Queen Tamara

Queen Tamara or Thamar

Most Americans think of the state of Georgia when you say Georgia.

But there was a very great empire long before the Europeans found America.

Queen Tamara ( or Thamar) ruled the medieval kingdom in the very crucial area between the Black and Caspian Seas and the Caucasus Mountains. She began the protector of Byzantium after the Fourth Crusade returned it to the control of the Christians but she also was the protector of many Muslims areas as well.

As the leader of Georgia, she brought a new age of arts and literature to the country, and was revered as being "radiant as the rising sun, born to illuminate the world around her. Women though she is, God had created her to be a sovereign."

http://www.european-georgia.com/culture/history/ Follow this link to the fascinating history of the Republic of Georgia. It will not only enlighten about the past but give you a deeper understanding of Georgia today.

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One of the many "surprise" things we have to do is address our judge. Since Georgia doesn't allow too many adoptions their judges don't usually get very many international cases. Our judge I was told handled an adoption 2 years ago for a 6 yr. old boy in CA.
His Dad I am told memorized an hour long speech / presentation for the judge which apparently brought the judge to tears. How would you like to follow in those foot steps??? Oh yes... did I mention he did this in Georgian? Eeek.
So.. now we have to come up with some sort of presentation / act / performance if you will.
Any suggestions? I suppose I could always twirl my fire baton to a Georgian song? LOL..
Nah... they'd never allow one of those on the plane.

Oh well back to the drawing board.

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Here Comes The Judge

Here comes the judge... Great news we have been assigned a judge and court date in Tbilisi.

That's very good news

So Exciting!

We're getting closer... as soon as our departure date is confirmed we can start the count down.

So Exciting!

Now for the details... house sitters, transportation, booking airlines.

So Exciting!

Not looking forward to the travel time.. looks like 26 hrs + each way. Grrrr

Anyone out there have any tips on how to keep a 3 year old entertained for 26 hrs?

Don't forget she doesn't speak English.

No drugs are not an option.

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Good Nite Moon

Good Nite Lily

In the Great Lilac Room

There was a telephone

And a purple balloon and a picture of a fairy flying over the moon

And there were three little dollies sitting in chairs

And three little kittens and a pair of mittens

And a little toy house and a toy stuffed mouse

And a silver comb and brush and some silly puddy mush

And a quiet not so old Lady who was whispering hush

Good Night room

Good Night moon

Good Night fairy flying over the moon

Good Nite light and purple balloon

Good Nite Dollies

Good Nite chairs

Good Nite kittens and Good Nite mittens

Good Nite clocks and good night socks

Good Nite little house & Good Nite little mouse

Good Nite comb and Good Nite brush and

Good Nite to the not so old lady whispering hush

Good Nite stars

Good Nite air

Good Nite noises every where.

NOT The End

Actually this is just the beginning for us and Good Nite Moon ;o)

The picture above is of Tamara's doll crib, one of her vintage Madame Alexander Pussy Cat dolls and Lily.

Her cat. Yes we have 3 but Lily is the baby and Lily as you can see is the one who will be most agreeable when it comes to playing baby or perhaps dress up. No I didn't put Lily in the doll crib. LOL . She thinks it's hers?

In fact Lily thinks all the toys are hers.

She's a cutie.. can't wait to see Lily and Tamara in action together.

What about Eci and Camie? Well our teenage kitties are a little less interested in playing games.

Although sweet and cute they require a different form of parenting.

You just never know what they'll do next.

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Special Song and Prayer

A special prayer and song (see song list to play... The Prayer sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli) for little

Kolton
Kolton is my... hum... 2nd cousin through marriage? He was born a month early and has been hospitalized for over a week now. Weighing in at a tiny 6 lbs. Our warm thoughts and best wishes go out to Kolton and his parents Karl and Karen and big sister Katrina during this difficult time.

He Said.. She Said

The Fish are jumping already.

Well it's official ...it must be Summer? 80F. + ???

We were hoping to travel in April as "usually" it's a fairly maintenance free month for us out side but not apparently this year. Yes... the fish are jumping already. Most years we have another few weeks before things come to life. Last week Bruce had to start up the waterfall and he started to feed the fish. Once the water temp reaches 50F they're hungry.

With the weather we've been having this past week the plum tree is in full bloom and the flowers & clover are starting to pop. It's just a matter of time until the grass starts to grow. And with grass come the weeds. And then there's the pool which we were hoping would remain closed until after we return home. We still have our fingers crossed on that one.

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Yes... It was a lovely day today... let me tell you about our adventure.

This morning over coffee I asked Bruce if there was something special he'd like to do today. I was waiting for him to say "I don't know" which he did..lol. and then I suggested we go to Babies R Us and BJ's as we had to return the generic bed rails I bought since Tamara's bed comes with rails. But first we had to go to church. Our organist Shirley is on vacation and Bruce is covering for her with the electric organ. So we were eager to get there. We loaded up the car with the bed rails and before we made it half way up the driveway we realized we had a flat. A screw in my tire. OK... back it up ..park and grab the other car. Transferring the rails into Bruce's Volvo we make it to church on time. After services we head out again .. but first stopping at the house to write down the tire make / size so we can call Gregg our tire man from the road. Then it's off to brunch before Babies R Us. After leaving Babies R Us where we bought more then we returned. With Bruce driving I said make a left.. he said I know a short cut? OK... he made a right. We had a lovely 2-1/2 hour drive through central NJ and I knew we were in trouble when the sign said Welcome to Lebanon and then Butzville this way? Weird huh? Anyway we finally made it to BJ's.. then returning home his engine light came on. Eeek!

