So, what happens now??

We got some information on the steps required to bring Hanna home. Here is what we received today:

The next step in the process will be getting her current birth certificate -- it will say her current name. That can take up to 2 months to get documents ready for that, then file them with a court, then there is a 30 day period of waiting for the actual B.C., Once we get the birth certificate, then we file your documents with the Adoption Court. the hearing is then scheduled pretty quickly - 1-2 weeks - and Pierre goes to that hearing. The Judgement is signed and it is registered with the court in a day or two from Hearing date. There is a 30 day appellate period, and at the end, there is a No Appeals Judgment issued. Once that is issued, the I-600 is sent to USCIS and you wait for your approval. Once you get the approval, documents are filed with the US Embassy in Kinshasa for visa. We get the visa, then we get the Exit Letter from the DGM in Kinshasa. Then you go and pick up your daughter - YAY!!

Hopefully, she will be home in the Spring!

Approval on National Adoption Day!!!

We received our I600-A approval today! This means we have been determined able to furnish proper care to an orphan by the US Dept of Homeland Security! A formality, but an important one. We are one step closer to our little Hanna B!

Info on our daughter today!

So, this is what we got today:

She was near 1 year old when she was brought to the orphanage on October 20, 2010. She was found abandoned at the city Market (food market place) by Market workers.
Parents and family members are unknown. At the time she was found, her health was weak because she was malnourished. She is healthy now.

So sad! We hope we can bring her home SOON!!!

Getting there AGAIN!!

Well, we did not get all of our paperwork done, before we left for our Disney trip, but we did get it done when we got back. So, now all of our documents are complete, authenticated, and ready to go to DR Congo (fingers crossed). We also had our fingerprint appointment last week, so we should be getting our approval soon. We also had to send them a change of country request and our updated Home Study.

On another note, we had a fabulous time on our Disney World/ Disney Cruise trip. Here are some pictures. Next time, we will have 2 little girls with us!!!!

Moving forward!!!!

Well, the past few days have been insane! We have had to deal with the fact that our Ethiopia Adoption dream was not going to be a reality. A few people have mentioned the Democratic Republic of Congo program to me; a lot of people are switching over from Ethiopia. Our agency only does Ethiopia and China, which are both out of the question for us. So, I contacted someone I knew from our adoption with Sara, and she mentioned Congo. Long story short, there are over 5 million orphans there in desperate need of homes. I feel so naive not knowing about the horrible things that go on in Congo. There is a beautiful 2 1/2 year old girl available and we all fell in love with her. She is just gorgeous!

So, now we are scrambling to gather additional documents needed, etc before we leave for vacation on Monday!

Does everything happen for a reason???

This is so hard to write, but I wanted to give an update. Just when we thought this was too easy, it WAS! We found out yesterday that because I had Cancer more than 8 YEARS AGO, Ethiopia will not let us adopt! We are heartbroken, BUT it may open another door for us. We definitely want a second child, we know that. This just puts a big bump in our plans. We will keep everyone updated. Pray that we make the right decision.

Fingerprint Appointment!

I was shocked yesterday when we got notice of our fingerprint appointment already! Last time it seemed to take so much longer! We are all pretty excited. Things seem to be moving right along. We are waiting for the courts to open, hopefully next week. Then we should get some answers.

Getting There!!!!

So, we got notice today that our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition has been received, which grants us permission to bring an orphan child into the US. So now, we just wait for our fingerprint appt (3rd set of fingerprints). Other than that, we should be going on a list very soon to become eligible for a referral in Ethiopia. Fingers crossed!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost there!

So, in case you were wondering, this is what (most) of a Dossier looks like. The Home Study is missing, but our agency is finishing that up. So now, all of these lovely documents can go to our Agency and then they are off to Ethiopia!!! We have hit a few bumps, but hopefully everything will work out! Pray for us!!! We are looking forward to this journey.

Summer fun!

We are having a great Summer. I am so lucky I am able to spend time with Sara this Summer at the pool, the zoo, etc. She is going to camp 2 days a week while I work and is loving it. Wish Summer could last forever! The adoption is moving right along. We are working on all of our documents for our Dossier. Slowly, but surely...

I am working on a bedroom theme for the new little one (Hanna?). I thought cupcakes would be cute. What do you think? Sara says she wants a Justin Bieber room, so she will probably take over the drum room.

The drought in Africa right now is very disturbing. I pray for these people! Can you imagine having to walk hours and hours in the heat for food with 6 children? We are so lucky we have what we have.

Progress!

We had our 2nd Home Study today. There was not much to it, just verifying the information from our last one. Now, all we have to do is get our medicals and a few other minor documents and we can apply for 1-600 (approval to bring an infant child into the US) and we can start working on our Dossier (documents needed to send to Ethiopia).

Moving right along!

Well, we had our 1st Home Study Weds. That went really well. It was helpful that we adopted before. Even though a Home Study is only valid for 18 months, the Social Worker could use a lot of our information from the last one. The next one is scheduled for Weds and then we will just wait for her to write it up!

We finally chose an agency and feel really good about it! They are a smaller agency and seem very caring and ethical. For those of you who went through it with us before, you know agency choice is very important! Hopefully, things will go smoother this time. Now we just start gathering documents for our Dossier, this is the stack of paperwork that goes to Ethiopia. Once our Dossier is logged in Ethiopia, we are told 2-6 months for a referral, which is an actual child available for adoption. Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Home Study Scheduled

We scheduled our Home Study! We are on our way! Things are moving pretty quickly. We still have not chosen an agency for sure, but should be submitting an application this week.

Sara is getting used to the idea of having a new sister. We are thinking it would be a good idea for them to share a room, at least in the beginning. I will try to keep this updated the best I can.

Here we go again?

So, 3 1/2 years after bringing home our precious angel Sara, who by the way is doing so incredibly well, we have decided to dive back into adoption! We are looking into an Ethiopia adoption this time, a toddler girl between 2 and 3. It is going to be another long road, but I think we are ready! We are very excited.