Beautiful towns and amazing sights- Wednesday

On Wednesday, after another hilarious breakfast with Magda at the hotel, we again visited A in the morning.  He was not only ready and waiting at the door to play with us, he barely let Case get his coat off before dragging him upstairs to play.  When he saw us, he yelled "Hello!".  It was super cute!  Magda was with us again the whole time and while the boys we playing, we got to talk more specifics about A.  Overall, he is very healthy.  There were concerns that he was possibly ADD/ADHD and we talked about what that meant and what we thought.  Both Brian and I being in the medical profession gave our two cents from what we had seen so far.  In my nursing, I have done clinicals with in-patient child psych where I saw true ADHD (not pretty, let tell you) and being a school volunteer for years and current PTO president, I have a good grasp of what it means for sure.  We told them that from what we had seen so far, he appeared to be a normal, active 7 yr old, with little if any diagnosable ADD.  The big thing to remember is that this is not why he qualified for adoption, so we weren't afraid to share this with the foster mom and Magda.  Still, we decided to test him out to see.

We sat down in the family room (while Magda and the foster mom chatted downstairs in the kitchen- its kinda a split level house) and got out UNO to play.  UNO is a fabulous game because its easy to learn, you use colors and numbers, and eventually you can use it for math skills in adding up rounds etc.  We love it and it definitely helped Case learn his addition and subtraction early.  So it seemed the perfect game to try. 

Case and he were in A's bedroom, which has a door off the family room.  Case came out and we asked A to come out and join us too, but at first he was being a little willful and wanted to keep playing computers.   We stayed where we were and just decided to play and see if he would eventually join us.  True to all little kids that age, he realized we were probably having more fun and his curiosity got the best of him, so he came out to play too.  I knew it, lol!  We starting playing and ended up playing 3 whole games.  It was even better than we could have hoped.  Not only was it fun and a first "family" activity, but more importantly there were 3 things we observed: 1) he was able to focus and sit still enough to play the game, 3 times in fact; 2) he is very smart and picked up the rules, even with the language difference- we got to practice and use Polish words for colors and numbers and he practice English; and 3) he interacted with us great and had fun!  From that alone, we definitely saw no big evidence of extreme ADD/ADHD, which was encouraging as well.

We visited until lunch again and then left for a break in the afternoon.  Magda said she had an errand to run in the bigger town so we were on our own until about 3:30pm.  And then true to how funny she is, she finally just admitted she really had to go to the mall there to go shopping!  Apparently, Magda loves the malls, lol.  We laughed and I said I was just so totally excited there was a mall!  lol  She obviously felt very comfortable with us because she then started telling me about what she was thinking of buying and that she would show me when he got back, etc.  We were totally gabbing like girls, lol!

We had lunch again at the same pizza place and they totally remembered us.  We started realizing that not only did we probably stick out because Brian is 6'4" and we spoke English etc, but more than likely all these people knew each other in this small town and we definitely were new.  LOL!  It was delicious again and then we set out with camera in hand to explore the town square and surrounding streets.  The sun had come out and the skies were clear and the town looked lovely!  Here are a few pics:

Beautiful town square- totally picturesque!

Case and Mom- is he really that tall??!

Small street off the square

Church built in 1505

Monument to Polish soldiers that served in WWII (at least we think that's what it said, lol)

Close up of monument

Ok, Case wanted me to take a picture of this. Obviously, no "you know what" in town square. lol!

Cool architecture

We then decided to walk to the church.  Outside, on its left was an intricate monument dedicated to Blessed John Paul II, who as you know was from Poland.  It was in a very nicely manicured courtyard and as you can see from the candles, many people visit it to pay their respects and pray for his intercession.

We then went inside the church.  It was really cool!  And I mean that two-fold: it was very interesting and very cold!  Definitely never upgraded the 16th century church with heating.  The architectural elements were so amazing.  Here are a few pics:

Front view

We wondered if these were stained glass before the war

View down the aisle

Mosaics gracing the central aisle

More mosaics

Saints depicted in stain glass- beautiful!

Side altar for prayer

Original pulpit- up high, above the people

Side altar for prayer

Central altar (love the flat screen added on, lol)

We did not stay long and in the time we were in there, many ladies came in to pray and reflect.  It was really nice feeling the comfort of the Catholic Church and the fact this is an extremely religious, catholic country and town.

Just before we left, we saw a plaque next to the inside door- it said that during WWII, the church had been used as a headquarters/gathering place for Nazi troops.  Talk about a sobering reminder of what this beautiful town and country had to endure.  Later came the Red Army, who in many ways were worse.  I just can't imagine.

In the afternoon, after Magda returned with some totally cute clothes and shoes etc (lol), we went back for our second visit of the day.  This time again, the other kids were home from school.  It was fun and we played with them as well (UNO again) and we shared iPads and played Sonic and Angry Birds.  It was very sweet.  However, we realized two things: that we weren't getting as much time with just A and that the kids were really trying to get our attention and we didn't want to confuse them that we were there for them (the older kids especially).  So after we left, we talked with Magda about maybe only coming the following morning or until the kids came home.  The other kids were great, no question, we just wanted to spend time with A before we left.  She totally agreed.

