THE ISRAEL FAMILY ADOPTION: October 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

HAPPY 1 ST BIRTHDAY AVA

ANOTHER DAY GOES BY,BUT STILL NO CALL AND IT'S A BIG, BIG DAY FOR AVA. SHE TURNS 1 YEARS OLD. TECHNICALLY IT IS 545AM IN RUSSIA NOW (8 HRS AHEAD EST).
WE ARE HOPING FOR SOME GOOD NEWS ON HER BIRTHDAY OCTOBER 30TH.
DAN SAT IN THE ROCKING CHAIR IN HER ROOM JUST THINKING ABOUT HIS LITTLE GIRL.

DONT WORRY AVA MOMMY AND PAPA ARE COMING JUST HOLD ON A LITTLE LONGER.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET ANGEL......... WE MISS YOU !

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Passing the time

We are trying to keep busy while we wait for our call to go to court. I am stressing a little about when we will be going because the Holidays are coming up.. Also Uncle Brent is going to NJ for Thanksgiving and will be gone for 3 weeks so that is stressing me out about who will be watching the kids while we go away. Not being in control of the situation is tough. My sister said she would come out but the prices of flights from CA to here during the Thanksgiving is 700- 900 dollars which is crazy. I am trying to keep calm about the situation.

I think that Moscow will be getting the necessary documents this week so they can apply for court. I hope they can apply this week for court so we can travel in early November.

Thank you to everyone for the thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Maybe in November ..........We wont be there for Ava's 1 st Birthday : (

Well I have been calling my agency everyday hoping to hear that we get to Travel for our court date but yet again I am disappointed with the news. We may be traveling in November. That means we wont be with Ava on her first Birthday which we were hoping for. We are just waiting for the submission of documents to the court and not sure how long that will take. I hope for Ava's sak not long.
November is Allen and Zachary Birthday's not to mention Thanksgiving. I hope to update with some good news soon.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

What's taking so long ............ Ava's room is all ready.

We built a new room for Ava. It turned out just Beautiful.
It's tough seeing an empty room and crib.
It's seems like an eternity waiting for our little girl to come home. We are hanging in there, hoping and praying we will hear something next week. I guess Moscow is waiting on the documents for the Databank which I am not understanding how the whole process works. There are 3 databanks which the child is listed and they have to get documents stating she was on all three databanks. I dont know exaclty what that means.
While we are waiting Russian Citizens can see Ava and decide to adopt her which scares us. PRAY SHE WILL BE WITH US SOON.

Waiting for Court Date Moscow City

Sunday, October 12, 2008

25 days since we found AVA

The ticker hit 25 days today, 25 days since we found our little Angel Ava. We are waiting for court date and have not heard anything of when we might go.
Meanwhile we are building Ava's room, it is turning out so cute. I painted the top half of the room a very light light strawberry pink color and the bottom will have wayne's board which is white. Uncle Brent bought her a fan with pastel colors for her room. We are putting wood flooring down in her room. Most of it should be done today and then I can start moving her crib in and all her clothes, etc.

I will post pictures when it is complete and we hear anything about when we get to go back to Russia.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Sticker Shock............................

Most of you know it is very costly to adopt international. Before we travel on our second trip we have to pay our final fee's which was a SHOCKER. Our daughter is worth every penny though. We are excited to go on our 2nd trip and are on pins and needles waiting for court date. We know our Russia and St. Louis Reps will do everything to get us there soon. Thank you to Leslie in St Louis, and Elena in Moscow City for answering my 100 questions a day.

Wanted to give a shout out to Laura and Greg (we met them on our 1st trip on the airplane, they are with another agency but we hung out everyday and we talk everyday). Congratulations on your court date in Moscow City. Hope to see you in Russia soon.

Best Wishes Always

April & Dan

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Paperwork is on its way

Today is a good day. Our Florida Dept of Law Enforcement check has arrived in St Louis and is on its way tomororw to Russia. We are waiting on our THE LAST PAPER FROM TEXAS Our Marriage License, which Dan called Dept of State Apostille office and it will be sent out TODAY. I AM SO EXCITED. I JUST HOPE OUR COURT DATE WILL BE SCHEDULED SOON.

A Family with another agency from Moscow City which they met their child the same time found out they have court this month maybe around the 13th. I just wondering what is taking us so long to get a date. Well now Moscow will have all the paperwork so I am praying it will be soon.

Thank you everyone for your prayers.

TAGGED............................

There is a game of tag going around blogland; and I'm it!
I got tagged by Kim that is adopting a little girl also
Okay, here are Six Random Things About Me:

1. I Grew up in Southern California in The O.C Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach. Went to school at FVHS where Michelle Pfeiffer went to school and I graduated with Summer Altice- Playboy Playmate.

