The bus driver, the bank, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles," and nailbiting

The holidays are stressful for a lot of people. Usually, my family goes to grandma's house for Christmas Eve dinner and gifting, then proceeds to mid-night mass at our church, the kids fall into bed once we go home....and I stay up the rest of the night attempting to wrap all the presents before daylight--or the kids wake up, whichever comes first. I can hear you thinking, "Wrap them when you get them!" "Why are you doing this?" "Don't get that many presents!" "Do it ahead of time!" Well, there aren't that many presents. And I've had the other thoughts myself. So far, they haven't translated into action. This usually is a little stressful but not overly so.

Well, going into the holidays with a

Immanuel Needs a Miracle

When I started this journey three years ago, I called this my faith adoption thinking I would name the little girl I would adopt something that meant faith. Boy, was I wrong. Pun intended. This has been an adoption testing my faith at every turn. Folks who've been on this journey with me  know the long hours I have put in to raise funds via work, selling Tupperware, making crafts to sell at bazaars, and my fundraising efforts through organizations such as Reece's Rainbow, Go Fund Me, and Bonfire funds. People have graciously donated to both of the first two funds for which I am forever grateful. I've applied for foundation grants and was very, very grateful to receive one grant which will cover a third of the mandatory orphanage donation fee.

Immanuel needs a miracle now.  Funding fell through for my plane tickets--there's a long story there of what happened and didn't happen while I was dealing with a crisis due to actions of a bus driver at my kids' school. Airplane tickets now are $2700 and above, and rising.  I have to get to China by December 28th. There's no budge room, not even a little. I have to get Immanuel on December 30th or he loses his chance for a family forever. This weekend, when I should be making final preparations, cleaning house, and finishing up stuff from work,  I am now in crisis for this child. I am his last hope. I cannot, will not, let him down.

Donations to either Reece's Rainbow or Go Fund Me are needed now. Word needs to be spread beyond the base of folks following the journey here and on FB. Make Immanuel's dream of a family come true this Christmas.

Ginger on a Mission

So incredibly grateful for this support! You have got to go check out their designs! So beautiful! Thank you thank you thank you!

 

Ginger on a Mission is feeling lead to help a specific family racing against time and would like to donate 75% of our sales to the Terry Tomaszewski family as they need to get their aging out boy by January 1st! This is a desperate situation as in Immanuel's country, he will lose his chance to be adopted on that date!

Please consider donating or purchasing from our site: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GINGERONAMISSION and specify the Tomaszewski family. Read their story here: http://reecesrainbow.org/67597/sponsortomaszewski

 

 

Little bits of this and that

We received article 5 approval this week. Travel has been pushed back to December 26th with a potential consular appointment on December 30th, the last day we can possibly go. It is both a relief that the date has been pushed back and a worry since there won't be any budget room. Fundraising from all sources has jumped to nearly $2,000 for which we are extremely grateful and thankful. I'll get to work a regular work schedule for the next two weeks--weather permitting.

Got to wondering about slacks, socks, shoes, and gloves/mittens for our boy. Are there companies which make apparel for children who have limb and digital differences?

Hope you all rest easy this night in peace and comfort, and may that peace and comfort be extended to those without.

Calling all superheros!

You don't need a cape, the ability to leap tall buildings, or a special automobile. This t-shirt will make you a hero and empower you to give Immanuel a family,  enable him to walk, and inspire others to become superheros too! This shirt will only be available for a short time so hurry and get yours today! Quality short, long, and hoodie styles available. More information at the link below. For every shirt purchased, $15 will be donated to Immanuel's adoption. We must order 50 shirts for Bonfire to print them up and make a donation. Oh, and for every 10 shirts on an order, they will give you one free!

https://www.bonfirefunds.com/find_a_fund?s=Immanuel





Closing out Go Fund Me fundraiser

Hello everyone! Just a quick note that I will be closing out the Go Fund Me fundraiser this coming week to fund our visas. Thank you all for your kind support, it has been greatly appreciated! After this week, donations can still be made to our family support page on Reece's Rainbow, bids made on the Facebook auctions, and t-shirts ordered via Bonfire Funds (more on that one later in the weekend, so check back!). We will travel in the next couple weeks to bring HH/Immanuel home. I can't wait to post his picture so you can see this wonderful young man!

