothing items in my life. In doing research on what other families do to pack for 4-6 weeks (esp. in the winter with the bulky clothes), it seems like most couples don't actually take many clothes for themselves, since there's so much other stuff to take for a trip that long. Just some of the random items we've purchased are: a sink stopper (to wash clothes in case there's no washer in our apartment - there are no laundromats); a clothesline to dry the clothes; toilet paper (it's supposed to be really rough over there, and not in most public restrooms); travel converters; money belts; lots of ziplock bags (don't ask - everyone just recommends them); hand disinfectent (lots of it); reading lights (some regions have regular brown-outs); our gifts for the orphanage workers and our facilitator; disposable cameras (so if the kids are old enough, they can take their own pictures of their friends and care workers to have); toys, games, and leapsters for the kids to keep them occupied and provide Scott some bit of sanity on the long plane ride home; etc, etc. Scott's also been burning lots of DVDs to his iPod, and we're taking a bunch of books, soduku, travel scrabble, etc.
We purchased a webcam for the computer we're taking and have set up a Skype account. If anyone has this capability and wants to Skype us, let me know and I'll email you our Skype account information. As long as we have an internet connection, this will be a really good option for us to communicate with people back home. We're also going to try to get on email daily if possible. No guarantees though. We'll also be blogging and posting photos as often as we're able.
But, until after the court hearing and the kids are officially ours, we're not going to post any pix of them - don't want to jinx it!
We had to re-do a bunch of our paperwork back in Oct so that it would not be close to expiring by the time we get there (most of the dossier paperwork is only good for 12 months). We think there are one or two more things that we'll have to get re-done before we go; we'll see. We have a doctor lined up in the International Adoption Clinic at Children's Hospital in Denver who can help us understand any medical conditions the kids may have (treatable or non-treatable; long-term or short-term illness).
My biggest hope, as I have way too much time to think about this whole thing, is that our choice is clear for us when we're looking at the pictures of the children. I hope we can get this done on the first trip, and not have to decline any of the kids we see because they're too ill or too old. A lot of couples have to go back for a second or third appointment (up to 90 days later) because the kids were sicker than they were willing to take on. Fingers crossed that it happens for us the first time.
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