"To Do List" part two

okay, here we go again...
12.) make a list of questions to ask at the orphanage about our baby
13.) find an international adoption specialist to use for a consult before accepting the referral
14.) make a card to carry with important Russian phrases
15.) find out what kind of converter I need to charge the video camera and cell phone (done)
16.) get a money belt, or two (done)
17.) get a couple toys that I can leave with the baby and play with when we visit her (maybe get duplicates so we can have them at home too?)
18.) call the credit card company and let them know that we will be making large charges so they will not suspect fraud
19.) buy some pants that don't wrinkle :0)
20.) practice packing my three ounce liquids into one quart size bag for the carry-on (done- wow! not much will fit in a quart size Ziploc bag!)
21.) get immodium, tums, benadryl, ginger pills, advil, and other meds in small packages to carry-on, also small Kleenex packs to use for t.p. in russian bathrooms (most of this is done, thanks again Joanne, you are awesome!!!)--still need immodium, benadryl and ginger
22.) want to get "squishy" pillow for plane ride
23.) will keep thinking, that's enough for now...

Starting a To Do List

Well, I've started a "to do list" of things we need to have ready in case our referral comes soon. Chris is off on Friday, so we're doing some of the things then that we need to do together (in addition to preparing for his parents' visit the next week). First we need to go to our bank and request cash in the form of new bills to take on our first trip. It usually takes a while for them to get the amount of new bills that we're going to need so I figured asking early was a good thing. My mom used to work at a bank and she said her bank had to order them and it usually took her three weeks to get them. Then we need to get passport photos taken to go on our visa applications. I saw somewhere that you can fill out most of the visa application ahead of time, then just fill in the other blanks when it's time to go so we may look into that too. (money and visa photos done!)

Stuff that doesn't have to be done Friday, but before we go...
1.) take pictures of me, Chris, Chris' parents (they're visiting from Arkansas next week, perfect timing to get their pictures taken), my parents, and a few other things to go into a photo album to leave with the baby at the orphanage (almost done)
2.) get a disposable camera to leave with the orphanage workers (done-thanks Joanne!)
3.) call the doctor and see if she's willing to give us a prescription for antibiotics to take in case we get sick and ask about putting tubes in my ears for flying since they don't equalize the pressure AT ALL--they just hurt horribly for hours at landing and after the flight
4.) make a packing list for the suitcases
5.) show Chris how to work the videocamera so we can take turns
6.) get together donations to take for the orphanage
7.) make a list of phone numbers and important addresses to have with us in Russia
8.) call the cell phone company and sign up for international calling (our phone is GSM capable) (done- $3.99/minute! will probably mostly be emailing from the hotel business center!)
9.) arrange with someone to drop us off/pick us up from the airport (done)
10.) ask my brother to take care of the dogs and cats (done)
11.) want to get a travel book about Russia (done- Lonely Planet makes a great travel book!)
12.) finish this list--gosh, I feel tired just thinking about all this!

Russian phrases of the day: "Do you speak english?"- vy govo'rite po ang'liiski
"I don't speak russian."- ya ne govo-ryu po russki

More good news

I got an email today that said that my agency needed this particular new document as soon as possible because our facilitator in Russia was submitting dossiers to regions and ours was in the running!!!
Please pray that our agency would process this document very quickly and that this would be only the beginning of very good news to come!!

A-C-C-R-E-D-I-T-A-T-I-O-N!!!!!!!

Praise God for His goodness! Our agency called this morning and they are now officially accredited in Russia!!!! She said that referrals should start back up in about two weeks, so we are now really waiting for a referral and not just for our agency to be accredited. I am so excited!!!!!!! Keep those prayers coming for a quick referral and first trip to Russia!

Finally some good news to share

We received this information yesterday in an email from our agency:

"Our agency today received word that our agency's partner agency in Russia has received approval from all necessary government institutions (the various ministries) and all of these approvals are currently at the Ministry of Education. We are now waiting for reaccreditation by the Ministry of Education. The exact timeframe for the Ministry of Education to grant reaccreditation remains uncertain, however the timeframe being suggested is a few weeks. Once reaccreditation is granted it may take a couple weeks for the official paperwork to be completed and work begun.

Our agency's partner agency is currently in the second set of 10 agencies that have received approval from the various ministries and are awaiting reaccreditation at the Ministry of Education. The reason for our current positioning appears to be missing post placement reports from previous families working with our partner agency.

Our agency is very excited at the continued progress occurring in the reaccreditation process. We do however remain cautious regarding timeframes as we have seen timeframes lengthen unexpectedly in the past. We will continue to keep you updated as new information becomes available.

Please continue to pray for this process, the officials at the Ministry of Education, and the many children in orphanages who are affected by this process."

This is very exciting news! This sounds like we should have reaccreditation hopefully by the end of July and maybe things will get moving by September (August is usually a slow month in Russia as most of the court officials go on vacation for most of the month)!

I am cautiously hopeful, but very excited that there appears to at least be some end in sight and it's not ridiculous to think she could be home with us by Christmas! I only have a few more documents to get done and then they are off to the Secretary of State for apostille, I am even more anxious now to have everything in order and ready!

Please keep praying for forward movement and that our daughter would be in God's loving care while she waits for us to bring her home.