Becoming the 4 McCaffery's

We've created this webpage for our family, friends, and future adoptive families to follow us in our adoption journey to Kazakhstan to become a family of 4. Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoy it!!

Friday, March 31, 2006

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Wow, it's hard to believe today is the day we're finally on our way. Last night we drove up to NJ where we stayed with Auntie Robin, Uncle Erin, and cousin Delia. It was nice to spend some quality extended family time prior to our embarking on our long flight to Kazakhstan. Ian had a great time with his cousin Delia and Auntie Robin made him french toast, his favorite!!

We arrived at Newark Liberty Airport around 1330, the weather was wonderful and the line for Lufthansa was very, very long. We must bave looked clueless because after 3 minutes of waiting, a worker from Lufthansa came and told us to give him our passports and boarding passes. Within 10 minutes we by passed 200 people and at least an hour of standing in line. Customs was very swift and our flight to Frankfurt went really well. Ian did great and the staff at Lufthansa were great and so was our dinner and snacks. In our mind it's 0200 on Saturday morning, but we're all still going stromg at the USO in Frankfurt. Ian has met some fellow soldiers for whom he has made some crafts from his goodie box given to him by his teachers at The Little School. Sorry Ms. Pat, Ian could not wait til he got on the plane to use some of his crafts!! He loved them too much!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed the second leg of the journey goes well. I must say I'm so pleased I invested the whopping $10 rummage sale dual stroller it has been a blessing for Ian for us to take a break from carrying our carry-ons!!

Monday, March 27, 2006

Feeling Hopefull

Received a copy of a letter from the Dr. at the Orphange to our coordinator with an official seal, stating child "is healthy, not contagious and everything is good to go." Still, we are cautious and had numerous tests done to him today and will receive the results from our Lawyer/Coordinator in Kaz on Monday, the day that we are to visit our little man!! We're hoping for the best, but know nothing is for certain at this point. Still, we're excited simply to be starting our journey to become a family of four. We received our laptop today and my hubby is like a kid in a candy store!! I think we'll crash at my sister-in-laws house on Thursday night as we leave from Newark at 1615 on Friday afternoon. Thanks again to Auntie Robin, Uncle Erin, and cousin Delia for letting us "store" our car at your house vs. paying a small fortune for parking at the Newark Airport!

Saturday, March 25, 2006

A Bit of Good News :)

My passport finally arrived today and the spelling of my full name is correct on my visa, yippee! We also received our airline tickets. Still waiting on our laptop and news about our little guy, but at least we'll be able to make the trip!!

What Next???

Hello,

It has been a hell of a week. I've felt like a bit of a crappy parent to Ian this week. He's been such a trooper while I've had to do research on the internet, be on the phone with either the adoption agency, the bank, the airlines, a/0 the NY consulate. G-d, I love that boy!!!

Where to begin.... Well, we are still waiting on an updated medical report on our little man as he was to go to a private clinic on Friday, but didn't, surprise surprise.. and will do so on Monday, or so they say. I told our coordinator that we would need to know our little man's status prior to departure on Friday. We just can't bond with a child only to have them tell us he will be unable to leave the country. Tim and I can understand the reasons why, but to Ian and the other little guy, we feel to put the boys together and for them to have fun and laugh and play only to find out they can't do so on a forever basis would be simply unbearable and cruel. We also need to know prior to leaving because we must start our bonding process on the first Monday as Tim only has one month of leave from work with no exceptions!!

We are still due to receive our laptop and airline tickets on Monday. We went and got our "cash" from the bank, only to find about a 1/4 of the bills in unacceptable condition. Now I'll have to either go back to the same bank and hope they can exchange the bills for newer versions or visit other banks and have them look at me like I'm with the mob as I try to explain to them why I need my older bills exchanged for clean, crisp, newer bills to bring to Kazakhstan for an adoption and hopefully they'll exchange some of them. But the most frustrating and annoying part of our saga is my passport. Like I stated in a previous post, Ian and Tim's visa's were perfect, and mine, well, my name was incorrect. So, I called the NY Consulate on Thursday and they stated they already received my passport and once again had attached the new visa to it and my passport was already sent out in the Express overnight mail package that I included when sending my passport back to them a second time. So, did I get my package on Friday... NO, does the tracking # work in the USPS.com...NO am I a bit overwhelmed.... HELL YES!!! All this craziness is almost comical at this point. I figure it's got to get better from here because it certainly can't get much worse!!!