Links to Reece's and Go Fund Me are on the sides of this page. Here's the link to the current auction on FB:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bring-Immanuel-Home-Fundraiser/1395942303981634

We need it now, Chihuahuas in the street, and a wild ride

If you've been following my blog for a while, you have already come to the conclusion that I will get my elbow stuck in a tuba case once in a while. Okay that one really didn't happen to me. I just heard about it. But it could have happened to me.

You see Janet, it's this way (time to run and hide this signals long, impossible or headshake producing stories that actually happened-- to me.):

 Just before work a little over a week ago, I got notice of LSC receipt--early (And hooray too, the folks over in China rock! Very grateful to them. Very.). Only problem was, I was just going in the door to work, 15 miles away from my computer and the needed paperwork with no way to extricate it or get to it in anything resembling the near future. Paperwork needed now. Now. And by the by, can you get it notarized? Cleared my schedule to get the needed paperwork out the door and on its way. Almost. Meanwhile, there were Chihuahuas running in the street, bicyclists jumping out from between moving cars and one and all trying to get me to hit them. Didn't work. I made it through the gauntlet. Docs out the door and overnighted, hah!

Or so I thought. Phone call the next day: you forgot the I-864. Horrors! No, really.  The I-800 can't go in without the I-864. It just can't. It's a permission and the I-800 will just sit there, smiling on someone's desk just as if it had good sense. Or worse. It will sit in the lock box. No one really knows what the lock box is. Well, it's probably a box and has a lock on it...or maybe not. Your assigned officer cannot go get documents out of the lock box. Not even if you beg and promise to be good or say pretty please with sugar on top. I'm not sure if the supervisors can either. This is a Fort Knox kind of thing. Procedures have to be followed. I imagine a kind of Mission Impossible sort of scenario.

Phone call continues: The signed LSC copy sent back immediately--we need the original signed and dated, not just a photocopy as you'd been told.  Send both back together. A day's delay. Not good. Not good at all. There's so little time. That was Friday. Saturday, no document. Okay, it will still get there in time if sent next-day delivery on Monday. No document Monday morning. No document Monday noon, Monday afternoon, and no document Monday evening. I'm going bonkers at this point.  I call and email my case manager even though I know she won't get the messages until the next day.

I can't sleep. I'm eating chocolate nuked with peanut butter like there's no tomorrow. Try it!! It is way better than a chocolate confection made with those ingredients from the store. Make sure to use dark chocolate and don't burn it. The pieces will still have their shape, they don't have to be liquid. Add Adams peanut butter about two huge spoonfuls. After nuking, not before. About one minute in the microwave. And you'll have bliss. As long as the pyrex measuring cup doesn't explode. That didn't happen--this time.

(Note: Nothing worse than burned chocolate....well, maybe cat pee in the toaster or on a hot stove top. That is truly awful. Truly. Toaster cat exhibited either great talent or sneakiness and cunning beyond belief or maybe total insensitivity. No clues left behind to alert an unsuspecting human who can't smell.)

 Anyway, just after midnight: delivery attempted over the weekend but no one home. ARgh! They knew I wouldn't be home and it had to be sent so it could be left! Livid. And what's with sending it via USPS? Wasn't it supposed to come FedEx? Water over the dam. USPS dated the notice for February, not November. It almost got shredded. More chocolate. Try to sleep. Get up, race to post office for the document so it can get out and I can get to work. Only, there's no way they can return it same day. Not even at this early hour. No way. No way. No way. Kind of like a bad dream. FedEx can't perform the deed either. UPS? No. Suggestions? Hiring a private jet. Are you kidding me?!! You're not kidding. You leave me no option. Mama's gotta do what Mama's gotta do: Cancel work. Like I don't need the money. Immanuel's life is worth more than anything. And I'm not going down. He's coming home. That's IT!

