Good news today! I just received word from our case manager with CHI. She just told me that we are "officially waiting"!! Our dossier is on its way to Ethiopia!
It feels good to be one step closer to bringing home our daughter!!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Dossier and other stuff.........
I am happy to say our dossier is out of our hands! Right now, it should be in DC...I hope we get notification early next week that we are officially waiting! John went to the state office to have all the documents authenticated. It wasn't very much fun to find out that two of the documents were notarized by a Kansas notary. So that means, they cant be authenticated in Missouri. Luckily......John was able to take the afternoon off that day and zip over to Topeka, Kansas and get them taken care of the same day. He was able to get it shipped off to the Children's Hope International office in St. Louis so they can check it and make sure it all looks ok. We did get notified last week that it all looked good and it is going to DC. We cant wait to get the word that we are officially waiting! We are excited to start this next step to wait for a referral, but I know this is going to be hard!
What a process! We officially started right after Christmas. We were able to gather all the documents pretty quickly. I think what took the longest was the 5 weeks and 1 day waiting to hear back from the INS!!!
So now we just need to pass the time....and wait.
We have other great things to keep us busy. Lucas our match from the Big Brother Big sister organization is a lot of fun. Last Saturday he participated in his first judo tournament. We are very proud of him! He placed 2nd in his division. He is very dedicated to going each week to his class and his team and coach were also very proud!
This is Lucas receiving his 2nd place medal
Saturday, April 12, 2008
This is us.........
We are doing the happy dance today!!! I went to the mailbox this morning...and we received our I171H from the Department of Homeland Security!!!! This is what we needed to complete ALL our paperwork!! We waited 5 weeks and 1 day for this form. I started calling this INS office two weeks ago.....just to make sure everything was OK! I had to opportunity talk to a few very rude people to find out nothing! Next step.....dossier goes to St. Louis to be checked..they send it off, and we will officially be waiting for a referral. I have never been so excited to wait!
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Arghhhhh!
3 weeks and 5 days....waiting for the form we need from the INS so we can complete our dossier and get it to Ethiopia so we can start waiting for a referral! Very frustrating! Luckily... my office is very close to my home, so I can stalk the mail man! The INS told us it could take anywhere from 2 weeks to a couple months! I know other adopting families who have used the same office we went to, and it took 2-3 weeks....so we are anxiously waiting, and hoping it will arrive very soon.
No other new exciting news to post....but I was tagged by an adoption blog buddy Lisa..so now I have to list 75 random things about myself (and John!) Here we go.....
1. We love to travel- planning 3 trips, Chicago in May and Los Angeles in June, Wisconsin in Aug!
2. John and I haven't had meat or dairy in almost nine days, we are on a detox diet and have lived on nothing but fruit and vegetables, brown rice and tofu!
3. I have blonde hair
4. John loves Sumo wrestling
5. I have worked in the dental field for almost 15 years
6. John works for Farmland Foods - PORK!
7. We have his and her Boston terriers who demand to sleep in our bed (Johns started it)
8. John is in Houston on business right now and I know he didn't stay on the detox diet!
9. We are very excited to become parents for the first time
10. I already have everything picked out for the nursery and ready to decorate
11. I am a computer nerd and love programming websites
12. John is very good and trivia and can beat just about anyone
13. I am happy that we moved back to Kansas City from Virginia almost 3 years ago
14. John is obsessed with pinball arcade and video games and our basement shows that!
15. We are taking our "little brother" Lucas to his first Judo tournament in a couple weeks
16. A couple weeks ago I had a little accident and backed into another car with my Lexus Suv and it damaged her car but she didn't care and didn't want to report it- Strange?!
17. Our favorite restaurant in Kansas City is Le Fou Frog
18. I would also like to adopt from China or Mongolia
19. Our plans is to have a biological child after the adoption
20. I have always wanted to adopt since I was a child
21. John lived in Japan for one year
22. John has beer on tap in the bar at our house- his dream come true
23. Our house is quite a bit of home to take care of and I sometimes think we should downsize
24. It will be better once we have children, so its not so empty!
25. I think 75 items to list is way to much and I need to get back to work, so I am going to cheat and say thats all for now!
