CQ and her friend V + PLUM TREE STUDIO

YOU JUST CAN'T GET ANY CUTER THAN THIS!
This is CQ with her friend V. V is from Kirov, Russia and is an amazing little girl. Her mom has been a great friend of mine for quite sometime. Actually her mom worked for the agency that we adopted our kids from and she played a very important role in getting our little guy home 3.5 years ago. Little did she know that she would get to experience the wonderful world of adoption, but she did and I am so happy for her and her husband. Creating your family through adoption is a rocky road, but all worth it in the end. I didn't ask for permission to use her photo, so Miss C. if you read this, give me the ok and I'll post the other REALLY cute one of the two. :)
UPDATE: PERMISSION GRANTED!!! :)
MORE CUTE PICTURES FROM KF PICNIC:

On another note, with some relavance, V's aunt is a designer of FABULOUS t-shirts (in California) and has sent CQ 2...THANKS! example of 1 of the shirts

Her blog is: http://plumtreestudio.blogspot.com/
Get on this blog and check her out. She works very hard and is sooooo talented so maybe some of you could give her alittle business....remember....she's the aunt of a Russian Princess, need I say ANYMORE? You all will love her stuff, so just check it out!

BAHAMA TRIP, PASSPORT BLUES, AND OUR ANNUAL KF PICNIC
Ahhhh!
What a great time that Jason and I had in the Bahamas.


The kiddos would have gone w/us, but Budda's citizenship papers for his passport didn't arrive in time. Actually, they haven't arrived at all. It's amazing how long and difficult the process can be. So, IF YOU DIDN'T GET YOUR CHILD'S CITIZENSHIP PAPERS, b/c they didn't give them out before 2003, you will need to apply to get them OR you will not be able to get a passport for your child AND for those of you who have not had the pleasure of dealing with what a HUGE mess the passport agencies are going through right now...good luck. We paid over $200 to expedite CQ's passport and we still waited 5 WEEKS!!!! I was very sad seeing other kids w/their parents there, b/c our little guy didn't get a chance to get his passport and they did. HE IS A CITIZEN TOO! I can't get myself started again.
The day we got home, they announced that they are waiving the passport rule for now. OF COURSE THEY ARE! My luck.
Anyway,
if anyone is interested in getting citizenship papers AND/OR passports, e-mail me and let me know how I can help. Trust me, I'm an expert now. Remember, if your child has just come home in the past 2 years, or so, you automatically get their citizenship papers.
FYI: Citizenship Form for Adopted Child: http://www.rapidimmigration.com/usa/
(FORM N-600)
We did, however, enjoy ourselves. I have never left CQ, and only left Budda when we went to Russia to get CQ, so that was difficult. Thanks to my mom and dad who stayed at our house and kept things consistent. It's going to be a tough few weeks getting CQ back on our interventions that we were trying. We had come so far with bonding and just overall behavior, so the guilt is definitely there. The eye contact with me was almost non-existent for the 1st day back, but the second day, things have gotten alittle better.
Last week when we went to our Adoption Agencies Annual picnic, CQ did great. Didn't beg to go to others, actually wanted me to hold her alot! It was just absolutely incredible to see what beautiful children our Agency has brought home. All of them so vibrant and full of life. That's what it is all about.