We left around 6:00pm after another great visit.  We really felt totally comfortable with everything by this time and as Brian said, he just wished we could take him with us now.  A had definitely taken to Brian the most and wanted him to hold him alot.  Brian is like a big teddy bear, so I think his size was comforting to A.  he liked Case and I as well; but Brian was the favorite this day by far.  :)

We met Magda again for dinner and we went into town to another restaurant recommended by the foster families bio son.  Totally walkable but Magda insisted she drive, lol.  The restaurant was in an old fabric manufacturing warehouse that had been renovated obviously. It had really great food and was totally eclectic with a blend of things going on, which made it even cooler !  Kinda pub-like with an aerobics studio above us and a B&B attached next door.  Our waiter (super cool guy) took Brian over to see the rooms and he said they were nice!  Then they put on the big soccer match between Chelsea and Barcelona in the other room on their gigantic tv and by the time we left, it was packed with an interesting blend of regular guys and women who had just come from step class.  But it wasn't like a pick-up place- they were all only there to watch soccer, drink pivo and eat.  Like I said, eclectic, lol!

We returned back to the hotel with the plan that we would accompany the foster dad and A to an appointment in the regional town to have him evaluated for ADD.  Good fortune smiling again because believe it or not, they had asked for the appointment a year before and it just happened to fall during the time we were there.  That's God's hand right there.  And also folks, unfortunately that's socialized medicine right there.  Still, we looked forward to Thursday and taking a little trip.

Next up- Thursday, what we found out, and the advantage of Brian being there, lol.

A Tigger-ific Tuesday!

So, now we finally come to Tuesday (have I teased you enough? lol).  Just be prepared, because there are very few pics- we didn't take many because we were so busy. 

The day started with breakfast at the hotel with Magda and then we all piled in a taxi to the regional adoption center for our meeting with the director and the case worker for A.  Of course, we were a bit nervous, but the taxi driver had a little Yorkie on his lap who was cute as a button and that helped diffuse any nerves.  Dogs rock! 

Several bumpy roads later, we arrived at the regional adoption center which was again in an older looking building.  It was attached to what was or had been a police training center (I think), but this separate building was now what served the needs of the older, eligible adopted children in foster care.  We went in and again were led to an office with a desk, chairs, and a couch.  Case was with us, but was happily oblivious to everything while playing "Angry Birds", lol.  Both the director and the case worker were wonderfully nice, lovely women and we liked them right off.  Magda greeted the director very warmly and it seemed like they were good friends (which we thought was good).  Apparently she and the director have known each other a long time but the lady had changed her name and Magda didn't know it was her until we got in the room, lol. 

Basically, they ran down A's history, asked us what we knew- which is pretty straightforward- and didn't really get into much that was new to us.  They asked us why we felt called to adopt in Poland and asked about Brian's Polish history a little, but otherwise that was it.  Magda and the ladies then started talking for a bit, during which Brian and I just kinda sat there.  The weird thing was I got the feeling they weren't talking about us anymore, just chatting.  I said quietly to Brian, "Do you have any questions for them?" and he said, "Not really".  I agreed, so we just sat there trying to look calm and cool, but probably looking confused, lol.  Magda then seemed to realize we were still there and laughed and said to us "Oh, I'm sorry!  We are just talking about parenting and the foster care system here etc.  We were also catching up because we haven't seen each other in a while.  We aren't talking about you so don't worry."  She is a hoot! The case worker slipped out for a bit while they continued catching up, and then when she returned, it was "go time"!  We got a lovely goodbye from the director and when Case spoke to her in Polish, she loved it! 

We left and went back to the hotel and we loaded up Magda's car with our luggage.   The funniest part was that Magda was absolutely sure all the bags would not fit, but she definitely underestimated Brian's ability to figure out how to fit the most crap in the smallest space (years of experience at work there, let me tell you, lol!).  Of course, he got it all to fit and we were off on the 40km drive to the smaller town A lives in. 

The little town is very quaint and picturesque- right out of a storybook.  We checked into a cute little B&B right off the main town square and then headed over to A's foster home.  Along the way, Magda kept telling us she didn't not know what to expect because the foster system is newer to Poland.  Her personal opinion is that she hates it and thinks the orphanages do a much better job in not only preparing the children for adoption, but also in general care and services such as physical and speech therapy.  She said she had never been to this foster home but she has seen others that really concerned her so she could make no promises.  All I could think was "Great.  Thanks for putting that thought in my head.  Like we aren't nervous enough?"  lol

When we pulled up, we were pleasantly surprised- as was she!  The house was nice, had 4 levels, and was in a cute little neighborhood of about 10 houses, all cute and kept well.  We walked down the driveway and rang the bell.  The foster mom answered and Magda went in first, paving the way as it were.  The case worker followed and then us.  The foster mom was very nice and extremely gratuitous.  The house was clean, bright, and there were cookies and coffee or tea laid out for all of us on the dining room table, complete with doilies and china.  Secretly, I think we all heaved a sigh of relief.  We sat down around the table and did the preliminary introductions etc.  The foster mom then asked if we wanted to meet A.  We said yes, of course, and she called to him.  And like any boy, we heard him before we saw him, lol.  Little footsteps running down the stairs.  When he appeared (after jumping the last two stairs to the bottom- typical boy), the first thought we had was that he was adorable and exactly what we hoped for! 

He has beautiful lighter blue eyes and sandy colored hair, which is almost the exact color of Case's.  He is a little on the small side, but not too bad (he probably looked worse than normal because he was next to Case-zilla who is 5'2"! lol).  Most importantly, he was clean, his clothes were clean, and he was well-fed.  He was smiling and happy and said "Dzien dobry!" when he saw all of us, smiling big.  We said it back and smiled too.  Magda introduced us to A (as what, I have no idea), but she made a special introduction of Case, and A seemed to like that.  Within minutes, he gestured to Case to come with him up to his room to play computers.  Talk about comfortable! 

