New fundraiser!
By · CommentsIn addition to the coffee fundraiser that we have, we’ve started a new flower fundraiser through Flower Power Fundraising. What a great time of year for this! I’m so looking forward to picking out some flowers for the beds in the front yard. Our front yard needs the help, that’s for sure!!
Flower Power began as a joint initiative between Gardener’s Supply and Dutch Gardens, which are two highly respected and well-known companies. The prices are good, the quality of the flowers is great (I’ve ordered from both companies directly before) and we receive a whopping 50% of all sales! This could be so big in raising the a chunk of the remaining adoption funds needed.
Anyway, quick, shameless post, but as I’ve told my husband many times, for this adoption, I’m giving up the luxury of shame! I’m willing to do what it takes to bring that little boy home ASAP. =)
Here are a few of my favorites. Expect to see some of these in our garden soon. =)
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Could this really be happening??
By · CommentsJust a quickie post tonight as it’s late and tomorrow is going to be super busy, so I best get to bed!
Our FBI fingerprints are back, which is AWESOME! I’ve heard of it taking weeks and weeks for some families, so while I feel terrible for them, I’m happy that was not the case for us. My mom’s CPS check was sent out, so all that’s left is one little piece of paper before we can schedule our home visit (my mom’s medical form) and it’s already been faxed over to the doctor’s office!! So should be done in a few weeks. =)
Tuesday starts a VERY trying week or two for us. We’re having a company come in and semi-gut the downstairs to install a crazy-fancy sump pump system to solve our flooding problem FOREVER! No one is more happy about this than my mom, of course, since it’s her level that’s been flooding. As in, every time it rains for more than 36 hours. So while I’m happy about the fix, I’m NOT looking forward to the renovation time. Our phone and internet is run through the downstairs, so I’m terrified that we’re going to lose both for large chunks of time/days. Yes, I’m semi-addicted to Facebook (ha! semi!) and it will suck to not be able to check it hourly, but the major problem is that I’m a WAHM (work-at-home mom) doing web design. A bit tricky with no internet. So hopefully I’ll be able to figure out a way to keep the internet running and my local friends won’t see me floating around the area coffee shops (at least the ones with free WIFI) all week. =)
Today, as always, after church, we went with fellow church friends to Moe’s for lunch. Now that the weather is warming up (however temporary that may or may not be), we can finally get back to going to the park as well. We headed out to our favorite park and let all the girls (five total between three families) go nuts. While there, I was watching the other kids and families and for some reason, it made me profoundly MISS our little guy. I don’t know if it’s because we’re (finally, hallelujah) almost done with our home study and so are right on the edge of the TRUE waiting period or what. Or maybe it’s the fact that everything has been taking so long and we’ve had so many delays that I was almost wondering if the whole thing was a figment of my imagination. Was this really going to happen or was I just fooling myself? Whatever the reason, I sat there on the park bench desperately wanting him. Now. I’m sure every adoptive parent can relate to that feeling, but today was the first time that I was almost driven to tears by it.
Anyway! I’m so thrilled that things are finally moving along and we’re finishing up with this phase of the adoption. Now to hustle through the rest so that we can pass court before the court closures! I do NOT want to have to wait until November to go get my sweet boy!!!
Oh, by the way, have you been to The Pioneer Woman yet? I’ve been to this website before, but have been OBSESSED with it this weekend. Do any of y’all read it? If not, check it out, but only if you have a cup of coffee (shameless plug!!) or tea and a bunch of time on your hands! It’s renewed my interest (read: obsession) with getting a entry-level DSLR camera and learning how to take truly decent pictures. Aim high, right? =)
I have thoughts going through my brain about today’s sermon at church and how it relates to our lives, adoption and life in general, but it’s just too late for that kinda nonsense right now! Maybe I’ll have it hashed out in my brain in the next few days. Until then, have a great start to your week!
All types of fingerprinted
By · CommentsStephen and I had our FBI clearance check fingerprints done yesterday at our social worker’s office. So check that one off the list! We have soooo little left to do. Just two more little pieces of paperwork and we can finish up! I’m hoping that we can schedule our home visit next week. I don’t know how far out we’re looking as our social worker seems to be really busy, but I’m so excited!
Now it’s rush time on getting the house ready. So much to do!
