You were all so helpful with the prize decisions and I'm certain that EVERYONE will find something they like in our giveaway- now go check it out!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Check! Check!
Our documents are finally out of agency review, signed by all who need to and on to INDIA!!! We will be praying for safe travels as that is one very important box of paper! Hopefully the in-country coordinator will make copies quickly and pass it on to the orphanage, who will make copies quickly, and then it will be on its way to CARA.
We also were re-fingerprinted for the US government on Friday. (There was no wait and everyone was nice- a great surprise since you never know how government errands will go) This keeps our biometrics current in hopes that there are no glitches with doing a country change and renewal of our 171-H, which expires in June.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Please vote!
Eric and I are working on an adoption drawing/fundraiser of our own (details to come!). If it was you, and you were going to win, what would you be most excited about?:
- Roomba
- iPhone
- GPS
- portable DVD player with car kit
- Designer handbag (specify) (oooh- this is cute!)
- Other
In the comments, please write your top two choices- maybe including a "why" or specifying type. If you suggest another option, keep in mind I need to be able to ship the prize (no services) and gift certificates/gift cards/tickets might not be easily redeemed in every area of the US.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Savvy Suburban Supermom
Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Mattie Kate
My friend Mary is an amazingly talented woman. She has come up with an absolutely adorable stuffed bunny named Mattie Kate. You've got to see it! The good news is that she's working on opening up an Etsy shop to sell the soft and lovable bunnies, as well as the pattern (for the crafty folks out there who want to make their own versions). (edited: shop's up!)I thought I'd give my readers a sneek peak.
The double good news is that Mary has offered up a Mattie Kate as a prize for a give-away I'll be doing soon. Stay tuned- this cute little bunny might be yours! All the details to come shortly.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The rest of life
What's been going on *besides* adoption. Sheesh, right?
Lael has learned how to ride her two wheeler. I may have reported this a while back, but now she really, really can do it. There were emotional hurdles to overcome, as she perviously had insisted we trot alongside her bike no more than 6 inches away. If we weren't there, she didn't have the courage to continue. the other weekend, we gave it a go again because the weather was lovely and girl scout cookies had arrived. yes, we bribed our child. One cookie per lap around the island in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Our neighbor JJ thought this was hilarious and was determined to see Lael earn the entire box. Our sweet girl had a crowd gathered in no time and soaked up all of the praise. It was truly beautiful. That night, she did about 20 laps. Mean ol' parents that we are, we only gave her 4 Thin Mints that night and a few more in the days to follow (20 cookies is waaaaay too much for that tiny body!)
Grant read his first pleasure novel. Every book before this, I insisted he read. So, all 192 pages of Henry and Ribsy were consumed in the span of about a week and a half due to internal motivation. Thank GOD for Beverly Cleary!!! Seriously... this is a HUGE thing for an eight year old who doesn't like reading. It all started with the read-aloud Henry Huggins (which I read to all three kids). Grant liked it so much that he insisted we go to the library the day we finished to pick up a few of the author's continuing stories of Henry. As a kid, I always liked the Ramona books but had never read the Henry books. I am one proud mom and look forward to this book-reading spark to ignite into flame.
Dean is reading more and more, too. Actually, he is excelling at school. This is great news to me, because I can safely say that I haven't ruined him by homeschooling this year. He's great with his letters, a whiz in math, and is really coming along in his art skills. But back to the math- he always says "that's easy!" so I keep moving him along. the other day, Grant taught him the concept of multiplication and HE GOT IT. Eric said that he did practical division (of food portions, I think) the other day. We're going to finish this K math curriculum early, I think, and then move on to 1st grade math as long as he's enjoying it.
Me? I've been struggling with my back flaring up. I'm doing chiropractic, physical therapy, massage, and ice and rest at home. I herniated my disk a year ago, and it is still not right. My sister-in-law Angie stole Lael the other day (the nice kind of stealing) so I could rest and a friend brought me dinner. I've been wearing this stupid back brace and moving like and eighty year old. I'm rather frustrated and need healing. I keep thinking about Dorothy and how I need to be in top shape to travel in a plane for 20 hours and to hold her a lot when we get her so we can bond. The "test run" for travel will be when we go for my brother's wedding next month. We fly to California (only 5 hours) and will be doing a good deal of walking at Disneyland for 2 days (for Christmas, we bought park hopper passes for all 5 of us). Soooooo... that has been seriously on my mind.
