Obstacles... & Organization

"All adoptive families must now travel to Addis Ababa to be present for their court appointment. There have been rumors of this change for several weeks now, and the change is a direct result of the dramatic increase of "revocation" cases - cases in which the adoptive parents decline to bring their children home after they have passed court. This will mean families will make two trips to Ethiopia to complete their adoptions, which will certainly increase the time and money required for adoption."

When we started thinking about doing a second adoption first (while waiting on China) and was researching countries, there weren't alot of choices for us to begin with due to travel, age limit for an infant, etc. One of the requirements we immediately scratched off the list was any country that required multiple trips. Ethiopia was perfect, one trip, 5-7 days and the court process was done beforehand so the only thing you had to do when you went to Ethiopia was the Embassy appointment and pick up your child. Since choosing Ethiopia, it has felt right from the beginning. So much so, that I was even considering going back to Ethiopia for our second (originally first?) child and giving up on China. The trip is shorter, the process and paperwork seem to be even smoother than when we paperchased for China, and I like the idea of both of our kids (was always planning on having 2 children) being from the same country. Right now we're sticking with China, but I'm getting off the topic..

Apparently, the Ethiopia process has just changed as of yesterday, requiring both parents to travel to Ethiopia 4-8 weeks after referral (not exactly sure about the timeframes) to meet the child and appear for the court date, then leave the child there and come home, then go back to Ethiopia (not sure if it has to be both parents the second time but I don't think so) in another 10-12 weeks (again, not sure of the timeframe) for the Embassy appointment and to bring your child home.

This is a HUGE change. Probably another $6000-$7000 to travel a 2nd time, although I'd travel 5 times if had to. I'd REALLY like both of us to travel the second time to pick her up. On the positive side, we both CAN travel for the court date. I'm sure some families don't have that opportunity and that's sad. Also, the child will be a US citizen upon arriving in the US as both of us will be meeting the child beforehand, which is good. And we will get to meet our child sooner since we have to appear for the court date, but then on the negative side, we'll have to leave her there for possibly 3 months.

Overall, I'm surprised that I'm not more upset by these new turn of events. I haven't handled these types of roadblocks and obstacles that well in the past. When I told hubby he just said "we'll figure it out, it's not like we're not going to go". Always the positive one. But I'm not feeling positive or negative about it. Maybe I'm completely desensitized to all these bumps in the road now. All I know is, I'm going to Ethiopia. I'm going to have a daughter. Maybe I've been so pumped up working on the nursery FINALLY that nothing is going to bring me down.

Speaking of the nursery. I finished "remodeling" the closet in the nursery and I moved some things into it already. I put a second rod in and the closet is a little deep so I also put some narrow shelves in the back, all removable when she gets older (if she's still in that room). I didn't want to waste any space! haha


I'm working on the curtains next. I have a bunch of fabric I had bought a while ago to make bedding and such for the nursery. That should keep me busy for a while. haha

Random Thoughts...

Three posts from me in one day! LOL There's just so much going on.. so much on my mind and want to document some of it before I forget.

First, I don't think I mentioned that the age range we requested for our Ethiopia adoption is 0-18 months for a girl, to be known from here on out as "Baby Girl", since I haven't picked a name yet. And yes.. I said "I" haven't picked a name yet.. LOL Hubby got to pick Raven, which we are going to save for our Chinese daughter and I get to pick a name for our Ethiopian daughter. That's fair right? lol Why are we requesting another baby girl? Well because we can, LOL, but really because I always wanted a daughter, and should at some point down the road we don't/can't finish our China adoption (always a possibility) I really want to have a daughter. As far as age range, if this adoption is completed within the next year and a half, I'd like to experience at least a little bit of the infant months before I get much older. Those are probably pretty common reasons I think, and probably contributes to why so many people request infant girls. I'm guilty.