So I got my hair cut yesterday and, as I posted, I didn’t know how I felt about it. I think I’ve decided. I think I’m not thrilled with it. It’s not the hair cut that’s the problem. It’s EXACTLY like the pictures that I brought in, which is a great hairstyle for my hair type. I think it’s just not the right length. I think it either needs to be longer or shorter, but I’m not sure which. Luckily, I’m seeing a bunch of my girlfriends tonight, so I’m sure they’ll let me know what I should do!
How sweet is a smile?
By · CommentsJust when it seems like nothing is going right and the process is taking so long that it’s NEVER going to happen…..we get two new pictures of our beautiful boy! It’s absolutely impossible that I could have been more happy when I saw the email from Holt with the subject line “Photos”. I shrieked! Eliza flipped out thinking something was wrong! We looked at the pictures together and immediately sent them to my mom and Stephen at work (though he hardly ever gets to check his email). I called my mom so that I could talk with her while she opened them.
The first thing I noticed is that he looks so DIFFERENT! He’s so big! He looks so much older than his other pictures. He definitely looks older than what his birth date would have me believe. I actually had to go back and look at the other pictures to compare. It really is that much of a difference!
The second thing I noticed (it was a close second) was the thing that I had been hoping and praying for.
After two pictures where he looks heartbreakingly sad, we got two with smiles! And what a beautiful smile. He’s such an amazingly handsome boy. Yes, I’m biased, I know, but it’s true! He has huge, sweet eyes, perfect eyebrows (what I wouldn’t give!), great teeth, beautiful skin, the list goes on and on. I just can’t wait to hold him and kiss him and bring him home. =)
These pictures make me feel one step closer to that day.
I’m back!
By · CommentsOh my gosh, it’s been so long since I last posted. I’ve been so freakin’ sick this whole new year! I had probably three illnesses consequtively since just before Christmas. I had maybe one week when I didn’t feel like death warmed over, but that’s it. All the rest was hacking, sniffing and staying in bed. No fun at all. I’ve also been so overwhelmed with adoption stuff, house stuff, work stuff, family stuff, church stuff…..just a lot of stuff! I’m trying to be better at taking one thing at a time so that I don’t get so crazy. I have a tendency to run away when I get super overwhelmed, so I haven’t been able to make myself sit down and just write! But I’m here now and it’s better late than never, right? =)
We’ve been making a lot of movement on the adoption front. Steve and I had our fingerprinting (digital) done for our I-600A and my mom is getting hers done on Monday. Steve and I will be going into our social worker’s office tomorrow to have our FBI fingerprinting (ink) done for the home study and I’ll turn in a few pieces of paperwork that we’ve knocked out. We’ve both finished our potential adoptive parent questionnaires, though I need to check to see if Stephen emailed his to the social worker or if we’re taking a print copy tomorrow. I still need one thing notarized from my mom (form for CPS check) and I’m not sure if Steve’s given my mom the medical form she needs. Need to check on that as well.
Next up for us is finishing up the little things that need to be done before the home visit. Mostly just straightening up, but have to paint the ceiling in N.B.’s room, declutter my office (you can’t see the floor in most places), etc. Nothing to get excited about, but has to be done!
I’ve signed up and am currently doing Brook Noel’s Extreme Home Makeover: 10 Weeks to the Home You Want online class. I haven’t been able to keep up with the pace (and I started late), but I’m going through it all slowly and am going to follow the plan. Just at my own pace, I think! Like I said, I’m easily overwhelmed and the state of our house has me in a near panic when I try to figure out where exactly to START! This is helping a lot and I think that over the next couple months, it’s going to allow us to get rid of a lot of clutter and work out a system to keep the house running smoothly. The idea of getting the house to (mostly) clutter-free and finding a place for all of our stuff to live (so that we can easily clean up) is almost intoxicating. I want this so much! I’m really hoping this class will be able to help us get there.
I think the only other news is that I got a hair cut today. I chopped my almost waist-length hair up to my shoulders. I think I like it. It’s only been 2.5 hours, so I’m still getting used to it. Of course, the real test will be when I try to style it on my own. =) The real surprise in all of this is that Eliza’s decided that SHE wants her hair cut shoulder length as well! If you know Eliza, you know how much she LOVES her long hair. She calls it “princess hair” (no worries about self-esteem here). But when I told her I was getting mine cut, she said she wanted hers the same length. She said she likes it when we have “twin hair”. =) So she has an appointment on Saturday to get hers chopped off. I’m so nervous that she’s going to hate it, but it’s her decision. Hopefully she makes one that we can ALL live with!
