Where We Stand Today …

This morning Gary and I went to the 63rd Precinct yet again to get our fingerprints. These were a REDO of ones we had done in October 2008 and had sent to West Virginia for our FBI Records, a requirement for the dossier. Due to the lag in our home study materials, the prints we did back in October were considered “old” and needed a more current date. Therefore, it was done again today. Hopefully, these will not be rejected. We took Eden with us, and the officers were kind to give her a little workbook/coloring book on what Police Officers do. She seemed to have fun there.

I had grown to like Officer S., a quiet and kind officer who always did our prints, and was so kind each time we had to come back for reprints, never accepting additional money from us. Even today, because of “all our troubles”, she ripped up the $32 check I had written out to the NYPD for their fingerprinting services. She is actually retiring next week — I had always thought I’d like to introduce our little boy to all the people who’d been so kind to us along the journey. I told her I was hoping to get to show her the little boy she’s been so helpful in getting to America — and she wrote down her email address. I will most certainly alert her when he has arrived!

Later on, I compiled all my prints, with my record request letter and went to the Post Office for my Money Order and shipped everything off to the FBI Record Request location in West Virginia. Journey Home … I mean With Hope and Love (old habits die hard — trying to recall to mind easily the new name of our agency) had been so diligent in preparing the dossier collection binder so that each step really has been spelled out so easily for me. It may seem like a lot of paperwork, and it is, but if done in small steps, it has been very doable. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment that now I can move forward on these fronts.

Today, I witnessed my friends 15 month old son signing two word sentences — for example, “more grapes” and “more book.” It filled me with such an excitement to begin the signing process within this year again. I know that I will most likely begin signing the first day I meet our little boy — when I play with him, surely I will sign “more!” for all the silly things we do. I borrowed a friends Flip and was able to make a little video. I think this can absolutely become a new tech-addiction for me! Please be sure to PAUSE my playlist at bottom of screen in order to properly hear video.

I was walking to a store today and I saw a hip looking Asian guy handing out flyers in front of a store front. I wasn’t going to take one but then did and he said something to me in Russian. I was like — huh? I shouldn’t be so surprised — in my little Brooklyn enclave, which has a very large Russian population, I have seen many Asian looking people (mostly women) speaking Russian. On my way back, I got up my nerve to say “I hope you don’t mind my asking — I have a friend who you look so much like! (I was actually thinking of Henry.) Are you from Kazakhstan by any chance?” He said no he was from Russia. When I looked closely, he had Asian eyes that were light blue. It was quite shocking. Another worker at the store heard what I said and laughed — he said “I look more Kazakh than he does because of my eyes!” He was Caucasian looking with very almond shaped eyes. Although they were not Kazakh, it was sort of an interesting exchange and meet up in light of my process today.

I felt closer to our goal today, proud of myself for moving things along swiftly again, and felt such a desire to just blurt out to Emma “We’re really going to have a brother Emma!!” I kept my mouth shut — I will wait a bit longer … and then of course, make sure I have my video camera set up to capture the excitement when my girls discover they too will have a little boy of their own. They so love the boys we know — Henry and Tyler. Just wait until they discover they get to enjoy a brother one day … real soon!

Here I am with a little Flip sample again — Emma will be thrilled to see her first solo YouTube appearance. Pardon my toy clutter in the video 😉 Again, please pause my playlist to be able to hear video.

I do feel excited today … genuinely. However, it’s also compounded with a slight caffeine buzz from my recent McDonald’s coffee. Not jittery, just an overall sense of well being. Is that what caffeine does to you or perhaps … it’s just me.

Heading to pick up Eden shortly … Turkey burgers for dinner tonight — Oprah’s recipe from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, party for kids tomorrow and in the evening, a rare chance to dress up and attend a wedding with Gary, hopefully feeling very snazzy with my new beautiful dress and recent 11 (!!) pound weight loss. I’m finally committing on a few areas of my life. Ahhh … life is good.