Grab the kids. Grab the dog. At least he's happy. He gets a ride. Rides = good to him. Call and email the agency, I'm coming. Adrenaline combined with prayer and purpose carried me almost the entire way to Seattle, despite the lack of sleep. As I drove, I practiced controlled breathing, prayed, reminded myself how lucky I was to be able to take off to do something so vitally important. I counted my blessings and admired the beautiful scenery and tried to enjoy the sunshine. The original LSC got signed and submitted. The I864 had to be redone anyway to conform to new instructions which we wouldn't have been able to do without the delay and drive. Lots of times these things happen for a reason. Best of all, we got provisional I800 approval and can look forward to the official approval starting Monday (which actually, technically is today).  "Fast away the old year passes..." "Time is slippin' slippin' into the future..."

Wrong turns can be good too--especially if you end up at Ikea and get items you needed anyway plus a yummy lunch.

LSC!

We received our letter seeking confirmation on Thursday! Now we wait for the I800 approval (not to be confused with the I800a). Only three more weeks until travel. Please pray there are no hiccups, road blocks, or difficulties of any kind. HH can't afford for there to be any.

Drum roll, please!

We have LID! China logged us in last Friday! Hooray! While they're working on their end, I will be filling out the I800 (not to be confused with the I800a) so it will be ready to go once the approval comes. Will also be looking toward getting our visas for travel soon. Can't wait!

Share, grab, click, search..

Just wanted to say that it is fine to share our blog! There's also a grab button for our Reece's Rainbow family sponsorship page. If you're looking to purchase items via Amazon, kindly begin your search through the portal on the left side of the page. Searches and purchases through there generate contributions to HH's adoption as do clicking on the ads. Also check the fundraiser tab for new fundraisers. The t-shirt fundraiser via Bonfire should start soon. Once we get 50 shirts sold, they will print them up for us. Also, for anyone who sells 10 shirts, there's a reward! How cool is that? Remember to check out the Tupperware fundraiser too! And if you're able and of a mind to, kindly donate to help bring him home. If you're not able to donate, sharing, clicking and searching are ways you can still help.

Your support--whether it is reading, commenting, prayers, grabs, shares, clicks or help with fundraising--it's all good and greatly appreciated. Thank you ever so much!

Equal isn't always equal

We in the US can shout EOOE! and ADA! all we want. There will still be those who don't embrace this and those discomfited by it and still those who remain ignorant about people with differences. I encounter this with respect to my children--especially Miracle Man. Although, as time has gone by, and he has had more surgeries, that has lessened. Especially after the last surgery where he had rhinoplasty and lip repair.

In my work life, I have to over come ignorance and prejudice on behalf of the people I serve. Sometimes it is with respect to getting volunteer positions to ready someone for real-world work. Other times it is to enable a client to receive the medical care they need. I have encountered this several times over the last few weeks. The most recent was in getting medical help for a very challenged person. The medical professional providing service thought she knew everything about my client's needs because she had a son with similar needs. This person did not see my client as an individual and would not accommodate my client's needs--going against protocols and potentially against ADA requirements. She also dismissed the diagnoses of other medical professionals with a wave of the hand: she knew everything and no one else was qualified to perform the services she did. Other medical professionals had been able to make these accommodations and follow protocols. They were not unreasonable.

Here is an article from USA Today about one family's fight to get medical care for their daughter:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/05/disabled-transplant-amelia-rivera/2917989/

Celebration of light, birth culture loss and growing our family culture

As I watched a family preparing themselves for a Diwali celebration at the beginning of the week, I pondered the loss of birth culture for my children. I thought about how their birth families might be celebrating and the traditions each may have for this holiday. For those not familiar with Diwali, it is the Hindu celebration of light and falls somewhere between the end of October to the first couple weeks in November. Rather than a single day, it is five days--each with its own theme. Family celebrations include special food, prayers, visiting family members, putting on new clothes, and chalk drawings.

This family  included all their members and friends in the festivities, a number of which were born with intellectual and physical challenges. My thoughts turned to my sons. How sad Miracle Man's family hasn't gotten to hear his laughter, listen to his stories, and know the pull of the charisma he exudes. Or even know that he lived and now thrives. I wish they could see him now and see the man he soon will become. Do they ever wonder about him? What is their life like now? What was it like when he was born? Miracle Man remembers enjoying fireworks set off for Diwali and the special time it was for him in India. Would he have had that in his birth family? What would their celebration have been like? And a bigger question: would they have celebrated Diwali? His family might not have been Hindu.

