Unfortunately, not busy due to our adoption! :) School has started again for Mark and we have been very busy with life in general. So, as an update...
Texas once again was the master of speed with our apostilled and certified marriage license! We had expected to receive it last Friday (Sept 2) at the very earliest. We received it last Wednesday (Aug 31), and that was after it was delivered to the wrong address and then redelivered to us! Those Texas folks are amazing. So where are we at now? Well, the social worker who did our home study is licensed in the state of Missouri, but her license expires at the end of September. She is waiting for her renewal license, and we are waiting as well. If we send our dossier to Ukraine now, by the time everything is translated and submitted they would reject our dossier (and send it all back) because one document is expired. So we need to wait until we have a copy of her new license (notarized, of course!) before we can finish up. Once we have that, we will take all of our documents to downtown and have everything apostilled at once. Missouri has a cap on apostilles for international adoptions. Normally it costs $10 per document for apostilles, which can get pretty pricy! But for adoptions, Missouri has a limit of $100 for apostilles, even for multiple children (as long as they are being adopted at the same time). This means we want to take all of our documents at once, so we can only pay the fee once.
Please pray that our SW would get her license soon, and get it to us! Please also pray for the many children recently orphaned by the hurricane. Pray that they would find relatives and/or homes quickly.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Friday, August 19, 2005
Overwhelming humility
There were a couple of things we needed to finish up from Mark's physical. They discovered after we had done all of the lab work that he also needed a syphilis test (according to our official form) and did that at the end of the physical (grand total--Mark: 2 physicals, 2 HIV tests, 2 drug screens, 2 TB tests, 1 syphilis test; Courtney: 3 physicals, 1 HIV test, 3 drug screens, 2 TB tests, 1 syphilis test--everything negative...repeatedly :) ). The results take a few days to come in, so we needed to go back and get the form signed off for that. We also needed a copy of the doctor's medical license, which she did not have with her at the clinic (she works at several clinics around the city so she keeps her license at home--very understandable).
Of course, everything again needs to be notarized. The day went crazy, and by the time we made it to the doctor's office, we had the forms we needed for them but no notary. We prayed that it would all work out, because there was nothing we could do. We got there, and wonderful W. (who recognized us--it's the third time we've been in in 2 weeks) greeted us and called back to the notary to find out that she had received her stamp!! We got all of our paperwork done and notarized without a hitch. Once again, the ladies at BarnesCare have been phenomenal. A very special thanks to W., R., and Dr. L. for their patience and desire to help!
The title of the post refers to the way I felt when all of this happened. God is completely meeting our needs every step of the way, and it never ceases to amaze me. Every time I get worked up over some little detail, He comes through in ways that defy understanding. I know there are many people who believe in coincidences, but the things we have experienced--the meeting of our needs, big and small--go way beyond coincidence. We can see God working in our lives in ways we never dreamed possible. I pray that you will see this in your life as well, for it is an amazing and humbling experience to know that the creator of the universe has you in His heart and mind every minute of every day.
Of course, everything again needs to be notarized. The day went crazy, and by the time we made it to the doctor's office, we had the forms we needed for them but no notary. We prayed that it would all work out, because there was nothing we could do. We got there, and wonderful W. (who recognized us--it's the third time we've been in in 2 weeks) greeted us and called back to the notary to find out that she had received her stamp!! We got all of our paperwork done and notarized without a hitch. Once again, the ladies at BarnesCare have been phenomenal. A very special thanks to W., R., and Dr. L. for their patience and desire to help!
The title of the post refers to the way I felt when all of this happened. God is completely meeting our needs every step of the way, and it never ceases to amaze me. Every time I get worked up over some little detail, He comes through in ways that defy understanding. I know there are many people who believe in coincidences, but the things we have experienced--the meeting of our needs, big and small--go way beyond coincidence. We can see God working in our lives in ways we never dreamed possible. I pray that you will see this in your life as well, for it is an amazing and humbling experience to know that the creator of the universe has you in His heart and mind every minute of every day.