We then visited more with the foster mom and Magda filled her in on us and other details and we asked questions back and forth.  I think she was a little suspect of us at first; but at the same time, that made me glad because that just meant she was being careful regarding who was coming to possibly adopt A.  I would have been the same way.  You cold tell she soon felt very comfortable with us and we were all chatting about our lives, through Magda of course.  The case worker also joined in and after a while, they again were talking about other things unrelated to us.  I guess we had passed muster, lol.

We asked if we could go up and see what the boys were doing and the foster mom smiled and said "Tak", enthusiastically.  The other areas of the house were clean as well when we passed through.  They had a big screen tv, a computer for the kids, and there was custom woodwork and tile work throughout the house.  It may sound petty, but these were all good signs to me because they obviously not only kept a nice house and the kids were well-taken care of, they were able to have some luxury items too, meaning they only doing it for the money or depriving the kids.  We went into A/s room and he and Case were playing on the computer.  Rather Case was watching him play, but that was ok to start.  He talked like crazy to both Case and us about the game etc, but since it was all in Polish, we didn't understand most of it.  Still, what we did notice was this: he manipulated that computer board like a pro and had good hand-eye coordination and fine/gross motor control while playing the various games.  He could also carry on conversations and would sit to play the game in a chair.  He eventually let Case play in a 2-player game and they did great together!  We also noticed that his room was neat, clean, and things were cared obviously cared for.  All good signs. 

We stayed to play for about 15-20min and during that time he even felt comfortable enough to sit on my lap.  It was very sweet.  He is a very friendly child and I think because the Magda and the foster mom introduced us, he was ok with us; but we will have to watch that and make sure he isn't too friendly with strangers. 

We then went back downstairs and he came with us.  We then gave him the stuffed Tigger we had brough with us.  I'm telling you, after meeting him, Tigger could not be more appropriate! lol   Magda explained to him we had brought it for him all the way from Disneyworld.  While he seemed to like Tigger (or Tygrys ["tigger-ish"]as he called him), he wasn't too sure about it and seemed unimpressed that it came from Disney.  Tough crowd (just kidding), lol!  

He did however let Brian pick him up before we left and seemed to like that alot.  Remember, Brian is 6'4" so I'm sure it was totally fun!  We stayed for about 2 hours total and then left to go back to the hotel for lunch and to change into more comfortable clothes (since we were still dressed in our clothes from the meeting in the morning).  Magda left to take the case worker back to the regional city and said she would be back later and we would go for another visit in the afternoon.  Magda was staying in the same hotel as us and was there everyday for all our visits except the last one, which was awesome. 

So, the three of us headed out in search of lunch and luckily found a pizza place about a block away (which was like 100 yds away, lol).  It was a cute little place and the owners made the pizzas totally by hand and cooked them in a real wood-burning oven.  It was great!

 

 

 

And yes, this is a picture of the whole place, lol!  Told you it was quaint!

After lunch, we met Magda back at the hotel and then went back for another visit from 3:30-5:45pm.  During this time, the other kids that the family fosters were home from school as well (they had kept A out of school that week.  He is in 1st grade so he didn't miss much).  They have a total of 5 children living there, including A- a 12 yr old boy, and 3 sisters ages 5, 8, and 10.  They are all still awaiting parental rights being severed so they can't be adopted yet.  Turns out the foster parents have 3 grown boys of their own who live in town as well and they truly are fostering these kids out of the goodness of their hearts- we couldn't ask for a better situation for A! 

I'll tell you what, if we could we would have applied to adopt all these kids by the end of Tuesday. They are all sweet, well-mannered, friendly, and get along with each other great.  They seemed happy and content; however the foster mom said they want families of their own, especially the 12 year old who they have cared for for 6 years!  His parents won't agree to give up their rights and its been a mess I guess.  I'm just so thankful he and the sisters are in such a great foster home where they are cared for so well. 

Needless to say, they were all fascinated by us as well and I think the older kids kinda understood why we were there.  They all showed off a bit and even put on a "talent" show for us, with A leading the way signing and dancing.  It was very cute.  Also, Tygrys was in attendance- a very good sign! 

The foster dad came home from work during this visit too and we got to meet him for the first time.  What a great guy!  Brian talked to him (with Magda of course) while I was up playing with the boys and he said it went well.  The foster dad is a master stone craftsman and even made the monument for one of the cabinet members that died in the Smolensk plane crash last year (he was from that town originally or something).  He is also A's legal guardian so it was really great to talk to him and let him ask us questions too. 

We finished the visit about 5:45 because Case was getting hungry and I didn't want to overstay our welcome, if you know what I mean.  We said our "Do widzenia"s (Brian even got a hug) and headed back to the hotel with Magda.  We asked her how it went and Magda said, "It went great!  They really like you! And A likes you too!".  We were thrilled!  She really didn't have much advice for us and said we were already doing everything we should be.  She filled us in on various other things the foster parents and she chatted about while we were playing with A and the kids (nothing earth-shattering), but otherwise things went well. 

Later, we met Magda for dinner in our little hotel and it was really good (we sprang for dinner because, well, she is awesome and provided us with so much entertainment during the day and meal! lol).  When Case ordered "zimno melko prozse", Magda applauded him!  It was fun!  The best part of all is we didn't just talk about adoption stuff during dinner; we talked about all sorts of things from travel, to kids, to religion, to politics, to health care, to how things are the same and different in the US and Poland.  Magda was quickly becoming a treasured friend as well as our interpreter and that was so cool. 

