I-600A Take Two!

I'm so sad to tell everyone that I made a mistake on the darn I-600A form. I got a huge package in the mail yesterday and I was so excited thinking that we were approved. WRONG! The letter attached said I made two mistakes. The first one was that I forgot to sign the form. You just read that correctly... I FORGOT TO SIGN IT! Secondly, it said that the money order was not for the correct amount. I spent over an hour and a half this morning on the phone with the US Dept of Homeland Security trying to find out the correct amount. In the end they said to send it back in for the same amount only this time write an additional letter of explanation. I did all that and I'm sending it back today. Please pray with me that it's correct this time.

Psalm 40:1
I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.

Final Home Study

For those of you that were thinking about or praying for us this morning, thank you. Our social worker from Lutheran Child and Family Services named Beverly arrived at our home at 10:00 this morning. After an hour of paper work and questions it was time for the grand tour. Although she didn't mention how safe and wonderful every looked I'm pretty sure we passed;)

Our time with Beverly is over for now. The next step is for Beverly to complete our home study and wait for our FBI finger prints to come back. This could take a month or two. Please pray that this will take less time then we have been told. We must have our completed home study to finish our dossier. Our Dossier* is the group of documents we will send to Ethiopia! Hooray!

Everyone... thumbs up!

"But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands;" Psalm 31:14-15

*Dossier: When used in the context of adoption, this term refers to a set of appropriately authenticated and translated legal documents which are used in international adoption cases to process the adoption of a child in its own country by the adoptive parents, or for the adoptive parents to obtain the legal custody or guardianship of the child in the foreign court, so the child can be brought by the adoptive parents to the United States for adoption.

Norary

Through this process we've been able to make a new friend. I'd like you to meet Patricia, she's our wonderful neighborhood notary. We've literally been to see her about every other day for the last month. Today she was signing and notarizing the same letter for us for the 3rd time. Everytime we complete a required document we fax it to our family coodorinator to have it reviewed. This time the problem was the location of the stamp... details, details.

We're thankful for Patricia and her willingness to help us. (plus, she's only a dollar a signature;)

I 600

Of all the forms we've had to complete I've been the most nervous about the I600. I know how important it is and I didn't want to mess it up.

"Form I-600 and Form I-600A Visa Petitions: A set of forms used to officially request permission from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to classify a child in a foreign country, who fits the definition of an "orphan," as an immediate relative of its intended adoptive parents, so that there can be an expedited processing and issuance of a visa to that child, allowing it to be brought into the United States, either after having been adopted abroad, or in order for it to be adopted in the United States."

Today it is finally finished. Copies of birth certificates, marriage license and a LARGE money order, it's now in the mail. Thank God!

We're sending it in before the completion of our home study because the processing time for the I600 can take months. When our home study is done and approved and notarized we will send it in to be added. In the meantime they can begin to process our info and schedule our FBI finger prints $80.00 each. (Different from the ones we had done in the first part of November.) This is just another small step in this huge process but we are thankful it's done. Our last home study visit is this Friday at our house. Please pray that it goes smoothly.

"I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth"
Psalm 121:1-2

How many orphans are in Ethiopia?

About 6,000,000.

But that is just a number. How can we grasp that?

Can we even? Is it too big to fathom?

Every child under the age of 18 living in New York, Massachusetts, and The District of
Columbia...take all of their parents away.

That brings it close to six million.Can you imagine?

Three states with no parents for their children.

I can't imagine.


My sister forwarded this information to me from another adoptive mother. Thanks, Kers!

Working on the Dossier

The last couple days have been full. Amelia and Scotty had their required physicals complete with a TB arm test. (TEARS!!) Scott and I had our blood work done. HIV test and Heb B. We had a 2nd set of paper work for the doctor to fill out and get notarized again and I was a little stressed that we would need to schedule a 2nd appointment and pay 2 more co-pays. BUT I stopped in the doctor's office yesterday morning and talked to the nicest lady at the front desk. I explained our situation and she said she would handle everything. Thank you, God. She called me 2 hours later and said I could come pick up our lab orders. She also talked to the doctor that did our first physicals and asked if she would be willing to fill out the second ones without an appointment. The answer was yes. I was nervous to ask about getting the doctor's signature notarized because she had already done so much but I really needed that to be done. When I started to say the word notarize, she interrupted me to say that the office manager was going to take care of that. I am sooo thankful to have that step done.
I stopped by our friendly neighborhood police department and talked to a great police officer that was also a NOTARY and totally willing to do our background check and our police clearance letter on office letterhead. All Scott had to do was scan and email a copy of his drivers licence to her and we can pick up the completed forms tomorrow afternoon. How awesome is that?!
Scott and I (mostly Scott) did a bunch of stuff around the house that needs to be done for our final home study visit on December 11th. Some of it should have been done right whenwe moved in but never the less, it's done now.
What's Mac going to play with now that he can't open the doors under the sink. (I'm just kidding... )

We added these little cord holders to almost every window...