Anyway, I plan to get back on the ball about writing consistently now that I’m finally feeling better. I’m not really any less stressed or busy, but I really want this blog to be a priority. For that, I need to be more consistent. We’ll see how it goes!
Scary morning
By · CommentsWe woke up this morning, ready to get up and go to church. Before we actually got out of bed, we received a call from my stepsister letting me know that my dad had had a heart attack and was in the hospital.
We’re now in Richmond at the hospital and luckily, he’s stable. He had a minor heart attack on his way to work and decided to drive to the hospital. While the ER docs were checking him out, he starting having a major heart attack. Steve (the RN) says that if he hadn’t been in the ER, he probably wouldn’t have made it.
My dad’s back to making jokes and watching football. =). He was complaining about something and my stepmom said that he was lucky to be here because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to complain. He countered that he would STILL have been complaining and probably MORE so. =)
I’m just feeling so lucky and blessed right now. I may be 30, but I still need my daddy.
Errands on a cold, cold Saturday
By · CommentsToday was pretty productive. We got all of the out-of-the-house errands done except for Steve’s passport. We WOULD have gotten that done, but the passport office hours on the USPS website were WRONG. They closed 30 minutes before we got there, which was 30 minutes earlier than the time given on the website. Guess they changed the hours. Boo. Steve did say that he would go to the one by our house on Monday morning and get it done, though, so that’s good.
While I feel good about getting that stuff done, I otherwise feel like crap. I’m so tired of being sick. I got a nasty cold about a week before Christmas, but was feeling much better about a week or two later. It was a false sense of hope. I just transitioned from the cold to a nasty sinus thing. Now my head and face hurt every day, just about all day. Nothing to promote motivation like feeling like your face is going to fall off. And kind of hoping that it does. While we were picking up the family photo and pictures of N.B., we got some sinus meds, so I’m very thankful for that!
Anyway, I think that’s all the adoption news that’s fit to print! Steve’s hoping to finish his online training tonight (which I didn’t realize he hadn’t finished) and I’m going to finish up the questionnaire from our social worker. It’s so freakin’ hard! Questions like, describe your spouse’s personality and describe yours. What if Steve and I’d descriptions don’t match at all! Also, things like, describe how you argue and what about? Uh, I whine and bitch until I get my way? Oh wait, no, that’s not the right answer. *sigh*
Happy New Year!
By · CommentsMy goodness, our poor blog has been so neglected! Part of that is that I work as a web designer and so am on the computer all day. By the time I get to thinking about posting to the blog, I’m usually over being at my desk and just want to run away from the computer! We’ve also had a lot going on and have experienced some major and minor setbacks in our process, many of which I’ve written about before. Writing about them some more would have made them more real and I just didn’t want to think about all of that more than I had to.
Okay, here’s what’s been going on. We had a bunch of trouble trying to find a time to meet with our social worker for our home study visits. She was on vacation for a week in November and also had a week of out-of-town training. Then in December, she was taking the last two weeks off. Also, she’s only available four days during the week anyway, so trying to nail down a time was a source of great annoyance effort. Not that it ending up mattering very much because of the storm and the flooding, but still. We tried to see if we could switch social workers, but they basically said no one would be able to get to us any faster anyway.
The good news is that we’re almost to the point where we can have the house ready for our home visit. Steve and I both have individual appointments with our social worker next week (1/14!!) and I’m hoping to be able to schedule the home visit for the end of the month at the latest. It’s my hope that if we can get that done by the end of the month, that the home study will be totally done and that we can send off our completed dossier by the end of February. This is MUCH later than I had thought back in October, but I’m trying to let go of the things that I can’t control and just work on the things that I can.
We still have a bunch to do around the house, but I’m so looking forward to getting through the home visit. That’s the only big thing that’s holding up the process. I’ve made us a schedule (see below) for getting the rest of the home study and dossier documents together and god help the person that tries to hold up my schedule!
Another bit of good news is that we sent in our I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) last month. It originally was sent back because we didn’t send my mom’s birth certificate with it (didn’t know we had to), but resent it ASAP with said birth certificate. Obviously we sent it in without the necessary home study. I’d heard that new changes to the rules might have made doing this a mistake, but today we received our appointments for our FBI fingerprinting!! Yay! So as soon as our home study is done, we can send it over and we’ll be way ahead on the process since getting your fingerprint appointment can add 4-6 weeks.