Miss Sunshine surely would have been putting on beautiful sari's or salwar kameez then applying bindis and henna drawings. I imagine her preparing for the holiday with her family and the joyous feeling they may have from visiting with all of their members and friends. I know her birth mother thinks of her even as she goes about her life now.

HH has lived in his birth culture all his years to date. In a little over a month he will either go from all he has known to a world so different he cannot imagine or he will stay in his birth culture but face a life of pain and shame--perhaps not knowing when he will eat again or where his head will rest after a day's toil.  Do his birth parents wonder about him? What would his life have been like if he could have remained with them? What would they celebrate in their family?

I can only give my children small pieces of their birth culture--from the outside. I can give the pieces of my culture which they may or may not keep going forward in their lives. In that way, we graft to one another to grow our family culture and make it our own. We celebrate Diwali, go to India Day celebrations, and eat Indian food. We have in the past gone to Asia Fest, celebrated Chinese New Year, and my children already home love Chinese food. Next year, these will all take on new meaning for us as we work to assimilate HH into our family and bring more of his culture into it.

Freight train a comin'!

That's how I'm feeling today. Tons of paperwork all due at once from every quarter. New system at work which isn't working any better than the new healthcare site. Computer keeps needing to be pushed to load webpages. My brain feels like something ate it, or it dropped out, or I lost it somewhere in my purse. I'll never find it if it's in my purse. I do clean it out. There's a black hole in there.. Honest.  Stuff disappears. Do you think it's related to the worm hole between my microwave and the car--cuz there must be a correlation someplace. Scratch that. A conspiracy. Logically, I know it doesn't take 20 minutes to walk the 30 feet from the microwave to the car. The time has been checked on both. It takes 20 minutes to walk from the microwave to the car. Just does. Cats to dodge/put out. Dog to bribe not to guilt me for not taking him to work. Lights. Grab the stuff Miracle Man was supposed to take out to recycling. Go back for paperwork I forgot.

Anyway, I'm feeling incredibly pressured right now. Only six more weeks. At most. Then HH will be coming home. So much to do between now and then. I wish I could clone myself several times. Or that I didn't need sleep. Or that the ADHD would go back in the box it came out of. God, please make it go away!

Really being tested right now, aren't I? I will win.

Something missing in translation?

So how accurate is Google translate? I went to look up the Chinese characters for HH's name and it doesn't come out the same as what I've been told his name means in English. Not even close. When I type in the translation I get something different again. I tried synonyms. I tried using the description of why he was named what he was named. Nothing. Hmmm.

Pick me! Pick Me! OOOh, ooh, oooh, pick me!

I see you standing on that chair waving your arms about as if you were a windmill, screaming at full volume. You want this so bad you can taste it, right? Right? Wrong.

I need to start sending Murphy birthday cards, presents, build an altar--something. Murphy who? You know...Murphy. The famous one. That Murphy. Of Murphy's Law fame. The man loves me.  Or maybe he hates me and has put a curse on me. I can't tell. All I know is that he and I do a lot together. Too much. Hasn't he ever heard of absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Jury duty. Grand jury duty. For a whole month. And no, they do not let you out of it if you write them a letter explaining what a hardship it will be for you, the plans you have that it will ruin, the impact on your boss' business. Not anymore. Yeah, if you're over 70, sole caregiver to small children for whom you cannot afford daycare or not a US citizen.

Did I need this a month before travel? Did I? When I need the income the most? And, I'm sorry, the puny $10 a day compensation really stinks (of which the municipal parking lot eats half and the burger joint the other half. So they may as well save a dime by not paying at all since they're getting it back anyway.)  I understand they don't want jurors to be in it for the money. But seriously, the guy at the freeway on ramp makes more in an hour!  It feels like my life will be held hostage. And the adoption. And the people I'm contracted to serve who won't get their services because I'm not there to help them.

A funny thing happened on the way to get the kids' passports renewed...