2. I met Dan while I was living in Texas working for American Airlines in 1998, he lived in Palm Beach FL and called to make a reservation over the phone. We exchanged infofmation and kept in touch.

3. Dan proposed at my sister house in Texas on Wed April 7 1999 and we got married April 10th 1999, and drove all the way back to Florida in my little Toyota Paseo.

4. I am a neat freak. I cant stand things on the floor or on the kitchen counters.

5. I am the youngest girl of 8 kids. My dad is 82 years old.

6. Last I am going to be 30 in April. I was born on Friday the 13th.

Now I need to tag 6 people. Since a lot of us follow the same blogs, this is hard. But here goes... I'm going to tag the following people:

1)MEGHAN

2)Debbie

3) Ivana

4)Shannon

5) Monica

6) Clarion

If I have tagged you, here are the rules!
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random facts about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

PRAY FOR US... WE NEED OUR COURT DATE !

Waiting for court and travel dates has been difficult. You wondering why everything takes so long, when you know that they have the same exact documents as the last time why does everything have to be updated it seems like 100 times. For instance our Marriage License they just had two originals sent to Russia in JULY O8,and they need more before the give us our court date. It's just frustrating, I am venting....Sorry. We just want our little Angel home.
PLEASE PRAY FOR US, WE HOPE TO TRAVEL SOON. YOUR PRAYERS ARE NEEDED.

"I have need of patience so that after I have done the will of God, I might receive the promise." Hebrews 10:36

"I waited patiently for You, Lord, and You listened to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

Thank You Melissa for these prayers.

Foreign adoptions down in Russia as foster care grows

Foreign adoptions down in Russia as foster care grows

Fewer Russian children are being adopted abroad, although the number of total adoptions in Russia is declining, figures show. The statistics point to a complex future for the country's orphans as the government struggles to implement additional means of foster care even as it tries to encourage more Russians to adopt.
According to the U.S. State Department, which released figures for the 2008 fiscal year, the number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell by 12 percent.
In 2008, there were 17,438 adoptions for abroad, while there were 19,613 in 2007. Much of this decline is due to fewer adoptees from Russia and China. Although Russia has not yet released statistics for 2008, the numbers from previous years confirm the trend.
There were 6,689 foreign adoptions in 2006, and only 4,536 in 2007 - a decline of over 30 percent - according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Education and Science, which is responsible for developing adoption programs and legislation in the country.
The United States is the chief destination for Russia's foreign adoptees - in 2006, American parents adopted 3,468 children, making up well over half of the total number of foreign adoptions.
But these numbers do not indicate that Russians are adopting more children. Of the adoptees, the share of those who remain in Russia has increased - from 7,767 in 2006 to 9,537 in 2007. But overall adoptions decreased in 2007 by about 3 percent. Indeed, the number of adopted children peaked in 2004 at 16,434, and has been declining ever since.
This is explainable by foster care programs. While adoptions declined, there has been a rise in the number of children in new, alternative foster care initiatives. While not adoptions formally, these included various kinds of foster care in which a child lives with a guardian or a family that is paid by the government. There are at least three kinds of foster categories apart from adoption. Although the government officially considers adoptions the best option for orphans, it has opted to develop these programs to bring down the number of children without parents.
Since 2006, more stringent laws regulating foreign adoptions have gone into effect. According to Yekaterina Bridge of the World Association for Children and Parents, that has meant more paperwork.
"In 2007, adoption agencies were getting accreditation based on new rules, and that has led to fewer adoptions," she told The Moscow News.
"The first accreditations were received only in June, 2007, and this caused a delay."
Explaining the decline in the number of adoptions, Bridge cited alternative forms of foster care, but noted that these forms had their drawbacks.
"Local officials in the provinces are wary of developing foster care because of the money issue. They fear children could be taken advantage of for the government subsidies."
While she said her agency was supportive of the government efforts to develop newer forms of foster care, she cited the latest figures for children without parents as "staggering."
As of December 31, 2007, 171,044 children were listed in the official adoption data base.
Officials acknowledge the need to encourage more Russians to adopt.
"Adoption is the top priority in placing children with families," says Alexandra Ochirova, who chairs the Public Chamber's Commission on Social and Demographic Policy.
"But the statistics do not show that the problem is being solved. Since not enough children are being adopted, other forms of foster care are being offered."
Ochirova does not believe that foreign adoptions will solve the problem, however.
"There are various points of view, and the interests of the child should be put first," she told The Moscow News. "But I believe that this problem should be solved inside the country. This doesn't mean we should have a ban on international adoptions, but considering the demographic situation, it would be good to make the population better prepared to adopt Russian children."
Ochirova says that raising awareness, advertising, and easing bureaucracy would lead to more adoptions. There are many Russians willing to adopt, she says, but they are daunted by the bureaucratic process.

THE ISRAEL FAMILY ADOPTION

GOTCHA DAY

Court Date