Official in Florida!

Yesterday we received Alivia's Certificate of a Foreign Birth from the State of Florida. That was a very quick turn around! I still plan to get her a US passport, but we're going to put that off until after Christmas. We won't need it until next September anyway.

The next "official" thing on our schedule is her first post placement report. The social worker will be coming out to visit in early November, then we have to have the apostilled report in to Children's Hope International by December 7th. I had thought we were all done with apostilles, but, no... the post placement reports all need them, too. We have to do a total of four post placement reports. One this December, one in June 2007, then again in June 2008 and June 2009.

The only other "paperwork" we have to keep up with is notifying the Russian embassy if we move. Alivia has to be registered with them until she comes of age. Technically she has dual citizenship--both US and Russian. Kinda neat!

Tonight we get to experiment with our first babysitting experience. My parents and I are going out to see the musical Menopause and a couple friends of mine are coming over to watch Alivia. I'm hoping everything will go smoothly and she won't have any panic attacks. She didn't like staying at my mom's house overnight without me there, but I'm hoping that since the sitters are coming over here she'll be okay with it. I don't expect we'll be out late in any case.

Other updates... Alivia loves her little swimming pool. She still doesn't splash much, but she loves to crawl around and to play "stand up-sit down" in the water. She also tries to drink the pool water--yuck! I change the water every three days or so and just try not to think of the frogs I have to fish out of it every time she wants to get in it.

~ Jeana

Our Day in Court!

Today at 10:30 a.m. EST, the Russian adoption of Alivia Elena Victoria Davis was officially recognized by the State of Florida. The judge was very nice and asked only a few questions--confirming that I was still financially capable of taking care of Alivia, why I wanted to adopt her, that I understood that it was a "forever" decision, etc. Alivia was in a terrific mood. She played quietly with my mom while the judge asked his questions. Then when it was over she started blowing kisses at everyone--including the judge! She also decided she'd had enough of her shoes and kicked those off. The judge just laughed and said it was okay, she didn't need shoes for his court.

After the hearing I had to file the court papers, then we all trooped over to the Office of Vital Statistics to apply for her new Florida birth certificate. We also tried to take some photos, but the humidity was so high today that all of the pictures came out clouded.

Once we finished with all of our business it was time to celebrate. My dad, who wasn't able to change his doctor's appointment, sadly had to miss the hearing. Instead he met us at the restaurant afterwards. Alivia got to sample some of everyone's desserts and loved every one of them! She also continued her kissing spree and enterained everyone with what I call "glee screams". She gets a big grin on her face, sticks out her tongue and squeals/screams as loudly as she can while waving her arms around. It's quite the spectacle of joy!

She was one exhausted little girl when we finally made it home this afternoon, but I'm proud to say that I don't think there's much else we can do at this point to make her any more official!

~ Jeana

A Sad Day

I'm sorry for not updating this in the last couple weeks. Alivia is doing well--growing like a weed and learning new things every day. She's also getting plenty of bumps and bruises to go along with all her adventures in learning. She's still not walking by herself, but when it comes to crawling and cruising she's a little speed demon!

We have had a small crisis in the house, though. The oldest of my three cats, Trouble, has been very ill and this morning I finally had to make the decision to have him put to sleep. Trouble has been with me for 14 years, so this has been very hard to deal with. He's been suffering from the sudden onset of acute renal failure, and while he hasn't been in any pain, he's been obviously miserable. I know that this is the best decision for Trouble, but it's such a difficult thing to do. Alivia, fortunately, is still at the age where she has no idea what's going on. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with her pain here as well as my own.

On a MUCH happier note, we have court tomorrow morning for Alivia's Recognition of a Foreign Adoption hearing. I'll have photos and updates up as soon as I can!

~ Jeana

Official Court Date!

Today we received the official court date for Alivia's Recognition of Foreign Adoption hearing. It will be September 14th at 10:20 a.m. Alivia didn't seem all that impressed when I told her, but the rest of us are happy! I'm hoping that my dad, who didn't get to go with mom and me to Russia, will be able to attend this milestone event. He has a doctors appointment that morning, but hopefully can get it rescheduled.

Alivia has been exploring a bit more of the house over the last few days. I'm trying to allow her a little more freedom to crawl around since she seems to be adjusting so well in every other way. The cats are learning to keep alert whenever she's near. Those cat tails are just about irresistable!

~ Jeana