At Costco Scott and I each got a set of passport pictures taken. They need them for some type of document in Ethiopia. I'm not exactly sure what since we already have our passports. I'm just thankful it's done and we can cross another thing off our list.

We wrote two letters. Both addressed to the Ministry of Women and Children of Ethiopia which is pretty amazing to think about. These very letters stating our desire to adopt are going to be translated and sent 1/2 way around the world. We also completed our 4 pages of pictures complete with name, location, date all on card stock. I'm totally not a scrapbooker so this is as good as it gets for me.

We're waiting on a couple of things to come from our life insurance company this week.
This week we have started sharing our exciting news with friends and family and their reactions have been amazing. We're so thankful for all the love and support.

This last little project still needs to be finished. About a week after we moved into our new house Amelia came crying to Scott and me. She felt terrible for breaking our new house. We told her the giant hole in the wall was no big deal. Since then we've just avoided using the handrail on the way to the basement and we've advised our guests to do the same. Not any more, my super husband replaced it and this time it's in a stud. Now we just need a little plaster and some paint and we should be all set.
Psalm 82:3-4
"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them..."

CPR + Infant... DONE

Scott and I completed our required course this morning.

Scooter was a rockstar!

Me too.

Another step closer to our new child.

Pictures Are Done

Scott's friend arrived at 8:30am and we were all ready with big smiles. The kids were great and it was quick and easy. Thank God. We sent the pictures off to Costco and we can pick them up this afternoon. It is nothing short of a miracle that Macker is sitting with our family. The smile is simply a bonus.

Can't wait for one more!

Pictures being done means one step closer to our child.

This is the cleanest our family room as ever been. Hope the courts in Ethiopia like it.

2nd Home Study Visit

Our second home study meeting went really well. We met the social worker at a church basement in Aurora, about 45 minutes away from our house. The kids came along so we didn't have to pay for a babysitter and they were angels!! She (Beverly) wanted to know all about how we met and who does what at our house. She would say, "Who takes out the garbage?" We'd answer at the exact same time. "He does." Finances? She does. Cleans the house? He does. Fixes things? He does. Etc... it was fun to tell her about us. She had interesting stories about her own life. She's personally adopted 8 kids from 3 countries. We only need to meet with her 2 more times. The last visit will be at our house where checks out everything and gives us the thumbs or down. It's not till December 11th.
This has been a busy week with adoption paper work. We have started the paper chase. I am praying that I can be really organized. Sometimes I feel like I'm not sharp enough to get it all done but then I think of this new little person joining our family and I continue, one paper at a time.
* We have our 4 hour CPR + infant class this Saturday. $100.00 (anyone want to babysit?)
* We ordered new birth certificates for Scott and I and our marriage license. We already have our old ones but the country of Ethiopia requires that the documents be printed within one year. $130.00
*Contacted American Family Insurance in AZ to get copies of our life insurance.
*Power of Attorney and Cover Sheet for Dossier- Notarized and sent to Secretary of State to be certified.
*Family picture will be taken Wed. morning. Ethiopia requires 4-6 picture of your family. 1 of your living room and 1 of the outside of your house. 2 of your family doing activities. A pastor at church that works with Scott offered to do this for us. Thanks God.-Free
* Talked to Winfield, IL police department and made an appointment for next week to get our background records and police clearance. The lady who does that is a notary. Sweet! -Free
* Finished my 8 hours or mandatory Hage Adoption online seminar.
* Scott 1/2 finished with is seminar.
* Talked to our medical insurance BCBS of IL HMO. They will send letter of coverage. They will not be able to send proof that an adoptive child will be covered under our insurance. (Must talk to Scott's employer about that...)

"I am the Lord, the God of all mankind, is anything too hard for me?" Jeremiah 34:27

So, I know this is a boring post but I wanted to write down everything so I won't forget. Please pray for us as we continue to gather and notarize important papers. It's all so worth it. All of it. Pray for our new little Murray. If he's already born please pray for him. If he's not born yet then please pray that his birth mother has enough food to eat to keep she and our child healthy. Pray that she will be protected from abuse or disease. Did I forget to mention that we told our agency that we didn't have a preference as to boy or girl? They said that the need is MUCH greater for boys so that is what we are planning on. AWESOME! Any name suggestions?

Picture: My little sister picking up new birth certificates and wedding license in Iowa. Thanks, Lions.

It's Offical.

Received this email this morning and Scott and I are on cloud 9.

Hi Scott & Katie,

I hope you are doing well today! I wanted to email you to confirm receipt of your initial agreement paperwork and payment. Now that I’ve received your paperwork, your family will be assigned a Family Coordinator to work with you through the remainder of your process. You should hear from your Family Coordinator within the next week or so regarding the next steps. If you have any questions in the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

It has been a pleasure to assist your family through the process thus far and I wish you the best in your adoption journey! I pray that the Lord will guide and strengthen you through your process.

