The Home Study is DONE!

Continuing to feel really sappy . . .

I can't help it! The leaves are starting to turn here and I realized that (MAYBE) when I see them again we will have our DAUGHTER home with us!


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Our home study is complete and was sent off to USCIS (Immigration) this week. That is the last piece of paperwork the government needs to approve our application to adopt internationally. The form we will receive is called the I171 and it is an important part of our dossier. We also received letters from our employer and Apostilled marriage licenses this week. I had some bloodwork done as well. The medical part seems complicated because we have to have some blood tests, then the doctor has to fill out the paperwork and we have to have it notarized in the office.

As anyone who has been through adoption will tell you, you can't expect a completely smooth process. We did hit a couple of glitches this week. I also sent my birth certificate to Indiana to get Apostilled and it was returned with a note attached explaining that they don't Apostille birth certificates issued by COUNTIES, only the STATE. My mother nicely picked up a stack of birth certificates for me this summer, yet they cannot be Apostilled. So, I had to request STATE birth certificates through vitalcheck.com. After all was said and done (express mail, birth certificates, and other mystery fees), we paid $43.45 for 2 Apostilled Indiana STATE birth certificates. I would have never seem this one coming, but as I wrote, not a huge deal. We received our letter from our mortgage company, but have to re-request that because the notary's license expires at the end of January. Ideally, they want any notary's license to be good for at least a year after s/he signs the document. This is tough to request - to have something notarized by someone whose notary does not expire for a year. And I realized that I need MORE bloodwork done for the medical exam. I have been to the doctor once a week for the last month or so. I think her nurse is getting tired of my messages!

One of the last pieces

Tomorrow I am going to the bank to get the reference letter from them. That is one of the last pieces of paper I have to request. Everything else is in the works.

So, we continue to eat that elephant one bite at a time . . . one bite.

Apostille

Making Progress
Here is an Apostille! This one is attached to our FBI background checks. An Apostille is basically an international notary. Practically every document that goes into our dossier has to be Apostilled - so far we have gotten this one, Scott's birth certificate and our adoption agency's license. Paperwork - exciting stuff! This last week I requested letters from our employer and mortgage company. Almost everything else is in process. We have to finish our medical tests and request a letter from our bank. So, we are still moving and are (hopefully!) on target.

MARCH?!
I spoke with our adoption coordinator on Friday. I told her that we haven't bought any clothes for "Saskia" yet and she could not believe that I have been able to control myself. She said that we could expect to travel in March/April, so I could buy something for the summer. Now, I am getting butterflies! March/April - that is not that far away. The process has really flown by so far. I am sure waiting for our travel dates and letter of invitation from the Kazakhstan government slows time down quite a bit.

Peace
I have also gotten a bit reflective about adoption - about having the 2nd child that we have longed for for the past 3 years. We have experienced multiple losses - neonatal death and subsequent miscarriages - and it is hard to believe that this difficult road is coming to an end. And, at the end of the road is a living child. I have started to feel a great sense of anticipation and relief that the family we have envisioned for ourselves is actually going to be a reality. That has been a difficult thing for me to believe after so much heartache and loss. So, as all this is coming together I am actually feeling a sense of peace that has eluded me since we lost Hope, Meret and Annalisa more than 2 years ago.

Another dossier?
It is hard to believe that a family could be working on more than one dossier in the same month, let alone a lifetime, but we have been! It seems like we should be working for the CIA. Scott submitted his dossier for tenure to his department on Friday! He has worked so very hard and I am so proud of all he has done. It is amazing to flip through the dossier and see all that he has accomplished! So, send good thoughts our way for tenure approval AND adoption.

Throwing problems in the trash can
So, I cannot help posting the exchange Scott just had with Luca. Luca loves toy cars about as much as he loves planets. He plays with them everyday . . . and everyday there is some tension surrounding him putting all the cars away at night. Luca asked to get his cars out and Scott said maybe he shouldn't today because he has problems putting them away at night. He protested and whined and then walked over to the trash can, opened it and said "I am throwing away my problem putting my cars away, so now I don't have it. Now I will get my cars out." How can you even begin to argue with THAT? I am inspired to literally throw my problems in the trash. It probably feels pretty good.

Until next week . . .

Quick Update

We had our last home study visit last Friday, so we are all done with that. It seems like we "passed." Thanks to those who wrote recommendations for us. Our social worker said, "They all think you are great!" We told her we wanted to have our dossier in by the end of October and she said that seems reasonable.

Now comes the fun part . . . gathering the rest of the multitude of documents we need! We have waited to do this because Kazakhstan is adamant about the documents being less than 3 months old when we submit our dossier.

So, not a lot to report . . . more paperwork gathering.