Certificate of citizenship?

Hey fellow bloggers....so its been 40 days since we got home and still hasnt arrived yet. How long did yours take to arrive? if it doesnt come next week, do you know who I can reach out to? Its one of the last remaining to dos from the paperwork, so anxious to get it done!

Thanks and Happy holidays!

Randy

Polina's first Christmas at home

We had a very successful Christmas today with Maggie's family. Polina was dressed in one of her new outfits from the babyshower and had a blast! She was the hit of the party and enjoyed the gifts, the family and the tissue paper (see the video!). When she wakes up tomorrow Santa has some more gifts for her. We are very glad to be sharing this holiday season with our new little one. Happy holidays everyone!

The wills Family

Happy holidays - A year in review

Just wanted to say Happy Holidays to everyone in the blogger-world out there and do a quick braindump of what this blog has meant to us.

When we first started this process a year and a half ago, we felt very alone. All of the advances of science and medicine and a few years of trying to start a family didnt work for Maggie and me. We had spent tens of thousands of dollars, and every month that passed by, was another month where our dreams were pushed aside. It was easy to get depressed, but we stayed true to each other and supported each other as best we could. We had always talked about adoption, but when the IVF didnt work, it was time to actually start the process.

We didnt know anyone that had adopted, and didnt know what we were in for. Over the months (and year..) we worked thru mounds of paperwork, heartarche, headache and then one day a picture arrived of a beautiful red-headed little girl. The same day, a few hours later, the Tori Hanson case broke and again our hearts sunk.

We started to blog, and read other people's blogs and become friends with more and more people who were going thru (or went thru) what we were going thru. The blogging community (and fellow adoption families like Craig and Kelly) became more than just friends to us, but family...an outlet to share emotions, share joy, share sorrow and share HOPE.

Now that we are thru the process, want to really extend a warm thank you to everyone who helped us with advice, their prayers, and the love that we received. There are many of you out there who's blogs we have read who have inspired us and touched us. We dont often comment, but we read them and feel a closeness to the words and the stories. I think sometimes we all forgot just how wonderful people can really be with all the negative news out there, and how busy we all get with our own lives and struggles...however, the stories and people on these blogs are special and inspirational and should be cherished and celebrated!

Really, just want to thank everyone and wish everyone a happy holidays. For those of you that have completed the process, we hope that you and your new family have the warmest of holidays. For those still in the process, stay strong and keep the dream alive....you have people that care about you and support you. happy holidays everyone and lets continue to change the world for the better. Much love everyone....

The (new and improved) Wills Family

Always time for dancing

Polina loves to dance to music....especially hip hop and club music with a good beat. enjoy....

No time!!!

I haven't been too good at posting anymore. Being a stay at home mom I have been very busy with Polina. She has changed so much already. It will be a month on Dec.16 since she has been home. She added more words to her vocabulary.She now says hi,ball and makes animal sounds for cat and dog. she is super smart and really picks things up really fast. She has a great personality and always makes everyone laugh. She has been spoiled by my parents and sisters. Every time they come over they always bring something with them. She doesn't care for toys she just rather be held,kissed and loves when people have conversations with her. I feel like I talk none stop for 24 hours. a day. she loves music and will dance in the bathtub and while we change her diaper. all of a sudden she will just bust out dancing it's really funny. We should definitely video tape her so all of you can enjoy it too. now she is taking her morning nap and finally I can throw things into the crock pot so Randy can have a nice meal when he comes home from work. that's about it for now let me start cooking before she wakes up....

Adoption baby shower - a success!

We had well over 40 people at our house this weekend to celebrate the little one's arrival. We didnt want to jinx anything by having the baby shower before we got back from Russia. A lot of friends, family, food and even another adoption family (Craig, Kelly and Katerina) stopped by for a day of fun! Everyone was so generous and we had a lot of family helping to get the food, clean up and make sure everyone had a great time.

Polina was really great with everyone! She loved all the attention and looking at all of the new gifts. She received a lot of great clothing, some beautiful Christmas dresses, toys, books and everything else she could use. We are really lucky to have so many wonderful friends and families.

We know what a tough process this has been, so our thoughts are with those still going through the process. Much love, luck and blessings to those other adoptive families waiting for your little ones. We will be thinking of you this holiday season.

- The Wills Family!

doctors appt. and blood work

Polina has been adjusting very well into her new life. she has been sleeping 10-11 hours at night.She runs around smiling and happy. At the orphanage she didn't smile when we looked at her and now she smiles just because she can. Today I took her to the lab for blood work.Thank God it was one pinch and they took all the viles of blood they needed. I was afraid that they wouldn't get it on the first try but they did. This Saturday we finally have a baby shower planned for her. We will have it at our house and we will have all kinds of Polish food. I am just really looking forward to relaxing. my sister has planned the whole thing from decorations to food so I don't have to worry about a thing and that includes the clean up after. My family has been so amazing.My sisters with watching Polina,cleaning the house, my mom cooking dinner and soups. My pregnancy is going well so far I will be 4 months next week. I am a little nervous because before leaving for Russia I had a pap smear done and when I came back they told me it came out abnormal. I wasn't expecting such news but they told me just to make an appointment for next month which is now. So I guess it can't be that bad since they are not seeing me till Dec.23rd. My sister was in the same situation right after giving birth to her son. I went on line and it said that it's not uncommon for pregnant women to have abnormal pap smear and when your pregnant they wait until you deliver the baby to do something about it but you can also have normal pap smear after delivery. So on the 23rd they will look through some microscope and if anything they will take a biopsy. I have been trying not to think about it since there is nothing I can do. Whatever will be will be I guess. I just have to stay positive. That's about it for now. I finally have time to update she is taking her morning nap.