But I am also fully aware that that is part of the problem with international adoptions sometimes... large numbers of prospective adoptive parents requesting baby girls can lead to some agencies going to unethical lengths to provide the supply (to be blunt). I trust that my agency is finding families for children who are already orphaned/relinquished and not finding children for families (by unethical means). If I have to wait longer, so be it. Even with the horrendous wait with China, I still wouldn't sign up with an agency promising super fast placements.

ANYWAY... back to timeframe... my agency's estimate for how long from the time the dossier is submitted to being matched is 5-8 months (estimate), of course, on the longer side for a baby girl. Total time from application to travel is 12-18 months. So I've been thinking, if we get our dossier in by April, we could possibly be matched this year, maybe early next year. That's kind of an overwhelming thought.. IN A GOOD WAY! But then I start taking it even further.. it's possible that right now, Baby Girl has been conceived. And there is so much sadness that goes with that thought, knowing that so much loss has to happen for Baby Girl, Baby Girl's mother, father. family, before we can be matched with her. So many conflicting emotions go with the thought that she might be conceived already. Does Baby Girl's mother know she is pregnant? What is she thinking? Feeling? Does she already know she will be unable to care for her? I can't even imagine. SIGH

Finished Painting!

BEFORE

AFTER

I finished painting the nursery this past weekend! It's such a happy bright room now... lol I want to go with dark furniture like espresso color, I think it'll look nice against the bright walls. It's a smallish room so I think I'm going to go with a crib that converts to a toddler bed and a small dresser. Not sure about a changing table yet. Will probably wait till we're matched to decide on that.

Next step is to start moving some clothes I already have into the closet!

Homestudy Visit #3

We had our last homestudy visit today! Woohoo!! We are soooo close to being able to submit our dossier! Probably another 2-4 weeks for the last clearances to come thru then just get one more doc notarized and certified and then off to the agency it goes!

More Documents In!

We got our letters of good conduct from the police station today!! WOOHOO! Those took just over 3 weeks and the notary date is good (more than 12 months before it expires) which is what I was worried about.

The only things we need to do now are to wait for the child abuse clearances to come thru so that the homestudy can be finalized and reviewed by our agency, and then when I have that I can put it with all the other dossier docs and then get the final document, affidavit of dossier, notarized, and then get that and the power of attorney letters county and state certified and then make copies of everything and off to the agency they go!!! WOW! I can't even believe that we've gotten most of it done in one month!! The hardest thing was probably making sure the notary's commissions didn't expire within 12 months.. and also having to get a traveling notary for hubby's employment letter and our medical letters. Required a little coordination but worked out fine. Let's just hope that once the agency reviews everything that nothing needs to be redone. I already know that several documents are good as I already scanned them and sent them to our agency for review, so I think we'll be fine there.

So now we just wait for the homestudy.

Homestudy Visit #2

We had our second homestudy visit today at a Starbucks. It was pretty quick as the social worker has most of what she needs to write the report (since it's basically an update). We'll have our last visit next Thursday and then pretty much just have to wait for our child abuse clearances to come back in 4 weeks or so.

We also picked up our medical letters for the dossier today, so that's done. Woohoo!

I STARTED THE NURSERY!

After more than 3 years waiting to do this, I FINALLY decided to start working on the nursery!! I've been wanting to do this sooooo bad!!! But with the state of our China wait, I didn't want to have to see an empty baby room for years. And now that we've started our Ethiopia adoption, I've been so excited at even the thought of being able to do this now, so I'm just going for it! I had been trying to decide on a paint color for a few weeks and I narrowed it down to a nice, bright, happy yellow a couple days ago so I just decided to go get the paint yesterday and I started painting today! I still have to do a second coat and then paint the trim but I am loving it so far! I've also started looking at cribs, again, and I think I am going to go for a dark chocolate finish or a dark walnut finish.

Before

After (1 Coat)

On another note, we have our second homestudy visit Wednesday and we're going to pick up our medical letters Wednesday too. We are sooo close to being done with all the dossier paperwork at this point. I can't wait to get on the wait list!!!!

