A quick recap of how we got here...I woke up in April of 2006 and told Marco we were going to Russia to find our daughter. I began the research for 6 long weeks. May 15th I made our first appointment on June 1, 2006 for us to meet a Social Worker from Creative Adoptions in Maryland. They were only accredited in Russia until June 9, 2006 so we had to select an agency for placement. Alliance For Children in MA was our final decision.
By July 21, 2006 we had EVERYTHING completed, I-797C in hand, and our dossier was on the way to Russia.
In October I told Marco we are leaving for Russia. He asked me WHY?... I know I come up with a bunch of outlandish plans but this was FOR REAL! Anyway we got our plane tickets and we were off to Kazan, Russia. As in many adoptions....THINGS HAPPEN and SOMETIMES THEY JUST DON'T! After we were given our referral with a disclaimer warning if you do not accept this child there will not be another little girl, WE CANCELLED! A little more complicated because we were also informed a new Judge was Anti-International Adoption. A family went to court 13 days before our departure and DID NOT get their children. Our agency disclosed, gave us our options, and with little thought we switched to Moscow Region. Switching our dossier to another region cost us a month.
We departed for Moscow on December 1, 2006. After declining 3 referrals of baby girls who we felt we were not capable of parenting, we met CUPCAKE! We heard so many times, you will know when it is right but we didn't buy it! It was true. She was the "IT" kid and we were meant to be her parents!
After a long holiday season we had court on Valentine's Day. Hearing that we were officially the Father and Mother of Cupcake was the first time tears streamed down my face. Since Moscow is long second trip, Marco had to return to the US shortly after court. Week 2 I was SOLO in Moscow but met up with all of my wonderful friends. Maria & Jeff, Laura & Rich, Melissa & Mike, Scott & Lisa, and my special SBP Kate came to spend the weekend with me so I took her to meet Cupcake.
On February 25, 2007 my family arrived. My mother and I brought Cupcake back to the apartment on the 27th. Papa Larry, and Uncle Joe were waiting for our arrival. From this day forward life was complete.
After a week, it was Just Mom, Me and Cupcake. It was getting hard as we were so excited to return home. March 10, 2007 we boarded Flight 31 from SVO to JFK.
We were surprised at the airport by our friends Andrea & Mario holding a US flag and a Welcome Home banner. What a wonderful surprise!
Finally I could put our daughter in Marco's arms! After a 4 hour ride to Baltimore...I realized our Adoption Journey has come to end, our life as family has just began, and our daughter was the most amazing little girl in the world. Most of all we were the luckiest parents in the WORLD!
Last week I got the call for our first Post Placement Report- it was time to move on to a new blog, our new story, and "Life With Cupcake."
We look forward to sharing the next chapters of our lives together... Our first day as Cupcake's Mommy & Daddy
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