One step closer!

For those of you that have been following my blog, you will notice that the Lilypie ticker (counting the wait for my immigration form) that I had at the top is missing! That is because I'm no longer waiting for the form!!!!!!!

I had a very vivid dream today (I think the cold meds were messing with me). I dreamed that I went to the mailbox and pulled out the envelope from Homeland Security, opened it, threw it on my desk and then went back to bed. Then I got back out of bed and really read it and it said "Tokyo, Japan!" Where my poor brain came up with this, I have no idea. Luckily it was just a dream.

My form says Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! Everyone has said that their forms looked pretty unofficial or xeroxed or just not what they thought. I thought mine looked pretty good--maybe I just had low expectations after what everyone else said. I mean it's not fancy but it does look professional and official. Then again, mine came out of the D.C. district office, so they may be a little more "official" than other states.

Hopefully, I can have my certified document back by Thursday or Friday. The rest of the dossier is ready to go, I just need to slip the form in and off it goes...hopefully never to be in my house again. I can't wait to get it out of here!

Weekend Update!

No I-171H yet. I was hoping it would come yesterday but, oh well, I would've had to wait until Monday to do anything with it anyway. Hopefully it will come tomorrow...if it does, I can get it notarized and off to Richmond tomorrow afternoon...planning to have my dossier to CHI by either Friday or next Monday. Depends on the mail and on UPS. It will be nice to have it out of my hands. Then I can start thinking about the future. Start getting my shots, making some lists (I am the queen of list-making) for travelling and prepping, etc. Really start looking at names--MAJOR indecision right now! I won't really be able to pick a name until I see a picture and hear my daughter's given name but I need to narrow it down.

I'm still having panic attacks about travelling. I get nauseated every time I think of getting on the plane. I'm not scared of flying...just don't like being stuck in one place for that long without the option of getting off for a little while! The hardest part will be the 2.5 hour drive to Dulles! We passed the exit on the way to get fingerprinted and I thought I'd lose my lunch thinking about it. Hopefully the excitement will outweigh the nerves.

I am in the throes of my annual summer cold...started with a sore throat the other day and woke up today with all the other fun cold maladies. Unfortunately, this is keeping me from seeing little Maddie--she is too little, I don't want to make her sick! And of course, I have to be sick on my only days off for awhile. I'm trying to work a lot of overtime to make some moolah. Worked two 4 hours shifts the last two nights and on Saturday morning....I delivered a baby!!!!! Okay, I didn't actually catch it but I got to help. After getting the girl out of the car, we checked her real quick and determined we thought we could make it to L&D (the ER is not a great place to deliver a baby!). We made it with about 3 minutes to spare! A beautiful little girl! I won't go into all the details but it was the mom's first kid and to quote her minutes later "Oh, my God. I just had a baby! Is that all there is to it?" I think she better camp on the hospital parking lot if she decides to have anymore! What a great way to end a shift!!

So that is all for now. Back to work tomorrow night, hopefully I'll feel better. If that I-171H comes tomorrow, I'll feel much better.

Apologies from Dept of Homeland Security

I got an email today that my corrected I-171H would be in the mail today and that they were apologizing for their mistake. Yahoo! That feels so good but before I celebrate, I'll wait and see which country they put this time!

What's next? Well, I copy the I-171H and have the copy notarized, send that to Richmond to get certified like I did all my other documents. Once I have that back in my hands, I UPS everything (along with a BIG check) to CHI where they will "bundle" it. Bundling means it is made into one document (except my power of attorney because this needs to be separate) which means that there will be less fees because there are less "documents" to worry about. This can be bad because if one little thing is wrong--the "bundle of documents" can be kicked back. That is why everything is checked a million times. After bundling, CHI sends the dossier to D.C. where a courier takes the it to the US Dept of State for authentication and then the courier takes the dossier to the Ethiopian Embassy for authentication. This step will take about 1-2 weeks and then the dossier is sent back to CHI. CHI sends it on to Tsegay in Ethiopia who takes it to be translated and delivers them to the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOSLA) and then I wait for a baby.

Where does that put me? By the end of next week...it will all be out of my hands (literally and figuratively!). I'm learning a lot about faith and the lesson is about to intensify. Thanks to everyone in my Yahoo chat group (esp. Stacie and Jenni!) who are always telling me that everything will come faster and easier than I moan about (they are always right). It has been wonderful having total strangers become your cheerleading squad. Hopefully one day, we will all get to meet and laugh about what an "easy time" the dossier prep was in comparison to motherhood!

