Before someone flies over to beat an update out of me.

Thanks again to everyone for their wonderful comments! I'm sorry I can't keep up with the demand for updates! ;)

The kids went back to the orphanage Sunday night, which was beyond difficult for us all. Katya has this habit of hiding sadness so as to not make other people sad, and she insists that no one else be sad so that she doesn't get sad. So when Igor got here, she got involuntarily despondent and teary eyed, then tried to hide it. We asked her why she was sad, and she responded defensively (in Russian) "I'm NOT sad." She turned away to wipe her eyes, but I saw her anyway.

As soon as we're with them, we are as happy as can be. As soon as they're gone, we're immediately extremely upset. It's not like the fun and happiness lasts after they're gone. The spirit and energy they have - it leaves with them.

They were with us again Tuesday afternoon for a few hours. We went to McDonald's, then came back to the apartment where they immediately consumed a dozen eggs, a half of a huge bar of dark chocolate, a package of ham, and probably some bread too. You'd think they never get to eat. I know they eat, but I'm sure it's different when you have choice of food that you LIKE. I told Jason it would be like having to live on that gloop they ate in the Matrix, and then when you have a chance to eat a hot dog, you're going to eat 10 hot dogs.

Although today we stopped at Nastja's orphanage to grab some more clothes for her, and the caretaker fed us coffee, tea, and this apple danish thing, and cookies. It was good.

Then we went ice skating, which is an outdoor rink right next to our apartment. That's always a lot of fun, and we get fought over (particularly Jason since he's such a good skater) to be skated with.

All three kids have just been so wonderful. Nastja is very sweet, always telling us how much she loves us and is happy she's going to America with us. She is also picking up some English because we make her repeat objects and other phrases. We'll say things in Russian and then English and have her repeat it. Like she'll go "uh uh uh Mama - cle-eb, pajaloosta?" and I'll say "da, adeen cle-eb... (one bread) Now say 'Mama, may I have BREAD PLEASE' ", and she'll repeat it.

She also LOVES to be hugged and kissed. So with all three kids we spend a lot of time randomly going up to them, squeezing them, kissing their face and telling them we love them.

Wednesday afternoon we spent doing the rest of Nastja's exit paperwork. We picked up her passport, after going to the store to buy a cake for the passport lady for doing her passport in 2 days instead of the "up to one month" that is officially the wait time. Then we went to a translator lady to pick up the translation of our court documents. Then we went to the US embassy and finally got to speak to an American for a change! We filled out the forms for her immigrant visa, and we go back Friday to pick that up. Then everything is done.

We've learned that doing the processes here are basically a wait and see type thing. Every step of the way we have no idea when something is getting done, and a vague idea of where Igor is taking us the next day when he comes to pick us up. There is no point in asking, we just follow and do. Igor always seems to be in a hurry, too, and doesn't know what to do with himself if has to sit still for awhile. We went to a restaurant yesterday for an hour because we had time to kill before the Embassy appointment. And he literally stood by the table looking around and pacing for 10 minutes before he finally sat. He also rushes ahead all the time, leaving us behind to figure out which way he went. It's become almost a game. Where's Igor?

Now to answer your questions about Katya and Roman's documents. We learned more reasons why suddenly their citizenship was a problem. Here's the explanation:

The Hague convention covers international relations among many countries. Some countries are a party to it and some aren't. The US is as of 4/1/08, Estonia has been for years, and from what I can tell Russia recently became part of it. It changes some of the adoption processes if you adopt from a Hague country vs. a non-Hague country. The paperwork is more regulated (meaning it is more difficult). Prior to 4/1/08, people could do paperwork processes with all countries as if they were non-Hague, because the US was not a Hague country. But after that, the paperwork had to be streamlined along with the Hague requirements, which has caused a lot of people issues with their adoptions. Not so much us, though, because we had our immigration paperwork done before 4/1.

But, because of the Hague rules between Estonia and Russia, there are laws that must be followed in cases where there are children of another citizenship available for adoption. This is world-wide rule with the Hague convention. It says that the adoptees must have permission from the country of their citizenship in order to be adopted.

There is also a contract between Russia and Estonia regarding all international relationships between them, and there are a couple paragraphs within that contract about adoption. It also says that if there is an orphan of the other country's citizenship living within the opposite country, the country of citizenship must release the child officially for adoption.

From what we can tell either Russia recently became party to the Hague, which caused this to now be more of a followed law than in the past, or no one knew of these laws until recently when a couple cases were about to go to court and all the documents and laws are reviewed in preparation for court. Then it was seen that Katya and Roman (along with a couple kids being adopted to Sweden, and several Estonian domestic adoption cases) need this letter from Russia to avoid international conflict for not following 1) the Hague regulations and 2) the Russia/Estonian contract.

It does not matter that they were born in Estonia and have lived here their whole lives. It's just the law. They have Russian citizenship. They have to be released by Russia. It doesn't matter if they had a lawyer. Estonia is following international laws by asking for permission. It's still dumb, but it's just the way it is.

We did see the letter that went to the MOE. It states something like "In accordance with the Hague Convention article xyz paragraph 123, we are requesting approval for bla bla bla". So that gives us more reason to think that Russia will have no problem doing this.

Lastly, the only other update I have is that Diana talked to Dmitry and said that his contact at the MOE said that they have the request, they know what it's about, they understand what they have to do, and as soon as they get done with emergencies from just having reopened after a 2 week close, then they'll get to it. So it does sound like they have no problem doing it. We just don't know when and we don't have any official confirmation to ease our minds. So we just have to wait and see, true to the formula of adoption.

At least now we know personally that adoptions can and do go smoothly in Estonia! Kersti (at the MSA here in Estonia) also said that once they get that letter, then everything is good to go. They will likely need a different immigration process than a stateless or Estonian child would have, so they are working on the details of that now. But there isn't anything else that stands in the way. Still, since the Estonians have no idea how to deal with this, they are naturally skeptical, which has been discouraging. We have to remind ourselves that they don't know how to take care of this because it's never happened before, and they themselves don't have contacts at the MOE. That is why Diana and Dmitry are helping.

That's the best explanation I can give for now! Of course it's hard to get any info because of all the people here Kersti speaks the best English, and even then sometimes she can't find the right word. So we hear conflicting information, confusing information, and sometimes just information in Russian. LOL

Per suggestions, from now on until we are home I'll probably just write short updates so I can actually get them posted. I have no time, except while everyone else sleeps, to be on the computer. So now that I've gotten to tell you guys all these details, the rest will be probably short and sweet till we go home.

Jason wants to leave early since we'll be done with the papers early. I don't know if we will yet. We're just sick of being here, and we can't really see the kids much during the week anyway. I'll keep you posted.

Sorry again for taking so long to update you all!! Thanks for patience. ;)
Love,
Molly