Friday, April 4, 2008

April

It is almost five months that Nika has been home in NYC and I can finally say she is a very happy girl. It was a difficult few months getting settled into life and family but she is doing so well adjusting and loving her home and environment. All of a sudden her language is coming together and just this week she is speaking and greeting Tom at the door with whole sentences that can actually be understood.
There is no doubt this child is full of energy, but she seems a bit calmer then before. We also notice her display of love has surfaced and she wakes up and gives Aidan a good morning kiss and hug that just fills me with joy.
So there you have it - we are all truly in love and growing every day in every way.
Life is good.
xxxA

3 comments:

Catalina said...

I am so happy to hear about Nika`s progress. Its really amazing, since November until April, she really made big pogresses, soon she will speak better than I do. This gives me hope, maybe is not necessary for me to learn Russian to communicate with Gabi. The pictures are so sweet, she looks so happy and the two sisters seem to be really happy to have each others. I love the pijama picture.

Chris Sapp said...

Such beautiful girls. Glad to hear things are going well!

The Cook said...

She looks great. Gklad things are going so well. We are looking forward to meeting her in June.


Timeline

11/08/07 Left Kazakhstan on route home to NYC
10/22/07 Left Arkalyk for Almaty
10/03/07 Court Day - Petition for Adoption Accepted!
9/15/07 First day in Arkalyk at orphanage, met Veronika
9/12/07 Departing NYC on route to Kazakhstan
9/04/07 LOI - arrived today!
8/24/07 Heard from Agency with information about children, region and some details about trip. (1 week to gather info while caseworker on vacation)
7/27/07 Began process of updating FBI clearance and medical forms
7/03/07 Dossier arrived in Astana, Kazakhstan at the MFA
6/27/07 Approved by Kaz Embassy in DC and shipped to
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Astana, Kazakhstan (MFA is the 1st ministry to review dossier)
6/22/07 Dossier shipped to Kazakhstan Embassy in Washington, DC
6/01/07 Dossier fully translated and awaiting to be sent to Kaz Embassy.
5/21/07 Agency submitted dossier for translation.
5/15/07 Dossier complete / sent to adoption agency
5/09/07 I-171H Approval letter forwarded by INS to US Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan
5/01/07 Notarize, Authenticate, Apostille and copy of all documents
4/24/07 INS fingerprinting
4/08/07 Paper work hell...........working to gather all that is needed to complete dossier
3/12/07 Received notice of FBI clearance from US Department of Justice
3/11/07 Second home study visit
3/04/07 First home study visit
3/02/07 Had fingerprints taken for FBI clearance
2/28/07 I600A - Application filed with BCIS (Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services ) for I-171H
2/21/07 Applied for home study review and began collecting documents for dossier
2/20/07 Signed with Adoption Agency - Adoption Ark