1st Travel plans & more

Well, it's taken a week.........but here's our itinerary for the 1st trip.

7/31/07 Leave for Moscow
Stop over in Frankfurt, Germany before getting there
8/1/07 Arrive in Moscow and stay the night in a hotel close to the airport (so I don't have to pay for more transportation -- $300/night
8/2 Fly to Samara in the morning
Meet with Coordinator and officials in the afternoon
Spend the evening in Samara and night at the Renassance (sp?) hotel -- $300/night
8/3 Go to orphanage in another town to meet little one
Spend the afternoon looking around the town (taking lots of memory pictures)
Spend the night in hotel there (arranged by coordinator) about $100/night
8/4 Go back to the orphage and spend a little more time with her
Meet with officials again to sign paperwork stating that she is the child
we wish to pursue (like an LOI in China) and they agree to it (like an LOA
in China)
Leave for Moscow in the evening
Spend night at same hotel from the 1st -- $300 again
8/5 Leave for Frankfurt and then on to Washington, Dulles and then to Dallas

So, in case you weren't very clear here it's going to be about $1000 for hotels alone...............and then the airline tickets cost about $1650 each. If we end up needing to make changes it'll be an extra $250 plus whatever extra hotel costs.

Keep us in prayers. I'm going nuts right now trying to make sure I've got all the "little" things packed and done as well as contemplating everything that's happening right now.

We didn't want to go into debt for any adoption, cash only.........but at this point it was inevitable with how quickly this has gone. If Gary is able to get a good job in the Fall, the adoption costs should be fairly easily covered, but that hasn't happened yet and I'll be losing some pay this year because of being out on maternity leave and family medical leave act (for her surgeries).

Then there's the other concern. We finally got word from the 3rd dr. today, the one that's worked with Russian adoptions before. She did NOT give us a lot of hope for this little one. All because of how small she was at birth and how big her head is right now........

This confuses and frustrates me because she was premature and her growth in ALL areas of her body is in line with each other, though very low and not on the charts. She doesn't look like she has other problems, but the dr. said with these things, there are chances of cerebral palsy (at best of the worst problems). She also asked us if we could request another referral.........she was VERY discouraging. Yes, we can refuse her once we get there (we're sending pictures and video to the dr. on the 1st night we see her), but it's not fair to her or to us to even meet her if there isn't a chance that we'll go for it. I can't handle an MR child with other children on the way, let alone handle one needing the cleft surgeries and not being able to stay at home for at least the next 2 years with her. It's not fair to either of us.

So, pray for our decision. I am hooked on this little one and have seen some really incredible stories lately about dr. diagnosis not being accurate and the child being ok. But when you have 3 dr.'s all giving you negative feedback (2 working with adoptive families alot) it's really hard to stay encouraged. When I look at her I see nothing but a healthy little cleft affected child. Please pray that this is all the dr.'s will see when we get there. Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is prevalent in Russia and I read a little up on it today.........it SEEMS like she has some of the possible symptoms of it, but none of the dr.'s have brought that up.

None the less, she is a little one that needs a home...........and we need a little one..........she's imperfect, but so are we. I struggle with thoughts of how I could even think about not accepting her!!! Another yucky thought is that now we're so involved with Russia that we can't do a domestic adoption (at least until one or both of these is over) and if we don't accept her, we MAY get another referral while we are there.........or we MAY be put into the LONG waiting line for Russia (I think it's about a year right now) and I'm not sure that our agency will be in Russia at that point, because Russia is just going through reaccreditation again with it's agencies and IFS is not one of the current agencies.............it's rumored to be shutting down independent adoptions soon.

Ok, now everyone is up to date and can see all that I'm feeling......a little TMI I think...........lol

But please pray for my packing AND my sanity as we go and meet this little one. Please pray that God will make it obvious to us while we are there if she is or is not to be our little Isabelle (though wouldn't the name Isabelle Hope[God's promise of hope] be perfect for her anyway!!!).

Please also pray for our finances. I've been handling just the adoption expenses and I've just become aware of some more things that I don't like what I see (which I probably contributed to a great deal with buying everything for the girls including decorating and quilt swaps). Please pray that God will help us to not only get out of debt, but to not get into any more debt with the adoptions.

Thanks,

Terri