Or maybe not so funny. You decide. You know, adults can renew by mail, right? Lucky us! However,  If you have to go to an actual passport office or a post office, take notice. Children must go in whether it is a renewal or a brand new passport. Stands to reason--they change so much. This travail began over the summer. When the kids weren't in school. When my schedule was packed to the brim.  So far, I have made four trips to get my children's passports renewed. There will be at least a fifth trip. Trip one: office moved. I just assumed they would be in the same place they were a few years ago. The post office doesn't move so why should the passport office, right? Yeah, wrong.  Trip two: We arrive at 2:30 p.m. great, huh?! Not so great. On Friday's they aren't open till 3 p.m., they closed at 2 p.m. I pulled the kids out of school early for that fiasco. Trip three: one app accepted, one rejected. Trip four: they closed early (even though I got there before the posted closure time). You see, they "have paper work to do and there is no budge room on Friday's." That's what the clerk told me.  What happened with the rejected app you ask? Well, your photo cannot have the person smiling with their mouth open. This will be rejected. Costco didn't know that. Neither did I. Now we all know. Copy both front and back of supporting documents--on the same page. DO NOT copy back and front on separate pieces of paper and staple them together. You will either be told to go redo your copies or have to wait for the clerk to redo them for you.

Other things you should know: Your child's emergency contact must be a family member, not a family friend. I had put a family friend since I have no relatives nearby and all close relatives are dead. HIPPA, I was told. What do they do for people who don't have any relatives? And for that matter, how would they have known if I hadn't put family friend in the box--not all of my relatives have the same last name as I do! Remember to initial your corrections.

Allot way more time than you think to get the passport(s). The clerk who helped us worked excruciatingly slowly. I understand they have to be careful and look everything over but this was ridiculous! I about went around the bend. Good thing she works for the government. There was only one person ahead of me the day I actually succeeded in getting into the office and it took nearly an hour to get finished. Yes, I let her know I had to be back to work. No, it did not do any good. And that was with all the forms printed and filled out beforehand. Take your kids out of school to get this done. There is no other option.

Do not expect the clerks to be knowledgeable about which offices do offer Saturday service (at least the ones in the local officer weren't). The website says our passport office does Saturdays by appointment. Well, not according to the folks who actually work there. They suggested I try the post office. Well, that would be a great idea--except the post office has almost no one able to provide passport services and all of them in our area have been switched to weekdays. Nearly 20,000 postal employees retired or left the postal service this year or so I was told.

Call ahead to find out the forms of payment accepted. Our office does not take cash. No credit. No debit.  Only checks and money orders. The one time I had cash, too. I think the website may have even said something about bringing in cash.

Processing times have pushed out to between six and eight weeks. Expedited service, which costs $60 more, will get it back hopefully in four weeks. You may be able to get it back in three weeks with overnight shipping both ways....And, if you don't have to make five trips, or schedule around work, school, and life. Or get the clerk I had. Good luck.

Double celebration today!

Today is Miracle Man's birthday! Happy birthday! And what better gift? The news that we are dossier to China for his brother! Woot Woot! If you pray, please pray we will be LSC in two weeks rather than 2-3 months! Many thanks!

This week we celebrate Halloween, All Saints Day, and El Dia de los Muertos. There's another current running through this coming Sunday, Orphan Sunday. While we wouldn't be celebrating that 153 million children worldwide are orphans, there has been a movement among some church groups to dwell on support of orphans and orphan care together as a body on a single day. Here's the URL to their website http://orphansunday.org/

Since many liturgical churches celebrate All Saints Day this coming weekend, a friend of mine suggested we do Orphan Sunday on an alternate Sunday, St. Nicholas' feast day in Advent. Among other things, St. Nicholas is patron saint of children so it would be very fitting. What do you think?

It's official, we're live at Reece's Rainbow!

Do you know about Reece's Rainbow? It is an advocacy group for children with Down syndrome and other special needs. The group supports families whose children have Down syndrome and assists families in raising funds to adopt children with special needs.

HH qualifies both because he has missing digits and part of one of his legs and because he will age out soon. Donations to our personal Paypal account won't be tax deductible; However, those made via our Reece's Rainbow Family Sponsor Program donation box will be tax deductible. We will be holding some giveaways very soon. In addition to the giveaways, you can help by sharing on Facebook, your blog, emailing, tweeting, or even leaving a comment. If you feel moved to make a donation, know that Reese's Rainbow accepts checks as well as donations via Paypal. Paypal fees mean that not all of a donation goes to the intended family whereas a check completely goes to the family.

