FBI Background Checks....Check! Updated Photos...Check!

We got updated photos of Christy!  These were taken the day after Christmas.  She looks so great!  These were sent to a mutual friend by the orphanage director, who knew that we knew each other!  What a blessed surprise!

This is the toy we sent to her through another Washington State adoptive family,
whose little girl lived with Christy.  They were able to drop off some toys for us
when they went to take their daughter home forever!

We had to have our FBI background checks done again, just in case (see my blog post a few back about details).  This time we are using National Background Checks.  This is an FBI Channeler and one of the few that provides physical copies on FBI letter heads that can be notarized.

Usually it takes 6 or more weeks to get the background checks back, but with the handler we got it back in 3 weeks.  It would usually be even faster, but we were dealing with both the holidays and the severe weather that effected mail as well.

So now I'm sending those off to be apostilled by Caring Hands in Washington D.C.  I am glad I decided to blog about this, as I totally forgot that I can have it sent directly to our agency contact from Caring Hands, saving time and money over having them send them to us, and then forwarding them to the agency contact!

This should be the last thing I have to do as far as paperwork is concerned!  Hurray!  Hoping to hear good news about our dossier going to court by the end of this month...please pray for that to happen!

Surprise Blessings!

Photos taken 12/14!

We had something amazing happen last week!  While I was reading a blog from a family who was on their "meet ya" trip this week in Christy's country, I recognized Christy's city!  This family was able to bring their son to stay with them for 3 days instead of visits twice a day like we had!  Then she commented that now they have to find things to do.  I contacted her, as I had seen that she had the same translator/driver that we did (Yavor), to see if it would be possible to check in to see if the thickener I was able to have brought to Christy was working and how the supply was lasting.

Not only were they able to do that, but Yavor was allowed to visit Christy and take photos!  He said she was quite tired (probably just laying down for a nap).  He also found out that the thickener is working well, and that the supply I sent should last a long time.  The nurse also requested that we send her some orthotic hose to help with her legs as she is super flexible and they think it would help to limit her movement.  It would take yet another miracle, actually a series of miracles, but we might just be able to pull it off and get her some "hip huggers."  I will work to get the hip huggers to our adoption agency attorney over there through a family who is going over there for their first trip in early January, and then she'll need to give it to Yavor and he would have to be going to her city with another family and have time to go to Christy's group home in order for us to get them to her, but it is possible...Please pray that we will be able to do this for her.

Her email was so fun to read, I'll quote it here:

"Dear Ruth!

We were able to go to Christy's group home today twice. The first time we went and Yavor went in and the nurse wasn't there until 12:00. This was in the morning. Yavor got to see Christy, and the care giver told him that Christy was doing really well, but she didn't know about the thickener, or anything about the supply of it needed. She said he should ask the nurse. Yavor said Christy was doing really well, though, and the caregiver told him that she'd had a medical appointment the week before and that went great!

So we went and had Jerry's visa picture taken and then we went to the mall and had lunch and then came back to the group home after noon. I said to Yavor, "see if you can get some photos of Christy and tell them her American Mama would be soooo happy!"...so Yavor took my camera and went in to check with the nurse. On his way in he said.."Now you realize that I probably won't be able to take any pictures, but I"ll try anyway!"...and then when he came out he brought me these on my camera!

Oh Ruth! She's so beautiful! I'm so thankful that we got to encourage you in this way! I said to Yavor..."Bravo!" "Bravo!"..he was beaming that he got to do that!

So..the report from the nurse:

Christy is doing great. She's off of her heart medicine now and only on her brain medicine. She's growing and actually outgrowing all of her clothes! She doesn't need any more thickener at this time. It's working well, but she has enough for a long time to come she said. Also, she mentioned wanting some stretchy ortho type socks or tights that would help to keep her legs straighter. Not sure what that meant, but she thought you might know, and if you could send those, that would be great. When you come for picking up, you'll need to bring her bigger clothes, the nurse said!

Okay..love to you!! Praying this blesses your day greatly!

 Mary!!!

Um, yeah!  That totally blessed my socks off!  And she's a woman after my own heart with all those exclamation points!  LOVE IT!!!!!!

As far as our adoption stuff goes, we were able to get our fingerprints done last Thursday, and I will be mailing them in through an FBI Channeler.  This way we should get our background checks back in about 2 weeks instead of 6 - 8 weeks!  Then I will have to send them to Caring Hands (a service that hand delivers documents to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC to get apostilled) and we will have them send the apostilled background checks directly to our adoption agency!

I am still hoping to hear any day now that our second stage dossier has been submitted.  These fingerprints/background checks will not be needed until we are assigned a judge/court date (and they might not be needed at all, as it depends on which judge we get), so this is not slowing anything down.

So here are the steps we still have left to go through:

-Article 5 translated/authenticated and  added to complete dossier submitted to Big Wig (approx 12/18)

-Complete dossier goes through 1 month of passing through lots of hands (finish approx 1/20)

-Gets signature from big wig (approx 1/27)

-is taken to the courts. (approx 1/31)

-assigned to a judge (approx 2/14)

-assigned a court date (approx 2/20)

-court date/adoption granted (approx 3/1)

-adoption gets signed court decree from the judge (approx 3/10)

-new birth certificate is applied for (approx 3/11)

-travel dates given once new birth certificate is done (approx 3/18)

Then we get to go bring her home (end of March?)

