Dossier Checklist

1. Cover Letter 
2. Family Assessment Report (submitted by agency)
3. Birth Certificates for each spouse
4. Background checks
5. Employment Letters (different forms than those of the homestudy)
6. Bank Letter
7. Medical Health Verification
8. Statement of Intent
9. Reference Letters (3)
10. Obligation of Adoption agency
11. Passport Photos - 4 (2 for each spouse)
12. Copy of current passport photos (1 for each spouse)
13. Power of Attorney (for when in Ethiopia)

I am excited as this list is actually less daunting than the Homestudy list AND our agency is great because they do all the necessary "seals". 

I had to order my marriage certificate from Kauai, Hawaii a few weeks ago, got them in the mail..but then had to send to a different place in Hawaii to get all the necessary stamps for the dossier. So I got that mailed off back to Hawaii today and also saw that my I600A form did in fact reach it's destination at 9:32 AM via FedEx! 

So, Napa Valley here we come!!! We leave in 12 hours and I haven't packed yet!  

It's Dossier Time People!

A dossier, is a huge amount of paperwork, certified, notorized, apposilled documents. Pictures (2x2 passport ones to be exact), pictures of your home, family, etc..to be sent to Ethiopia, along with your approved homestudy, and another big fat fee. You work on the dossier while you wait on the I600A approval, and it will be in with that packet of info as well. On a side note, it's not pronounced, "Dose-yer" like you would think...it is pronounced ," Doss-E-A"...most likely top 10 most mispronounced word ever. I still mess it up 50% of the time.

We got our entire dossier book and wanted to print it all out AND....of course my printer wouldn't work...that printer has been THE biggest pain of this process thus far! lol ok, exaggerating, but it is really about to get thrown into the front yard..so if you see it ..you know what happened.

Anyway, I am looking over our what is needed for our dossier and thankfully most of it is things we have already had for our homestudy. But I would love to get it done asap where I don't have to think about it sitting there and waiting for me to get it done! I will set up another Checklist post that will continue from the Homestudy Checklist--where we are now and what is left to be done.
I do know this...we leave Tuesday for vacation, and I am leaving anything child, adoption, home, pet, etc. related behind me and focusing on RELAXING with my husband and enjoying our quite possibly last vacation ALONE before we have another little one! And might I add LAST most likely EVER because who in the world would want to watch 4 boys that young? I think if I ever talk my parents into it after we have 4, we will have to just hire a sitter to stay with them for the week!

On another note,  someone posted online about the trimesters of adoption like pregnancy. The first is the "paperchase"..what I am in now...the second is your "referral", which is when they have matched a child for you...the third is preparing to bring this child home, traveling to Ethiopia, preparing your home, etc... So far, I would say for me, the first has just been tedious. Gathering, printing, notorizing, ordering, taking tests, doing training...etc. all this is just work that HAS to be done to move forward. So I would say it is just kind of BLAH. But when you are done, yah...what a great feeling. The second stage, to me is going to be like the day I found out if my baby was a boy or girl...yet even better bc I will know what he looks like! The third, sounds very exciting, but very overwhelming, tiring, emotional, but happy...all wrapped into one. It will be the biggest trip of our lives... lifechanging. Anything that is unknown is scary. But that's why we pray and just have faith that it will all work out the way it is supposed to. Sometimes, the court in Ethiopia will approve a court date and you will have to leave in a few days notice! Kind of like going into labor, but not knowing when, and having to be prepared for it.
Anyway, just thought I would share...I am not anxious about that right now for some reason. I am focused more on just taking step by step and taking care of business, all the while taking care of my other 3 very important little people. We went to the Zoo Halloween event last night and today I ran in a relay race with my parents (Rock and Road)..I had an 8 mile trail run leg...it was tough! We made Halloween cookies this am and we are going over to our friends house tonight for a big bonfire. These boys are BUSY. I am too thankfully, but I AM getting tired. I think I need a nap. Thanks for reading:))

Oh Happy Day....

ok, so we were waiting on ONE last referral letter...our social worker worked so hard to get everything together so that we could send to immigration before we left..and she emailed me this morning and said, "Guess what! All the stars aligned and I am done and our director approved it this morning!" She said it is the 2nd fastest one she had ever completed as a social worker for adoption! So we were scheduled to meet for me to pick it up and ship that baby off! BUT, then a call...

"Amy, I checked the mail for the referral letter, and it's not there." Shoot! "But , if you can find someone else within a couple of hours and they can email over, I will notorize it." So, we got on the phone, John called a good friend who also had worked with him in the past, and thankfully he could do it! So, somehow it all worked out and I got it in my hands today at 5 PM! I went straight to FedEx, printed the form (my printer decided to act up today of all days) and double checked everything.