There's more. Like sewing curtains, doing a painting, having a Valentine's Party with the family, buying a different van (and selling the old one), and planning some adoption fundraisers. But, there's really never enough time to highlight it all.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Bring Jo home!!!
Sarah k. is getting closer and closer to her sweet Josiah, their second son! Click the button above, and it will lead you to their fund-raising drawing. Donate $10, and it will give you one entry for fabulous prizes.
Sarah is one of the people in the adoption community that has truly been a blessing to hundreds. Encouraging words, prayer, and tons of information flow from her constantly. When Eric and I started our adoption journey, she spent over an hour on the phone with me telling her story about Taiwan adoption and their son, Jeremiah and giving me the ins and outs of agencies and proceedures. Then we met up, when they were still living in Middle Tennessee, and took a trip to the zoo. She's just as much of dear woman in person as you could imagine! I've had the privilege of praying with her through this second adoption of Josiah through Morning Light Ministries (remember the home/ministry I was raising funds for last year?). She is a sister in Christ and I thrilled to see how God works out the details of this second adoption.
So, please help bring Jo home!!!!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Row Toward Shore
EDITED 5:35pm: I had their old website/blogger page. The link is fixed now, I'm sure you'll appreciate the cleaner format... check it out.
I have re-connected with a high school friend, Kate, via Facebook. She and her husband adopted from Russia recently and have a company called Row Toward Shore. Their aim is to sell their artwork to raise money for their own future adoption(s), but also to help others adopting. If you register with them, they will donate a percentage of sales to your adoption fund when a customer gives a certain code.
For, us, if you mention "FADELY" when checking out, they will donate to our adoption fund. Kate and her husband are extremely talented artists and have a wide price range available in their product line. Please support them, and us- have a look! If you are also adopting, you might consider setting up your own referral account with them.
Additionally, they are also taking a portion of profits and sending it to Our Creator's Hope. OCH has an adoption grant program that makes adoption more affordable to those who see finances as a barrier to bringing an orphan home.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sunday, February 08, 2009
He went before us!
Deuteronomy 31:8
8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
While that verse pertains to the Israelites, God's character stays the same. And when He promises you something, you can be sure that He will make a way and guide you through!
I am just now getting a chance to write about what's happened the last few days. Your encouraging words, and faithful prayers meant so much in my despair. But, I won't leave you in suspense any longer- the Lord went before us and worked everything out. Now for the lovely details, because it makes me so happy to reflect back on how gracious God was to me, even in my despair and pain:
The idea of another 2-3 weeks before our agency would get our paperwork was unbearable to me. Yes, in the grand scheme of life, 2-3 weeks isn't much. BUT, I also know that there is a domino effect, especially in international adoption. A few days can make a difference when it comes to a country's holiday season, an orphanage awaiting their renewed license, or a coordinator being on vacation. In my human mind, I was having a hard time coming to terms with it all because we've been working so hard.
Like I said, though, counter service on the apostilles was key. Here in Tennessee, I was going to do that and my brother was going to do that for us in California. If we sent off documents to Pennsylvania, even with overnight envelopes, it was estimated to take 10-15 business days. Eric has extended family in Pennsylvania, but we just couldn't ask his grandparents on either side to do this for us. The big city, traffic, and possible bureaucratic hurdles is simply too much at their age, and we knew that.
Eric and I agreed that the only way to get things done quickly was to do them ourselves. To mail things off and wait the 10-15 days was, we felt, irresponsible with our little girl waiting on us. What is a 12-13 hour drive when your daughter is at the end of all this mess?! So, as I gathered things for Colin and FedExed them so he could take care of the CA side of our paperwork, Eric wrapped things up at work with the intent of being gone Thursday and Friday. We were going to pack, leave in the morning Thursday, and have the birth certificate apostilled at the Pennsylvania Secretary of State on Friday. That left a bit of visiting with family and a return trip to Nashville on Saturday or Sunday. Well, we got to talking about the expense of it all- eating out, staying in a hotel, gas, missed work and so on. Eric figured it might actually be *cheaper* to fly there and rent a car for himself. So, he started browsing Expedia and Travelocity and the like and came up with a pretty good deal.