You ain't gonna believe this one!

My I-171H came today! I was very excited to find the official looking envelope from the Dept of Homeland Security in my mailbox. Yahoo!

So, I pulled out the letter, read it, and then just started laughing hysterically. Usually I would dissolve into tears, but for some reason I just laughed (pregnancy hormones I guess...hahaha). I am officially approved to adopt one child from KOREA. Huh?????????? Where did they get that? My application said ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA and my homestudy said Ethiopia about 2 million times....not sure where Korea came from. CHI is not even licensed in Korea.

After a consultation with Lindsay (who was blown away by this development!), I left a voice mail at USCIS and emailed them. I am also to write an official letter and zip it up there. I am to give them a week and then get my Senator involved!!

So...on with the waiting!

It's Official!

Children's Hope International has issued it's first Ethiopian referral!!! The announcement came a little after 2pm today. We got a little heads up last night that it might happen today. A little while later, Kevin and Stacie posted the information about their son! No pix yet, those will be coming shortly. Keep an eye on Stacie's blog to see the exciting news.

Hopefully, more referrals will be coming soon. I think I have figured out a way to provide a link to Jenni's website (they are on a different blog site that requires a name to get in)...but I wanted to make sure with her that it was okay. (Jenni-just leave me a comment if it is okay or not.) They should be getting a referral any day now, I hope. They are also asking for a little boy.

I'm still waiting on the I-171H to come from immigration. It has only been about 12 days of the estimated 45 business days, so I'm trying to be patient. I keep reminding myself that the longer I have to wait, the more maternity leave I can have built up. But that hasn't stopped me from haunting the mailbox. There is nothing for me to do but wait...and share in the joy of my fellow adopters who are moving ahead. So, while I have no news for myself, I'll continue to keep you posted on those who do!

Update - Nothing New!

Nothing new to report...just waiting. I took Jenni's advice and wrote both my Senators. Both websites had this lengthy form that you could fill out and mail in about resolving issues with government agencies. I didn't really think this applied (yet), so I just emailed them both. I simply explained that my dossier was done except my I-171H and that with the Ethiopian courts closing on Aug 5th (new update from CHI) and not re-opening until Octoberish that it would be nice to have everything done. I requested that they see if they could do anything to expedite the form or at least check the status and get an update on timeframe. I'm hoping that since I emailed them, the form will magically appear before I hear back (yeah, yeah, wishful thinking!!).

I took 2 days of computer classes this week and spent all day today on the cardiac unit orienting so that I can precept the new grads starting next week. It was very interesting to be on a daylight schedule. I have not seen Leno once this week (withdrawal!) and have not stayed up past 10pm...that's usually when I start the laundry and housework. It has actually been very nice to be up with the sun and I can't wait until after the baby gets here and I have to switch to daylight. I have always loved nights because of the autonomy you have with less staff around (and I've always been a night owl!) but I definitely can feel the benefits of being on days. I'm sleeping better--I think this is the first time in a longtime that I've slept 8 solid hours without waking (of course, a baby will change all that) and I'm eating better. Actually had three meals a day the last three days instead of one dinner, one midnight "dinner," and lots of snacks. I plan to stay on nights until maternity leave so I can make more money, but I will welcome the days more than I thought.

With that being said...I'm going to fold the laundry, take a hot bath, and go to bed!

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Certification - $10 per document
UPS trackable next day air - $20.20 each direction
HAVING MY DOSSIER CERTIFICATION DONE - priceless!!!!!!

With the exception of my ever-elusive 171H form, my dossier is done and certified. This means all my documents are notarized and that the Secretary of the Commonwealth of the Commonwealth of Virginia has officially signed and sealed (with gigantic gold seals) that all these documents are good to go! Once I recieve my 171H, I copy it, get the copy notarized, send that to Richmond for certification and then send it all to Lindsay at CHI...she sends it to DC for the feds to check it, then onto the Ethiopian Embassy, back to CHI and then on to ETHIOPIA!!!

Yahoo!!!! Almost there!!!

I really wasn't expecting this so soon. The website said that it would take "longer than 5 days for more than 10 documents." So when I sent them on Thursday, I really didn't expect to get them back at 9:45am Monday! Let's hope the Immigration exaggerated proportionally on their estimates about the 171H.

More later...I'm heading off to play with my 8-day-old niece (practice!!!).

Update and Pix!

This is likely to be a long, windy blog...so sit back and read on!


