Smile!

 

 

Anyone remember this show? It was a hidden camera /practical joke reality show. The show involved concealing cameras filming ordinary people being confronted with unusual situations. When the joke was revealed, victims would be told the show's catchphrase "Smile, you're on Candid Camera." I am pretty sure that we are the stars of the show! No gotcha day today! You read that right, no gotcha day today.

 

I have heard it said many times that no adoption is the same. You cannot compare your adoption with another adoption. Although I agree, I was pretty sure that the general rules were the same. Gotcha day after the 10 day waiting period was one of those rules that I thought was pretty consistent.  Because of that rule, we were sure that today was the big day! But how does next week sound? Looks like we will be busting her out of the orphanage next Monday. As much as it is disheartening I have accepted the reasoning. Let's just say that it is best that Sara stays in the orphanage until we have her passport and visa in hand. She is in a safe place. She is being well cared for. She is in a place that is familiar. It's not what we had in mind, but it makes sense. There is still so much paper chasing to do and many appointments to make and if she doesn't have to run around with us it will be better. Especially since she has just gotten over an unknown illness. That's the last thing we want is for her to become ill again. So soon enough she will be in our arms.

 

Last night when I spoke with our facilitator and was gearing up for the big day, I had asked if she was going to be present at the orphanage. I have several donations for the orphanage and gifts for the caregivers and director and I just wanted to make sure that she would be there to help translate. Plus I wanted someone there to answer any questions I had about Sara's feeding and sleep schedule. I also wanted to get an idea of what she eats so we can make sure to buy those items while we are here so we don't shock her system. Just as we were about to hang up, she had said "I am not sure if we will be able to do to the orphanage thing tomorrow." When she said that I was sure that she just meant that we wouldn't do the donations tomorrow but I did not think she meant that we would not get Sara out.

 

For those of you who don't know or haven't figured it out, we are in Kiev, Ukraine. (I am able to disclose this information now because the 10 day wait is over.) Well being in Kiev has many conveniences. We are in the same city that we flew into. We didn't have to travel far to meet our baby girl. We are in the same city as the US Embassy. Because of this, the process is easier in a sense. For  families who adopt outside of Kiev, they are able to take their child out of the orphanage after the 10 day wait because they have to travel back to Kiev with that child to make appointments and to finish up their paper chasing. Plus this is where all families fly out of. Because we are here, Sara will continue to stay in the orphanage until we are ready to come home. I probably should have talked with families who have adopted from Kiev or asked more questions to our facilitation team. Maybe it wouldn't have been a surprise and I would have been better prepared. So it's not what we had expected, but it's just another chapter in our excellent adventure! Once again, stay tuned. The best is yet to come! And smile because you just may be on Candid Camera!