The only thing that’s a bit of a bummer is that they didn’t send over appointment info for my mom. We called our HS social worker to ask her about it and she said that my mom didn’t need to be fingerprinted. That didn’t sound right to me, so I called Holt and they confirmed that my mom DOES have to be fingerprinted. We spent forever trying to navigation the automatic menus of the USCIS and finally got a hold of a real person. She basically said to just bring my mom to our appointment, but the appointment is smack dab in the middle of my mom’s busiest day at work. There’s no possible way for her to leave work at that time. I’m going to see if we can schedule a separate appointment for her, so hopefully that works out!
So! Good thoughts for quick processes! Can’t wait to get to our boy!
SATURDAY
* money order for CPS checks from post office
* mail off jewelry orders
* send out state police check forms for Leila and Steve
* send out CPS checks for everyone
* get passport photos of Steve for dossier (already have them for the passport application)
* Steve’s passport application (appointment scheduled)
* talk with Mom about her documents
* finish Potential Adoptive Parent Questionnaire (Leila)
* pick up family photo from Walmart for home study (and proper pictures of N.B. to frame)
MONDAY
* call about Steve’s employment letter (stress need for fast turnaround)
* schedule physical for Steve (try for expedited timeframe)
* get local police clearance letters (Leila)
* get local police clearance letter (Steve)
* send Leila’s questionnaire to social worker
WEDNESDAY
* finish Potential Adoptive Parent Questionnaire (Steve)
THURSDAY
* send Steve’s questionnaire to social worker
FRIDAY
* Steve’s home study appointment
* Leila’s home study appointment
FRIDAY NIGHT
* celebrate progress!
Progress
By · CommentsWe’re making progress on all of the paperwork that’s been consuming our lives lately! We went out the I-600A and our home study agency application with most of the paperwork. I have my physical tomorrow so that I can have my HS medical form filled out and can get a medical letter for Holt. Eliza’s physical is in early December, so should have her medical form for the HS done then. Steve’s in charge of his own medical paperwork, but I’ll probably nag a bit, just for good measure. =) I also submitted my passport application today, so that’s done!!
All we have left is the Prospective Adoptive Parent Questionnaires for both Steve and me to fill out, Steve’s employment verification letters (2), Steve and my mom’s physicals, the sworn disclosure statement for my mom (waiting for it to be mailed to us) and getting the house ready for the home study! We still have a bit of work to do on the downstairs from the flooding, but I don’t think it’s all that bad. A bit of drywall, some new baseboards and painting the floor. Not too bad!
One thing that needs to be done before the home study is to run cable from our living room into our dining room. Sounds weird, huh? We’ve decided to switch our living room and dining room, but Steve won’t allow the switch until we have cable in the new living room (current dining room). Once that’s done, we can switch the rooms, which is necessary because our guest room (to be N.B.’s room) has extra furniture and a HUGE rug stored in there, waiting for the switcharoo.
One amazing thing that happened today came in the mail. There was something addressed from our church, which I thought was odd. I opened it and found a check for $200 from our social justice committee. Wasn’t that the sweetest?! I was in shock! We feel so loved, welcomed and appreciated by fellow church members. Honestly, I don’t know what our lives would be like if we’d never found UCN.
Okay, off to make dinner for the girlie!
ETA: I forgot to mention one of the biggest blessings I’ve had lately. I’ve been getting to know two women that are also adopting via Holt and it has been SO amazing for me. It’s such a relief to be able to talk with people that not only know what you’re going through, but are going through it themselves at the same time! I’m hoping against hope that we all get to travel together!! Fingers crossed. =)
The good and the bad
By · CommentsLife has been a big rollercoaster for us lately. Got the good sprinkled in with (quite a lot of) the bad, but hey, that's life sometimes, right?
The Bad
Tropical Storm Ida did a major number on the Tidewater/Hampton Roads area of Virginia. Including our house. We're close to the Elizabeth River, but are not in a high risk flood area, but flood it did. Right into my mom's level of the house (the basement, which is only two feet underground). Thursday morning we woke up to 3 inches of water across the whole level. We spent much of the next four days battling the rising water as the storm just stopped and hung out for four solid days of straight rain. =( We had to pay to have professionals come out and clear up the water that we couldn't with our little pump and wet-vacs. They just came today to take all of the industrial strength fans and dehumidifiers. After five days of a constant LOUD fan noise, it almost seems eerily quiet around here!
