Our First 72 Hours

When your trip starts off at the ticket counter and the agent says, "Did you know your flight to Chicago has been Cancelled", you have to wonder how the rest of the trip is going to go. We were fortunate in that it went fairly smoothly from there.

We arrived in Warsaw on Friday 7/31 approximately 2:15 pm (on time)and grabbed a taxi to our apartment, where we met our "landlord" to get the key and internet access (Bless him for internet access.) At 6:30 we met our attorney to get our train tickets for our trip on Saturday and found out we were to leave the apartment at 5:45 am to get the 6:35 train to Szczecin. If you know me, you know I'm not a morning person. Well there's no clock/alarm of any kind in the apartment so I went to bed and Jeff tried to stay up all night (gotta chuckle here because if you know Jeff you know he's not a night person...what a pair). Anyway, Jeff did manage to set the alarm on the tv but it turns out we both woke up around 3:00 am and stayed up until it was time to go to the train. It was a very relaxed 6 hour train ride where we rode 1st class in a 6 passenger car/berth (?). Jeff caught up on some of his sleep here.



We got to Szczecin where we were to meet one of the other attorney's, Maciej, who was then to drive us another hour to meet the kids. I have to interject here we had a "moment" when Jeff decided he had to use the rest room and decided to get back on the train to go since there was a toilet right inside the door. When the conducter blew the whistle and the train doors closed just as Jeff was coming down the stairs zippering his fly. I almost died because I could just see myself waiving him good bye as the train pulled out. Lucky for us the conducter was right there and opened the doors so Jeff could jump out. Phew!

So then we get in Maciej's car and drive another hour to a restaurant parking lot where we were told we'd be meeting the kids. This wasn't what we were originally told but who cares, we were meeting our children!!! Every time a car pulled in we said, "is that them, is that them?!". Ten minutes later they arrived, and barely cracked a smile. Hmmmm, no midgets singing, birds pulling banners, magic dust.... ooops I guess that was my little fantasy reunion. I did get hugs and kisses so that was even better!

We then got back in the car and drove 7 hours back to Warsaw. Did I mention Maciej doesn't speak any English either? So there was very little talking, a lot of sleeping, picture taking and more sleeping. But we were finally together and a real family of four. Alelleujah!

More Painting

Kasia's Before picture :



I didn't think I could put Barteks' room on display without sharing what i did in Kasia's room. It's so pink & girly.

Kasia's room after:

Countdown Begins!

Well, I've gotten Bartek's room painted, their bathroom painted and now Kasia's room painted. I'm done painting for quite awhile!

Tomorrow we leave for Poland...wahoo!!! In 2 days we'll be with the kids again. And then we'll be praying that there's no delays with the passports. If everything goes as planned, we'll be home with our children on August 14.

Explanation.

Ok, as I invite those of you who have shown an interest to continue viewing our blog, I thought I'd post a brief explanation.

We were contacted via regular mail, by Kasia & Bartek's aunt. She found our address via the internet, so we decided to but restrictions on who can view our blog. As harmless as her contacting us and inviting us to stay at her house with the kids when we pick them up may seem, we don't need the kids to have any feelings of guilt about leaving relatives behind. We'll keep in touch with their aunt & grandfather but through the correct channels.

We received our return dates on Friday, and now know that we'll be leaving on 7/30...arrive in Warsaw on 7/31...pick up the kids on 8/1...and stay until 8/14! They will be in our arms in less than 2 weeks! We are blessed!

The blogging continues!

Another task done

Well this weekend I painted the kids bathroom. So all the painting that is left is Kasia's room. I picked up the paint (two shades of pink and some tinkerbell decals) today, but before I can attempt to paint I have to take all my craft stuff down to the basement so I have room to move around. Been putting this off for the obvious reasons, I'm lazy!

I'll be changing the status of our blog to invited people only. Once I do I'll explain why.

We'll be in touch! Blessings to everyone who reads this. ~ Debbie

What we've been doing while waiting for dates.

Well we got a chance to talk to K & B again. This time it was 1:00 am our time and we were able to talk for a much longer time. This time it was pre-set for a designated time. We were told that when Magdelena (the woman at the orphanage)went in to get Kasia & Bartek from their rooms for the phone call, they were already awake, dressed and waiting. Awww.

Kasia & Bartek talking to Us.








The orphanage staff is taking all the kids to the Mountains for a vacation. They'll leave 7/15 and take a train overnight and arrive on 7/16. Kasia & Bartek are very excited to go. When Bartek mentioned they would be going fishing, Jeff said it sounded like fun and he wished he could go too. Bartek said "Ok, come on over and go". Awww.

We're going to call one last time Tuesday morning (7 am our time) before they go on their trip.

The only somewhat discerning thing we were told was that they're a little confused as to what's taking so long for us to get back and get them. They're not sure if the 2 1/2 weeks we spent together was all or will we be back. Very discerning to us. We reassured them we will be there to get them as soon as we can but that we're waiting for our attorney Agnieszka to give us our dates. They remembered Agnieszka and this put them more at ease.

Bartek & Kasia keeping busy while waiting for mom & dad




I too have been keeping busy. I went on a fun filled shopping spree to buy some clothes and shoes for the kids, thanks to the generosity of our friends and the many target gift cards we received at the shower thrown for me by our friend Wendy. (Shh I still have to get my thank you notes out).

I also got Bartek's bedroom painted. But still have to paint their bathroom and decide on a color for Kasia's room.


Bartek's Room Before



Bartek's Room After

Do you want the good news first, or the bad?

It's amazing how we're expected to jump thru hoops but our judge can make a mistake and not feel any obligation to correct it.

As you may have guessed, I'm leading with the bad news. Our judge was given a 3x5 index card with the exact spelling of how we wanted our kids names to be listed on their new birth certificates. We wanted to keep their original birth first names and give them middle names that meant something to us. So what does the judge do? She gives them the middle names as their first names. When our attorney received the adoption decree, she talked to the judge and was told the judge made a mistake but if we wanted it corrected it would require another court hearing date which would be set for who knows when, hence causing another delay! Ugh! Why can't she just change it? If we leave it as is, it will be filed on their new birth certificates in their birth town and we'd have to incur additional costs to get it changed once the kids are home. And in the meantime I have only a few days to enroll the kids on my health insurance and their school registration would be all wrong! Once again, UGH! I don't know anymore, I think this is just the straw that broke the camels back and I'm loosing it! Sorry for the venting.

On the plus side, we stayed up until 11:30 pm last night so that we could call Poland and talk to Bartek & Kasia. Bartek was the most talkative and even that was yes & no answers. We did have the help of our new friend Michael, to act as interpreter. So it wasn't like Bartek didn't understand. I think it was more that it was 7:30 am over there and he was still sleepy. Kasia on the other hand wouldn't talk because, we were told later, she got too emotional and started crying. She was so happy that we called but sad that we weren't together. Isn't that bittersweet. I want my babies home!