We also were blessed to have one of our photos of our visits with Christy put in a video that was just released today!  Please share this video, and consider participating in the 2013 



And please read about the Winslow family and there visits with their precious children last week.  This is the family who worked with Yavor in order to get updates on Christy! They still stand in need of funds to complete their adoption, so please consider donating to their grant!

Thank you Mary Winslow!

Thank You Yavor!!

Thank You God!!!

I thought the paperwork was done...

Just when I thought we had finished all paperwork.....a judge on the other side of the planet has to shake things up.  One of the six judges in Christy's country has consistently required updated/less then 6 months old FBI background checks.  For families who got this judge, this meant a delay of weeks or months.  So to avoid this problem, all families are now required to get this done, just in case.

So today Daryl and I got our fingerprints taken at the  sherrif's office, and tomorrow I'll.start the process of getting the background checks going.  This will also require getting them apostilled in Washington DC.   More hassle amd more expense....but in the end everything is worth it to bring Christy home.

I am hoping to hear any day that our second stage dossier has been submitted.....

Progress, Well, Kind Of!

So, we are still awaiting our USCIS approval for our I800a (application for permission to imigrate a child - it's really approving our family and making sure we are not involved in human trafficking).  I called yesterday and our application has not been assigned an officer yet, even though we got our fingerprints done for this over 2 weeks ago.  Last spring I was reading about approvals coming just days after the fingerprinting, but now approvals are coming 4 - 6 weeks after fingerprinting.  I have no idea why things have slowed to a crawl over at USCIS, but I keep reminding myself that God is still on his throne and even this is not out of His control.

On a brighter note, after more than 3 months of no dossiers for families waiting to be processed so they can go meet their child being processed, there is a meeting finally planned to do this next week.  Please pray that nothing will hinder this meeting and that these adoptions will all be processed efficiently so that these little ones can know that they have a family working so hard to rescue them!

We, sadly, are not even in line for those meetings yet.  Our dossier has been in translation (and might even be done with that), but it can't be submitted until it has the I800a approval (see first paragraph).  Once we get our I800a approval letter, we need to get it notarized and appostilled (that takes about a week or more) and then we send it to join our dossier.  Then we can be submitted.

Delay after delay.  That seems to be the story in many adoptions.  I just have to keep reminding me that no matter what, God ordained this adoption, miraculously funded it, and He will bring it to completion in His PERFECT timing.

Early this morning I had a great thought!  When we go to meet Priscilla, I will teach her "Baba" how to do some of the therapies that we are doing with Esther!  Then she can benefit from it even before we bring her home!  And they are so simple, even my younger kids can do some of the therapies!

One thing I do know is that it will be absolutely amazing when we do get to go meet Priscilla.  I can't wait to be able to share with you photos of her in my arms!

We have our appointment!

I don't have that magic paper yet, but I called the USCIS Hague department and got the scoop.  That paper should arrive in tomorrow's mail.  It will tell us that our fingerprinting appointment is for a week from Friday at noon.

That is definitely not a good time for Daryl - please pray that we will be able to go in at a better time so he will lose less work. Late or early in the day would be so much better!

Thank you!

Small Updates....Big News

Nothing very exciting on the adoption front.  We had a small glitch with both our dossier and our I800a application, but both have been taken care of and we are back in the business of waiting!

Our dossier is being translated.  My little glitch was that I forgot to get our homestudy apostilled.  But I had another copy here so I was able to sent that copy in for the apostille right away, and the translation can still go on as I believe they scanned all the documents and sent to her country for being translated.  The apostilled copy went out today!

We got a letter from the USCIS that said that our application had been accepted and was being forwarded to the Hague department.  Priscilla lives in a Hague Convention - "The Intercountry Adoption Act of 2000, better known as Hague, is an international treaty designed to protect children, birth families, and adoptive families by prohibiting child trafficking and setting up strict standards for international adoptions"**.  Soon we will get the letter we need to take with us to get our biophysical fingerprints.  That will require a 2 hour drive to that location, and it comes at a bad time for Daryl, as he's working massive hours to help the company he works for meet a deadline.  Please pray that we can get an appointment time that will require the least amount of hours to be missed at work for him.


We have had some exciting news here at home - our oldest son, Jeremy, asked his girl to marry him and she said "Yes"!  So Priscilla will have a built in sister-in-law when she comes home!

 In preparation for our trip to see Priscilla, I'm learning a little of her language.  We will have a translator with us pretty much all the time, but I figured it would be good to know anyway!  It is a very different language and even uses the Eastern European alphabet.  I'm getting to where I'm remembering some of the unusual letter/figures.  But by far, and most difficult thing to do will be to remember that you move you head side to side to say "yes" and up and down to say "no"!  That is just wrong!

If you think of our adoption, please pray that political changes in her country will settle down soon, as right now, the people in the government who process everything adoption related are not processing anything.  Please pray that the dust will settle quickly and they will get back into the business of getting these precious children out of their orphanages and into loving homes.  This situation is effecting countless families who are in various phases of adoption.


**quoted from Premier Adoption Agency

Our Dossier is Finished!

Our documents arrived from Olympia today!

I was all ready for them after creating the family photo pages to include with all the rest of the documents!

Here is what we have worked so hard to put together over the last 4 months!

