GOOD NEWS

Today was a GREAT day! Not only for us but for Susan and Wayne too.. (click on the link on the side) they have a COURT DATE!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS.

And a big congratulations to Melissa and Mike who are in Moscow this week finalizing the paperwork to bring little Olivia home. (love the name) And to Lauren and Marco who are doing the same for little cupcake.

I want to thank all of the families for updating the blogs throughout the process. It has really helped me keep everything in perspective.--- and to keep in mind that in time it will be our turn!

Today we received our state police background checks.... and both say NO RECORD!!! YEAH!!!
I already knew that.. .but it is nice to know that the state agrees with me! Now I just need the child abuse clearances and our last home visit and it's off to Harrisburg to get it all appostilled and then it's off to Russia.

Our Bloggerfriend Christen (who is in Med school on one of the most beautiful tropical islands out there--- AKA---Grand Cayman! Not that I'm jealous or anything... I actually prefer building snowmen to sandcastles... NOT!!) Anyway she asked a good question...
How long have we been on our adoption journey?
Now this blog is used by family, friends and fellow bloggers. Some of the info will make sense to the adoption bloggers... while to the rest.. I apologize in advance if this bores you.

1. Jan. 2006 -- We applied to one of the summer hosting programs. We were going to host a little boy from Kazakhstan for about six weeks over the summer and then proceed to adopt him.

2. Spring 2006 -- Did a mini-home study and had all the background checks done. (thus ours are expiring now and we had to reapply)

3. Summer 2006 - Found out that the summer program was NOT going to happen due to visa issues with the kids.

4. Summer/Fall 2006 - I started to look around and research adoption agencies and countries. We decided that Russia was the country for us and I decided that the agency that was going to do the hosting program was not going to be the agency we would go with. So the hunt was on for an agency. And THAT'S when I found out about this "ACCREDITATION" thing! I spent quite a bit of time on the Embassy websites.. Especially the one in Moscow. I found out at the time there were only 16 agencies in the US that were accredited to adopt in Russia (That should change in a matter of days-- as the new batch of agencies are processed). I then spent time looking at each of the websites, calling them, and that's when I started to find out about this blog thing. I admit I was a lurker for several months before I started one. I found Melissa/Mike's website and she listed an e-mail once in one of her posts. SO I responded and introduced myself. She has been a big inspiration and a huge help through this process.
I should add the bloggers are a great source of information-- everyone is helpful on sharing info on their agencies, the countries, what to expect etc.

5. Nov. 2006 - We apply to CIS and submit the I600A.

6. Dec. 2006 - We get notification for fingerprinting. We both head to Philly to the CIS office. Also, since I was born in Bermuda I had to get my Naturalization papers Certified. Was that a task. The CIS website says make an appointment and come down. I did. The immigration officer looks at me and laughs and says you are the fifth one this month and we don't know why the website says to come here. We don't know what to do!! Well, after a long long long talk and another long talk with his supervisor (I was very nice.. it really was just a long talk) I convinced them there was a BIG difference between a notarized copy and "a true certified" copy!!! I then asked them to call the immigration officer for adoptions and see what needs to be done for the Russian Gov. They did this and then asked me to come back after lunch. They then agreed--- they are the only ones who can certify my Naturalization papers and now agree and see why a notarized stamp wouldn't work. They then proceed to give me three copies. I ask for two more just to be safe. Now I have five copies in case anyone loses any of them.

7. Dec. 2006 - We apply to our adoption agency. And we are approved!! Our home study is completed. We stayed with the same social worker agency since they already started the home study last spring.

8. Jan. 2007 - Our social worker e-mails our agency the home study. She reviews it and sends corrections.

9. Feb 2007 - We are waiting for a few things. Some of the corrections were to have some of the clearances (State police background/Child Abuse) redone/updated since they would be expiring in a month. Also our agency wants one more home visit with a newer date. That will be done next week.

And that brings us to today. I hope this is helpful to anyone who is just starting out. Our process was longer than some but shorter than others. Our agency director says she thinks we'll be traveling this spring for the first trip. I hope so. My husband has a conference in Disneyworld in Aug. and I'd love to go as a parent!! But then again I have to remember it's all out of my control now.