In any case, the water is gone and we're pretty much all dried out, so now comes the rebuilding. We'll definitely have to replace all of the baseboards and will probably have to replace a good bit of the drywall. We're going to look into bricking up one of the doors down there and making it a wall. My mom wants to not replace the carpet and instead paint the cement, which I think will look really neat! She's thinking of painting it black, which should add a lot of drama to the room, which is I think what's she's going for. The colors for the living room are black, red and cream, so I think it will look really nice.
We had to spend a chunk of the adoption loan on having the water removed, but I'm hoping we won't have to pay for a ton more. I'm thinking of trying to put together a work party with friends from church and seeing how much we can do ourselves. The baseboards shouldn't be a problem and I think we have friends that know drywall pretty well. I'm hoping we can do a good bit of it ourselves and then hire out what we can't to a friend or two that are contractors. So at least most of the money we will have to spend will stay among friends!
The worst part of all of this is that we can't have our home visit from our social worker until the work is done. So that might push everything back a few weeks. =( I was SO excited about powering through everything and getting the home study finished lickity split. Oh well, could be much, much, much worse.
The Good
1. Today is Eliza's birthday! It's hard to believe that it's been five years since the first time that I ever held her. It's just as hard to believe that I could even HAVE a five year old! She's in kindergarten for goodness sakes! I'm SO not old enough to have a kindergartner. Nevermind that I'm 30 and so very MUCH old enough. I don't FEEL 30!
2. Everything with the house isn't nearly as bad as it could have been. We should be able to get it back into a livable condition pretty quickly, all things considered. No one was hurt and the house didn't suffer any major structural damage or anything. Apparently a family at Eliza's school had their oil tank (or something) break/leak and absolutely EVERYTHING is covered in oil. Their house isn't even habitable. So although this is all a huge hassle and money drain, at least we have a roof over our heads and a safe place to live still.
3. I'm about to head out to mail off our I-600A,home study application/fee/forms we've done and submit my passport application! A grand total of $1935, but totally worth it. =)
4. Crossed off several more things on our checklist. We're getting there!
Walking on sunshine!
By · CommentsToday has been the most amazing day! We've been working on an adoption loan and it closed today! I can't believe it. We can power through the rest of the dossier and the home study so that we can formally accept N.B.'s referral and start waiting for a court date! I can't even think about it without getting shaky and out of breath! You know that feeling when you're so ridiculously happy and excited that your chest feels tight? That's been me ALL DAY.
I lovelovelove how we got our loan. Instead of going to a bank for a personal loan, we used LendingClub.com, which offers peer-to-peer financing for personal loans. If you're familiar with Kiva, you've got the general idea. Lots of people each lend a small amount until the loan is fully funded. 219 people in our case! It's such a win-win-win because we get the loan we need, regular people like you and me get to make better rates than they might be able to find elsewhere on their investments while helping out their peers AND we get to bypass the banking industry altogether and instead allow individuals to profit. Awesome! If you're interested in setting up a loan or investing in other people's loans, my referral code is Member_565917. Using that should give you $25 extra to use for investing and/or give me a $100 referral bonus for each new loan.
Other highlights include getting sweet messages from a client whose site I just launched on Friday (including one saying she wants to send me a BEAUTIFUL clutch!!) and getting the sterling silver blanks delivered for my hand stamped jewelry! There's nothing like opening a package of sparkling silver! It's like being a kid in a candy store!
Next up, sending out the I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition), various background check requests and submit my passport application tomorrow! Yay! With this loan, our savings and our remaining fundraising efforts (Barefoot Books, sewn goods, hand-stamped jewelry and Fair Trade coffee), we're ready to power through the rest of the paperwork and process.
N.B., here we come, sweet boy!!
Checklist updated
By · CommentsNow that we’ve received all of the info from Holt, I’ve updated the checklist to include the official dossier documents. You can check it out here:
We sat down tonight and went through all of the documents and I’m feeling pretty good about my potential ability to stay up on everything. We knocked out a few things which are either ready to go or are ready to be notarized, so that good! We still don’t have the majority of the forms for our home study application, but now that we have the info from Holt, we will be scheduling another meeting with our social worker to go over everything. That when we’ll receive the rest of the application forms. I’m chomping at the bit to get started, which is a little silly since we have so much fundraising left to do. Oh well, gotta take control of the things we CAN control, right?!