What you see there is:

Home Study

copy of passports

miscellaneous boring documents

5 sets of FBI fingerprints, apostilled in Washington DC

More boring documents

A commitment to doing follow up home visits after she's home

Photo pages with photos of our family, home and activities:

Now we are waiting to get an appointment to have our finger prints taken for the I800a (immigration application), which we will have to drive to south Seattle to get done (not going to be fun now with that bridge in Burlington gone).

After that, we will be waiting. Waiting for what?  Waiting for our "referral".  What's a referral?  In the world of adoption, it is the invitation - the invitation to travel to meet your child!  We expect this will happen sometime in July or August.

So, now it's time for some nesting - home projects to get done while I have time to do them!

I included an entire sheet of photos for Esther as it shows that we have dealt with nearly everything that Priscilla has and will experience.  It also shows that we value her as a large part of our family and is not seen as a burden but as a delight and a blessing to our family.

The Second Trimester....

I find it very interesting how similar adoption is to pregnancy.  When you think about adoption, it's like the time when you aren't pregnant yet, but hope to be/plan to be/think you might be pregnant soon.  When you commit to a child, it's like a positive pregnancy test.  When your adoption plans are interrupted it's like a miscarriage - you grieve for the child you won't be able to adopt.

We committed to adopting Priscilla back in January.  I liken the last 4 1/2 months to the first trimester. The going it tough, and there's nothing to show for it.  You are working so hard on something you can't put your hands on.  You're tired all the time and there's always more to do than you have time or energy.  Then, you finally reach the end of this first trimester - the home study arrives!

We are now entering into a new phase of our adoption, the second trimester if you will.  We are waiting to "see" our little girl.  The hard work is done, I'll have more time and energy to function from day to day.  I have a list of projects to accomplish before she joins our family.  I'm sure, just like the second trimester in pregnancy, there will be days that it will seem like this isn't really happening.  Life will seem"normal" and there will be very little to remind me that we are adopting.  Except for those occasional little reminders, similar to those precious first kicks/movements, like getting our fingerprints done for the I800a, and submitting our dossier. I'll need to prepare and plan.

In about 8 weeks we will get to "see" our "baby."  To me, this will be very much like the big 20 week ultrasound (only better as we'll get to hold her and love on her!).  But it will be the first time we truly lay eyes on her.  At that point everything will seem so much more real.  Our hearts will be bonded with her and it will be SOOOO hard to walk away and not "see" her again for so many, many months!

After that, we'll be in our last trimester - the hardest part.  There will be so much to do to prepare, as I know I will be unable to accomplish much of anything once she is home, for months even.  We'll get her bedroom ready, get clothes for her set out (we'll know her size by then).  We'll have more paperwork to submit to finish the adoption.  But, mostly, we will be waiting.  Anxiously waiting.  Praying for her to stay strong, to remain healthy.  Each day will seem longer than the last.  Going "overdue" due to delays in the red tape/legal process will be excruciating.

Once everything is ready and the time has come, Daryl will take me to bring her home.  We'll leave our other children, and come home with their new sister.  Then everything will slow down, we will focus on our new blessing and keep tight for a while.  Time to bond, time to learn about her.  Time to allow her to adjust to her new world and new time zone (so like a newborn that is on the wrong time frame, awake all night, sleeping all day!).  Keeping exposure to anything outside our family to a minimum as we care for her and bond to her.  Taking her to doctor's appointments to make sure she gets the best start here as she can.

And, eventually, finding a new normal for us. I always find it takes at least 3 months to find a new normal after having a baby, but as I get older, it has taken longer and longer.  With Carese it was nearly a year. With Priscilla, it may take that long as well.  Our friends and family will need to be loyal and patient as we go through the process of making Priscilla a part of our family.  But it will all be worth it.

But, there are many ways that adoption is so very different from a pregnancy.  While we are waiting, our child is in an orphanage on the other side of the world, spending most of her day in a crib.  Not receiving the therapies, medical care and proper nutrition that she needs.  No amount of my eating right or being careful to guard my health will help her.  Granted, if I'm eating right and working on my health, I will be in better shape to care for her, but it doesn't help her right now.  When an adopted child joins the family, they are not a clean slate.  They have been damaged.  They have learned to cope in ways that a baby should never have to cope.  They have learned to never expect their needs to be met.  They have learned that crying does not bring about consolation.  They have learned that at night, there is no one to care for them, they are on their own.

And, unlike pregnancy, it is not 9 months, give or take a few weeks. It's more like a year, give or take a few months!  A year that YOUR child is not in your arms but living in a cold, sterile environment learning to rock in place to self-console instead of sitting in my lap, in my arms, rocking in our purple princess room.

So, when is our "due date"?  We really have no idea.  Sometime next winter.  October at the earliest, January or later if things don't go well.  Another winter in an orphanage for a little girl who has battled pneumonia 4 times in her first 3 winters.

Please pray with us that our paperwork will sale through all the red tape.  That we can go get our precious little girl in October rather than January or later.  Pray that she remains healthy.  Pray that we can make all the needed preparations in our home for her.  Pray that we will be healthy for our traveling to meet her and to bring her home.  Pray for our family as they prepare to hold up while we are gone.

But even more.....

PRAY that others will see the needs of these children to be adopted!

