Next Steps

After our “Rock Star Dossier” is processed at the Consulate, it will embark on a grand tour of Kazakhstan. Our vocabulary now includes the following 3-letter acronyms, which stand for all of the next tour stops:

Stop 1: MFA - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Stop 2: MOE - Ministry of Education (This is where we are assigned to a particular region.)

Stop 3: DOE - Department of Education (The DOE in our region will send us a LOI {Letter of Invitation} with our requested arrival date.)

Of course, the big question still looming is…..WHEN WILL WE GO???

Right now, it's looking like we will most likely travel in March. Late February if we’re really lucky. This is not a guarantee, but is the best estimate by our trusty adoption coordinator, Andrea, who I learned today can simultaneously consult with a client AND manage a child who is intent on giving his own feet a glycolic peel/foot soak with fresh orange juice!

This is a bit later than we hoped, but the word is that we are being slowed down by the holiday season, plus the Consulate is swamped with dossiers right now. The ebb/flow cycle is ebbing. We will have a more accurate estimate as we pass through each step, but all the while remembering that the process can snag or snowball without warning in Kaz. How’s that for being able to plan ahead??? :-)

So we wait, prepare, dream, stay busy and continue to sleep in late on weekends while we can.

On another note --

We celebrated National Adoption Day last Saturday by attending ceremony organized by our home study agency. It was a celebration in a small park with music, testimonials from adoptive parents, poetry, prayer and a candle-lighting ceremony for which we all stood in a circle holding our candles, around a gazebo containing a candelabra that held 3 large candles representing the children, the birthparents, and the adoptive parents. It was very nice. There were many adopted children there, and their sparkling eyes warmed my heart.

I had a slight lump in my throat from the moment we arrived, but I managed to tame any tears. But then, as we said goodbye to the director, she handed me a stuffed Teddy Bear they were giving out to the kids. “For when you bring your little one home,” she said with a kind smile. I was a goner after that. We mistily strolled back to the car through the crunch of leaves, Frank’s hand tenderly placed on my lower back. As he opened the car door for me, I laughed, “Stupid bear. I was fine until she gave me the stupid teddy bear!” We went on to enjoy a lovely dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, where we blissfully imagined ourselves at next year’s event, celebrating from a new perspective, and holding our very own sparkly-eyed child who just might be holding that cute little non-stupid Teddy Bear.

Here we are at dinner, and here is Mr. McTearsy.