One sobering thing about being officially a Holt Ethiopia family is that the clock is now seriously ticking. Holt sent a letter to our social worker saying that they really want the home study done within three months. So that means we really only have about three months to raise $12,690+. The $3000 dossier fee is due when they approve our home study and then the $9690 program fee is due when we accept our referral (N.B.). Usually, there are months and months between the dossier fee and the program fee, but since N.B. was on the Waiting Child list, we’re already matched, so we skip that wait. So the program fee will be due pretty much immediately after the dossier fee.
It a little scary and a lot overwhelming. But I totaled it up and we’ve raised $500 in donations and selling my fundraiser products (bibs, jewelry, etc) over the past few weeks, so that good! We’re planning a silent auction/spaghetti dinner in early December that we’re hoping will be a success. We’re also going to start looking into bank loans, etc. Unfortunately, we bought our house at the HEIGHT of the boom, so we’re upside down on our mortgage, which makes it harder. But I’m sure we’ll find something.
As I told one of our ministers, I think we might be bringing N.B. home in $20 increments. =) Hey, whatever gets him home is good in my book!
It’s official!
By · CommentsWe’re officially in the Ethiopia program! Just received all of our info! I can’t wait to get home from picking up Eliza from school so that I can start reading it!
Craft show success!
By · CommentsThis weekend, we had a craft show at our church, so I brought out my jewelry, sewn goods, new t-shirts and Barefoot Books. It was very slow, but I’m so happy to say that between sales and a couple very generous donations, we were able to raise almost $400! Yay! I haven’t updated the fundraiser ticker/thermometer in a week or two, but that’s on my to-do list. I think I’ll update it once a week so that I can keep a running list throughout the week and not go insane trying to change it every time I have an Etsy sale! =)
Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who came out, bought and/or donated! I had a great time!
Agreement – CHECK!
By · CommentsWe got our adoption agreement signed, notarized and sent off to Oregon! Yay! Everything went very smoothly. We had the assistant manager of our bank notarize it so that we could use only him for all of the forms. I’ve read that doing that can make it easier/less expensive to have everything authenticated later on. We made sure his signature matched his seal and that his commission wouldn’t expire anytime soon. He’s good until 2012, so hopefully we’ll have been home for at least a year or two by then!!
I was catching up on the adoption blogs to which I subscribe, which made me think of a question that Stephen and I thought of the other night. So, those who have gone through the home visit portion of their home study, did you have to have your child’s room set up already? N.B.’s room is currently still our guest room and we weren’t sure if we were expected to already have it set up as a little boy’s room yet. I think that it’s probably not a big deal; that the social worker probably just wants to make sure our house is safe and that showing her the room that will be his room is probably okay. Do y’all have any thoughts on it? Should we try to get working on getting the room together?
We’re off to see the wizard! I mean, notary!
By · CommentsSteve and I are off to have the adoption agreement notarized today! We had hoped to do it on Tuesday (and then Wednesday), but illness and late nights and work schedules necessitated putting it off. But it’s Steve’s day off, so we can finally get it done! Then it’s off to pick up Eliza from school and head to the post office to send off the agreement as well as a bunch of Etsy orders from my adoption fundraiser shops. I have two custom necklaces and five bibs going out today. Yay!
In case y’all haven’t seen them, please check out my two Etsy shops:
Next To My Heart (http://NextToMyHeart.etsy.com) :: Custom hand-stamped sterling silver necklaces and earrings
Pint Size Rock Stars (http://PSRockStars.etsy.com) :: Fun goods for the little ones in your life (and a few things for you!)
The PSRS shop is pretty bare right now because I have a craft show at church this weekend. Next week, though, I should have a bunch of new bibs in beautiful new fabrics, a few dolls, t-shirts, baby blankets and hopefully a few skirts!
Upcoming puzzle fundraiser
By · CommentsAs one of our (many) fundraising activities, we’re going to be doing a really fun one….a puzzle fundraiser! Here’s how it works:
We’ve bought a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle (that just HAPPENS to coordinate with how I intend to decorate N.B.’s room!) and we’ll be asking pretty much everyone we know to sponsor puzzle pieces for a small donation (suggested $5-10 per piece, but we’re not picky). When a piece is sponsored, we’ll write the sponsor’s name on the back and will add it to the completed puzzle. So if we have 50 sponsored pieces, we’ll put together 50 pieces of the puzzle. The puzzle can’t be completed until every piece is sponsored!
Once the puzzle is completed (yay!), we’ll preserve it using puzzle glue and will hang it in N.B.’s room. That way it serves as a constant reminder of everyone who helped us bring N.B. home! As he gets older, we can go over it with him and look at all of the names of people who loved him before he was even here.