EVERY life is worth saving.  These children will NOT be OK if left where they are.  Unlike children in need of adoption here in the US, they are not in homes.  They are  not receiving therapies to help them grow and learn.  These children face a death sentence if they are not adopted.

If you are pro-life, then you should consider the plight of these precious children, loved by God, who desperately need a home.  These are children abandoned because they are not perfect.  But in God's eyes they are perfect.  In God's eyes they are worth every penny, every sleepless night, every sacrifice of time it takes to bring these children into a home where they can be loved, cared for and taught of the ultimate adoption.  That they can be adopted by God Almighty and be His child.

Adoption is the ultimate outreach to a sinful word.  Adopting is being a missionary, an evangelist.  An adoptive family is a physical manifestation of the spiritual reality of salvation.

If you can't adopt, the support adoptive families through prayer and financial giving.  If you can't give financially, give some physical help to a local adoptive family.  And everyone can do this - advocate for children who are waiting for their forever family to find them.  Share the plight of these forgotten children.

If you think you can't adopt because you don't have the money, I say "pshaw, that's nothing."  I know because we have experienced God's provision in a way that astounds me every day.  If God is calling you to adopt, He is MORE THAN ABLE to provide such an easy thing as money!

Plus - did you know that there are 3 children listed right now who have enough money in their Reece's Rainbow Grants to nearly pay for their entire adoption?????

Check them out:

Nolan is almost 10 years old
He has been transferred to an adult mental institution
His life is in imminent danger
But he can be adopted!
He has over $15,000 ready and waiting to be used
for his adoption!!!
Can you save him?

Iris has over $16,000 to use for her adoption!
She loves to care for the other children in her orphanage
Here's is a blog post about her:
http://www.tinygreenelephants.com/2013/02/beautiful-iris-video.html
This country is fast -
most children are home in 7 months!

Maria is an 11 year old sweetie pie!
She has $15,000 for her adoption
Are you her momma???
She's in the same ORPHANAGE as Iris
(hint, hint, hint!)

Just In - Background Checks!

I just got the digital copies of our FBI Background Checks and the DSHS Child Abuse Registry Checks!  These are some of the most common things that can slow down completing a home study!

If course, we were all "clean"!

Yeah!  One more hurdle over this week!

To celebrate - here's another photo of our sweet Priscilla that I have not shared yet!  She is in a chair that converts to a standing assistant type of thing.  I think she likes this toy!

Yum, Yum!

frozen, straight out of the freezer

Fresh out of the package
frosting comes in nice little package

When we got our starter pack for the Butter Braids fundraiser, it came with three loaves of bread!  We have tried two of them - Strawberry/Cream Cheese (in the photos), and Cinnamon.  They are delicious!

Here's the photos of the process!

partially risen, about 5 hours after opening

Adoption Progress Update.  We were supposed to have our first home visit on Monday, but Carese spiked a high fever on Sunday so we had to reschedule.  Now we are scheduled for next Monday.  Carese is very sick (double ear infection, pneumococcal bacterial infection, and we have to watch for signs of meningitis), so prayers are much appreciated for my tiny princess!  She's running high fevers, but will still drink, so that is good.

We are ready to apply for our passports, and that will happen when  Esther's new glasses are ready for pick up as we need to go to town to apply.

Just before putting in the oven - it really grew that last hour!

Our four home visits may only take 2 weeks to complete, then another week for the social worker to complete her report.  Our FBI background checks should come back around the middle of March, and then we'll be done with our home study, Lord Willing!  Then it will be on to serious Dossier preparation.

Out of the over, cooled for about 20 minutes
drizzled the frosting over top

Things around the house are really taking shape.  The kids are really pitching in and doing lots of little projects around the house that would fall under the category of "spring cleaning" which we were unable to do last spring due to the arrival of Carese in March!

We have received donations from several people this week (check out my FundRazr progress in the sidebar!) and my Facebook auctions are going really well. I also have my first sponsor on my "Sugar Free for Priscy."

YUM!!!

By the way, I used the name "Priscy" there as we heard her called that in a video we have of her!

We are working on a Spaghetti Feed + Silent Auction locally for April and things are starting to come together.  I have several donations from local companies already, and I'm close to getting some more!

Our next big cost will be our I800a application.  This is the application to get approved as a family to immigrate a child via adoption.  This costs over $700 for the application, but there's also the cost of shipping and preparation of the forms that are sent with it (apostilles).  The I800 is completed after the first trip, before the second trip and is specifically getting permission to immigrate the particular child you are adoption.

So far, I have $200 towards that cost as of today.  All of that $200 I did not have as of last Saturday so I am much encouraged that my Lord is providing for our needs before they are needed!

 Our February Auctions end tomorrow night, and all proceeds from that will be added to that $200.  We have had several items donated for our March Auctions, and we've been working hard to make new items too!  Our March Auctions will be only 2 weeks long to make it possible to have items shipped in time for Easter/Resurrection Sunday/Spring Break!

Busy, Busy, Busy Plus Butter Braids!

Wow - It's been a whole week since I gave any updates!  You know what that means....that means I am no longer sick and I'm been a very busy mommy once again!

