1 hr. and $350 later, it's confirmed...

Ilya is a super cute, super happy, super funny, super active, super eater, super cuddly, super super little boy!

So if we already know this & most of you did too, why'd we waste an hour of our time and $350?? We had our 1st PPR today! Can you believe it? Where has time gone??

For those of you not in the "adoption know", PPR stands for Post Placement Report and Russia requires four. They are due when the child has been home for 6 months, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years. Granted, Ilya hasn't been home 6 months just yet, but our Social Worker needs time to write the report and get it to our agency, CSS. The CSS office in North Carolina needs time to notarize and apostille it, and get it to the staff in Moscow. The Moscow folks need time to translate it, and I imagine they'll also have to take it to each of the 1 million(+) notaries in Moscow at least 4 times each, and then get it to the right authorities by November 27, which will be the 6 month anniverary of Ilya leaving the Vidnoye Orphanage. Huh...I just realized that's the day before my dad's birthday. Happy early birthday Daddy!

So, if you've been following our blog for awhile, you may recall we had some pretty major issues with our first social worker (the one who did our homestudy). Perhaps you were unlucky enough to get a double dose of my negativity if you also read some of my tyrants about that social worker on the CSS Yahoo Group. My apologies to my CSS friends again!

Anyhoo, we had a major blowout with the previous social worker days before we left for our 2nd trip to Moscow and we knew we did NOT want her doing our PPRs. When we got home, we fired her and hired a new one and what a world of difference! The one who visited us today was extremely nice, didn't yell at us, didn't tell Norm he's insensitive, she didn't hiss when she said words with the letter "s" in them, she didn't belittle us, nothing at all like the old one! In fact, she was very encouraging, supportive and commented a lot on how we were doing things right for Ilya. Yay! Ilya was in a GREAT mood during her visit and she was so impressed with his personality, adjustement, appetite, development, sense of humor, everything! Good job Cubby!
The only awkward moment for me during the PPR was when she asked about Ilya's birthmother. I wanted to make sure I represented "N" with the amount of dignity and respect she deserves. I didn't want to say anything that would make her think that "N" is a bad person or selfish or anything of the sort. I don't think she did think that, but I felt defensive almost when I was explaining what we know about "N". I felt like I was talking about a friend or family member and I wanted to protect her.

Ilya also had a surprise visit today from his Gramps (Norm's dad). We had a great visit with Gramps, but it wasn't long enough.

As for yesterday, our day started with making Mickey Mouse pancakes for Ilya, followed by a dangerous trip to Target, some outside playtime, and ended with a trip to Bangkok Cafe for Ilya's first Thai dinner. Don't worry, it wasn't spicy and he loved it! We had a great day as a family and look forward to many more.

Unfortunately, though, our weekend wasn't all fun, games and happiness. We received news last night of a terrible accident involving my brother-in-law. He remains unconscience and in ICU with multiple injuries, the most concerning being a brain injury. I am very worried about him, my sister and their kids. They'll be in our prayers in the coming days, weeks and perhaps months. This accident has reminded me how short and unpredictable life is, and how we must never take for granted all of the blessings we've each been given.