34 Months

I actually had to think about how many months it's been since we were logged in for China. I think it's a side effect of being knee deep in Ethiopia dossier prep... lol

We had our first homestudy visit Monday and Friday is doctor's appts and NYS fingerprinting and getting a BUNCH of documents notarized. I think the thing that is going to hold us up the longest is the child abuse clearances.. which is supposed to take 4-6 weeks. Let's hope closer to 4, than 6. lol

Chinese New Year/Spring Festival 2010

Blog Makeover!

It was time for a change. I made a new header and changed the background and updated some things on the sidebar to make all pretty pretty. I used papers and elements from the digital scrapbooking kit I made. I also wanted to add to the blog that we are now officially pursuing TWO adoptions and wanted to add some Ethiopia things to the blog. I'm VERY excited about this new turn of events and I wanted the blog to reflect that excitement a bit!

Still gathering paperwork over here. Got a couple of reference letters done today, have some things that SHOULD be in the mail, I hope. I can't wait to take a big batch of papers to the bank to get notarized (FOR FREE!). Our first homestudy visit is Monday so I've been cleaning like a maniac! There are soooo many things going on in my head right now.. lol

I've been thinking of names for our second daughter who will come to us first.. lol Raven is reserved for our China daughter, can't believe it's been so long since hubby picked that name. Actually a bit of a funny story, which might only be funny to me.. lol but when I was thinking of names for our Ethiopian daughter (whether we keep her first name of use it as a middle name), I was listening to music on TV, the channels that play the songs and tell you a little about the artist, classic hip-hop, and an old Monie Love song came on.. ANYWAY.. it said her real name is Simone.. and I was like ... Ohhh I like the name Simone.. and I think Monie is a cute nickname (I'm really into nicknames) so it went on my list. Then a few days past I don't think much of it.. but then watching the same channel again (which I don't really watch as so much listen) and same some .. same line came up that her name is Simone.. Oh yea, I remembered I like that name. Then I start thinking how the names of our daughters would go together.. We'd have a Raven and a Simone.. as in Raven Symone.. The actress.. "That's so Raven".. the little girl from "The Cosby Show".. LOL I was like.. ummmm no. We cannot name her Simone..people will think we did it on purpose (if they even know who Raven Symone is.. ) LOL but I still like the name. But then it gets better. Hubby was speaking to insurance company about a letter for our dossier that we need. The first person he talked to wasn't helpful at all and basically told him they can't send us the letter. I made him call back and speak to someone else (sorry babe!) and the second lady told him sure no problem, she'd start the process to get the letter out to us. So he's finishing up with her and he asks her name and he writes it down while I'm watching.. and her name is Moni.. Short for Monica, not Simone.. but still, it was weird.. and those things I always think are signs.. like I MUST name her Simone or something lol So I can't get the name out of my head now!!.. ANYWAY.. so to make a LOOOONG story short.. I've been trying to think of other names INSTEAD of Simone.. lol Got a few in mind, still have to work on it!

Peace

Busy Week

It's been a busy busy week! I've managed to compile 13 out of the 29 items for the dossier, some just need notarizing and we're waiting on 9 more to either be mailed to us or picked up. The Ethiopia dossier will be MUCH MUCH easier than the China dossier, mostly because we only will have to get 2 documents county and state certified, and the agency takes care of the authentications. The hardest part is that everything except the birth and marriage certificates need to be notarized as originals, meaning doctor's signature needs to be notarized, employment letters signed by an HR person need to be notarized, etc. It's moving along nicely though. Our first homestudy visit is the 15th, and we'll need 3. I want so badly to get on the waiting list asap!! lol I have such a fear of getting on the waiting list only to find out it's more than doubled from when we first started. LOL Gee, I wonder why that could be?? LOL

We went into the city today to order Freddy's BC. Only waited on line in the cold for what seemed like 30 minutes.. but was probably 15. Then waiting on another line for about an hour and a half. 3 minutes at the window when we finally got there, and we were done. If it wasn't so cold out we would have gone to a museum or something, maybe do a little shopping.. maybe next time. We were both done after standing in that line for so long.