Last Saturday I spent the bulk of my time doing a deep cleaning in my bedroom suite and in the little girl's bedroom.  I also did some rearranging in order to move Carese into the little girls room and out of mine (she cries really loud).  We've now been in our "new" home for 5 years, well as of the second weekend in March!  Nooks and crannies are showing the accumulation of 5 years with many people living in our home. Last year I wasn't able to do any spring cleaning due to Carese's birth and my knee injury.  Fall cleaning didn't happen either due to my knee issues and the start of home schooling.

Yesterday I was blessed with the opportunity to get a "like new" high quality glider rocker to put in the little girls' room. When Esther wakes up at night, she's too heavy for me to carry into my bedroom and to my swivel rocker, plus the swivel rocker is so low that it's really hard to get up out of it with 40 plus pounds of limpness!  I've been sitting on a metal folding chair when I have to rock her at night, causing me to get chilled and acquire assorted muscle stiffness/pain. But no more! Last night Esther needed to be rocked during the night (and I was able to nurse/rock Carese to sleep too!), and it was such a joy - so comfortable!  I am sure it will be very helpful when Priscilla comes home too!

We were able to sell our weight set and exercise bike on Saturday and came up with nearly enough to pay for our passport application fee, and with out tax return arrival and a cash discount on a dentist bill I had enough to send in our FBI background check/fingerprints that we will need for our dossier!  I have filled out the passport application paperwork.  I just need to make photocopies of our birth certificates/marriage certificate and take our passport photos!  Daryl and I hope to go in to submit our application early next week!  Don't you just love the warm fuzzies you get from passport photos! No smiles allowed!

We had had some wonderful additions to our Facebook Auctions.  I've been knitting and crocheting as well.  Friends have also been donating to our hand made items, and some of them are way too cute!

One of the nicest thing donated was five copies of the movie "Rescued" which is about the call of God for Christians to care for orphans, especially through adoption.  This is a wonderful testimony of families who have rescued orphans from both our foster care system as well as international adoption.  Caring for orphans, especially adopting them, is the ultimate pro-life statement, as you have heard me say on my other blog - 11blessings.blogspot.com.

I just heard from the social worker, Rebecca, who will be conducting our home study visits and our first home inspection/visit on Monday!  We are working hard to complete the last of the home projects.  To date we have installed all the carbon monoxide detectors and smoke detectors, and gun safe and the ammo safe, fire extinguishes are in place, we have condensed all our medicines into one locked cupboard and created a lock drawer of first aide supplies (including a new first aide kit and some new supplies that we were lacking).

Today Rachel and I tacked the hallway, and a group effort was made at the bathrooms.  Man, did we ever have some serious cobwebs happening around here!  I remember we took care of those nasty things last fall, but they had made quite the comeback!

Saturday Daryl and I are attending an adoption workshop on attachment and healing issues in adoption.  I am looking forward to this, and the opportunity to meet other adoptive families in our area.

Here's another photo I have of Priscilla.  Her right hand is not something she likes  to used, it mostly just hangs around in a fist.  I have seen her move it around in videos, but never grabbing or holding anything.  As you can see, she can not sit independently.  Esther at her age was walking.  I think she's a little overwhelmed in this photo, as I think this bright, cheery therapy style room is not one that she is in normally, but it was just used for the photo shoot.

Last week I worked to complete some of the education requirements for our adoption agency.  We have to complete 10 hours of education, and it's recommended that we do more.  I have complete 3 of the required 5 courses so far.  It is really fascinating!

And last, but not least, I have just begun a fundraiser selling Butter Braid Frozen Pasty Dough.  If you live here locally here's the "scoop!"  We will be taking orders for these through March 8.  This will ensure that they are delivered/available for pick up before Easter!  The loaves are $12 ea, and they come frozen.

You thaw them, allow them to rise, pop them in your oven.  Drizzle the frosting that comes with the loaf over the top and you have a quick, delicious snack/dessert.  Great to keep on hand for unexpected company or for adding to a meal that you are taking to a new mom or a family in need!

There are 9 flavors - Apple, Bavarian Creme, Blueberry Cream, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream Cheese, Raspberry, Strawberry/Cream Cheese,  and Caramel Rolls!

Email me if you are interested in ordering!

Preparing for Dossier

Passport and Background Check paperwork,
Ready to be filled in and filed

Once our Home Study is completed, it will be time to assemble everything needed for the Dossier.  Some of the items needed take time for processing.  The two biggies are background checks (I know, we already did this, but it was for the home study and we need a second background check for the Dossier, as that goes to Priscilla's country) and our passports.  Yes, we don't travel until after the dossier is approved, but we have to send colored copies of our passports to show them that we are prepared to visit!

Here's Carese testing out the baby gate.
 It works very well to keep her
from going up the stairs.

So today I found the correct forms and printed them out.  I already have the finger prints as we got second copies when we got the first ones done.  The only problem is lacking funds.  The background checks are $18 ea, and we have 5 adults living at home, so those will cost $90.00.  The Passports are $135.00 each and we are getting two of them, so that is $270.00.  Our normal working budget is usually a little tight, and we just spent over $400 for safety items for the house (smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, baby gate, fire extinguishers and gun safes).  If you would like to help us get the money to submit these forms, please the new FundRazr box right her in the right hand column (your money will go directly to our Paypal account).