I am SOOO glad that is done. Wow, I know if you have gone through this process you know exactly what I mean, but let me tell you if you haven't...it really IS a lot of paperwork. A lot. And it has to be PERFECT..or they reject it....and send it back for revisions...and more time goes by....SO, can I get an AMEN!!:)

Now we can relax a bit, wait for another fingerprinting date, and prepare to send off our dossier! Another step...:)

2 BABIES? Huh?

We are DONE with paperwork for our homestudy, everything is in on our end and we are just hoping she will have it all typed up, binded, and ready to mail before we leave for Napa! I thought we were a few days ago, but then she needed one more form last mintute that needed to be notorized and all that from our CPA, who amazingly got in together in ONE day. He is the best! I would love to mail it all off on Monday with the immigration form (and a big hefty fee along with it..speaking of which, EVERY form you turn in for international adoption has a large fee...really does it take $920 to process a form? ) and just wait to get our fingerprinting date (yes, ANOTHER set of fingerprints) and then, an approval! So, now that we are officially in the wait and do nothing mode, I am brainstorming and just learning as much as I can and reading other's blogs all about their process...and they are all so unique and the timeline is so different I really can see no trends or even guess how ours is going to go...so...as my husband always says, "It is what it is!"

 I will be in Napa Valley all next week (YAHHHH, thank you mom and dad!) and this really is perfect timing for a vacation...and I am running in a half-marathon there as well (which I haven't trained at all for..oops)..and I can't wait to run this beautiful course nonetheless!
Isn't this the perfect quote for a race?.......

Gray told the ENT Dr. today that he is getting a baby brother AND a baby sister and so he needs to get stickers for them too after he passed his hearing test (AMEN for passing that by the way!) So of course the Dr. says,  "so I hear you are having 2 babies!" I was confused and then looked at Gray's little smirking face. He said, "Mama, you SAID we could pray for what we wanted to have, and I want 2!" The Dr. was looking at me like I was crazy...so yes I told him... our ENT knows the news before most of my friends! And I told Gray to pray a little more about it..and he will probably change his mind:)  I tricked you with that title of this post didn't I? hehe

Letter To My Son...

(SKIP this is you don't want to read anything sappy and just want the facts...just a warning:)

Hi there little one..I know it seems silly that I am writing to you and I haven't met you yet. It is therapeutic for me to let you in on my thoughts. I woke up this morning at 5 am in a panic...wondering what I am doing in this process...when will I wake up and forget all the things I now know about the needs of your country? The answer is I don't think I will. I don't think there will be another day to go about my day and not feel almost shameful to enjoy these luxuries while you and your sweet friends sit in need. How can I help you? Where do I start? How can I even begin to change your world? I believe that God will answer those questions at some point.

Everyone I have told about you tells me how you are going to be so blessed and how changed your life will be. You know what I think? I think YOU will change our lives! I think YOU will bless others beyond my comprehension.  I know it won't be easy for you or for daddy and I. Your brothers will need time to adjust and we will have to work hard to make a family unit. I trust that all things will work out in the end the way they are destined to be.

As you sit on the other side of the world, I pray safety over you, that you feel warm and content, that you feel love, and smiling faces when you are held.  God is going to change your life forever. I know your little mind can't comprehend such a big thought but my hope is you feel contentment in your heart, and anytime you feel helpless and cry with no answer, you will find peace because soon my sweet son, you will never be lonely again and your cry will never go unanswered. You will love people who love you back...something you have never known before.

You are destined for something very big, I can feel it in my bones. That's why I won't quit until I have you here to give you opportunity. Your daddy is so excited too, he is now talking about you all the time and your brothers are just waiting to teach you, love you, and play with you! Now, we just have to get you here!

Love,
Mommy

Talking with the boys...

A couple of nights ago I spoke to the kids about adoption. I have always talked to them about kids not always having a family in the US and in other countries and they have friends who are adopted so they knew about it on the surface.  We spoke aboout Africa in particular and just questioned them about the continent. I said, "How do you feel about maybe starting to pray for God to bring us a little one from Africa? You are such great big brothers and we have plenty of room for him, etc...How do you feel about that? At first Ty said he wanted a sister because he already has brothers but then decided on a brother..:) I asked if they knew what color skin they have and how different he would look but that they would still love him just like their brothers that do look like him. Gray said very proudly, I know what color skin they have in Africa! PURPLE! There is a girl at my school that has purple skin and she is beautiful!" So funny..that little guy, you never know what he will say. Ty asked if the little boy would feel shy at first and I said maybe...and he said "ok, we can start praying about it." Eli had no idea what was even being discussed! We asked him what he wanted, a brother or sister and he yelled "sissssta"! Then a minute later, "Bruuuthuuur" So, yes he is off in 2 year old land, with not a care in the world!