OK.. not a problem.. he thinks he knows what the problem is. So we return home. He jacks up my car.. spins the tire off throws it in the back of his car and has Gregg fix it. He's back home in under an hour. Googles Volvo sensors .. finds directions.. spends 5 minutes working on his car... DONE!!! Is he amazing or what? lol.

The reason for my sharing this rather ODD day with all of you is I think our drive through NJ today was some sort of subconscious form of revenge?

I rarely let him drive when we shop... yes I know I'm a control freak but we're talking "shopping" ;o)

We recently had a conversation about strollers. I was telling him that I was frustrated as I couldn't find one I liked that had all the creature comforts I was looking for in a girly looking stroller. He said why do you need that she walks? So I explained that when we're at the mall and Tamara gets tired I need a stroller as I can't carry her through the mall with the packages. He said well when she's tired come home? Ha.. I thought. so we went shopping together a few days later. We started off at Sears.. his store. Our mission was to find travel money bags. You know the kind that you strap on. Yes comfy I know. Anyway We also looked for some pants for him, shoes for me and some stuff for Tamara. The diagram below will explain how our day at the mall went. By the end of the day Bruce understood why Tamara needed a stroller.

When we returned he took a nap ;o)

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OK.. lets get serious. On the adoption front we're still waiting to hear from INS / FBI. From what I'm being told once the clearances come back to them they send them to the US embassy in Tbilisi and we travel. I'm sure I'll know more soon. I hope. I'd better...

OH please before I loose my mind!!! Just kidding.. still sane.. just a little anxious to go get our baby. ;o)

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Tamara's Furniture arrived the other day.. very pretty as soon as I'm finished decorating I'll post a new picture. She has a very... very.. cool room for a 3 year old. ;o)

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Age of Aquarius

January 21, 2005

That's the day our baby was born.

So she's an Aquarius...

The Water Carrier

January 21 to February 19

Traditional Aquarius Traits

Friendly and humanitarian

Honest and loyal

Original and inventive

Independent and intellectual

LIKES
Fighting for Causes
Dreaming and Planning for the Future
Thinking of the Past
Good Companions
Having Fun

DISLIKES
Full of Air Promises
Excessive Loneliness
The Ordinary
Imitations
Idealistic

Any Aquarius out there? Any of this true?

Here are a few people who share Tamara's birthday with her.

She's in pretty good company I think.

January 21, 1905 - Christian Dior - Designer , January 21, 1940 - Jack Nicklaus - Sports Figure, January 21, 1941 - Placido Domingo - Singer, January 21, 1942 - Mack Davis - Singer,

January 21, 1947 - Jill Eikenberry - Actress, January 21, 1957 - Geena Davis - Actress

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We also had to give them (Georgian Courts) a middle name for Tamara so after going back and forth for weeks we finally decided on Tamara Katarina.

I always liked the name Katarina .. in fact if she were younger we would have changed her first name to Katarina. But we also thought it would be a great way for all of us to remember Kathy and Irina the two ladies state side that have been absolutely wonderful through this whole journey to Tamara. There is no doubt in my mind that they care for Tamara a great deal.

So Katarina it is.

On Bruce's side of the family.. strangely enough most of the ladies have the middle name Lee.

Weird huh? Nope can't make this stuff up.

I have had many people suggest that we name her Tamara Lee ... but to me that just sounded too much like a country western singer. And I wanted her to have a strong name she can grow into.

Katarina is a strong name. Sounds important I think? Anyway now she'll have something in common with her girl cousins here. Cousin Katie is a Katherine Ann and Cousin Amanda is Amanda Cathleen.

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On the paper front. I spoke to INS today and they gave me our case # and they're working on it. Yahoo!!!! So exciting!!!

Georgia is cruising.. we should get our court date soon... I hope.

Another batch of documents are in Trenton should be back in a day or two.

These get hand carried to Georgia by us.

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And more good news... Tamara's new bedroom set is being delivered tomorrow. Not bad considering it had to come from No. Carolina. I guess begging does work? ;o)

~nite~

Look for an open window

How many times have you heard when one door closes another one opens?

Too many to count I bet. I have learned through the years to always look for an open window.

Most things worth having require a climb rather then a simple walk through.

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I received an email today from Cathy whom I hired as a mentor this winter to help me out with the paper chase for the Ukraine. We were going to attempt an independent adoption from there and then Tamara came along. Although Cathy's fees like all adoption fees are non refundable.. I never regretted sending her the check. In one fell swoop Cathy cleared up so many mysteries about the international adoption world for me. She is a single mother of 9 adoptive children. Talk about courage and in site.

Anyway... the email today made us feel like we had dodged yet another bullet. The Ukraine is voting yet again on an adoption bill. And although no one knows yet how it will turn out it's a very stressful time for those families who are in the process for the Ukraine.

Under the new bill no single adoptive parents and they would require a 45 year max age difference between the oldest parent and child. In our case that would have meant a 9 year old.

So as you can see sometimes we climb out the window before the door closes.

Sometimes we get lucky... sometimes when we follow our hearts... our inner voice and

we get it right. ;o)

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The picture above was taken by my cousin Anna during her last trip to Croatia.

Yes Annie.. I messed with your photo. Kind of cool no?

It was taken in Glavotok on the Island Krk.

The picture below is an original from the series.

This was the view our mothers had growing up.

Talk about an open window.

And below is the aerial shot of Glavotok.

This place has a very special place in my family's heart. Someday I hope to take Tamara there. Someday perhaps she too will find the open window with the awe inspiring view.

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