Today was a red-letter day in my dossier process. I sent my dossier to Richmond to be certified. Barring any redo's that they may need, I will only have one more document to go...the 171H (immigration form). I thought I would be totally elated to send everything in, but it kind of freaked me out. I'm having major separation anxiety not being able to recheck the doucments 20 times a day. Hopefully they are all okay; they passed Lindsay's inspection and she demands perfection (thankfully--I want them to be right). Jenni suggested that I contact my senator and see if it is possible to "hurry" the 171H along. Jenni works in politics, so I hate to say this...but I'm very embarassed to admit that I don't even know who my senator is (someone catch Jenni before she passes out!). Easy to find on the internet and I'll do that here shortly.


My niece Madison is doing great! Her mom and dad are fair-to-middling. Madison grows cuter every day and that is not just her aunt talking...she really is a beautiful baby. And so sweet and content (except, apparently, between the hours of 2am and 6am!). I went over today and watched her for about 2 hours while Chad and Lesa took naps...rough job! Just sat and watched TV, all snuggled up...warm and fuzzy! Then the whole family came over and did dinner. My other brother Todd was even caught holding Madison. His wife, Diana, may get a kid out of him yet. (Sorry Todd, but I promise she did not bribe me to say that!). I even got a picture of him holding Maddy but I'm not posting it because he has a very weird look on his face...don't want to embarass him!



Added some pix of my nursery in-progress. Still have a few things to do, cushions for the rocker, add some shelves for toys, etc. The wall hanging is fabric I found at Wal-Mart and Mom sewed it up so I could hang it. It is the same design as she used for my quilt that she made. I'm going with giraffes...I love them, they are so fascinating. The last time Dad went to Kenya, he asked me what I wanted him to bring me...I said "a baby giraffe." So he brought me some carved giraffes and they are sitting on a shelf in the nursery. I also have a great giraffe print of a mother giraffe leaning down to nuzzle her baby...it's hanging over the changing table.

Mom bought me a stuffed giraffe off of e-bay. It is Geoffery, the Toys R Us mascot. If you squeeze it's ear, it talks and sings--yes it sings the "I don't want to grow up" theme song! Anyway, I set it on the floor and the animals had to investigate. Being a typical dog, Ollie headed straight for the back to check out the giraffe's important parts.

Last, but not least. Here is a great T-shirt I got from cafepress.com. It is for 12 months and I can't wait to get a picture of my daughter in it. I'm thinking of taking a picture of her with it on when I first get her (it would probably be big like a nightshirt) and using that as my adoption announcement!

Busy Day and Baby Names

Today was a busy day. After I got off work this morning, I waited around for HR to open so I could pick up my employment letter (version #4--think it's right this time!). Then I went home and tried to sleep, planning on getting up around noon and getting to work. Couldn't sleep, too much to get done. So I went to the doctor's and picked up my letter (version #2--VA no longer abbreviated!) and then on to Mom's office. One of her co-workers, Jeff, has been my wonderful and patient notary. We signed and notarized the rest of my documents (all without the abbreviation VA!) and then I copied everything to send on to Lindsay at CHI. I then went to the UPS store and expressed my homestudy to CIS (Immigration) and my homestudy and copies of everything else to Lindsay. Then it was off to get my hair cut, buy new shoes, and get my passport photos for my dossier. The only glitch was that the photo place had forgot to put photo paper in the printer and then the toner ran out...they said it would be over an hour to get it all together. Since it was already 1pm and I was flagging, I decided to go home to bed and I'll pick the photos up on Saturday.

CIS should get the packet tomorrow and Lindsay gets hers on Monday. Hopefully everything will be okay with my documents and I can send them off to the Secretary of State next week for certification (I still have one more reference letter to grab first--it's written, just need notarized and put in my hands!). Once those certifications are done, I just sit and wait on my I-171H (the "magic form") from Immigration, copy and notarized and send that to the SOS for certification. Then the dossier will be done!

So that's the paperwork update. On the homefront, Lesa has a doctor's appt in the am and hopefully they will decide it's time for baby! I'm so ready to be an aunt. Lesa's mom flew in today, so they are officially ready for baby day. I have to work 3p-3a tomorrow, so hopefully I can sneak up on my lunch break and play with a baby (I hope!).

