[Chris3148]

Christine here-34 years young, Dh is 36. We live in Northern Maryland, but were born and raised on Long Island in NY. We just adopted two sibling girls in March this year from Novosibirsk. (Whole process took us 2 years and one month!) They have been home almost four months now. The first two months we were all in "survival mode", third month things were looking up, and this past month has been great. We love our girls to pieces!! Still working on some control and temper issues! They are now 2 years old and almost 4 years old. We received their referrals when they were 15 months and 3.1 years old, and brought them home 6 months later.


As for me-I'm done, adopting two toddlers at once is A BIG CHALLENGE. As for Dh he wants a third, boy, maybe from Russia or Guatamala. (I might be open to another if a sibling of my girls appears, but shhhhh....don't tell my Dh that!)

[FloridaJewel]

Another So. Floridian here!
My husband and I adopted Juliana from Vladivostok in Oct. '03 at 7 mos old. She fit into our family just great (she's very strong-willed but affectionate).

We waited to see if there was a moritorium on adoption, then late Sept. '05 we started the process again, & dealt w/reaccredidation delays with our agency. We hung in there and received a referral (open to either gender, figuring it would be a boy) for a 3 1/2 yr old boy, who we sadly turned down due to family dynamics (Juliana was 3). 4 days later we received our referral of a 16 month old girl in Krasnoyarsk. A week later we travelled to see her and she had some medical concerns. (heart). We got more testing and an IA dr. evaluation, and thankfully it's something small and we officially accepted her just about 2 wks ago!

We're about to send the rest of our docs to our agency next week, then hold our breath for our court date!

[Sipper]

DH and I are on the other coast of Florida just north of Tampa. We came home with our wonderful baby girl last November from Vladimir region and decided to jump right back in. We are waiting for a referral for another baby girl to make Gracie a big sister.

[happyhome]

Hi there,

I'm Emily (30) and DH is Ryan (31). We are originally from Northern Cal, but we now live in Scottsdale, AZ. We have two furbabies - Bella, a 3 year old lab mix, and Macy, a 2 year old jack russel terrier. I love them!
We've been in the process since September, 2005, and we are currently considering our second referral from the Kemerovo region. I hope it works out!

[trnews71]

Im Carla, DH Rey, DD Rach been in the process 1 yr 7 mo. Switch agencies back late December traveled to Estonia end of February and now we are waiting for court to bring home our daughter...

[MamaChinch]

Hi ~ Cyndi (single) here from Northern CA, Fairfield, just north of San Francisco. (42 on Monday!!!! yikes!) Went on a wonderful Trip 1 in April and am ANXIOUSLY awaiting my August 8th court date in Kemerovo to bring home my beautiful 17 month old girl. She will be my first, and hopefully not my last! The process has been pretty smooth except for getting court pushed back from June.
I think my cat, Sadie, knows something is going on, besides having switched some rooms around to get the baby's room ready, which has freaked her out, she has been acting a little weird and has been VERY clingy!! Guess she can sense our lives our about to change!! he he!!

[beckyww]

We are Becky & Keith in San Antonio with three bio DD - Rachel, 15; Lois - 12; Hannah - 10 ...... and Julia, 6, from St. Petersburg. We've been home six weeks and stick a fork in us, we are d-o-n-e.

Julia is doing better than any right we had to expect.

Becky
www.woodworthfamily.blogdrive.com

[torussiawithlove]

I am Tatiana my DH Jay and I are waiting for a referral for a 1-18 month old boy from the Moscow region. We started the adoption process 3/05 originally planned to adopt from the Ukraine ( my mother and father are both Ukrainian). Hit a big bump with all of the changes that they are in the process of making......and here we are. We live in Maine with our 3 cats 2 dogs and a rabbit. (I think we have the pet thing covered).

We really do appreciate this site. We don't know what we would do without all of your stories, support and advice.

[amanda_p]

My husband Matt and I live in St. Louis. We have a beautiful boy from St. Petersburg, Russia. Drew was 10 months when we brought him home in Nov 04 and now he is 2 1/2. It was a wonderful experience and thats why we are doing it again. We are almost done paperchasing for #2. We are requesting an infant girl from Kaliningrad. So exciting!

[glstls]

Hello, DH and I are waiting for a referral for a little girl up to 18 months from the Vladimir Region. We have two bio sons that are looking forward to being big brothers to a little sister. I love reading this site and especially about those when they meet or bring their children home.

[ready2adopt]

Hello!

Great thread - it's good to reintroduce ourselves! I'm Shawn. DH and I adopted our son Jax from St. Pete in December. He's doing just great and we couldn't be happier. We are contemplating going back for #2 (did I actually just say that? ) and have been so grateful for the support this forum offers. You all are wonderful!!!!

God bless,

Shawn

[Belcaro]

I'm Joy (27) in Denver, CO. DH and I have wanted to adopt since before we were married. We hadn't considered Russia until recently, but are really excited about it now.

We're about to begin our dossier stuff and homestudy, and are hoping for a 3 or 4 year old.

Many thanks to everyone here; your thoughts and experiences have been incredibly helpful!

[his,mine&ours]

We are from Texas. DH is 43 and I will be 38 this month. We have three bio children - DSs - 17 and 12 and DP (self proclaimed dear princess) is 11. We have been in the process for a year total, and waiting for a referral since March for either gender under 2 years old.

[heikewould]

Alright I'll bite! I'm Heike and my DH is Paul. We have been home 15 months. It seems like forever. I love being a mama. Samantha came home to us at 9 months and has had no issues other than the usual "normal" stuff! She just turned two. She is from the Tver region. She has other sibs here in the US and we are trying to locate them. We live in California.
Would I do it again? I would adopt a sibling if there is that possibility.

[lovestruck]

My husband and I live in FL. We have two boys and we have been waiting 17 months to meet and bring home our daughter/sister. We've had some tear jerking bumps along the way. We are currently in the process of updating our home study and I have been stunned at all of the things that we have had to do for this update. But we continue to push on through and I have found tremendous support and comfort here!!