The home improvement progress took a big hit last week.  Influenza has decided to visit us.  So far, everyone but Jessica and Dayton has succumbed.  I think it has hit me the hardest.  The little girls are doing quite well on the respiratory part, but the digestive system part is doing a number on them (i.e. lots of diaper changes going on around here).  It seems to  be hardest on the older children/adult

.  Jessica has been very busy crocheting and knitting washcloths and hot pads (I did a pair, but having sick little ones definitely makes for little time for hand work!).  I've just added them to our Facebook Auctions for A Seventh Daughter today!

Also new is the Reece's Rainbow Badge for Our Adoption!  You can help us out by putting this badge on your blog!  Thanks for doing this little thing to help us out!

Priscilla and Amazing Grace

OK, I need to pinch myself!  I thought it would be another week or so before we could reveal who we were trying to adopt.  But today is the day!  As you can see in the banner, we are trying to adopt a little girl who's name is something like "Priscilla."  We will be changing her name once we adopt her, but probably retaining her real name as her middle name.  We now have an official Family Sponsorship Program (FSP) and you can see it HERE!  You may notice that I Photo-Shopped her photo for this blog and the Facebook page. I just can't stand for little girls to wear boy clothes!

Doesn't she look so huggable?

So here's what we know about Priscilla.  She is 2 1/2, her birthday is August 5, 2010.  She was born around the time that we usually have another baby (around 2 years apart) if the Lord had blessed in that was after Esther was born.  She was born with a heart defect, which was repaired.  She has some respiratory issues (she's had several bouts with pneumonia) that we are hoping will improve when she comes home to us.  I've learned a few tricks that have really helped Esther through the years.  She was abandoned at the hospital at birth and has had no contact with any family members.  She is left handed, and is beginning to make words and is learning to sit all by herself.   With good therapy I'm sure she'll catch up quickly.  She's tiny - she just a few pounds bigger than our "tiny for her age" 10 month old!

You may also notice that there is a new block in the right hand column.  You can now donate to our adoption funds and get tax credit.  The only catch with this is that those funds will not be made available to us until we have our "referral."  A referral means that we have been approved in her country to adopt her and we have been invited to travel for our first trip, to meet her and confirm that we want to adopt her.  We have a LOT of expenses to cover before then.

But God knows that.  Just this week we were feeling pressure about some bills that had come up (dentist/electrician etc), and needing to pay for the medical physicals that we have scheduled tomorrow.  We also need to purchase some home safety items for the home safety visit (fire extinguisher, carbon monoxide detectors (3), one smoke detector,  a gun safe etc).  Due to a delay in some income that we were planning on we were getting really strapped!

Tuesday morning, Daryl commented that in order for this adoption to work, somebody is going to have to step in and make a difference.  Within 24 hours someone had offered to get our van running again (it needed transmission work done), and then today Daryl got an unexpected bonus at work!  The van running again is such a relief, as the truck I've been using is really at the end of it's life (260,000 miles), and taking 2 - 3 vehicles to church is getting old, not to mention my not being able to take all the kids anywhere if Daryl is at work.  And then the bonus!  While it isn't enough to take care of everything, we can take care of the smaller bills, knock down a few of the middle size bills, and pay off one big bill, and also get the items we need for the home study!  I just crunched the numbers and this bonus added to the tax return we will be getting in a few weeks will make it possible for us to wipe out all our bills and pay for the remaining cost of our home study and possibly pay for our passports.  Amazing

That doesn't mean we are fully funded mind you.  Once our home study is complete and we have to send in our I-800a ($720), assemble our dossier (pay to have every document apostilled at $20 ea), get more fingerprints sent in to the FBI, and get psychological evaluations done.  Then we have to submit the $6,000 with the dossier and have the money for the trip.  Once that is all done, we wait for our "referral."  Then after we return, we have to submit the remaining $4000 for the program fee and another $1250.00 for the home study follow up visits (4 visits over a 2 year period).  The last step is to have the money to travel again once the adoption is final!  So, yeah, God's going to have to do a few more miracles for this adoption to go through!  We plan to apply for every adoption grant that we qualify for, so hopefully we'll get some funding that way.

Oh - and did I mention that Daryl and I will not be going back into debt to do this adoption?  We have paid off all our personal debt (aside from our home mortgage) and business debt over the last 2 years and we feel strongly that we should not go back in that direction.   Hudson Taylor once said "God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply."

Another Day, Another Project Completed

Yesterday I received the documents for our commitment to our child that will be sent to his/her country.  Once they approve our documents, we will be officially committed to our child and we will be able to reveal who we are trying to adopt!  I can't wait to be able to share this with you all!

Late yesterday and today I worked to complete these papers.  Then I went to town and met up with Daryl so we could get these documents notarized.  Now I am copying these documents to be emailed to our coordinator who will forward them to "the country" for pre-approval.

I also got the application for the Reece's Rainbow Grants notarized and send those copies off too - I'll be sending in the originals tomorrow.

My next job is to get the original documents apostilled and then send them to "the country."

Yesterday and today were a whirlwind!  It started out with a little conversation early in the morning where we were looking at all the money we don't have that will be needed to complete our adoption, and the fact that our vehicles are at the end of their lives (all our running vehicles have over 230,000 miles on them!).  Daryl made a comment that "someone is going to have to step forward and do something" in order for us to complete this adoption and for us to have reliable transportation.