You can read our Family Sponsor Program page and learn more about Reece's Rainbow at the following link:

http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsortomaszewski

You'll find the donation box in the sign bar.

Keep checking back for news about the giveaway!

Samurai are Chinese, right mom?

No, sweetie they're not.

Well, they look like they could be Chinese.

They're Japanese.

So what did they do?

Well, they fought. They also composed poetry, created artwork, served in government...mostly, they were there to protect people.

Quite the trip today and quite an education for Miracle Man and Miss Sunshine. Miracle man has decided he likes samurai and wants to know more about them. The detail in the exhibit at the museum was awe inspiring to say the least. What work went into each suit, each piece of armor. And the art the samurai created! Some of the pieces were 500 years old. I think to create art is to glimpse immortality. Artists not only reach their contemporaries, they reach people in times and places they can never know and their influence echoes in the chambers of time.

T-Shirt design and campaign slogan

Hey everybody! Need your input here. I'm going to sell t-shirts as a fundraiser and need help with design ideas and a slogan. There's a company that will print up the shirts and donate the proceeds to Immanuel's adoption fund. I'd like it to be something that pulls folks in and makes them want to know more and join the cause. So far, I've come up with this: Joyful Journey Adoption 1) Warrior 2) Army 3) Member or 4) Supporter. I like Warrior best since it is a battle to get through all the requirements, set-backs, changes, paperwork, financial hurdles, etc. And it is also a battle to advocate for children who so much need the love and support of a family because no matter how good their child care centers or foster families are, they're simply not a permanent home. What do you think? After reading my family's blog and our journey, what would you suggest? What ideas come to mind for you? Please leave a comment with them. Thank you so much!

First round of grant applications and more fundraiser stuff

Got one pre-app in tonight, another application finished and ready to go, a third one printed but not filled out (11 pages long). References alerted. Also looked at t-shirt slogans and graphics for that sale and fundraiser. Didn't really like any of the ones already created so I'm going to have to design one myself. That will be part of tomorrow's project.. I'll be at a holiday craft bazaar at the end of the month and an lining up some more for both the fundraiser and Tupperware. I'll post the t-shirt fundraiser as soon as I get it up and running. Hopefully by the end of the week? We'll have to sell 50 shirts or more before they'll print them. Should make really nice holiday gifts for people!

Expedite processing alert!

This is for families going through the San Francisco PRC consulate: The consulate may be halting rush processing so be aware that it may take the full 15 days to get your documents sent back. Praying that ours make it through.

San Francisco here I come!

Or rather, here it comes. Our I797 should be in SF tomorrow morning. I sent it expedited but I've learned the consulate may be halting that service. Prayers requested that they will do it and that we get it back this week. Every day, every minute counts in this adoption!

How many times must a woman go to get a document notarized....

before she actually can find
someone who will do the stamp?
Not the bank!
And not the other bank!
FedEx doesn't do anymore
The realtor? No!

Yes, how many trips must a woman make
before she can drive
to the secretary of state
to get a stamp, to get a seal, to send the thing
to the consulate?


It's not as easy as you think
It should have been, but it wasn't.
They'd never seen...
They didn't know...Shouldn't there be somewhere to sign?
Shouldn't there be a typed line?

How many trips must a woman make
So the courier can take the approval
from the feds to the consulate
How many trips must it take!

The answer my friend, you will hear
The answer my friend, you will hear

But give me your guess
give me your guess

I800a approval

Hey, all! Exciting news! We received our I800a approval on Friday. I'll have to race around this coming week to get it notarized, verified and off to the consulate to be authenticated! This is the last document for our dossier. If I can get courier service to handle it that should shave a week off the turn-around time for the trip to the consulate. Then it will head up to our agency to be translated and sent with the rest of the documents to China. I'm thinking we should be DTC in two to three weeks if all goes well and LID should follow thereafter. We simply have to travel by the end of the first week in December--say prayers for us, okay? Everything has got to go without any delays or bumps from here on out or HH will lose out on getting a family and it is just not acceptable for that to happen! Remember too, to click through and make a donation to his adoption fund--any amount greatly appreciated.

Hopefully, I will have more exciting news by the end of the week--stay tuned!

Three articles on church support of international adoption families

Christianity Today article on how churches can support adoptive parents

These are really good--especially the last one. If you're not Christian, please don't let it deter you from reading the articles; they can be applied to your own center of faith too.