We parted company and made plans for breakfast and to go back for similar visiting times the next day. Brian, Case, and I then headed up to our little room with 3 twin beds all in a row, which looked like it was out of the movie Annie.  We watched a little more soccer (of course) and then some BBC news on tv, got online with the free wifi (holla!), and Case wrote in his journal for school about the day.   We all then fell asleep fairly quickly and so closed the chapter on a day where our lives changed and our family grew.  It was a good day  :)

Next time, another visit and our stroll around town!

Monday! So, cue the Black Eyed Peas: "Let's Get It Started!"

Monday we again woke up to cloudy, drizzly morning and went downstairs for another fab breakfast in the Marriott (it really is a great place to stay and we recommend it for anyone traveling on their trips).  We then met Magda and Gregory, our driver in the lobby and preceded to the office of the Central Authority for our first meeting about our adoption.  The drive through the streets was again...interesting but in a way I found it more fun than precarious.  Probably because Magda and Gregory pointed out various buildings and sites along the 10min drive, making it pretty cool. 

We arrived at one of the orphanages in Warsaw and went around back to the offices for our meeting.  It was a pretty old building and Magda said it was the first orphanage in Warsaw (or at least one of the first) and was built in the 1700s and dedicated to a saint (unfortunately I can't remember which).  Case thought this was very cool.  We went inside and were shown to a small office with a couch and a few chairs.  We chatted and laughed with Magda for a few minutes before the 2 ladies entered for the meeting.  They were very nice and basically told us that this meeting was just so they could verify we were there etc.  They have no questions except if our I-800A extension would be filed before the expiration.  Of course we said yes and even answered "Tak", which they liked alot. 

A little background on that- our I-800A is set to expire May 3 so we had to file an updated homestudy and the extension paperwork etc.  Lina and our social worker Ann were working on this while we were in Poland  :) 

Anyway, they had no other questions and we were out of there in about 5 min.  Pretty awesome!  We then went to another part of the orphanage because Magda wanted to say goodbye to Lynn and Mike, the couple we met the day before in the lobby.  They were leaving the next day and she would not have had a chance to see them otherwise.  They were visiting their new son in that very orphanage, so it was the perfect time.  They were super cute together as a family and their son is adorable- we wish them all the blessings in the world!  We then headed out back to the hotel, changed, got our suitcases together, and headed out for the north. 

**A little caveat I must insert here, because we want to protect our new son per Magda's advice, we will not be naming the town we went to, the town he lives in currently, or his name of course.  This is mainly due to his background history and we will respect that.  So I'll say "north", call the bigger town "the regional center", his residence "the smaller town", and refer to him as A.  I'll probably go back and change it later but for now, I think this will work.  :)**

Continuing on...

As we headed north, we saw some awesome things.  First, just leaving the city we saw the new soccer stadium they have built for Euro 2012, right on the Vistula River.  It is freaking amazing!!!  Red and White for Poland and sits like 85,000! 

How cool is this?!!

After that excitement, we settled in for our drive.  One observation right off- the roads outside Warsaw....stink!  We think its from all the freeze and thaw and the fact it looks like they have mostly sandy bases but oy!  I felt like I was on a rollercoaster/test track for bumps.  And Gregory wasn't even driving bad; it was just the road.  The further we got outside Warsaw though, the better both the road and the traffic got and after about an hour, all we saw were farms and farmland.  Very picturesque and peaceful.  I even fell asleep for a cat nap for about 15 min.  Case was reading his book "Two Miserable Presidents" about the Civil War (I highly recommend if you have 4th graders) and Brian was up front trying to talk with Gregory and doing a pretty good job of it actually. 

Eventually, we settled into cruising along for a bit.  Then Gregory pointed out something along the side of the road. 

Crazy!

Yep, its a pillbox.  A real, honest to goodness German pillbox still there...right in the middle of farmland.  In fact, there are two (ok, you can see it better with my iPhone when I zoom in, but trust me the other is just to the left and behind it in the distance).  Brian and I thought this was about the coolest thing we had seen so far.  Case didn't get what they were until we explained it.  His mouth dropped open and he just said "Wow!".  Seeing history that up close and personal, in the middle of nowhere, and no along a major highway, was just the most surreal thing. 

We arrived at our destination a few hours later, checked in to the hotel Magda set up, and then went to relax a bit.  Probably the funniest thing that happened was when Case discovered you have to put your hotel card into a slot to turn the lights on in the bathroom.  Definitely a cost-saving idea we should use in the US, but Case found out the hard way when he was plunged into total darkness after removing it too fast, lol!  He laughed and laughed about that. 

We went down to dinner right as Magda rolled in (she had popped home in Warsaw to get her car and pack a few things because she was staying in the area with us for a while).  We had a great dinner with her and she regaled us with loads of stories about other families (don't worry, all good you guys), Poland, her family, you name it!  She rocks!  I was, and still am, in awe that she can remember all the little details about all the families and children she has helped bring together over the years.  We talked a little bit about what to expect in the meeting the next day with the regional adoption authority and then she told us that after it was over, we would come back, check out, and go straight from there to check in the hotel in the smaller town and then on to meet A.  Needless to say, we went to bed early in anticipation of a crazy Tuesday that would change our lives forever!

**UPDATE: I-800A extension filed and we're good to go!  Lina and Ann were great in getting it back to us quickly!

Sunday in Warsaw- reflection, symmetry, Brian's adventures in shopping, and other cool adventures!