In the middle of that, Judy contacts me via e-mail and says that she's read the blog and could drive to Harrisburg for us. Judy and I have never met in person, ever. We've known one another the past two years through adoption forums and e-mails since we were both with the same Taiwan agency and logged in around the same time. Last year, she travelled and brought home her gorgeous son William. She knows the pain of paperwork, she knows the ache of waiting for your child, and she very clearly understands what we have at stake. What I also know about Judy is that she is detail-oriented, trustworthy, and a sister in Christ. So, I wanted to shout "yes!", "praise God, yes!", but didn't because there were things to work out.
Primarily, I hadn't heard back from the state of PA yet. CA had a live human answer their phone (amazing considering their budget issues right now, huh?) and I was able to confirm that someone could get counter service on our behalf, and that the certificates we had were signed by the right person, and were new enough etc. to be apostilled without glitch. So, I'd left a voicemail with the secretary of state's office in PA, but hadn't received a reply. This made us a bit nervous. "What if they turned Judy away?" "What if she went through all that and then we *still* had to drive out there?" But, the other reason I hesitated, was that I knew she wasn't in Harrisburg, and that she would have a lot to do with baby William in tow. Seriously, that is a LOT to do for someone you don't know! So, I outlined all that would be necessary to really, really drive home the inconvenience and give her a chance to back out.
All the while, Eric kept looking for flights. About an hour passed, and I think we figured that Judy gave it a second thought and realized that she'd made a mistake. We found a good deal on a flight/car combo that would save us money compared to the whole family driving out. We were on the "purchase" screen and I just felt like we should wait and make sure he could say with family overnight. Eric called his granny and, upon hearing her disappointment over the kids not coming too, he second guessed himself. "Maybe we should drive". That time was just long enough for Judy to respond with a definite "yes". So we were not more than 5 minutes away from clicking "purchase" on a plane ticket! Truly an answer to prayer!
The next morning I compiled Eric's birth certificate, checks, a checklist, and directions and FedEx'ed it to Judy.
When we realized it would all work out, Eric and I finished up assembling everything for our dossier. God also provided dear friends who were willing to have us come to their house late in the evening Thursday to notarize the huge heap of documents. Jason, Thank you!!!!
Friday, Eric took the day off work and Tim and Angie watched the kids so we could run around and finish up with getting county clerk certifications, and then head on to the Secretary of State office for Tennessee. We worked from 10am until about 4pm, and got it all done with 30 minutes to spare (the government office buildings close at 4:30pm). A little celebratory cupcake at Ivey Cake and we came home to collapse.
In the middle of all that somewhere, Colin e-mailed us to let me know that he was successful with our documents and that they were already back in the mail to our agency! My brother ROCKS!!!
The following morning, we double and triple checked everything (maybe quadruple), and took all 46 documents to Eric's office to use the super scanner. How cool is it that we were able to speedily scan everything and have it e-mailed to him automatically?! (technology has changed a LOT since my last office job!) Love that! The next stop was FedEx again. The guy remembered me from the other day and we were able to tell him that this was the most important box he'd see all day and that his company better not lose it! Seriously. I feel relief that it is out of our hands.
IFS will get the envelope from CA on Monday, the envelope from PA on Tuesday, and our 4.15 lb. box of documents on Tuesday. Whew. God has orchestrated this in a miraculous way! Operation BDHQ is underway!! :-)
Please pray blessings and grace and stamina for Judy who will be helping us tomorrow. She will be driving a lot, and will have William with her. Pray that he is a perfect angel and sleeps in the car and isn't fussy. Pray that no one gives her trouble at the Secretary of State counter, and that she has no lines to wait in. I am so grateful to her family for this, and feel like I'll be adding her name to the long list of people I must thank at the end of our adoption. I'm planning an Academy-like speech and will ignore any and all time limits! :-)
So, there you have it! While I was crying and panicking, the Lord was planning and going before us to smooth the path to Dorothy. He knew the hurdles ahead, and gave us the support to make it over them.
Now, for practical details that will hopefully save other adoptive parents from work/stress:
- ask up front if ALL of your documents will need apostille or authentication
- find out if your state will only apostille or authenticate documents with State Registrar, County Clerk, or Secretary of State signatures. If so, you must go to the county that the notary is commissioned and obtain their certification at the county level first.