Thanks a lot Lisa! :)
No other new exciting news to post....but I was tagged by an adoption blog buddy Lisa..so now I have to list 75 random things about myself (and John!) Here we go.....
1. We love to travel- planning 3 trips, Chicago in May and Los Angeles in June, Wisconsin in Aug!
2. John and I haven't had meat or dairy in almost nine days, we are on a detox diet and have lived on nothing but fruit and vegetables, brown rice and tofu!
3. I have blonde hair
4. John loves Sumo wrestling
5. I have worked in the dental field for almost 15 years
6. John works for Farmland Foods - PORK!
7. We have his and her Boston terriers who demand to sleep in our bed (Johns started it)
8. John is in Houston on business right now and I know he didn't stay on the detox diet!
9. We are very excited to become parents for the first time
10. I already have everything picked out for the nursery and ready to decorate
11. I am a computer nerd and love programming websites
12. John is very good and trivia and can beat just about anyone
13. I am happy that we moved back to Kansas City from Virginia almost 3 years ago
14. John is obsessed with pinball arcade and video games and our basement shows that!
15. We are taking our "little brother" Lucas to his first Judo tournament in a couple weeks
16. A couple weeks ago I had a little accident and backed into another car with my Lexus Suv and it damaged her car but she didn't care and didn't want to report it- Strange?!
17. Our favorite restaurant in Kansas City is Le Fou Frog
18. I would also like to adopt from China or Mongolia
19. Our plans is to have a biological child after the adoption
20. I have always wanted to adopt since I was a child
21. John lived in Japan for one year
22. John has beer on tap in the bar at our house- his dream come true
23. Our house is quite a bit of home to take care of and I sometimes think we should downsize
24. It will be better once we have children, so its not so empty!
25. I think 75 items to list is way to much and I need to get back to work, so I am going to cheat and say thats all for now!
Thanks a lot Lisa! :)
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Home Study and Fingerprinting.....Done!
Our home study is DONE! Our social worker made a visit to our home on Feb 29th. She took a tour of our home, asked if we had a fire extinguisher and smoke detectors (we have nine!) and then we sat down and visited about the next steps. She told us to go ahead and make an appointment with the INS office. This is all done online, I found out that we could go in the following week. So our social worker was so kind to complete the last part of her home study documents and have it ready for us to pick up to take to our INS appt.
Our home study is like a book about us! It covers everything on what our parents and siblings are like, description of our home, parenting skills and even what our financial status is. We use this home study report a few times to submit with the paperwork. We had to have an approved home study to be able to apply with the INS.
Its officially been 8 days since we made our visit to the Department of Homeland Security. It was an interesting experience. I didn't even know we had an office like this in Kansas City, and it was surprisingly close to Johns office..probably less than one mile! The process took less than an hour. We had made an appointment a week before that. After we went through security, our appointment with the INS was actually at a little window! We turned in our documents and application and then were told to wait in line for fingerprinting. Fingerprinting is digital now, so we didn't leave with messy fingers!
We are excited to get our form back from the INS. This will complete EVERYTHING we need to send off in our Dossier to Ethiopia. This could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months! From what I am hearing that right now its taking about a month. So the quicker this little paper comes the quicker we will be on our way to Ethiopia to pick up our little girl!
YEP! That's right, we decided to ask for a girl. Originally we were going to leave it open. John really wanted a girl, I was leaning towards a boy. But for some reason, every time I would picture us with our child, I would see a girl! So, the night before the home study was complete, we called our social worker and asked if we could change it. It was no problem!
Other news....our "little brother" Lucas was promoted to a yellow belt in his Judo class. We are very proud of him!! He started Judo just a few months ago, and he is doing so well. We take Lucas to Judo each week, we are hoping to take him to a tournament in the near future. Here are some photos of Lucas during his promotion ceremony.
Our home study is like a book about us! It covers everything on what our parents and siblings are like, description of our home, parenting skills and even what our financial status is. We use this home study report a few times to submit with the paperwork. We had to have an approved home study to be able to apply with the INS.