On Sunday, we woke up to a partly sunny morning and shook off the jet lag by taking a walk around the streets after breakfast.  There is a catholic church just down the block from the Marriott, so we headed down there.  Unfortunately, the mass had just started and the catholic school boy in Brian would not go in, even though many people were going in late and it had just started.  Something he learned long ago and can't shake.  So no biggie.  Instead we walked around the church and streets and looked at the architecture.  Amazing!  Case's teacher had customized his assignments to include searching for examples of reflection, symmetry, friezes, and 3D and we found loads.  It gave us some quiet family time and some chances to learn as well.

Reflection

The church down from the Marriott

Symmetry (doors)

3Don side of building)

Side entrance for Palace of Culture

Next, we decided to go shopping.  And oh what an adventure that was!  lol

Warsaw, and probably most of Europe, does not usually clothe people that are former American football players.  That's my reasoning and the balm I used to sooth Brian's chafed skin from trying on clothes in Warsaw (not literally, lol).  Brian is a big guy, but he's not obese or anything- just tall (6'4")and broad shouldered with exceptionally long arms compared to European men (judging by the shirts and coats he tried on, lol).  See the problem was this- he had not brought a sport coat and only had dress shirts and ties for the adoption meetings on Monday and Tuesday.  He got himself all worried and paranoid that he needed something nicer, so we went out to look.





It started to rain, so it was perfect for the mall, T J Maxx (yep, they had one and it was pretty awesome), and a few other stores by the Palace of Culture (across from our hotel).  Well, he looked ...and looked...and looked...and looked, but no suit or sport coat would fit him.  I kept telling him not to worry about it and it would be fine, but he was getting frustrated.  And, I'm sure I didn't help matters by laughing every time he showed Case and I what the clothes looked like on (imagine Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies- really short sleeves lol).  Sorry, I don't have any pictures.  that would have totally made him mad, lol!  Even the sales men and ladies went the other direction from him like he was some giant!  Eventually he was laughing about it too and it turned into something more comedic and fun than stressful.  Needless to say, he did stick with the dress shirt and ties and it turned out fine.


The other cool thing we did on Sunday was to go to the Palace of Culture and check out the "Futbol Experience" that was featured.  Case was very very excited to see it and it was alot of fun for only $3 USD/person!

Case thought this was fun because its his soccer club name too!

Serious game face

There were shirts from all the different euro teams/countries from the past and present, some signed by famous players (I admit, I have no idea who most of them were).  There were also different trophies and accolades to again, people I didn't know.  But they were shiny and pretty!  lol
They had 3 huge PlayStation game stations set up so you could play for free and Case and Brian had fun with that.

In another area, there were also informational panels about the game (did you know it was illegal to play soccer during WWII?), the science and technology of the balls, and finally the design differences between shoes and balls for the European Championships (which will be held in Poland and the Ukraine in June!).  It was really interesting!

Crazy!

Finally, towards the back, they had the coolest thing.  You came in and gave your show size to the guys working there (one spoke english very well) and they got you this awesome, new pair of soccer cleats to put on.  It is the brand new style shoe that the pros wear.  Then, they tell you to run some drills and do moves etc.  Case had a ball!  Here he is:

Ok, he is a blur but you can see the shoe

Afterwards, you bring back the shoe and they take out....a computer chip that is embedded in the sole!  They then plug that into the computer and it gives you a readout of your speed, agility, balance, etc.  Totally cool!  The professionals use this in their training and it was very cool to see.  

After all that excitement, we donned our rain coats and headed back to the Marriott, with a quick stop at Starbucks of course.  There, Case learned one of his first important lessons in Poland- if you want milk, you have to order it cold because most Polish children drink it warm.  So he quickly learned "Zimno melko", or cold milk.

And then it was time for us to meet the infamous Magda in the hotel lobby.  I didn't know what to expect and just hoped we liked her and she liked us (you know, real high school-ish worries).  From the moment she came in, we just knew she was awesome!  She had such a great, positive vibe all around her and we felt instantly at ease.  She also had another couple who were completing their first visit in Warsaw and they were very sweet and just by talking with them, we could tell they were completely in love with their little son-to-be.  We wish them all the best!  So Magda basically went over our itinerary- our meeting with the Central Authority in Warsaw and then the drive to the regional city near our son- and then that was it.  We felt very relaxed and ready to begin the next phase of the adventure.

Sunday night, we ate dinner at the little sports bar in the hotel (not bad) while watching soccer and then headed up to chill out and pack up our stuff for the beginning of all the adoption business on Monday.  Which will be the topic of my next installment  :)

We're Back!

And what a wonderful trip it was  :).  Although we have not even been back from Poland for a week, it seems like forever and almost like a dream that we were there at all.  As a result, I figure I better blog about it or else the details will slip away, lol.  I'm going to start this one with how we got "the call"" to go to Poland and our trip there.  Its long and I apologize, but I want to have this as a chronicle to remember it all :)

As many of you know, we have waited a loooong time to finally get our referral.  We got the initial call at the end of February and then waited to hear when we needed to be in country etc.  Well, the days passed slowly but finally we got the call.....on the first day of our spring break in DisneyWorld....after we just checked into Animal Kingdom Lodge.....and had literally sat down in the room!  lol  Brian's phone rang and I said he should probably get it because, you never know, it could be Lina (jokingly at the time).  He picked it up, looked at the screen, and said "Oh my gosh, its Lina".  We were shocked!  lol 

Anyway, she basically told him that Poland wanted us in country in 2 weeks-  GAK!  Oh let me tell you, there is nothing like trying to make planes reservations when you aren't at home, trying to arrange for the dogs to go to the boarders, AND talk with Brian's office to re-schedule appointments and surgeries.  Our heads were spinning!  And in between all this, we vowed to focus on Case, since this was probably going to be our last trip to Disney as a three-some.  As a result, we did alot of the planning and scheduling either after Case was in bed or when one of us took him on a ride.  Although exciting, it was absolutely exhausting.  Here are some pics:

Coolest new experience in MK- become a sorcerer and help Merlin stop the Villains from taking over.  Totally interactive and different for everyone.  Spots all over MK and Case loved it!