- It is really super helpful to have all your documents notarized by notaries from the same county. We overlooked this part, and had to drive to 3 counties: Williamson, Davidson, and Rutherford. Let me just express my gratitude that TN counties are tiny and the drive was doable. Still a hassle, but doable.
- If you have any control over it, choose a notary from a county where the county clerk seal/certification is cheaper. It was $7 per document in Rutherford county, but only $3 per document in Davidson county (williamson was $5). I was very happy that most of our documents were from Davidson county notaries.
-There was little to no wait for all these papers (it's just not a popular service like car tags or something) so counter service is absolutely worth the time saved even if you have to drive a long distance to get there.
- And, lastly, this isn't really a tip (since you don't have any control over your state), but just something I'm glad for... TN only charges $2 per document to apostille! California charges $20 per document + $6 counter service fee (so our marriage cert. and my birth cert. cost $46). PA charges $15 per document. So, for the 44 documents we needed to have apostilled in TN, it was only $88. Had we been in CA, that would have been $880!!! Yikes! Between county seals, and state seals- our dossier is worth well over $300 and over 1 1/2 months of hard work.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
"Mommy, why are your eyes cracked?" or Hiccup #2
I've made a terrible error and while we thought we'd be done with our dossier in the morning, it will now be delayed.
Our birth certificates and marriage certificate are not valid enough with the state seals, watermarks, and the embossing on them....no!....they need to be APOSTILLED. I was taking everything esle to be apostilled (doctor's forms, financials, photographs... I just thought the official documents from the state were official enough)
I didn't do that and I should have. The trouble is that I was born in California, Eric was born in Pennsylvania, and we were married in California. We currently live in Tennessee. That's great for the apostilling that needs to get done for the kids' certificates since they were born in Nashville. We can take those documents for counter service at the state capital. Easy Peasy.
BUT, out-of-state documents need to be apostilled in the state of origin- CA and PA. To mail them off and allow the appropriate Secretary of State offices to process that can take 10-15 business days in addition to the days lost to shipping.
The CA side is solved- my lovely, amazing, terrifically handsome brother lives in San Diego near one of the Secretary of State branches and is willing to get counter service on those documents for us and then mail overnight to our agency. Yay!!!!
The PA side is a little trickier. We have extended family there but don't know as any of them are really close enough to ask such a large favor of them- driving to Harrisburg and getting counter service and mailing overnight to IFS. We are seriously considering hopping in the car and driving to PA! It's only a 12 hour drive from Nashville and we haven't been in years.
I'll report back, but right now, I am having trouble staying calm and not sobbing. (As I type, Lael has been drying my eyes with a tissue as each tear rolls down my cheek... such a sweetie) We thought we were done. We thought the dossier and important forms were going to be on the way to India at the end of next week... and now they won't be. It's one of those moments when I feel like I'm living a bad dream. I was so terrified that I'd leave something out, or forget to do something and I have! It's my fault and that is a terrible feeling. It's a terrible feeling knowing that my mistake is making Dorothy wait longer in an orphanage.
I've had two unrelated people tell me that "God is not surprised by this", and that I can rest in His ability to work it out regardless. So true. Deep breath. Pressing on and persevering for our daughter's sake!
Young boy needing a family ASAP
I'm not able to post information to the blog, but if you may be interested in adopting a young boy from Ethiopia, our agency is looking for a family for him. He will be seven this summer, and was in the process of being adopted by another family. For personal reasons, they could not proceed, but this child was expecting a family to come get him soon! If you may be interested, I can e-mail you the details and get you in contact with IFS. If that family isn't you, do pray for him- could you imagine?! Being told you had a Mommy and Daddy and then knowing that they weren't coming after all.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
First care package
Today, I mailed off our very first package to our daughter!!!!
By the way, her name is going to be Dorothy. We've known that for a long time, even before we ever had a face to attach to the picture. I was going to wait until things were more secure, more real, more... whatever! Her name is Dorothy! More on her name in another post.
So, another family with the same agency is traveling to get their daughter in a few weeks from the same orphanage. They have been kind enough to take our gifts to Dorothy when they go. The real blessing is that they should also be able to take more pictures of her, hopefully video, and be able to hold her and tell her that Mommy and Daddy can't wait to meet her. We look forward to getting a bit more information about what she is like- what her disposition is or something less matter-of-fact than the official reports are. Does she walk yet? Does she take toys from the other kids? Does she babble? Does she smile easily? Who are her buddies? Does she have a favorite nanny? Anything, really. Anything is a bonus.