We ended up looking at a possible replacement car (a station wagon) for my truck as it has 260,000 miles on it and is showing many signs of wear and tear.  The car we went to look at was not worth purchasing.   But someone stepped forward and offered to purchase a newer car for us - a gift!  We were astounded.  Really?  God is truly amazing.  The car they offered to purchase for us was really nice - sleek, black, low miles.  A nicer car than we have even owned.  But reality set in.  This car would only carry 5 people, and that meant that we would need 3 cars to take everyone to church. However much is would improve our appearance, that car would just not meet our needs.  So we asked if they were willing to pay to have the transmission repaired or replace in our 12 passenger van (we rebuilt the engine last year and it only has 133,000 miles on it!).  They agreed to our proposal!

So today, I got the van jump-started and got it to the transmission shop.  We will hear tomorrow whether or not the transmission needs to be just repaired, rebuilt or replaced.  We stand amazed.  So thankful for the generous hearts that have followed God's leading to provide this for us.  So thankful that God would so quickly show that He is more than able to meet our needs.

These are some more photos I took while we were waiting at the Sheriff's Office for our finger printing.  A funny thing happened yesterday.  That car we went to look at?  The lady I talked to was so sweet and shared that they were selling car to help one of their sons go on a missions trip!  I shared about our adoption and she told me that they had adopted a 2 1/2 year old boy from Russia nearly 20 years ago, getting him the medical care he needed and a home to be loved in.  When we got there, her husband came out to show us the car. I thought the man looked familiar, but just couldn't place him.  I enjoyed talking with him.  As we were leaving, he shook Daryl's hand and congratulated us on our pending adoption, and said that his name was Bill, Bill Elfo.  Man was I shocked!  Bill Elfo is our county's Sheriff, the man whose photo was on the wall in the office where we sat waiting for our fingerprinting!  That was why he looked so familiar!  We talked a little about that too!  What a friendly man, nice as you'd ever meet!  I almost wanted to buy the car from him, but it needed too much interior work, and that is not our specialty!

Tomorrow I will get the last document for the last shipment of papers for our home study. I will also be working on signing up for Daryl and I to take CPR classes.  We will be having our medical physicals on Friday, and then we start working to prepare the house for the home safety visit.  We need to put child locks on some cupboards, tidy up the garage, create a first aid kit, clean up the back yard and storage shed areas,  purchase and install carbon monoxide (3) and smoke (1) detectors and acquire a fire extinguisher (we found out that ours was empty recently!).  Not a lot of work, but I also want to re-arrange the little girls room with having our adoptive child sleeping in there.  We still have Esther's crib up in there but she's no longer sleeping in it, so we'll use that when he/she comes home.

And for your viewing pleasure - here's a photo of the six sisters we already have (notice that Rebekah's lap is empty?)

Our First Big Steps

So far, we have taken just a couple of big steps in this adoption.

The first was to begin our home study.  This required sending in the application and fee to Bethany Christian Services.  Then we got a large package of paperwork and I set to work.  There were so many things - referrals, Finger printing, legal forms to read and sign, Questionaires for Daryl and I to fill out, copies of birth and marriage certificates to acquire and scan, medical insurance documentation, financial statements and tax return to copy and much much more.

I took all that and a 3 ring binder that I purchased for the adoption paperwork and dug in.  I received the package on a Friday and was able to mail in the majority of the papers the following Tuesday.  Tomorrow I'll be mailing in the rest.  It was overwhelming at first, but they included a check list and I just took it one document/task at a time.

On Monday we were able to sign our adoption agency documents and send in our commitments fee.  Then we received several documents that we needed to fill out that will be sent to the country where we are adopting from.  These will need to be notarized, photocopied and emailed to the agency and they will forward them to "the country" and then we can be officially committed to our child and announce who she is to the world!  Then I have to take the original documents and send them in to have them apostilled (the secretary of state confirms that the notarization is legal and in order), and then we send the original documents in the mail to "the country."

You may wonder why all the secrecy.  The children in orphanage need to have their privacy protected.  The governments in these countries do not look kindly on having their orphans "out there" in a way that make it potentially possibly to locate them.  It's for the children's safety. After the adoption is final, we will be able to talk about where he/she was living.  Even the name we will be using will not be her real name.

Anyway...today if all goes well, I will be able to email the scanned copies of these documents and soon be able to reveal his/her identity!  I can't wait to be able to share!

I have started a few auctions on my Auctions for A Seventh Sister Facebook page - here's a few photos to whet your appetite   We will be using the funds from these auctions to cover some of the expenses we are incurring as we prepare our documents and get ready for our home visit (like doctor bills, new carbon monoxide detectors, getting documents apostilled and such).  Until our home visit is completed, there are no grants that we can apply for.  Our tax return will not show up for a few weeks yet, but we need to keep moving forward with preparations, but our budget is tight right now.

An original matted Photograph by my sister, Beth!

If you aren't interested in the items in our current auctions, check back next week as we'll have more new items for February!  Also, you can donate items for our auction - just comment below if you need help in adding your donated item to my auctions!

You can also help in several other ways:

1. Use the link in the sidebar to search Amazon and shop there.  Anything you purchase after using my link will produce a commission for us!

2. Use the "Chip In" box to donate directly to our paypal account!

3.  If you want to send us a check instead of using paypal, please send me an email and I'll give your our mailing information!