The symbol you look for so you can use your sorcerer cards

Phineas, Daddy, Case, and Ferb- both my boys LOVE this Disney show!

The biggest problem we faced was that flights were almost booked at that point.  Why?  Who knows, but they were or there were 3 seats, all separated.  Obviously that would not work.  Also, Brian is 6'4" and there is NO way he could tolerate sitting in coach for such a long flight.   As a result, we had to work through the airlines to get a seat (at least one) with extended leg room (which let me tell you is a misnomer, lol). 

We looked at all different airlines and ended up choosing Delta because they were the only ones that flew out of Charlotte and Atlanta (we are between) and had seats available without paying tens of thousands of dollars.  After some futile searching, we finally decided one night at about 1am to call and have an agent help us.  Thankfully the woman was an angel and spoke English (because they are based here), yay!!!  She worked some serious Delta mojo and landed us extended comfort seats on all the long flights and either all together or at least 2 together for all the flights.  It only costs $25 and was so worth it.  Ok, we did have to agree to fly out on Friday the 13th to get the seats, but we were like, hey whatever at that point, lol.  

So with the flights made, we tried to relax and enjoy WDW.  The weather was extremely hot that week and it was pretty busy, but we took our time and really just enjoyed being together.  The sweetest, most poignant moment came the last day as we were literally driving from Downtown Disney (after last minute shopping, lol) to head back home.  I looked back at Case and he looked very sad.  I asked him what was wrong and he said he was a little sad because this was the last time we would be together without his brother and he was suddenly worried he wouldn't have "quality alone time" with us anymore (his words).  He had never mentioned anything about this before, although we had asked and talked to him about it.  He was almost in tears as he spoke.  It broke my heart  I took his hand and reassured him that no matter what, he would always have us as much as he needed us.  That we love him more than anything in the world and we would always be there for him.  He was better then, but I realized I needed to be very aware of him and how he handles things with the adoption.  Case is a sweet child and usually easy-going, but he is also very sensitive and things creep up on him quickly. 

So off we went for home and to prepare.  I talked with Case's teachers and principal that he would be gone and to get homework for him to do.  I thought it would give him some semblance of normalcy while we were away and keep him from being behind.  To my pleasant surprise, his principal also proposed that Case keep a journal of his experiences in Poland and then he would principal-approve his absences!  We were thrilled!  The journal pages will be part of his permanent record and it will be such a great thing for Case to have to look back on some day.  Also, Case's teacher developed homework assignments that were specific to Poland.  He asked Case to find things they were studying in math (symmetry, friezes, reflection, etc) and take pictures to share with the class when he came back.  The efforts Case's principal and teacher took to enhance his experience through customized educational assignments related to what they were doing is just one reason we love our school!

Finally Friday the 13th arrived (dun, dun, DAAA!).  We picked up Case at school and headed to Charlotte for our early evening flight.  Up to Detroit and then overnight to Amsterdam, finally landing in Warsaw in late afternoon (their time).  The first flight was good and we hung out in the Delta Sky Lounge until the next- sooo worth the money.  We loaded up the overnight flight and took off about 10:10pm.  It was a big ole 767, but it still seemed dinky for some reason. 

Overall, it went well except for 2 things.  One, Case fell asleep, which I knew he would and should.  Except, the small child I remember from other vacations had disappeared and this leggy thing replaced him, lol.  It would not have been a big deal except he insisted on stretching his legs across me to sleep.  He leaned against the window and then draped his legs over my leg closest to him....essentially putting my leg to sleep and leaving me unable to move much.  Obviously, it made it hard to sleep (but my butt and leg fell asleep many times, lol).  But he's my baby, so I of course put up with it :).  Oh, and he also stole both blankets and all the pillows so I was essentially freezing.  Ahh, motherhood. 

Then the second thing happened...and kept happening.  Brian was sitting behind Case by the window (we had 2 and 1 together).  There was a normal looking guy behind me.  Brian was chatting with him nicely for a bit during the flight (Brian is a chatty Cathy so he always talks to seatmates).  Oh normal enough, right?  Wrong.  About 1/2 through the flight after dinner (at 11:30pm, blah), I felt my seat moving a bit.  I thought it was him getting into the seatback so I thought whatever.  But it kept happening..... Plus, it kept happening right when I started to doze to catch a few winks (while I had bloodflow to my legs, lol).  I turned to look once and BAM!  His face was right there on the back of my seat watching the movie!  F-REAK!  When he saw me he sat back, but it resumed again a bit later.  I looked back again and although I didn't see his face, I saw the top of his head!  The guy was sleeping against the back of my seat and touching his head against it every so often (as if to rock himself!).  I thought, "WTH?!!".  Now, it had been going on for over an hour and that is pretty darn patient in my mind, so I leaned around in the aisle and said (in a very parental tone) "Excuse me- you have GOT to stop leaning your head on my seat.  You are bouncing me around and keep waking me up".  He looked at me and said, in a snotty, drawn out tone "Ok".  What??  No "I'm sorry"??  Just a snotty "Ok"??  UGH, people!!!!  Regardless, he stopped but by that time I was up and couldn't sleep. 