So, soon she will have a little oft toy that we washed and carried around for a week hoping it would smell like us. The theory, if you don't know, is that we will seem familiar when she smells us and it will make attaching to us less scary. We also included a baby photo book with all of our pictures and labels of who each person is ("sister", "Daddy", "brother"...). The photos are nicely protected from drool, and the handle doubles as a chew toy. There's also a disposable camera (we're hoping the orphanage staff takes pictures for us, then returns the camera when we travel), and treats to share with the other kids (some adorable candy bracelets, and chocolates for the nannies).
Another family travels shortly after that, so I'll be sending something else to them in the next week, too. I'm so thrilled that Dorothy will have something from us two times in the course of a month! Something we touched! Something from our home! I want that to make her feel closer. Right now it doesn't, but maybe when I get word that she has it all in her sweet tiny hands? Maybe.
On that note, we now have a family code: BDHQ. It stands for "Bring Dorothy Home Quick" and we say it amongst ourselves to remind each other to pray that the Lord supernaturally smoothes and speeds this process. I'd love it if you would add "BDHQ" to your prayers, as well!
Monday, February 02, 2009
CSR on its way!!!
IFS finally got the Referral Approval from our social worker today and has overnighted the CSR (Child Study Report) and other forms to us. We'll get them in the mail tomorrow and notarize and apostle everything by Wednesday at the latest and mail back to them. So, very very soon our dossier will be on its way to India and the real important stuff can begin. Lots of hustle and bustle these next two days, but then we'll just be sitting tight for months. "Hurry up and wait".
Slumdog Millionaire
Last week, in honor of officially saying "yes" to our Indian princess, we hired a babysitter and were going to go for a bite to eat and take in an Indian movie (Slumdog Millionaire). The toilet to the powder room overflowed about 10 minutes after we left and our 13 year old sitter called. She's great, but she sounded panicked and hesitant about how to successfully clean it up. We have hardwoods in that area, and when she said water had flowed into the hall, we figured we better turn around and check things out. Mostly, we didn't want a missed puddle of water to damage the floor. To my surprise, it looked really good by the time we got there and we were able to do a quick mopping and get back on the road for date night. (Yay for Savannah- I would have been crying over that exact scenario at your age!) Still, we had cut it too close and couldn't make the movie. Instead, we had dinner and enjoyed getting to talk and simply "be".
We had a good time, but I still wanted to see Slumdog. So, this weekend, when Angie mentioned going double with her and Tim, I wondered if it would be good enough to pay a sitter TWICE for the same stinkin' movie. Let me tell you right here and now- "Yes. YES! It is soooo worth it! Go now and see it!".
I won't give away any more plot than the previews or synopsis' indicate. The movie's main character is an orphan who grows up in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay) and later wins the Indian "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" game show.
The depiction of slum and orphan life in Mumbai is said to be very realistic. This is what I can't shake. I can't stop thinking about this movie. Now, for obvious reasons, it hits Eric and I close to home- we are going and getting one of those orphans and bringing her into our home. But, I hold the belief that this film will rock you in a way that you want to ACT. And that is always a good thing. I was moved to tears, and felt uncomfortable in parts. In fact, I left there and wondered if it was such a good thing that we'd gone to see it now- so close to accepting a referral. I want to think of our sweet daughter and all her beauty. I want to dwell on the good things we can tell her about India- the rich culture and lovely things. So, here we were, thinking about the awful life that awaits many orphans in India after going to a movie to "celebrate" our adoption. I had to laugh- "what a downer of a 'celebration'!"
Thank God she's in a good orphanage. Thank God she's not on the streets. Thank God she'll be home with us this year. Thank God for so much.
And that is something to celebrate! We have seen what could have been, and are able to praise our Lord that we have the honor of make one of these kids ours.
If you've seen the movie, I want to know your thoughts. Personally, I was so hit with the emotion of the story and the reality of our adoption that I didn't see it with "cinema eyes". I'd truly like to view it again and pay more attention to the directing and acting. And, I have to say that the movie isn't all sadness- those were just some of the parts that hit me hardest.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