Thursday, August 18, 2005
To the Lone Star State
Yesterday we sent off our documents for a certified copy of our marriage license from Texas. This was actually a much bigger logistical work than you would think! *laugh* We were married in Fort Worth, Texas, and so must request a certified copy of our marriage license from Tarrant County. But in order to get our marriage license apostilled, it must go to Austin. We had two options for how to do this: 1. We could request our certified marriage license, receive it here, and then turn around and send it to Austin, or 2. We could send our request for our marriage license with a request that they send it on to Austin, who would then send it on to us. Hoping to cut down on time and after calling and verifying that Tarrant County would do this, we sent an envelope inside an envelope inside an envelope to Texas yesterday. Each request required its own letter/form and a money order, so hopefully we got the right documents in the right envelopes! Please pray that our request would get to Texas in a reasonable amount of time and that it would make it from Ft. Worth to Austin to us with everything done correctly. Texas was fantastic about getting our certified copies of our marriage license to us for our home study, so we don't anticipate any problems, but extra prayer is always welcome!
And on the note of irony, Courtney had to get a physical for work yesterday. This is her third physical since February! You'd think people could just look at the previous one and see that she is healthy, but each one requires something slightly different. Amazing the amount of paperwork one person has generated with getting so many physicals!
And on the note of irony, Courtney had to get a physical for work yesterday. This is her third physical since February! You'd think people could just look at the previous one and see that she is healthy, but each one requires something slightly different. Amazing the amount of paperwork one person has generated with getting so many physicals!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Welcome!
Welcome to our many new readers, as we have recently sent out some emails letting more people know we are adopting. :) Please feel free to email us if you have questions, but try to read at least the FAQ's here on the blog first. ;)
It's been a busy couple of weeks! As many of you have probably noticed, we are not sharing much about what is happening in our personal lives. There are a number of reasons for this, and we would like to keep this blog focused on our adoption process as much as possible. Although you will occasionally gain insights into our lives from the posts, there will generally not be intentional posts about our lives outside of the adoption. That said, we have been so busy and things are going really well!
We have completed a project for our children. We are not posting the nature of the project until we can post pictures (which should be later this week), mainly because no one will believe us until they see it! :) Mark had his physical this past week--whew, what an ordeal. That is absolutely our least favorite part of the adoption process--the medical exams. We can be fingerprinted 20 times and it would be better than having to redo medicals! There are a number of tests that have to be done, and forms that must be filled out in a specific way. The notary's license at his doctor's office had expired last week, so we had to bring in our own notary. The notary we brought was a woman Mark works with and she was so generous to come in on her day OFF and notarize for us! Thank you, L.! We still have to go back on Tuesday and get a copy of the doctor's license. The ladies at the doctor's office have been so helpful in trying to understand what we need and how the need to do it. I certainly hope we have gotten everything medical filled out correctly and that we don't have to do these again!!
It's been a busy couple of weeks! As many of you have probably noticed, we are not sharing much about what is happening in our personal lives. There are a number of reasons for this, and we would like to keep this blog focused on our adoption process as much as possible. Although you will occasionally gain insights into our lives from the posts, there will generally not be intentional posts about our lives outside of the adoption. That said, we have been so busy and things are going really well!
