So Now What?

Well, we're home. And now we wait. We're happy to be back in the United States, where the language is easy, the food is familiar, and we're in our own house with our dog. But it's hard to know that our son is on the other side of the world, and we can't be with him yet. I'll be posting more about our time in Russia in other posts, but I thought people might be interested in where we're at with our process. In no particular order, here are some thoughts/points for those following along on our journey:

• The next step is the court phase. This will be a short trip (a few days) that only I will go back for, and it'll probably be some time in February, but we're not sure. The latest we've heard is that the Kyrgyz government officials are on holiday until January 20, and then our paperwork takes about two weeks to process. I'll update this blog as soon as we know something new.
• Please feel free to ask us about the good times we had with our boy. We'd love to share stories with you about the fun we had with him, his loving personality, and the adorable things he did.
• Unless you are immediate family members, we are not allowed to share pictures of our boy's face or his Kyrgyz name at this time. We're also not going to share the name we've chosen for him yet (with anybody). And we don't plan on ever sharing information about his birthparents or personal history before coming to us. That'll be his information to share in the future if he chooses. There's not a lot to know anyway!
• Not that any of you would, but please don't say insulting things about birthparents who choose adoption for their children, international adoption in general, our child's country of birth (Russia), homeland (Kyrgyzstan), or the people who live there. While we'd love to have intelligent conversations about cultural differences and such, I might go all "momma bear" on you if the conversation turns judgmental or negative based on ignorance or inexperience with these issues or these countries. 
• Know that we know nothing! We're going to be thrown into immediate parenting of a toddler-aged child, and we're definitely not prepared. Be patient with us as we try to figure out toddler beds, strollers, clothes, food, toys, doctors, etc. We'll gladly take all of the help and advice anyone is willing to give, but some of it we'll have to figure out on our own, and some of it will look different from parenting a biological child.
• This blog will only remain password protected until after our court date. We just don't want to jeopardize anything, so we wanted a bit of control over who reads these posts. Sorry if it's a pain, and I know sometimes it asks for the password multiple times, but I'm working on it! We appreciate your patience and understanding.
• Thanks for your support and love! We've received so many beautiful messages of happiness for our journey, and we're excited to share it with you. We've got a long way to go, but the first visit with our son couldn't have gone any better, and we're looking forward to moving on to the next step!