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

The Good News and the Bad News....



Wow, we had some wonderful news this past Sunday. We received a new photo of our soon to be second son, we hope. We had not seen a updated photo of him since June 05. This is a really big deal for us as we received some other photos on Xmas Eve and in January, but of a different child. Now, we know that Kaz does not "hold" children, and we were ok with that fact because of all the wonderful things we have read/heard about the Nezabudka orphanage in Karaganda. Our main concern was if "our" boy was not to be ours, then by all means we hoped he would have gone to a good forever home. For me, I just needed closure. It was hard knowing that our son could be out there but for one reason or another his picture was misplaced. I'm ok with him going to a family that would love him as much as we do. We also knew we would not come home empty handed that there were plenty of boys in the 3-4yr age at Nezabudka. So, at first glance I was so elated to finally see "him" once again. Then I felt great sadness for the boy who's photo we received, actually many photos. He is adorable, but a bit older than we feel would make a good match with our current family. How awful that this boy had to have new photos of him and now he thinks a forever family is coming and in reality more than likely he will not get adopted for as we all know the older children get the less likely they'll be adopted, especially boys. I just sat down and wept for him.

More good news, we now are officially going to Kaz on the 31st of March from Newark-Frankfurt-Almaty. Well, that is if our visas come today. Hurray, they came, and now the bad news and only gets worse, they are incorrect. Acutally only mine. I was destraut, I called the NY Consulate and while they were understanding and told me to simply overnight it again and they'll do it same day and overnight it back to me. It really urked me that we now need to pay an additional $28.80 to do a task twice and in the back of our mind stress about the visa's arriving promptly.

The worst news of the day is that our son has been diagnosed with an illness that although treatable still scares us a bit and makes us feel helpless because as parents we feel we should be able to protect him and provide for him.. I cant even begin to explain the sick feeling I have in my stomach and heart at this moment. We also don't know if he's receiving anti-biotics at this time, if he'll be allowed entrance into the US. They say "yes, it won't be a problem." YEAH, sorry, I'd like something in writing please... Needless to say we have some very serious issues at hand. Please think good thoughts for us in this trying time.

Oh, to top it off. The AF is moving us to Colorado Springs this summer. That's wonderful, it will be a great place to raise the boys, but they want us there by June 30th. Ok, we'll be out of the country til 1stMay. We then have about 3 wks til I would return for a week or so. Let's just say worst case scenario, I don't arrive home til the first week-end in June. According to INS we need to bring our new son home to the address on our UCSIS paperwork. So if our house were to sell, we can't legal move out of it til the 2nd week of June. Which could turn away potential buyers or we could literally be home a few nights and then need to pack-up and hit the road. That's a lot for a stable secure family to handle let alone a newly comprised family who's jet-lagged and doesn't speak english, coming to a totally new environment and lifestyle. AAAH..

I figure it's so crazy, it has to all work out!! Keep your fingers crossed. It's been such a yucky day, I just had to post a photo of the one who can always brighten my day!!!

Nell :)

Friday, March 17, 2006

Happy St. Patrick's Day!









Erin Go Bragh!!! Yes, in the spirit of St. Patty's Day, I've decided to post a few fun photos of the family trip to Ireland in Oct. of 2004. We had a wonderful time and Ian had a fabulous time and met a great friend at a wonderful B & B we stayed at in Doolin, Ireland, about 5 miles away from the Cliffs of Moher. The Sweeney family is the 3rd generation working the family farm that jutts out into the Ocean. It's breathtaking. Also the cows come by the kitchen window just to say "Top of the Mornin' to you!!! The Sweeney's have 3 boys, and the youngest, Niall, and Ian were great pals and fellow farm and tractor lovers. Ian told him about "John Deere" and Niall stated that he and his daddy preferred New Holland!! We didn't go back in 05' thinking we'd be in Kaz at that time, but hopefully in 06' or early 07' we'll be back visiting the Emerald Isle. With a name like Ian McCaffery, our wee lad fits in perfectly. Of course for number #2, I like, Declan, Rowan, Liam, Flynn, Owen, but then I also love, Eli, Ephraim, Levi, Dominic and Collier, and my son, well, he likes Sam. I think from Green Eggs and Ham, Sam I am... so who knows...