In Him,


Amy Pearson
Intake/Post Placement Coordinator

Then later this afternoon we got this letter.

Dear Scott & Kathleen,

Hello and welcome to the Ethiopia Program at America World! I am looking forward to working with your family during the exciting journey of adoption! As your family coordinator, I will assist you in completing the comprehensive paperwork required to adopt a child from Ethiopia.

To begin your paper-chase process, please read through the information listed below and begin completing the following steps:

· Read through the Dossier Guidelines and sign the Dossier Guidelines Agreement
· Review other attachments
· Return the Dossier Guidelines Agreement and Family Service Plan to me through regular mail BY 12/03/2009. **Please put “ATTENTION: CAITLIN EDWARDS” on the envelope.**
· As you gather documents for your dossier make sure you send them to me by fax or email. This is mandatory so I can review them to make sure they meet Ethiopia’s requirements.
· Please note that the expected timeframe to complete a dossier is 4-6 months.

In order to assist your family in various ways throughout your adoption process, I wanted to make you aware of the following resources:

· We have an America World blog and will use this as our primary vehicle for communicating general information to you about programs, events, referrals, etc. Please sign up for the blog by going to www.awaablog.com. Please refer to it for the most up to date information from America World.

· You will receive Weekly Encouragements with paperwork tips and bible verses throughout your adoption.

· We have yahoo chat groups available for you to give and receive support from fellow adoptive parents.
ð AWAA’s Chat Group: www.yahoogroups.com. You can subscribe by going to our web page and looking under "links”.

· As your Family Coordinator, It is always my desire and commitment to respond to your voicemails and emails as quickly as possible. In order to continue to serve families to the best of my ability and manage work load, I will continue to respond to families questions and concerns though prioritizing families by stage of adoption and then by the order in which inquires are received. Due to time sensitive deadlines during referral processing, my response time will be focused on assisting families to accept their referrals,

I am delighted to begin this journey with your family. There will be blessings and challenges along the way; however, I trust our feet will always have the Light to walk in as Christ is the leader of this voyage. I am praying for your family as they begin this exciting stage.

Joyfully,


Caitlin Edwards
Africa Family Coordinator

I'm excited to get started but the 16 attachments made my heart race.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:13
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Please pray for us as we do our best to gather and organize and notarize every imaginable piece of paper. It's so worth it. In the end, a child that had no mom and dad will have one. A child with no wonderful sister will have one and a child without 2 crazy brothers will have a forever family. We fully love this little person already without ever laying eyes on him/her. It's hard to explain. Please pray for us.

Amazing

I just can't watch this without crying.

Mailing

Reference letters and contract agreement sent. Awesome!

Accepted

The adoption agency called today and gave us the thumbs up. We have been approved to the Ethiopia Program. They welcomed us to the wonderful world of adoption.

Yeah, we're happy and more than that we are humbled and honored to begin on this awesome journey to our new son or daughter. God has definitely been in front of us on this one... It's amazing to think that He already knows who this little child is and how perfectly they will fit into our family. God knows how much we are going to love our new little boy or girl. Now, the fun part begins! Proverbs 16:9 talks about how we plan our lives, but God directs our steps. Please pray with us as we wait to see what steps God will have for us. This is going to be awesome. -Scott

Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday. We're praying and dreaming of what the next 12-18 months will hold for our crazy family. We know this process is going to change us, our family and hopefully the world around us. Thanks for praying.

The Beginning

Seriously? Seriously. Sweet, then we're doing it. No looking back. No doubts. This is going to be a long road but we are committed.

"...ONCE OUR EYES ARE OPENED WE CAN'T PRETEND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. GOD, WHO WEIGHS OUR HEARTS AND KEEPS OUR SOULS, KNOWS THAT WE KNOW, AND HOLDS US RESPONSIBLE TO ACT." -PROVERBS 24:12

Last March Scott sent my a text message from the Orange Conference in Atlanta, GA. All it said was, "Please pray about adopting an orphan, God is moving my heart."
At that time we had a 5 year old, a 3 year old and a 9 month old but I began to pray. My heart was really excited. I started to search the Internet and read everything I could about adoption. I called organization regarding foster care, domestic adoption and international adoption.
Our eyes have been opened and our hearts are leading us to Ethiopia. We have a long road ahead of us but faithfully we will wait and trust that God will lead us to the child that is meant for our family.
Why Ethiopia? It’s hard to explain when you just know that something is right. Here are some statistics about the country that is calling us…
• There are 4.8 million orphans in Ethiopia
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
• Average life expectancy is 37 years

So Scott and I are steping out to make a difference in the life of one person. One little person that matters so much to God. He already knows who and when. We are just trying to walk in obedience. Join us.