We started reading our "E is for Ethiopia" book as well. I asked before we started it, "Where is Ethiopia?" Gray, once again, very confidently, "It is in Florida!" so yeah, we have a little bit to learn about Ethiopia! I hope that after reading through it (and I sounded pretty pathetic trying to pronounce  some of the words in this book by the way...if that was on video, everyone would get a good laugh out of that one..BAD I say!)...I hope, that now they know it is in Africa! We ALL have lots to learn, but I learned today, that just by teaching the kids about it, I am learning just as much as they are!

Little "signs" from above....

Oh how I love this statement. It's how I felt while I was pregnant and it's how I feel now. I let a few close friends in on my news and of course they were ecstatic and supportive and over the moon excited for us. I have the best friends! I went in to TJ Maxx this morning to pass a little time before I met a few friends for lunch and I saw the most amazing plaque! 

It reads "The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step..." and has a picture of a little boys rugged shoes.  I was so touched! This was the the title of my very first post on this adoption blog! I like to think that was God looking down and saying, "yeah, I got this...here's you just a little sign just in case you don't know it!" In the middle of all the junk in there, I saw THIS in the back of a shelf with little boys shoes on it...very cool.  I cried in the middle of the store and bought one for my parents for their home too! I think I would have bought all of them if they had any more! I tried searching the internet to see if I could find a picture like it to post on here but I couldn't find one of a little boys shoes! So here is a pic taken with my phone of it...and it looks blurry for some odd reason?

If you are reading this, it means you are invested in this process and we are so blessed to have your support and prayers to bring our little guy home! Thank you!

Making plans...

My friend Deena, who is an amazing graphic designer (and probably THE most artistically gifted person I know!), is going to draw me a design for tshirts, etc. (kind of like our logo) for fundraising! She is also 1 month away from having her third baby so it is so sweet of her to do this for us! I have an idea of what I want as far as the sketch goes, but need to think of the perfect line to go with it, a verse or just a quote maybe?

So, we have to pay for the adoption, and yes it is very expensive....VERY. John and I have decided that we will pay for this personally and not do any fundraising for this. BUT, I do want to raise money for something else. And that something else is all of the other little babies and children that will be left behind when we leave the orphanage with our son. Our son's life will change, but what about all the other ones left there? My goal is to double what we need to pay for our adoption and give 100% to the orphanges in the area where God will choose our son. I will find out what they need the most, whether it is more food, cleaner water, blankets, education,  Bibles for the caretakers, etc. and that is where our resources will go. So selling these tshirts and everything else will help with that...

I look at it like this... my eyes have been opened, if I turn my head at this point, and only look to help MY child, that would be such a shame. I know we can help so many other children and that makes me even more excited about this process. 

Home Visit Done!

Yah! Our home visit is complete! All of our forms are in and our social worker is just waiting on a couple of referral letters to come in. Our social worker, Amanda, was very sweet and did video training as well as interviewed John and I for the USCIS forms. She met the kids and went through potential problems, attachment therapy etc...basically reconfirmed most of the things we knew through other training, but we did learn that Vanderbilt has an entire department dedicated to International Adoption with Specific Pediatricians that conduct physicals (which are strongly advised) when you bring your child home! We are so lucky to have such great resources here! These Doctors are trained to look for specific problems from children from different regions. There are also tons of resources and support groups for parents in the process and she strongly recommended therapy for us through the process and warned it's not a matter of IF there will be problems (such as slow movement --other countries sense of urgency isn't quite like ours here in the US) in the process but WHEN. I have read that everywhere! So it's very important for us to be very flexible and just try and go with the flow!
So now we are just preparing for the dossier and getting this together and just waiting on Amanda to compile our homestudy to send in with our application for immigration! I felt a huge relief today about this being done and spoke with her about letting more people in on our "secret" and expressed to her how I was so scared I would jinx it and she strongly suggested letting people in on it that will be supportive because it makes the biggest difference in having prayers and support in the process. So I can't wait to spread the news! I am so excited like you feel when you are pregnant--it's just a surreal feeling.  I just envision the day I get to see our child God created for us all the way over on the other side of the world! Pretty darn cool.

Homestudy Date!

So, exciting news...we got our homestudy date today for this Thursday, October 11 at 9 am! It is about half an hour of viewing our home and meeting the kids and then 1-2 hours of interviewing and educating John and I. This is the only one we have to do since we are combining the 2 together so that's exciting! So of course I will be in full organizing mode for the next 2 days, but problem is, the next 2 days are crazy busy! I am not too concerned with the actual homestudy (the social worker seems very sweet via email) but mostly just excited that this is the final step of the homestudy and we can next submit it to USCIS to get an approval to then send our dossier to Ethiopia.  So, inch by inch...we move a little closer to ending all the paperwork part.:)