We landed in Amsterdam and made our way through the airport where we had to pass through another customs and security before going to our gate.  So we were technically in Amsterdam for real for all of 5 min according to our passport stamps.  Case was thrilled to get a stamp though so any hassle was worth it.  Amsterdam is a pretty cool airport and KLM is a really great company.  We boarded the next plane super efficiently and left exactly on time.  I love that about Europe  :)

In Amsterdam waiting to board flight to Poland (yes, that is a Starbucks in Brian's hand lol)

There she is- KLM flight to Warsaw!

We had great weather and Case got to see the canals, Germany, and finally Poland.  Of course, just as we got over the outskirts of Warsaw, there was a weather front and gray clouds, lol.  Still, it was a good flight and people were super polite on this one.  We disembarked about 4:30pm local time and made our way through the airport- which didn't take long because it was kinda small surprisingly.  It was also quite plain, although here and there you could see how they were starting to have more colorful shops and food places. 

We met the driver Magda had sent, Gregory, at the gate and walked to his car.  He was super nice and called Magda the minute we got in the car so we could talk to her and he could too.  He wanted to practice his English and we got to practice a little Polish.  The driving was definitely more chaotic than here, but although I had heard horror stories, it wasn't as bad as I expected.  The drivers are very purposeful but it didn't seem different than most big cities.  Everything is a manual for the most part (which means I'll never drive there because I suck at a manual transmission, lol). 

We arrived at the downtown Marriott and where pleasantly surprised by not only the location (across from the Palace of Culture and mega mall) but also that the staff spoke very good English.  Our room rocked on the 30th floor and we had an awesome view of the Palace of Culture.  We got cleaned up a bit and then headed out for dinner at the Hard Rock across at the mall, which was good and familiar.  We went back to the hotel to go to bed about 9pm (their time) to try to adjust to the time change.  The night was a bit choppy on sleep for Brian and I, but Case slept great and we were up to explore Warsaw on Sunday feeling pretty good.  Still, it was so surreal to be there in the country where we would meet our second son after all this time and definitely took us some time to comprehend the "reality" of it all.

View from our room just after checking in- Palace of Culture on right, edge of 6 story mall on left

Hard Rock Warsaw!

Palace of Culture at night- beautiful!

Next post, I'll continue with our day in Warsaw and first meeting with Magda and the adoption authority before heading up north to see the little guy!

HOLLA!

Go FBI..Go, go FBI!  Go FBI..Go, go FBI! 

Yesterday, in the midst of all the pre-trip errands and craziness, we were thrilled to find our FBI fingerprint report came in the mail!  Woohoo!  And yes, it said there were "no records found" for either of us,  lol.  

While we will still probably plan on updating the I-800A just in case, its still good to not have to think about this for sure.  I also felt a jolt of excitement because I know so many of you are waiting to hear from the FBI on fingerprints and this quick turnaround time is definitely encouraging. 

So, at the very least, we have all we need to update our home study and file the extension if need be.  I know we file the I-800 once we return, but it'll be tight to our expiration date and since the filing of the I-800A extension is free (and we paid for all the fingerprints and the home study update, oy), we figure we might as well plan to do that if need be. 

Still, very encouraged that the FBI seems to be humming well right now!  Oh well, back to packing, planning, laundry, and errands!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.....IT'S A BOY!!

   

As you can guess from the title of the post, we indeed received a referral for a sweet 7 year old little boy!  It was back in March we actually got the call from Lina but it wasn't until we had actual travel dates did I feel even remotely confident about posting the news.  I think I was being overly cautious and possibly simply scared to broadcast the news in case it fell through (based on how things have been the last year for so many adoptive friends, it seemed possible for some inexplicable reason).  Still, now that we have the dates and are on the schedule, I can say that its really happening!

Its funny about the timing too...of both calls.  With the first one that actually offered us the referral, it fell almost to the day that our first child would have been born.  With the second, it was just when we had started to relax and thought things would happen in a certain way etc. reminding me again, you can't plan life to much and it will always come around to surprise you!

Forgive me if this post is long, but I felt like I wanted to document it all.  :) 

A little back story.....I was pregnant once before we had Case and at 10 1/2 weeks, we discovered the fetus' heartbeat had stopped.  It was devastating.  The next day, I had a D&C and we mourned the loss.  It was about 3 months later that I found out I was pregnant with Case.  The thing is, even though we were thrilled to be pregnant again and to later have a healthy, wonderful child, I never forgot that first pregnancy nor its due date, which was early March.  So when we got the call, my thoughts immediately went to that.  I wasn't sad though.  It just felt surreal and...strangely serendipitous. 

The day was a Friday, when Case had his first dance at school.  We dropped him off like all the other kids and went to get the car washed (big date night, I know).  We then went home because the dance only lasted 1 1/2hrs and we really didn't have time to do much anyway.  That was when Lina called and told us about our new little one.  To say we were stunned was an understatement.  And even when we saw his picture, we didn't have that immediate emotion reaction you hear about- but I think that it was mostly because we were in shock it was even happening.  Still, after looking at his picture for a bit and reading his short bio/information, we knew this was right.  We knew God was leading us to this very child.  There was no doubt.  We responded back to Lina within about 30 minutes.