Naming the baby--wow, what a project! Mom gave me another website to look at today...not too many new ones but some had different meanings than I have seen. My daughter will keep her given name as the middle name but I'm not sure about the first name. I've always like Emily, but somehow it just doesn't seem to fit. My favorites are Amara, Amira, Amaya, Emma or Emmie, Abigail, Kylee or Mylee (unsure how I would actually end up spelling these). I also like Addison and Madeline--but these probably won't work because my niece will be named Madison so it will be too confusing to have a Maddie and an Addie or two Maddies. By next week, I'll have a whole different list of names. Let me know your favorites!

Passport Picture and Fingerprints

Okay, not sure why everyone is so curious about my passport photo but here it is...excuse the puncture marks on the neck. I was not attacked by a vampire but my picture was attacked by a stapler before it was returned with my passport!

I went to Northern Virginia (Alexandria to be exact) today for my fingerprints for the feds...Deborah, you were right about me being in the minority at the Immigration Office. I better get used to that before I go to Ethiopia; they've probably never met anyone as pale skinned as me (of course, with Dad along, I'll be outshined--literally!). Anyway, after a grand total of over 300 miles and about 6+ hours of driving (yeah, we had a few stops), my appointment at the Immigration office lasted a grand total of about 10 minutes. What a long trip! Thanks Mom for coming along and keeping me company. That DC beltway traffic is a nightmare and it wasn't even rush hour. The fingerprinting part was pretty cool. At least these were digital (I just got the ink off my fingers from Monday's printing). They wipe your fingers with a windex-soaked rag and then press them on a screen. The print shows up digitally and it clicks into places when they have a good print. Easy as pie.

So that is another step down. Only a gazillion more to go!!!!!!!

Big day today--big week coming up.

Today is a red-letter day. I have been officially invited to get fingerprinted by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. I go next Friday morning in Fairfax. Yea!!!! I'm also getting fingerprinted by the VA State Police on Tuesday. So I'll have inky fingers all week and by next weekend maybe I'll be behind bars!!! Hahahahahaha...I've been watching too much CSI lately!

I also checked the status of my passport and it has been mailed!!!! It should be here early next week. My birth certificate made it back to WV Secretary of State (I love delivery confirmation) and hopefully they will mail that right back officially certified. I sent a pre-paid express envelope with it. So I will be haunting the mail again next week.

The only sad part is that the USCIS states that their processing time (after fingerprinting) is nine weeks--this doesn't start until after my home study is done (which will be about the second week of May). So I'm looking at not being done with my paperwork until mid-July. So that officially shuts down any chance of getting a baby before the courts close from July-Sept. This is actually what I wanted because now I can build up more sick time for maternity leave (I am shooting for 8 weeks off but thanks to my foot/ankle surgery last summer, I have only built back up about 6 weeks). Still it is a little sad. Oh well, that gives me the whole summer to bond with my niece and learn infant care firsthand. Thanks Chad and Lesa for going first and breaking me in!!

OVERWHELMING

Well, I got my much anticipated "packet" in the mail today. It has a list of all the documents I need and spells out exactly what to do with each of them. I thought this would answer a lot of my questions...it just opened so many more! I can't wait until Monday to call Lindsay (my adoption worker) and go through everything together. That may be a LONG phone call.

So, anyway. I have a list of about 23 documents that have to be filled out or obtained, each one has to be notarized that they are true and then they all have to be sent to the VA Secretary of State (except my birth certificate--it goes back to WV) for that person to authenticate that the notary is valid. After this is sent back to me, I send it on to CHI and they triple check everything and send it on to DC where everything gets checked checked by the US Dept of State to make sure that everything is kosher. Then it goes from there to the Embassy of Ethiopia to get authenticated and then back to CHI. Once they receive, it gets expressed to Ethiopia where it is translated and printed and presented to the people over there and then I wait on them. Whew!!!

If that isn't enough to make your head spin, then consider that some of the above documents have multiple components. For instance, one of these documents is the home study (which so far has been a list of 16 documents). You get the picture. So most of the paperwork is waiting on other people to do stuff...I hate not being in control!!!

That is where I am right now. My passport is in processing (should be here in about 2 weeks) and I sent my application for my 171H (the paper that allows me to go to Ethiopia and bring a child back with me) which can't be completed until my home study is done. Hopefully, the home study will be done in about three weeks.

I'll keep everyone posted. In the mean time click on the link for Stacie's blog (at the right of my screen)--she is part of my group that is adopting right now. From there, you can link to a few other websites (I'll be adding them to mine shortly)...my favorites are Ethiopia or Bust and Baby G. They are both families working with other agencies that have recently gotten referrals and are waiting to travel. Absolutely adorable kids!