We have completed a project for our children. We are not posting the nature of the project until we can post pictures (which should be later this week), mainly because no one will believe us until they see it! :) Mark had his physical this past week--whew, what an ordeal. That is absolutely our least favorite part of the adoption process--the medical exams. We can be fingerprinted 20 times and it would be better than having to redo medicals! There are a number of tests that have to be done, and forms that must be filled out in a specific way. The notary's license at his doctor's office had expired last week, so we had to bring in our own notary. The notary we brought was a woman Mark works with and she was so generous to come in on her day OFF and notarize for us! Thank you, L.! We still have to go back on Tuesday and get a copy of the doctor's license. The ladies at the doctor's office have been so helpful in trying to understand what we need and how the need to do it. I certainly hope we have gotten everything medical filled out correctly and that we don't have to do these again!!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
A time for praise
We have our 171-H! We have actually known that we were approved since last Wednesday, when we called to find out our status. However, we were hesitant in posting until we actually had the papers in our hands. :) We have officially been approved by the US Government to adopt 2 children internationally. So what's next??
A mad scramble to get together lots of paperwork! We are being fingerprinted today to have our state background check done (again). Our first ones were done in February, and there is a good chance they would expire before we travel. If anything expires before the adoption is complete, you cannot complete the adoption, so we have to make sure that we have as long as possible on all of our paperwork. This is why our facilitators didn't want us to get any of our dossier paperwork put together until we had our 171-H. So we will be fingerprinted today, and Missouri has changed their procedures, so we will NOT have to drive to Jefferson City! :) We will have fingerprints done here and they will be sent to the state records division electronically. They will then send our background check to us within 5 business days. This is a big improvement over how the process used to work. Mark needs to get his physical done, Courtney needs to pick up copies of her doctor's license from her physical, we both need to get employment letters, and get a certified copy of our marriage license. Then our paperwork (including documents not mentioned here that just involve our request to adopt) will all be notarized and apostilled and we will send it (our dossier) to Ukraine!
A mad scramble to get together lots of paperwork! We are being fingerprinted today to have our state background check done (again). Our first ones were done in February, and there is a good chance they would expire before we travel. If anything expires before the adoption is complete, you cannot complete the adoption, so we have to make sure that we have as long as possible on all of our paperwork. This is why our facilitators didn't want us to get any of our dossier paperwork put together until we had our 171-H. So we will be fingerprinted today, and Missouri has changed their procedures, so we will NOT have to drive to Jefferson City! :) We will have fingerprints done here and they will be sent to the state records division electronically. They will then send our background check to us within 5 business days. This is a big improvement over how the process used to work. Mark needs to get his physical done, Courtney needs to pick up copies of her doctor's license from her physical, we both need to get employment letters, and get a certified copy of our marriage license. Then our paperwork (including documents not mentioned here that just involve our request to adopt) will all be notarized and apostilled and we will send it (our dossier) to Ukraine!
Friday, July 22, 2005
Answered prayers
Praise God, who answers our prayers about even the smallest things!!
On Sunday, we sent an email to the organization (New Song) sending our "parent tool box", letting them know we had not received the one they sent. On Monday, it arrived!! It was postmarked June 21, and why it took so long we'll never know. We promptly called New Song and let them know it had arrived and not to send another! Now we have 6.5 hours of DVDs to watch and paperwork to fill in as we go. Then we will send them a notarized statement that we have completed the course, and they will send us a completion certificate. Hooray!
Also, we are very grateful that we found comforters this past weekend! We had initially decided to wait until the back-to-school sales to buy comforters, and the sales have started. We found reversible comforters, machine wash and dry (very important to Courtney!), in neutral colors on sale, and we had two coupons!! We were able to get two twin comforters for less than the price of one normally. Yet another hooray!
We have heard some "complaints" ;) that our children are going to be very bored with our current color scheme. Well, there are two issues at work here. One is that we have no idea what gender of children we will have. The other is that it is usually very easy to overstimulate these children. In the orphanages, they do have toys, but they are not toys that make noise and flash lights, etc. The walls are usually painted a neutral color, with few pictures or hangings on the walls. We will be starting with a very simple room and toys for our children, and gradually introducing them to more stimulation. We want this transition to be as easy on our children as possible. They are being moved from the only home they've ever known and transported to a new place with none of their friends or familiar caretakers, and everyone speaks a different language. That's usually a trying situation for adults who know and can understand what's happening, much less small children whose world has just been turned upside down.
