Bryansk map

Our plane ride to Moscow will be about 9.5 hours. On arrival in Moscow we will have some time (approx. 6-8 hours) to sight see while we are in Moscow Centre waiting for our train, then we will travel about 6-7.5 hours to Bryansk. Other have said the train was one of their favorite parts of the trip. The familes who traveled before us said, that's where that got there best sleep.

On the map Klintsy is where one of the baby homes in located that WHFC is associated with. It is about a 2 hour car ride from the center of Bryansk. We will not find out until we get there which one of the baby homes we will be going to-Klintsy is a guess. at this point in time.

Satellite Images of Bryansk. (pretty neat)
Bryansk google map

The count down begins for trip # 1.

The dream is becoming reality. After a great weekend and not much sleep for me, all I can think about is our little boy waiting for us and that we are finally going to meet him. I was so full of nervous energy all weekend. Patrick and I are busy talking over everything and getting ready for our trip. Checking off our lists of what to bring and finalizing some paperwork. We had a conference call with Kate (our coordinator) on Tuesday for 1.5 hours to go over all the details of our trip and what we can expect. It is going to be non-stop trip. Here is our itinerary:

June 17- leave the US
June 18- arrive in Moscow, overnight train to Bryansk and go to our hotel to check in.
June 19- Ministry of Education, orphanage to meet child, send info to doctor
June 20- orphanage for 2nd visit & getting doctor's questions answered (if any), overnight train back to Moscow
June 21- fly home from Moscow (afternoon or evening flight)

Our plane tickets are booked. I have received confirmation from the doctor that he will be available to help us with all the medical reports when we are at the baby home in Bryansk. We have all the gifts and the orphanage donations all ready to go. I am trying to decide what toys to bring for him! We have been sleeping with a small baby blanket for weeks and we will leave it with him. Hopefully when he goes to sleep at night he will be comforted by that. I know I will.

May Updates

Four WHFC families received referrals of children in April.
Families who were referred children in the last month waited between 6-15 months. However, the average waiting times for families requesting a single child is 7-10 months.

Three children arrived home in April. The children were from Moscow, Tyumen, and Voronezh. On average, families wait 3-8 months between their first and second trip, depending on the region and circumstances of the case.

We are busy getting our details for our 1st trip. :)

OMG The call came today.

I can't believe our call finally came today Friday May 15th at 4:08pm. Yahoo...baby!

Kate called to tell us that our referral is for a little boy and that he is waiting in Bryansk to meet us. I am so happy we are going to that region! We will be traveling June 17th to Moscow and then taking our train ride to Bryansk on the 18th to meet our little guy on the 19Th. What a fabulous birthday gift and father's day for Patrick (Sean will enjoy this!). I am so overwhelmed with happiness and emotions, I can't believe it is finally happening. The call was so unexpected. I spoke to Kate (our coordinator) on Monday, and she told me that it would be June before we would get the call. Well, today she asked me if I was sending out prayers to the Ministry of Education in Bryansk & I said on Thursday I was looking at the calender and saying my prayers (Please let the phone ring!) I was actually talking out loud to myself.

Patrick and I were making bets on the day the call would come, and can you believe he picked today's date! I must suffer his position on this subject!

There must be the luck of the Irish in this endeavor!

Patrick's friends from work who called in tonight from California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Minnesota have told him tonight he is the luckiest guy in the world! I also received calls today that was unexpected, from family and a friend on this wonderful day. I can not wait to find out all about our little guy. We had a little celebration at our local Irish pub with a few friends tonight.

We love you all for the support!

My mother, my angel

Today is Mother’s Day. My mom is not with us anymore, she passed away 14 years ago. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of a mom I will be and how much I miss her lately. I hope I am half the mom that she was to me. When my mom died she was only 55 and she was my best friend. There are many times I wonder what it would be like if she were still here. Enjoy the time you have with your loved ones (your mom). Time is so precious.

My mom did know her first grandchildren. But she won't get to meet my son, which is sad. So I have to believe that my mother is somewhere looking over us and she knows what's going on. And that's the only consolation I have. The waiting period is hard and I wish she was here to lean on. I believe, that not only my mother but Patrick’s father are up there looking over us and keeping watch over our son.

Happy Mother's Day mom, I love you....

My wonderful mom & dad.

Gardening and waiting for the call.

As the wait goes on. Patrick is still the positive one, but my patience is running thin. It has now been nine months since our paperwork has been submitted to Russia. One of my great joys is gardening so in the past month I have started my flower/vegetable garden. For those who have not seen my garden, it is 16 x 24 ft and is enclosed with a white picket fence. This really is my favorite thing to do. I love to watch everything grow and every year it is different. To see things that are started from a seed and become so beautiful. I can spend hours in my garden, even the weeding part I enjoy. This year I have started from seeds cantaloupe, lettuce, spinach, chard, beans, mini pumpkins and sunflowers. I will add to it this weekend with some tomatoes, zucchini and red pepper plants. And I can't forget my herbs, basil, rosemary, parsley, chives and thyme and mint. This year I have added some perennials like daisy's, foxglove, lupin, gladiola's and rose bushes. It should be a fine harvest! I can't wait to have my little helper next year!

I found the picture above, from the first year I started my garden.
In the meantime I am praying for the phone to ring.
I thought this poem below was perfect for this post.


My Adopted Child....I did not plant you... true. But when the alternate prayers for sun and rain are counted, when the pain of weeding And the pride of watching are through, I will hold you high. A shining sheaf Above the thousand seeds grown wild, Not my planting, but, by heaven My harvest. My own child! Unknown Author