I’m so excited about this fundraiser as it’s something that I think will last as a lifetime reminder of how amazing the people in our little pieces of the world are.
So the puzzle is ordered and should be here any day! Steve has worked up the wording for a little piece of paper we can give friends to introduce them to the fundraiser, so if we know you "in real life", you’ll probably be getting one soon. =)
In other news, we received Holt’s legalese adoption agreement and will be taking it to the bank to sign and have it notarized tomorrow (grrrr for bank holidays today!), so that (and the $300 application fee) will be in the mail and on its way to Oregon tomorrow! Yay!
Also, yesterday I found the fabric and some artwork that I want to use for N.B.’s bedding and general decorating:
http://www.quiltingtreasures.com/content2226.html
It’s an older collection (Fall 2007) and some prints are REALLY hard to find, so I’ve ordered a bit of one print already (25605, the block print), but am waiting to buy the rest until we’re closer to our next big fundraising goal ($14,500). The artist, Julia Cairns, also has a few prints commercially available, so I think we’ll be picking up one or two of those to hang. The puzzle we’re using for the fundraiser is of one of her pieces, so everything should coordinate really nicely. I’m so excited about it as I think it’s perfect for N.B.’s room. Love the bright colors and lovelovelove Cairn’s artwork. It’s boyish (whatever that means), but isn’t boring, and hopefully provides a bit of connection to his heritage. Plus it’s not too babyish, which is important since N.B. isn’t a baby! Hopefully it will last at least a few years. I’m planning to make a real quilt for his bed, so hopefully he should be able to have that for his entire lifetime, even if his decorating tastes change. =)
The master checklist!
By · CommentsHey there! I wanted to post our master checklist of paperwork/etc that we have to wade through. Right now I only have the list for our home study agency, but will add the checklist for Holt (our placement agency) as soon as I have it in-hand.
Home Study Agency
- Application form 11/18
- 1/2 of the home study fee (925) 11/23
- Reference #1 (EM) 11/23
- Reference #2 (MB) 11/23
- Reference #3 (LJ) 11/23
- Reference #4 (DW) 11/23
- Prospective Adoptive Parent Questionnaires (Steve)
- Prospective Adoptive Parent Questionnaires (Leila)
- Daily Schedule (Steve) 11/20
- Daily Schedule (Leila) 11/20
- Financial Statement 11/23
- Verification of Employment and income (Steve)
- Medical form (Steve)
- Medical form (Leila)
- Medical form (Rawles….Leila’s mom)
- Copy of marriage certificate 10/23
- Copy of birth certificate (Steve) 11/4
- Copy of birth certificate (Leila) 10/23
- Release of Information Form 11/18
- Corporal Punishment Statement (signed by Steve, Leila and Rawles)
- CPS service check (Steve) [N]
- CPS service check (Leila) [N]
- CPS service check (Rawles) [N]
- State Police check (Steve) [N]
- State Police check (Leila) [N]
- State Police check (Rawles) [N]
- DMV check (Steve) 11/18
- DMV check (Leila) 11/10
- DMV check (Rawles) 11/18
- Sworn disclosure statement forms (Steve) 11/18
- Sworn disclosure statement forms (Leila) 11/18
- Sworn disclosure statement forms (Rawles)
- FBI fingerprinting (Steve)
- FBI fingerprinting (Leila)
- 2008 tax return 11/4
- Photo of family
- Dossier Family Profile Summary form 10/23
- Written statement to Ministry of Women’s Affairs [N] 11/6
- 2 passport size photos of Steve
- 2 passport size photos of Leila 11/5
- Completed home study [N, C]
- Home study agency license [N]
- Power of Attorney [N, C]
- Certified birth certificate for Steve 11/4
- Certified birth certificate for Leila 10/23
- Certified marriage certificate 10/23
- Letter of recommendation #1 (MB) [N] 1/8
- Letter of recommendation #2 (EM) [N] 1/8
- Police clearance for Steve [N] 1/13
- Police clearance for Leila [N]
- Medical certificate for Steve [N]
- Medical certificate for Leila [N] 1/8
- Employer letter for Steve [N]
- Self-employment letter for Leila (written by Leila!) [N] 1/8
- 2008 tax return (first two pages) [N] 11/6
- Attestation and Declaration of Personal Condition [N] 1/8
- Bank letter [N]
- Certificate for Post Placement Agreement Reports [N] 1/8
- One complete photocopied set of dossier documents
- I-171H document from USCIS
[N] = Notarized
[C] = State certified
Green = waiting to receive form/appointment
Blue = Leila’s job to get
Red – Steve’s job to get
(the color coding is mostly for us, so that we can keep track of everything we’re supposed to be doing!)