I had to include a picture of my most adorable husband playing base ball. This was taken last weekend at one of his games in Illinois, when the Perfectos played the Ground Squirrels and the Marauders.
On Sunday, we sent an email to the organization (New Song) sending our "parent tool box", letting them know we had not received the one they sent. On Monday, it arrived!! It was postmarked June 21, and why it took so long we'll never know. We promptly called New Song and let them know it had arrived and not to send another! Now we have 6.5 hours of DVDs to watch and paperwork to fill in as we go. Then we will send them a notarized statement that we have completed the course, and they will send us a completion certificate. Hooray!
Also, we are very grateful that we found comforters this past weekend! We had initially decided to wait until the back-to-school sales to buy comforters, and the sales have started. We found reversible comforters, machine wash and dry (very important to Courtney!), in neutral colors on sale, and we had two coupons!! We were able to get two twin comforters for less than the price of one normally. Yet another hooray!
We have heard some "complaints" ;) that our children are going to be very bored with our current color scheme. Well, there are two issues at work here. One is that we have no idea what gender of children we will have. The other is that it is usually very easy to overstimulate these children. In the orphanages, they do have toys, but they are not toys that make noise and flash lights, etc. The walls are usually painted a neutral color, with few pictures or hangings on the walls. We will be starting with a very simple room and toys for our children, and gradually introducing them to more stimulation. We want this transition to be as easy on our children as possible. They are being moved from the only home they've ever known and transported to a new place with none of their friends or familiar caretakers, and everyone speaks a different language. That's usually a trying situation for adults who know and can understand what's happening, much less small children whose world has just been turned upside down.
I had to include a picture of my most adorable husband playing base ball. This was taken last weekend at one of his games in Illinois, when the Perfectos played the Ground Squirrels and the Marauders.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Delays
I apologize for the delay in posting. We have been waiting to hear back on our I-600A, which is our approval to adopt from the INS. Since it has been over a month (June 8) since we were fingerprinted (and they had said it should be done within a month), we called yesterday to see if we could find out what's going on. It turns out that our adjudicator (the person who decides on our case) went on an extended leave, and on July 8(!) our case was transferred to another judge. This judge will have 30-60 days to decide on our I-600A. Basically, it means we're still waiting. I know many of you are anxious to get this process moving, as are we! We'll try to keep you posted as we know what's happening.
On the note of delays, we are required to take parenting classes through the Hague Convention (see an earlier post for explanation of the HC). These can be done in person or by video, but we need a certificate to take with us when we travel that says we have completed our classes. Our facilitators require us to use a group out of Kentucky for our parenting classes. They offer classes during the week and also a "parent tool box" that can be viewed and completed in your home. Since we can't travel to Louisville a few times a week, we had sent them a check to send us a parent tool box. Lo and behold, 4 weeks later, still no tool box. We called this past weekend and it turns out they shipped it 3 weeks ago! We have had a number of postal issues since moving to MO, so it's not a huge surprise that it's not here yet--or has vanished completely. We're waiting out the week to see if it shows up, then another will be shipped, which hopefully will make it.
On the note of delays, we are required to take parenting classes through the Hague Convention (see an earlier post for explanation of the HC). These can be done in person or by video, but we need a certificate to take with us when we travel that says we have completed our classes. Our facilitators require us to use a group out of Kentucky for our parenting classes. They offer classes during the week and also a "parent tool box" that can be viewed and completed in your home. Since we can't travel to Louisville a few times a week, we had sent them a check to send us a parent tool box. Lo and behold, 4 weeks later, still no tool box. We called this past weekend and it turns out they shipped it 3 weeks ago! We have had a number of postal issues since moving to MO, so it's not a huge surprise that it's not here yet--or has vanished completely. We're waiting out the week to see if it shows up, then another will be shipped, which hopefully will make it.
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