Our incredible journey around the world to get our little boy!
I should explain the name of the blog “Little Temujin”. Our little one is not the typical blue eyed and blond Russian kid. Actually, he has big brown eyes, long lashes and brown (seems curly) hair. He is definitely mixed but we are not sure what races. So, in absence of a true family tree, we decided that he is a distant relative to the legendary Genghis Khan whose original name was Temujin.
"Adoption is when a child grew in its mommy's heart instead of her tummy." Author: Unknown
Jason and I were both born and raised in Bulgaria. We met in Boston (MA) in '97 through friends and have been married since '01.
We are both number crunchers. I work as a fin. manager for CBRE and Jason works as a fin. and ops manager for Staples.
We live in beautiful OC/California with our (adopted) crazy Jack Russell Terrier, Zorro, who has been our baby for the last 6 years.
We love to travel, the beach and any outdoor activities.
This blog is to keep our families and friends informed during our adoption process and to record our memories of our Russian journey so one day we can share with our son how we became a family.
Yvan Alexander - aka Vanie - aka Little Temujin b-day: 11/30/2008
2 yrs old
18 months old
17 mo's old and 4 mo's home
14 mo's old and 1 mo home
2nd week with mom - the exploring started on day 1
1st week "home" (Vlad Inn) with mom & dad - looooving the laptop
Gotcha Day 12/11/09 - Saying goodbye to all the other kids and the caregivers at the hospital (that's before he started crying like crazy). Please pray for all the these kids to find good homes and caring parents soon.
1st trip to meet our future son - Oct 09
Referral photo provided to us by MOE – Sep 09
Russian adoption database - isn't he a little Temujin or what!?! (found this pic a while after we saw him)
12/30/09 – Leave for LA - home 12/29/09 – Receive Vanie’s US visa 12/28/09 – US embassy appointment 12/27/09 – Leave for Moscow 12/23/09 – Completed Vanie’s medical exam for US embassy 12/23/09 – Received Vanie’s Russian passport 12/22/09 – Obtained adoption certificate 12/21/09 – Official Gotcha Day 12/19/09 – Jason goes back to LA, I stay in Vladivostok 12/11/09 – Unofficial Gotcha Day 12/11/09 – Court date – we are granted parental rights 12/5/09 – Trip #2 (need to be there 12/09/09) 11/21/09 – Started preparing for trip #2 and baby room 11/20/09 – Received court date – 12/11/09 11/5/09 – Dossier #2 submitted to PfA 10/9/09 – Back in LA; start dossier #2 10/7/09 – Met our little boy for the 1st time 10/4/09 – Trip #1 (need to be there 10/6/09) 9/17/09 – Received trip #1 travel dates 9/10/09 – Reviewed medicals with IA doctor (Dr. J. Davies in Seattle); accept referral 9/9/09 – Received medicals and picture for our referral (10 mo old boy) 9/6/09 – Received a call for a potential referral of a 10 month old boy 9/2/09 – Completion of homestudy (final interview with social worker) and dossier #1 8/2/09 – Start of Homestudy (with PfA) – 1st interview with social worker 7/23/09 – Made decision to move forward with adoption from Russia