4.  Pray for us.  Pray that the Lord will provide all we need to ransom this little child and bring him/her home!

Finger Printing Saga

Last Friday five members of our family went in to get our fingerprints taken and sent in to the FBI for a background check.  This was an amazing experience.

First let me tell you the relatively difficult preparation for getting this done.  There is paperwork to fill out for the background check.  These have to be notarized   Then there is the money order to be secured, made out to the Treasury of the United States.  Then you have to determine where and when to get the finger printing done.

Here's how we accomplished this:

The day before we planned to head in to get the fingerprinting done, Esther had an appointment for her orthotics, so I emptied our jar that says "Bring Her Home" into a zip lock baggies.  I took that to the grocery store after her appointment and got cash for all the change.  Then I took that to the bank and used it to get the money order for the FBI background checks ($18 per person).  I even had some extra money, which I deposited into our bank account to help cover the fingerprinting charges ($20/person).

We found out that the cities in our area had a waiting list of at least 2 weeks for a fingerprinting appointment, so that meant going to the sheriff's office.  They only do fingerprinting Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon.  We also found out that due to recent threats to the current gun safety laws, there is great demand for the concealed pistol permits, and these require finger printing.  We were told that people were arriving 2 hours early in order to secure a place in line - they only process 25 people per session.

So we made plans.  We set up an appointment to get the documents notarized  and both Daryl and Jonathan had to get most of the day off from work.   We tried to plan this so that we could be at the sheriff's office around 10:30 - 2 1/2 hours before it opened for finger printing, as rescheduling just wasn't a good option!

As we were leaving the house, I suddenly realized that Rebekah did not have any photo ID!  She was working on getting a permit, but she didn't have one yet!  ACK!  I frantically checked the "wait time" at the DOL and found that Thursdays they didn't open until 9:30 - it was just after 9 am, so we could squeeze this in and possibly make it early to the sheriff's office, but it would take a miracle.  So I quickly grabbed her birth certificate and her social security card (just in case, but I didn't think we needed that).  We called Jonathan and Daryl and told them to meet us at the DOL instead.  Jonathan arrived before us and secured a place in line.

When we arrived at the DOL the doors had been opened, and Jonathan was about 5 people from the front of the line.  We took his place and he headed over to our church with Jessica to start the notarization process with Daryl.

After getting our number, I decided to make things go as smoothly as possible and began to write out the check, but before I could even write out the check, they called our number!  We were in and out of the DOL in under 10 minutes!  THAT is a Miracle!

We headed over to church and arrived just as they were ready for the next signature.  We got that done and headed to the sheriff's office.  After messing around with paying for parking, we headed in...feeling mildly panicky that we had not gotten there soon enough (even though it was only 10:15!).

Much to my relief, there was only one person ahead of us in line!  We even got chairs to sit on, indoors!  We had done it!  What a relief.

Now it was time to wait....2 1/2 long hours.  But is was an amazing experience.  By 11:45 or so, the 25 people were all there.  It was like a little community forum.  The banter between a few of the people was fun to listen to - tales of military service, hunting adventures and comparing scars/wound stories seemed endless!

Finally it was time - we got the cards, paid the fees, filled them out and then we were called back one by one.  It was a very slick process.  It took a while - mostly as I filled out most of the papers, but we were out of there by 2:30.  We headed right across the street to mail the fingerprints to the FBI.

We were done!  We accomplished what we needed to do.  Getting the background check reports back will take 8 - 10 weeks.  This is the one step that can hold up completing a home study.  But we now have this behind us.

What's next?

We have physicals scheduled for this Friday and we need to get a letter from our veterinarian about Jessica's dog's temperament.  I have send in requests for the two missing birth certificates.  I have a few papers that I have finally gotten completed, plus our tax return copy, that need to be sent in as well.  Once I have the birth certificates and vet letter, I'll have all the documents ready to send in that need to be done for the home study  (the physician's reports are send directly from the doctor's office).  I'm hoping to be able to send these papers in before the end of the week.

The next big step in the home study process is to have the "visits."  That means that we have our social worker come to our home to see if our home is safe for a child.  We have some work to do for this (like securing all our medicines in a locked cupboard and installing carbon monoxide detectors on each floor, for example).  We hope to have the first visit sometime in February.  I have read that they do 4 visits.  These visits also include interviews with family members.

One BIG step we are taking this week is to submit our commitment papers and fees to the adoption agency. This will mean sending some paperwork to the country that we are hoping to adopt from, requesting a specific child.  If our paperwork if approved, we will be officially committed to this child, and he/she will not be available for adoption outside of her country while we pursue adopting him/her.  He/she could still be adopted by a family from her country during this time though.

Today I added a "Chip In" box in the right hand column here.  We had our tax appointment last Friday, and while we are getting a substantial tax return, it is not enough to cover the cost of the home study, the commitment fee AND the cost of submitting out dossier. Most grants are not available until after you have submitted your dossier and it has been accepted by the country you are adopting from.  Their acceptance results in an invitation to travel to meet your child.  This is when most grants become available to meet the costs of the adoption and the traveling costs.  We will need help to come up with the $6,000 that is needed to submit our dossier.  Once we have competed our home study, there will be a few grants we can apply for, but nothing is guaranteed with grant applications.

Any help is appreciated!  Even just a few dollars can help!  If you can't "chip in", maybe you can share my blog with your friends and maybe one of them can help!