Good night.

Referrals - April 4 & 5, 2006

We're Approved!!!

WOOOHOOOO!!! We found out from our agency today that our application has been approved to adopt from Ethiopia!! We can officially start the paperchase!!! We've been told that the timeline from application to travel is 12-18 months. We'll let's just say after being told almost the same thing for China, I'll believe it when I see it.. haha but I've been doing alot of yahoo group searches and message board searches and hopefully 18 months will be accurate. I feel like I have soooo much to do now!! WOW. I'll be studying our dossier guide all weekend, getting prepared to start Monday requesting docs. I'll probably type up what I can this weekend too. I'm just a little excited!! Can you tell?

(Random Internet cat pic.. lol )

33 Months

It's been 33 months since we've been logged in with China. I almost forgot. I've been so preoccupied with this new possibility of starting another adoption. I can't wait till we hear something about our application, hopefully some time this week. I can't believe I am actually looking forward to starting another paperchase. I've already started spring cleaning, a little early. lol I'm just ready to get moving.

New Developments...

It appears that our first daughter won't be from China......







She'll be from Ethiopia!!!!



HOPEFULLY!! We mailed the application to our agency today to start a concurrent adoption through Ethiopia!!!! I may be jumping the gun a bit, but we spoke to our agency last night and I can't think of any reason why we wouldn't be approved so let's hope for the best!! I'm VERY excited to say the least!

I know I've been a pretty quiet blogger for a while now.. well first it was because I just couldn't deal with the wait. I was trying to keep busy with other things. Ironically to keep my mind off the China adoption, I started learning some scrapbooking design and started creating a China adoption related digital scrapbooking kit! Anyway, more about that in future posts as I'm still trying to add more items to the kit to make it packed full of goodies. :-)

Not too long ago, my agency started an Ethiopia adoption program, at which point I started to really start looking into the process. After much research and number crunching, we've decided to just go for it! We are still waiting for Raven in China, she'll just be our second daughter!

I haven't felt this good in a looooong time! I'm ready to dive into another paperchase. BRING IT ON!!

Referrals - April 1-3, 2006

Merry Christmas

RIP Jake

In June 1995, I found some stray kittens by my job. I took them and found homes for them, except for 2. I named those 2 Jake and Dusty. Dusty passed away at only a year old. Jake lived for 14 and a half years. 14 years seems like such a long time when I think back to all the things I've been through and all the changes in my life. At one point Jake was one of 6 cats I had. Then it was just him and Ebby for a long time. Ebby had to be put down due to a tumor in 2004, right before we bought our house. Then once in the new house, we got Goku to keep Jake company. Jake like to play fetch with little foam soccer ball cat toys. He'd bring the ball to me in his mouth and I'd throw it and he'd run after it and bring it back. Sometimes he'd play by himself, bringing the ball to the top of the stairs and letting it roll down the stairs and then running after it.. He could do this for hours, starting on the second floor and going all the way to the basement and then starting over again. It was the cutest thing. He liked to be held up to my shoulder while I danced around with him. He liked to drink water out of the bathroom faucet. At night.. he'd fight his way to get under the covers and lie right up against me. He answered to Jake, Jakey Poo-Poo and Booger. He was the master of the house, and even though Yoshi would chase him, Jake held his own. Last April he had kidney failure, and things didn't look good for him. The vet had us give him IV fluids every so often, not really expecting him to improve much or last too long. But he did great. He was running around again and playing fetch and we got to spend another year and a half with him. The vet was amazed. But for the past couple of weeks, he started to get run down and it was happening fast. He was having problems walking and wasn't eating. So instead of trying to prolong the inevitable (again), just to selfishly keep him with us even longer, we decided to take him to the vet today and let him go. I'm going to miss him.. but it was time and I'm glad he got to be my baby for 14 and a half years.

Who's my good boy!

32 Months

Referrals - March 29-31, 2006

At least we are into April now!