March 11, 2006
The waiting was the hardest part
At this time last year, we were home in the U.S., waiting for the 30 days to pass so we could go back to Ukraine and pick up Tara from the orphanage. Deep, deep in the back of our minds, we knew there was a chance that something could go wrong. Would she even still be there? Would her birth family come to claim her? Would they find some kind of glitch or error with our paperwork? That very rarely happens at this stage of the adoption process, but boy, I really kept busy so that little fear couldn't creep into my thoughts as the days passed by. Waiting out the 30 days was was tough. It helped so much that my cousin Sally had decided to go back with me. I will never forget what she did for us!
OK, so next month we celebrate "Gotcha Day." That's adoption-speak for the day that you actually get custody of your new child. On April 8, 2005, Tara Vika got in the car and we drove away from the orphanage for the last time.
April 8, 2005 blog entry
Today, Tara played outside in the wonderful spring sunshine with her brother Austin and lots of kids in the neighborhood. It was a glorious Saturday. She has grown more than 4 inches since last April, and she has grown in so many more ways.
Posted by Laura at March 11, 2006 10:00 PMPosted to Tara's Story
Woohooooo! Freedom was sweet!!!!
Best car ride of my life!! Go, Driver, Go!
I have experienced 2 miracles recently:
Getting Tara--
Ben getting a transplant--
Pretty good for one year's time, huh?
Posted by: sally at March 13, 2006 09:34 AMI started following Tara's story shortly after you guys arrived in Ukraine. At that time I was still in the research stage of our adoption. Due to many reasons, one of which is Ukraine stopped accepting new dossiers, we switched to Russia. This coming Sunday March 19th my husband and I will leave for Orenburg, Russia to meet for the first time a little girl under the age of three. We know nothing about her and won't even see a picture until we meet with the Ministry of Education on Tuesday. Deep in our hearts we know this little one is our princess. Thank you for this blog as it has been such an inspiration to me. I have loved seeing how much Tara has grown in the year she has been home. She has a bright beautiful smile that shines through her blue eyes. Although my blog is a Russian adoption blog not a Ukraine Adoption blog I would like to share it with you. Please send me an email if that is ok.
Posted by: Brenda at March 17, 2006 01:02 AM