More Info

Okay really I am not sure that I have a whole lot more information to share. I have received and accepted a referral for a baby boy. I still have several steps I need to take before I will be able to bring my little boy home. But I am working my way through all the paperwork. I am still waiting for US fingerprinting and the forms that will come with that. I need the paper that that process produces in order to petition the courts in Ethiopia for the adoption. But in order for that to happen I need my home study, which should be done in the next few days. Once the home study is done I pack my dossier up and send it off for translation while waiting for my petition paperwork. Then it is in the hands of the courts in Ethiopia. So then I wait and wait and wait. 

So while all of that is going on I am getting fundraising ideas together in order to raise some money to help with the cost of the adoption and also to be able to help support the care center where my child is currently.  I know that I am having a fundraiser evening on April 5th, so I will post more details as I get together what all the fundraiser will entail. 

It is A BOY!!!

I am a mom!!!!

To a beautiful boy.....more details to follow as I can.

A baby?

I am excited and a little nervous all at the same time. I have received a referral for a baby. This makes me giggly and excited and really nervous all at once. I can’t wait to be able to bring a baby home and hold him and start all of that mommy stuff. And as I am sure all new moms are there is the nervous about doing it right!!

But the crunch has also come on. I am getting to the point where I need to get some more finances secured. I have most of it, but there is still some I need. I am hoping that I can get some more donations in or that I can get people to start buying pictures. I am at a loss for how to fundraise. Never was my strong suit. There is a part of me that wonders if I am in over my head. 

So for now I send out a new email to friends and family again with a link to pictures and hope and pray. I have to have faith that if one of these little guys is suppose to be my forever family, that the money will come through. 

The Group

Well March has come in with a cold and blustery beginning. The schools have called a two hour delay due to snow that is suppose to be coming. 

This weekend I had my last meeting with my social worker, who informed me that the home study would be completed by next week. I got the forms sent to USCIS this week and so I wait for my fingerprinting appointment. I should hopefully have my birth certificates this week and can send in my dossier papers as well. 

I think the most exciting thing is that I got my invitation to join a web group of people that are all adopting or have adopted from Ethiopia. I have spent two days reading and looking at their blogs. Their stories are inspiring and the pictures are amazing. The children are beautiful. I look forward to the day when I will be able to post pictures of the child I get to welcome into my home. 

More paperwork

Otter in Canada by Jenn Kramer

I got back from Canada and am off to a productive day.

• I talked to the social worker and we are going to have our next meeting this Saturday, so that is good. Hoping it means that the home study will be done in the next week or so after that.

•   I have to get a few more copies of things and then can send in my I-600A form. 

• I went and got my physical today and sent first set of prints off to SBI. Waiting to hear when to do next set of prints but that goes with the I-600A form so it will be a few weeks I am sure. 

• Need to go back and read but I believe once the home study is done I can send in my dossier and get that ball rolling. Now I know that nothing can happen until the I-600A form is approved but at least then I am mostly waiting on people to approve things and not on myself to get paperwork in order :) Somehow seems better when it is in someone else’s hands. Although I am sure that eventually that will not be the case and I will be anxious for things that are in other people’s control to get done so I can get to the next phase. 

Breathe

Yosemite by J Kramer

          I have stepped back from the adoption paperwork for the last few days. Mostly because I have been in Canada working at an IB workshop. But while it was a forced step back it was a good thing. I am ready to get home and get working on getting things done. So Tuesday when I get back it will be time to go to doctor and get a physical, and then start my vaccinations I will need for this trip. I am a little more determined to try and get things done quicker as I met someone here in Vancouver who lived in Ethiopia for a year and is going back in May for a month. She works in health care so she goes over and volunteers to work with children who have been orphaned because of HIV. So it would be kind of nice to go over the and have a familiar face to meet up with.  I also had a woman who was in my workshop that had lived in Nigeria for 15 years. She actually had both of her kids while in Nigeria. I am finding more and more people to connect and talk with, which is awesome. 

I am also happy that teaching this workshop has paid for the fees for my I-600A form. One less thing I need a loan for!! That is the other goal this week is to go secure a loan for that last part of this adoption process. Lots of things to be getting done, but all good. This weekend was a great help to me..I got to see old friends and share my news and watch them be excited, I got to take a small break from the mounds of paperwork :) but mostly I got to remember my dedication to this process and having a baby. I feel like maybe I can see an end in sight. It still is several months off but there is an end. The books say once you finish the paperwork then there is just the waiting period which can be long and you might actually wish for the paperwork again as at least it kept you busy. 

Well off to catch my flight to come back to the states. 

Home Study Part One- Check

              The first stage of the home study is completed. My social worker came on Saturday morning to complete the home visit part of the process. Matt and I frantically cleaned the house before she got here. We sat and talked for about an hour. I started out very nervous, after all she will decide if there should be a child placed with me or not, but after a while I relaxed and realized I really had done all the things I needed to for this process and cleaning the house was the least of what I needed to do.  She gave me some information on attachment and malnutrition, which are problems I might encounter. The packet she gave me also included some information on vaccines I should take before traveling to Africa. So now I get to start the process of  getting my shots before travel. 

            So I started my dossier paperwork today.  And am trying to keep calm. There is still a lot of steps to take and things that could go wrong between now and the final adoption.  But I am definitely beginning to get excited. :)