It has begun...

How do you get a notary to the doctor to notarize his signature???

Call the bank next door and ask their resident notary to walk over and do it! (Thank You Jesus, thank you Audrey, thanks David for thinking of it!) Now we're trying to figure out when the blood tests will come back so we can ask Audrey to come over at the right time! Oh, I just remembered, next Friday I'll be in that area eating lunch with some friends. Maybe the form will be ready and I could pick it up then! Oh how great that would be!

So, we've tried to complete TWO things off the check list today. The Medical exam and the Police Letter. We didn't get either completed. The police report notarizing was wrong. I thought it would be easy, and it should have been, but it wasn't. I have to go back and get them to re-type and notarize the form. First of all, the form for David doesn't have the notary stamp on it (she forgot). I should have noticed that. But, secondly, and most importantly, the girl notarized her own signature! I don't think you can do that, can you?

So, now that my head kind of hurts from trying to figure all this stuff out, (find a traveling notary, figure out the police letter, gather the blood test results, schedule the time to have the conference call with our family coordinator, etc.) I think we're just feeling our first pains. Hmm. Trying to take everything in stride! It's a long ride and we don't need to lose our sanity just yet!

Paper Pregnancy... Here we come!

"I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it,
I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!"

Now that I've got that song stuck in your head, here's the latest:

We received our Dossier Guidelines Packet!!! Actually it was six "Word" documents (via email, which is always so much better) that we'll have to go through. Remember that I thought the Home Study packet had a lot of words.... well that ain't nothin' compared to this! Ha! I'm just so glad that we're moving on. I'm so excited. (Did I say that already?)

We've been assigned our Family Coordinator and she will be our guide and assistant throughout our "pregnancy". Some of you might think the term "paper pregnancy" is a little corny but I think it's appropriate. I've heard that this could actually be more painful than a physical pregnancy. Euuuuwwww!

Pray for us!

We're Bookin'...

We're movin' now! I've typed up the checklist that came with our Home Study packet and checked off the ones we've completed so far! We've finished 13 of the 21 items and I'm hoping we can check off at least 4 more by Friday afternoon! That leaves only 4 after that, 3 of which we have to wait for someone else to complete!

Now, this list is what David and I have to complete. The Home Study will actually be complete when the social worker receives the certificates from the state and also when she has completed the home visits.

We've already scheduled our first meeting with the social worker. I'm not sure if it counts towards the total of 4 that we need, but I think so. It's the orientation meeting. Two weeks from yesterday (Monday). woohoo!

We're still waiting for our Dossier Guidelines packet, which has a ton more items. Some of the items we need for our Dossier are the same as for the Home Study, so that's less that we have to get done then!

Also, I want to send out a shout of thanks to those who have placed cookie orders! Thank you!

Fundraisers Have Begun!

Look to the left pane and click on the link under Fundraisers to see what we're doing for our first fundraiser! Unfortunately, I don't think I can ship these. Check it out!

Finally! - update

We received the Home Study Packet today in the mail. Finally. I'll fill you in more when we go through it thoroughly. Right off the bat though... lots and lots of effort to get this done. Please pray that things move quickly with all of the forms that require state responses. I saw one form that could take up to 6 weeks to come back.

Update: I've gone through the packet a little more and I can honestly say I'm o.k. There's a long list of more than 20 items we need, including lots of reading, like books and such, plus background check forms, more agreements, state forms for adoption, copies of certificates, plus the home study meetings and "letters", etc., but nothing that makes me too anxious! Has anyone ever written an autobiography? That's something I'm a little nervous about... haha

So, thanks for your prayers. Please continue them!

I'm Bored

OK, not really bored, but more like restless. So, while we're waiting for the Home Study Packet to arrive I thought it would be fun to take a survey.








• What is your favorite name for a boy?
• What is your favorite name for a girl?

Feel free to expound on why you picked the names.
Thanks!

Scary book...

OK, I finished the Adoption Memoir book that David gave me. It was great for me, in a preparation kind of way. Very interesting. The author was very candid and I think having read it will be very helpful in understanding some emotions that might come my way. The author is not a follower of Christ but it was still helpful for me to read.

As for a recommendation, I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone who isn't really serious about adopting. I wouldn't want it to scare anyone OUT of adopting. It gets a little scary with all the things that have to be accomplished for an international adoption, especially the travel part. Though, this is not an example of what WILL happen, just what happened to them.

