Update on our chaos;)
So... time is FLYING by and I want to update everyone on what the adoption status is!
We are officially "approved" by our homestudy agency to adopt;)  The homestudy was a series of 4 visits, with 3 being home "inspections".  We had to make sure we had cabinet locks on everything, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide, blind tie-ups.... WAY overboard on the safety side.  BUT, we passed.  The part we were not prepared for and did not expect was the EXTENSIVE interviews about ourselves and each other.  We even had to describe each other.  Tom pretty much dropped the ball on that one;)  He told the social worker I was "zealous, emotional, and a good cook".  Hm... he got in big trouble from me about that- but I love him anyways;)  And hey, this whole process has been a growing experience and has certainly brought us closer together.
Once our home inspection was approved, we quickly sent off the all-important I-600A form to the US government.  This form is basically a petition for government approval to bring home an orphan.   Most estimates say it takes 2-3 months for the approval; we thought we would kinda sit around and wait for it to be approved before moving forward.
GOOD NEWS!  I emailed our adoption agency (Frank Adoption Center) with an update that we had sent out our I-600A and I found out that we can continue with the process and that we do not need this approval until our second trip (when we go to Russian court to officially adopt him!).  SO.... we are proceeding with the process and as soon as we (And our homestudy agency) get the rest of the Phase I document done, notarized, and apostatized (basically there is one apostille per state... someone who basically notarizes that the notary is official... a state approval of the documents so to say).  We have a TON of documents to send off to get this apostille.  Once we get all our CRAZY amount of documents back, we will send off the completed packet to FAC, they will look through it, if everything is in order... we could start looking at "referrals".

Ususally there are WAY more families waiting to adopt than actual children ready to adopted, so wait times are usually in the 6-12 month range.  However, because of the economy, SOO many families are not adopting (YES, it really is crazy expensive), so our wait time estimate is basically none.  So the referral process will hopefully work sorta like this:  We decide on "parameters" or requirements of what we are looking for in our son (parameters can include: gender, age, ethnicity (European, Gypsy, Asian, or Eurasian)... you can be as specific as hair/eye color).  Once our paperwork and parameters are set, the agency will talk to the Russian orphanage and find an eligible child that meets those parameters (so obviously, the less specific the faster/easier it is to find a child).  The social worker then calls us with the basic info over the phone.  We will then say "yes" or "no" to whether or not we want to review that child's chart/pic (about a 1/3 of referral have videos).  If we choose "no", we wait for another referral.  "Yes" means that child's information is over-nighted to us to review.  We review the chart, send whatever medical records come with to an international adoption MD who reviews it looking for medical issues.  After looking at all the information, we can decide "no" or we can decide "yes" we want to fly to Russia and meet the child.  This is our first trip- basically us meeting him and he us.  Most people take further videos and pictures of the child to send back to the specialist to review for medical issues.  We do NOT have to decide the official yes or no in Russia whether or not we are going to adopt... but we will have to within a week or so of meeting the child.  If "no", we try for another referral but if a person refuses too many referral they are "blacklisted" so to speak in some regions/orphanages.  If "yes", this is our boy, we fly back to the US and start the official process.  Once we have a court date in Russia, we fly back to Russia, pick him up out of the orphanage and go to Moscow as he and us all have to have physicals and stand before court.  If we are granted adoption rights (sometimes after an hour long court session with grueling questions), we then only have to wait the 30 day mandatory "freeze" on the child--- he cannot leave Russia for 30 days (NO idea why they changed from a 10 day "freeze" to the 30 day in January 2012).  Most parents come back to the US to finish the process and wait the 30 days.  We have prayed about Celesta (and possibly the girls?) staying on a YWAM base in Russia to wait those 30 days.  PLEASE be praying for this decision specifically.  This is a BIG deal.
So, thats where we are at.  We are still getting ready.  We got his room all ready and decorated as we have to have pics of his room to include with the Phase I dossier packet.  I have attached a picture below.

As I was preparing his room and setting us his crib, Emma was "helping" me.  She asked "Why we doing this?".  I said: "We are getting ready for Nikolai because the people he is with want to make sure we are ready for him.  Emma, are you ready for him?"  Emma: "Yeesss.  Babee Nikowai is gonna be my brudda and he gonna be my best fwiend!"
NIKOLAI WE ARE READY FOR YOU AND WE ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!
Baby, Nikolai, please know that you family is coming for you.  We are praying for you and we are loving you.
Jesus, please protect  our darling son!