Its officially been 8 days since we made our visit to the Department of Homeland Security. It was an interesting experience. I didn't even know we had an office like this in Kansas City, and it was surprisingly close to Johns office..probably less than one mile! The process took less than an hour. We had made an appointment a week before that. After we went through security, our appointment with the INS was actually at a little window! We turned in our documents and application and then were told to wait in line for fingerprinting. Fingerprinting is digital now, so we didn't leave with messy fingers!
We are excited to get our form back from the INS. This will complete EVERYTHING we need to send off in our Dossier to Ethiopia. This could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months! From what I am hearing that right now its taking about a month. So the quicker this little paper comes the quicker we will be on our way to Ethiopia to pick up our little girl!
YEP! That's right, we decided to ask for a girl. Originally we were going to leave it open. John really wanted a girl, I was leaning towards a boy. But for some reason, every time I would picture us with our child, I would see a girl! So, the night before the home study was complete, we called our social worker and asked if we could change it. It was no problem!
Other news....our "little brother" Lucas was promoted to a yellow belt in his Judo class. We are very proud of him!! He started Judo just a few months ago, and he is doing so well. We take Lucas to Judo each week, we are hoping to take him to a tournament in the near future. Here are some photos of Lucas during his promotion ceremony.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Homestudy
So we are moving right along......so far John and I have completed 3 out of 4 homestudy visits. We were interviewed seperatly and as a couple. The last one is scheduled a week from this Friday!! Our social worker will make a visit to our home. Hopefully she has nothing but good things to say about us in her report, and once that is completed we will make an appointment with the INS.
The reason we have to make a visit to our local INS office, we have to recieve permission from the INS for our child to be able to lawfully enter the United States for the purpose of being adopted. After this approval has been given and the child has been adopted and brought to the United States under a visa and/or a green card issued by the INS, then we can then apply to the INS for the child to become a United States Citizen, just as if the child had been born to the adoptive parents as their biological child. This process could take up to 60 days...just waiting! The exciting part once we get the OK...then all of the documents we have been working on will be bundled and this will complete our Dossier. The Dossier will then go to Ethiopia, and we will sit back and just wait for a child referell!
John and I have to decide before next Friday on if we are just going to ask for a girl or a boy, or just be suprised!! We are definitley asking for a baby 18 months and under.
All for now!
The reason we have to make a visit to our local INS office, we have to recieve permission from the INS for our child to be able to lawfully enter the United States for the purpose of being adopted. After this approval has been given and the child has been adopted and brought to the United States under a visa and/or a green card issued by the INS, then we can then apply to the INS for the child to become a United States Citizen, just as if the child had been born to the adoptive parents as their biological child. This process could take up to 60 days...just waiting! The exciting part once we get the OK...then all of the documents we have been working on will be bundled and this will complete our Dossier. The Dossier will then go to Ethiopia, and we will sit back and just wait for a child referell!
John and I have to decide before next Friday on if we are just going to ask for a girl or a boy, or just be suprised!! We are definitley asking for a baby 18 months and under.
All for now!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Lucas
Lucas is our 10 year old "little brother" . He is the one in the photo holding the red guitar! John and I became what Big Brothers and Big Sisters call a "Big Couple". We decided to donate some time each week, and looked in to seeing if we could join Big Brothers Big Sisters. Once it was decided we would be ok to apply. The next step was filling out an application online. After about a week, our case manager called us. He told us he would be our case manager and they he would make a visit to our home. He then told us about a new program called Big Couple. This allows us to be match with a child and do this as a couple!
So this past September we were matched with Lucas! Lucas lives right outside of downtown KC. We spend a few hours each week hanging out with Lucas. Dorian is his 9 year old brother.....Dorian currently does not have a Big Brother or a Big Couple to hang out with, so we had him over with Lucas on Sunday. We had great time playing video games, guitar hero and doing Karaoke!
We are especially excited about this evening. Since we have met Lucas, John has enrolled him in a weekly judo class. Lucas is getting promoted from a white belt to a yellow belt. He will be really suprised tonight! We will take some photos and post them soon!
This is Dorian playin some video games!
John and Lucas playin some Guitar Hero!
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