My hubby is due home in a few hours and poor Ian had a ton of shots today and have some blood drawn so he is wiped out!! Better safe than sorry, but to a 4 yr old a ton of shots in one day as a "safety measure to prevent becoming really sick while visiting with his new brother is still a ton to ask of a little man. Still, he was so brave and sweet, those when his deep baby blue eyes start to crystallize prior to crying I nearly melt each and everytime. I'm hoping we'll finalize our tickets tonight and I plan on being 85% packed as well. I seem to go back and forth between being extremely excited and extremely frightened but hopeful that we will all bond well as a family. I know we're doing the right thing, it's just hard not knowing how our new little man feels about the big changes in his life. I'm also a bit worried about having to leave him to come back for a bit. Mostly I'm afraid of the other children being unkind to him because he is being adopted and they are not. Children can be amazingly kind to one another and but also quite hurtful to eachother too!! Ok, off to do some chores.... with a cocktail or two...

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Running on Empty..



For the last few days I've been running on empty, well, on about 4hrs of quality sleep and starbucks, (i'm so pleased they made a larger glass bottle version of the frapp, perfect timing for me!) Which would be dealable if I was A. younger, B. did not have a wonderful 4 yr old be that is quite locquacious, simply a gem and someone with whom I love spending the majority of my day vs. doing the things that need to get done for this trip and C. my husband has been in Iraq/Kuwait for about a week and needs to get home as both his son and his wife miss him immensely, and come on now, we've got a ton of work to do prior to leaving.

Actually, in a way I'm a head of the game, I'm pretty well packed and prepacked for my son and myself, as well as having lists of things to purchase, things we have but have yet to put into our luggage, and then which of those items goes in which type of suitcase be it checked or carry-on. Made the doggie reservations at doggie day care, talked with the neighbor about picking up the mail and mowing the grass. She has two grandchildren from Kaz and loves to mow on her John Deere rider mower.. Made a list about turning down the heat, turning off the washing and dryer, the computer, etc...Ok, so I'm a bit neurotic these days. Cut me some slack :)

We've sent off for our visas and we should have our flights booked in the next day or two, still, it's still a bit crazy. We need to buy a laptop, figure out how to find a bank that will give us a ton of crisp unwrinkled 100 bills, as we bank with USAA in TX and we live in DE. Still, in the end, the 3 of us are ready for a great adventure!! Although I must admit, even though I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to travel world wide, the thought of arriving near midnight in the former USSR waiting for our driver who more than likely won't speak any English after about 1.5 days of flying with a 4 yr old makes me a bit leary, but that same 4 yr old hopes we get to take city buses as well as trains on this whirl-wind adventure of ours... So, in the end I simply need to chill out and roll with it...Ok, back to studying RUSKI... night-night.. Oh, I'm adding a few photos of Master Ian and his hillarious faces when he's either frustrated or simply indirectly telling me, "Mama, enough photos already..."

Monday, March 13, 2006

Our current family







I thought I'd start off by giving you a brief introduction to our current family. We are a wonderful family of 3 humans and one canine. My husband, Tim, and I married in September of 98', and our greatest joy to date arrived on New Year's Day 2002. It's hard to believe there was life prior to Ian Hunter McCaffery. Last but not least, is Hanski-Panski McCaffery, our 11 yr old rottweiler, a.k.a. known as "Baby Dog." That's what our son called her when he began talking and it's stuck. She is a big baby with a terrible bark/growl and a heart of gold. I have the luxury of being a stay-at-home mom to Ian. We live in Dover, DE. amongst the country farms of the Amish, it's a beautiful and wonderful place to raise and rear a family. My husband, Tim, is a pilot for the Air Force and luckily for us he's not gone for too long or too many times a year these days, which is a bonus compared to earlier in his career. I'll add some photos to our first post.