Home study orientation – check!
By · CommentsWe just got home from our home study orientation, which was good! We’re using United Methodist Family Services and we both had really good feelings about our social worker. Now we have a stack of things to do and paperwork to fill out in order to complete our home study application. Everything’s such a process! I’m glad it is, though. Definitely want to be sure that kids are going to good homes, not just A home.
Judging from the paperwork and the process our social worker laid out for us, it seems like if we really booked it, we could probably have this done in two months. I don’t think we’ll be on the fast track, though, as there’s just so much and such a limited amount of time on which to work on it all. I’ve definitely been burning the candle at both ends with working my business during the day and all sorts of adoption fundraising at night (sewing, making jewelry, graphic design for Etsy shops, coming up with new product ideas, etc). Not to mention trying to spend a little time with Stephen after he gets home at 11pm or later. I wouldn’t say I’m burning out or anything, but I’m definitely tired most of the time!
Speaking of fundraising, I’m creating a new Etsy shop to stock with my new hand stamped jewelry. I was up until 3am last night working on the graphics for it, but think I have something I’m really happy with. I’ll post when I’ve got that up and running with the necklaces, etc.
Accepted!
By · CommentsWe were selected! It’s so surreal. Pending the home study being accepting and getting through court (oh and the small thing of raising $12,500 in the next three months and then $6,000 for travel), we have a son!
My favorite part? His picture/listing on the waiting child website now says, "I have a family!"
Through the phone interview!
By · CommentsI can’t believe it, but we’re finished with the phone interview and I think it went well! Jessica was lovely to speak with and made the interview very easy and was so friendly. The majority of the questions were basically going over our answers to the questionnaire along with talking about support systems, etc. I think Stephen and I answered everything as completely as we could, both chipped in on answers so that she got a balanced view and hopefully didn’t screw anything up too badly!
The next step is that Jessica will go over all of this with her supervisor, who will make the decision whether to go ahead and approve us (since we’re the only family going ahead with N.B.) or to send our file to the selection panel, which meets Thursday. So we could know whether approved Thursday evening or this evening! Eek!! Either way, we’ll know more this evening, I hope.
I’m a bundle of nerves, so think I’m going to go hit the craft store. I need to grab some supplies to make some things for the Etsy shop. Besides the Etsy shop, I’m doing our church’s fall craft show (both with my crafts and with Barefoot Books), so lots to do to get enough stock ready for that. Not that I’m expecting it to be huge or anything, but better safe than sorry. =) I’m also hoping to apply to one or two more local fairs. We’ll see.
Thank you SO much for all of y’all’s support! I can’t express how much it’s meant to us. =) Especially you Facebook friends!
Phone interview scheduled!
By · CommentsPlease be thinking good thoughts for us tomorrow at 11:30am EST! So nervous. =)
Getting there!
By · CommentsWe were contacted this evening to try to find a time for our conference call early next week! I’m hoping we can find a time, which isn’t super easy since we’re three hours ahead and Steve works from either 12-9:30pm or 2-11:30pm EST. Still, his day off is Wednesday, so I’m really hoping that’s not too late to make the Thursday selection panel.
I’m so excited that I could cry! Or jump and shout! Something! I can’t believe that we might know "for sure" (pending our home study) by FRIDAY!
I can’t wait to call and tell our family tomorrow. =)
In other news, Steve and I are currently in Northern Virginia for a church training. I’m really missing home and my little girl. She’s having a girls’ weekend with Grammie, though, so I know she’s having a great time and is in loving hands. Still, I wish I could go in and kiss her before going to bed.
Okay, training at 8am isn’t that many hours, so should probably get some sleep!
Family pictures
By · CommentsOkay, I promised to post the pictures Seairth took. Here they are the ones we sent to Holt!
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What a cutie!
By · CommentsOh my goodness, new children on Holt’s Waiting Children page! They are all so adorable. This one is SOOOO cute, though. And born on my birthday!
http://www.holtintl.org/cgi/photolisting/display.cgi?ID=B09_242&Index_re=12
I hope he finds his forever family soon.