Then the next part- telling Case.  We decided before we went back to the dance that we should probably wait until the next day because the following morning he had a district math-a-thon competition and if we told him, he would be totally distracted.  It was a hard secret to keep but it made the difference because Case won the algorithms competition for 4th grade in the county and placed in problem-solving, coming in 5th.   He was completely relaxed and had a great time. 

We decided to tell him once we got home.  I cued up the computer so that he could click once, and the pictures Magda sent us would appear.  I told him what to do and he did it and while he was looking at the screen, I said "that's your new brother".  And then.....he just sat there.   I mean, sat there.  No screaming, no words, no gasp.  No reaction..at...all.   I totally expected a huge smile, a yell, or anything since he has been excited about the process.  I asked him if he was alright and he replied he was.  I said "Are you ok? What are you feeling?"  and he said "I'm ok....I just can't...believe it.  I mean, we waited so long".   My heart just melted for him.  Here was this sweet child who wanted nothing more than to be a an older brother and now the moment was truly real!   It was actually a sweeter response than I could have ever dreamed because it was so incredibly heartfelt and tender.  A really great moment.

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but instead I felt protective over the information until the details started to fall into place.  We formally accepted the referral and sent the notarized papers to Lina and then we had to wait to hear.  We were pretty open to travel except for the week right before Easter because we had our Disney trip and just refused to give that up after we had planned it so long ago.  Lina said that was fine because the Central Authority didn't do much during the week before Easter so it seemed to work out perfect.  We thought we would have about 3-4 weeks notice and it would all fall into place just right, with Case not missing testing and Brian having enough time to schedule surgeries etc.  Still, as the days and weeks passed and we didn't get our travel dates, we started to wonder and I started to worry about the trip running into Case's state assessment tests and other end of the year things.  And then, the first night we got to Disney World, just as we checked in at Kidani Village in Animal Kingdom Lodge and had literally sat down, we got the call.

Talk about stressful!  We were told they wanted us there in 2 weeks!!  AND we would have to be there for Monday-Friday.  Why?  Who knows.  So much for a quick trip, lol.  Our son-to-be is in foster care so maybe it has to do with their schedule, maybe it has to do with the fact he attends school.  Or maybe its completely "just because".  Regardless, we knew we had to get there and did not know how we would do it on such a short notice without spending thousands of extra dollars.  It definitely made for a very stress-filled time at the "happiest place on earth". 

We threw around options and did some searches for flights and things were not looking good.  In fact, they stunk!  Not only were flights filling up and we risked not even being able to sit together, but Brian is 6'4" so we really wanted some sort of extra legroom for the long flight part.  But there was simply not much at such a late date and we were looking at spending a ton of money.  Lina gave us the name of a travel agent that could help us but I'm not sure if it was a timing thing (since it was the weekend) or something else, but she didn't get back to us quickly and we decided to take the bull by the horns.  I know, its probably that we (and by that I mean "me") are control freaks, but I couldn't stand not having plans in place when we were looking at leaving in 2 weeks and flights were filling up! 

So Brian and I stayed up late, late, late on last Saturday night and after talking to a wonderful agent from Delta, we got good flights with extra legroom seats that were together, and saved about $900/ticket!  It made for a l-o-o-n-g day at Epcot, but it was worth it for sure.  For peace of mind, if nothing else.  Now, Delta wasn't our first option for flying overseas, but you know what?  At that point, I didn't care.  It allowed us to continue our vacation at Disney with one less burden and let us focus on Case and the fact this will be the last time we will be there as a "3" some.   And that fact brought about two very poignant times during the vacation. 

First, during that whole flight scheduling process was when we thought that maybe it might be too expensive to take Case. We were freaking out and I was thinking about being away for him for so long (which I have not done since he was born).  It was crazy.  But Case was devastated when he thought he couldn't go.  When we saw that, we assured him there was NO way we were leaving him home and he would most definitely be coming along.  He was so happy and I saw genuine relief on his face. I knew we would have mortgaged the house if need be because it was so very important to him.

The second was when we were leaving Animal Kingdom Lodge yesterday.  He said that he was sad to be leaving and I agreed, but that we had alot to look forward to with the trip to Poland coming up.  Then he said something I'll never forget.  He said "but I just loved the alone time I have with you both and I'm afraid I'll never have it again".  I was stunned because he has never mentioned that before, even when I asked him about it and talked to him about it.  It kinda came out of the blue and when I looked at him, my heart broke because he had tears in his eyes.  By then I did too.  I reassured him that we were there for him whenever and wherever he needed us and even with another child, that would never change.  I told him he will always be my baby and that we will always share a special bond nothing can break.  He seemed relieved and said he felt better, and I am resolved to love him even more during this whole process.  

So...as it stands, the plan is to fly out in a week, arrive in Warsaw where we will stay 2 days (counting the one we fly in on) and then head north to Olsztyn to meet our son.  We are excited and honestly, a little petrified of the whole excursion.  I mean, we are good travelers but I'm nervous about presenting myself well (Brian and Case will be great) and that the little guy will take to us.  We got some gifts in Disney for both him and the foster family (as a thank you) so hopefully that will break the ice and he'll love it.  Its a Tigger so that has to work, right?  I mean, Tigger rocks!  Still, the next week should prove daunting as we unpack from one trip and re-pack for another.  I need to shop for some clothes, take care of various things, and prepare myself for the biggest change in my life since the birth of my son.  Not a small task, but I think I can do it. 

Until the next time, take care all!