Travel Dates!!!!!!

We are soooooo excited..... but for the first time I am stressed!!!!!!!!

Nothing like getting an e-mail at 6:30 Friday night asking if April 21-23 is okay to be in your region. While these dates are still tentative, I was asked to start working on plans to see if it could happen. Normally this wouldn't stress me out at all......

HOWEVER--- I am leaving my house Saturday for our trip to Grand Cayman. Nothing like planning an international trip while on an international trip!!! I'll have e-mail so I guess my nice relaxing beach vacation will be overshadowed by my rush to plan this trip. Meanwhile this is how our schedule looks for April...

March 29-April 6 ---------- Grand Cayman
April 12-13 ---------- Annapolis, Md for a wedding
April 19-26 ---------- Magadan, Russia

I hope it all works out!!! I'll keep you posted!!!!

Updated Home Study Arrived Unharmed

One year ago I sent our dossier packet to our agency only to find out it was ruined in the mail. This time, it arrived safe and sound!! "Perfect condition" is how our agency director described it. And not only did it arrive in good condition, she approved it and said the updated pics with little "B" were great!!

Now we are just waiting for the official referral. Like I said before, we have some info about our little girl, but until it is official I don't want to share any details. SO stay tuned!! We are hopeful the referral will come either this week or next. This is good timing because we are heading out on vacation this weekend. And we won't be able to send our passports for our visas until we get back (we could send them while we are on vacation and risk not being permitted back into the country... which on one hand wouldn't be bad.... sand, sun and palm trees --- sounds nice... but I have a little girl waiting for me to come and pick her up... so we'll send the passports when we get back.)

A Busy Week

Wow, I was certainly on the run this week.

Mon: NYC (non adoption related)
Tues: B's shots
Wed. 40 minutes north and back --to pick up our home study-- drive 90 minutes to Harrisburg then rush to the post office to get it in the mail to the agency.
Thurs: Drive to Philly to get B's passport

Hopefully everything is done and we'll get our "official" referral soon. The social worker was just suppose to do an update or add a page or two about the changes in our family.. (the arrival of little B, etc) but she went through and made the changes to the actual home study.. so now we kind of have a new home study.
I know the agency director has said we will be traveling the end of April. And while we know some info about our little girl ( I'll share once it's official) ... it will be nice to have the Official Referral in hand and the invitation to travel. All of that will happen once the home study is updated in Russia. I'm hoping that comes before or while we are in the Caymans. Then when we get back from the Caymans... I'm hoping we'll have to send our passports out for our visas.

Home Study Visit

The home study visit seemed to go well. I am just waiting on the social worker's e-mail to send to our agency to make sure everything is good. then it's off to Harrisburg. I'm hoping to go on Wed. We'll See.

B's passport apt is set for Thursday. My husband and I have to both be there for that. That means a trip to Philly.

B gets his shots tomorrow.

Getting Closer

Tomorrow we pick up the notarized letter from the lawyer stating we have health insurance and my husband is indeed self employed. I'm still waiting on the letter from the state police (that should have been mailed Monday-- so any day now). Our home study update will happen Friday morning.

So next week's schedule includes:

1. A trip to Harrisburg (apostille the docs and send them off)
2. A trip to Philadelphia (B's Passport/ and we need our fingerprints redone)
3. A Dr. visit (B has to get his two month shots!! ouch)

My Turn for a Pot-Luck Post

While I wait for several documents to arrive, I'll do a pot-luck post.

This week I took little B to get his passport photo. In about a week or so we will head to the Office in Philly to get the passport. But meanwhile he is ready for the beach!!!!

I've wanted to thank both my sister Becky and blogger friend Rachael for a while for the beautiful mini bag. My sister reads my blog as well as the blogs on the side. She is now an avid reader of Rachael's blog. Rachel has completed her adoption and is now raising money for orphans by selling handmade bags like this one. My sister Becky bought three of them: one for me, my mom and our other sister. I love it. It was a nice surprise that supports a great cause. Thanks!! It's a great pouch to keep our passports and other important documents.

Once Again Waiting

Things seem to be going nicely.

1. My social worker called me yesterday and we set up a home visit for next week. So we have to wait for that. Once that comes back.. (and I should have everything else) I can go to Harrisburg to get it all apostilled.

2. The state police (after many many calls and transfers) connected me to the one person who had a clue of what I needed and she said it will be in the mail by next Monday. SO I wait.....

3. Our lawyer wanted proof that our health insurance would cover an adopted child. I provided that today. So we should have his letter by the end of the week. So I wait.....

4. We need to get "B" a passport for both our vacation and our trips to get our daughter. So we are working on that. It's too late to send everything off, so we now have to go to Philadelphia and get it done in one day. But the catch -- they won't set an appointment until 14 days within travel, that will be in about a week or so --- So again.... I wait

Step by Step things are happening..... I think right now I am done with paperwork. I am just waiting for others to get things to me. Then I go to Harrisburg. Except for the home study update, I'm told everything is for court which won't be until after the first visit. So I'm actually ahead of the game. YEAHHHH.

Does size really matter?

Today I went to the county courthouse to get our residency requirement done. The county office had to type up a letter with specific info about our home. It simply states that : we own our home, what the home is worth and a brief description of the home. Well, I wanted to.... but didn't ask the nice lady if I could double check her letter before we had it notarized. I didn't want to look like I was proofing her work. After all she was a nice lady. So nice in fact that when I got back to the car I realized she put down that our home is 18,000 sq feet. Oh well, the Russians are going to think we live in a mansion!!!
Tomorrow I meet with the lawyer to get the employment and financial requirements. Wish me luck!!