So, if you're interested in what MIGHT be involved in an adoption from Russia and the Ukraine, this would be good to read.

Packet is on it's way

Got an email saying that the Home Study packet went in the mail today and we'll hopefully get it early next week. So, at least I know something is in the works!

National Adoption Day

As it turns out, November has been named "National Adoption Month" with the Saturday before Thanksgiving (this year, it's Nov. 17) being the "National Adoption Day". This is a very interesting initiative.

Check out this website to see what it's all about.

Still Waiting....

I know it's a little soon to be saying I'm still waiting. There is a lot more waiting to come! I am just ready to get this thing moving! I want to make appointments, send in forms, visit the embassy, get it out of our hands.

Right now we are waiting to hear from the Home Study office.

I don't like waiting. -michele

Off and Running

Praise God, I was able to fax the signed agreements and I was able to pay the initial fee online. They still need the originals but can get started with the fax copies for now. So, once I make copies for myself, in the mail they will go!

I can't believe how unbelievably nervous I am right now. (Was that redundant or what?!) Shaky hands, anxiously beating heart. It's crazy!

Anyway, we now wait for a Social worker to contact us about our Home Study, and then we wait for our "to be assigned" Family Coordinator to send us our Dossier information. Right now, our next step is to fill out a government form and send it to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Office along with a check and several other things like copies of our birth and marriage certificates, etc. Then they will contact us with a fingerprint appointment date. I think I'm freaking out inside because I'm afraid I'm going to do something wrong and delay everything or cause some sort of problem. I don't fully understand everything and that makes me nervous. I feel like I'm missing something.

I think it will help once we're assigned our Family Coordinator. I can then ask her all the questions I have and hopefully not make her crazy. Thanks everyone! Keep praying for us!

Paperwork Signed

We read all of the paperwork, signed all of the agreements and will be sending them out tomorrow with our first agency fee. What an ordeal! How tiring to have to read 37+ pages of text. (Amy... we took turns reading it out loud!) It took us an hour and 20 minutes!

It's amazing (and funny), some of the things that have to be written out in a legal document. One of the points we were made aware of is that the "headings" in the document don't mean anything but only the information written under them are binding. Crazy.

Another note we read was that the form could be faxed and it would be considered a legally binding document with our signatures. That would be great because it would save time and money (I would have overnighted it). So, cross your fingers and hope it applies. We want to get this party started ASAP!

Too Many Words!

That sums up my feelings for this very beginning step of this process. Pages of agreements to be read and signed. Information to be read and understood. Good thing David doesn't mind reading.

So, we got home late on Saturday night and checked the mail. There it was! The envelope I've been waiting for. I was concerned that if we didn't receive it on Saturday, that I would then have to wait until Tuesday (due to no mail delivery on Veterans Day). But, thankfully, it came.

Weird thing is that I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed (too many words) and I just don't want to get into it. Maybe because the last 2 and a half days have been full (but great) and I'm kind of mentally tired.

Well, that's the latest!

Lovely Gift

Hello everyone. Still waiting to get our packet. ugh. All in God's time, right?!

Just wanted to share with everyone the thoughtful gift that David gave me for our anniversary. As you know, we're working on adopting a child from Russia. There are tons of stories and journeys out there from people who've adopted, but mostly from China.

David got me a book called "Two Little Girls, A Memoir of Adoption" and it's about parents who journeyed to MOSCOW and KIEV! How cool!


If anyone has read it already, don't give me any details! I can't wait to get into it!

-michele

Email from Intake Assistant

Got an email from the agency today welcoming us. She wanted to let us know that we'll be receiving our overview packet in the next week to 10 days. She also wanted to check if we lived in a state where they are licensed. We are, so we'll be able to use America World for our home study.

I replied asking them if they would overnight our overview packet, in case they hadn't sent it already. (worth a shot!)

LOL! She replied saying that it was already in the mail but could understand we were eager to get started. Considering they're in Virginia, I hope we get the packet before the end of this week!

Woohoo!

Sharing with Friends

We've decided to "go public" with our news. It's exciting to hear the great reactions we get when people find out we've decided to adopt. Thanks everyone!

Approved!

At 3:54 pm today we received the call from the agency that said we were approved! They will now mail us our paperwork to get started, so we're in another waiting room (7 to 10 days for the mail). But, at least it's official, we are on the road to becoming parents! Woohoo!