Donations are tax deductable via our Adopt Together grant fundraiser

You may have notice a new button on the left side of the blog labeled Adopt Together. They approved our account late last night. This is a 503c corporation which offers grants to adoptive families. Funds donated get pooled and the grant amounts received may be more or less than what is donated via each family's page depending on need, availability, etc. Requests for grants are reviewed monthly. The button will take you directly to our page there just like the Go Fund Me button takes you to our page at that website. The difference between the two is that our family gets everything donated to our GFM page but donations there are not tax deductible. The funds donated via Adopt Together are tax deductible but our family doesn't necessarily get all funds raised. Both organizations fund for causes in addition to adoption as well.

Kindly, donate via either site as you feel best suits you. All donations are greatly appreciated! There is also a url which can be shared in emails since the button doesn't like being shared: adopttogether.org/adoptimmanuel

Please share our story and encourage others to donate. We have so little time to bring HH home before he ages out and is lost!

Miss Sunshine celebrates liberation day!

She's dancin' yeah! Dancin' yeah! Why's she dancin'? No more booster seat! Miss Sunshine no longer has to perch in the infernal thing. She's been having me measure her every few days for the last couple years. Wow, end of an era. Unless she gets a little sister, the only one using the booster seat will be the dog. He likes the booster seat.

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

The totals came out today and I made more than I thought from consigning at Superkids! Oh, happy day! During Superkids, I came down with 'the bug' and have been out sick from work all week so far--not much of it left!!

At the beginning of the week, my adoption worker informed me we do not have until December 30th to finalize HH's adoption; We have until December 23rd. I know, you're thinking. "big deal." Well,  each part of the process takes x amount of time and without any expedition the whole thing should take 5-6 months, not three. Right now, we're waiting to be assigned a caseworker with the National Benefits Center who will hopefully approve our I800a on the first go round. Next week, it will be 60 days since the old I800a hit the lockbox at NBC. I was updated today by one of the officers there that we should expect to be assigned our worker during the coming week. That is slightly longer than the average has been over the last year and if all goes well. The paperwork has to get sent to me, then go to the Chinese Consulate, back to me, then to our agency who has to have it and all of our other documents translated. That part should take about a month to six weeks. Then everything gets sent over to China for an approval which takes a few weeks. That puts us at the end of November. We then have to file the I800, get article 5, arrange to travel, get to China, spend two whirl wind weeks there while stuff gets processed there and come home. Do you see why I'm so concerned?

In other good news, NBC, and other bodies affecting adoptions are not impacted by the government shut down. I was sooo relieved to learn that! I have a bunch of necklaces almost completed for Friday's fundraising tent at First Friday but no knitted hats finished. I also have the preliminary application for the first grant just about completed. I should be able to send that in tomorrow.

Children in Families First 2013

When I created this post there wasn't a badge I could use to set up a connecting link to the CHIFF website so I shared their infographic regarding orphans and adoption which turned out to be much larger than I wanted on the front page of my blog roll.

In a nutshell, CHIFF or Children in Families First looks to improve children's lives world-wide by focusing on reducing the number of children world-wide who live without families. It's aim will be to build child welfare systems that reunify children with their biological families or see them adopted into extend family, their community of origin, domestically, or internationally. You'll find news and information on legislation, impact of living without a family, stories about orphans and other vital information.  I'm including the badge here and in the sidebar so it doesn't get lost in the archives.

Last call!! Scentsy fundraiser ends tonight!

All proceeds will go toward HH's adoption fund! If you love Scentsy and want to contribute to a great cause, now is the time!


https://scentswithadele.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy

A father's love

The decisions the father in this story has to make on behalf of his daughter will touch you to the core. The story is both heart-wrenching and warming.  Many parents around the globe must make these tough decisions. No parent should have to.

http://www.chinasmack.com/2009/stories/impoverished-farmer-father-abandoned-girl-daughter.html

Last days for the Scentsy Fundraiser--ends September 30 so hurry!

Time is running out to support the Tomaszewski family's adoption of Huan Huan with Scentsy consutant extrordianire Adele! Huan Huan turns 14 on January 1 and his adoption must be completed by December 30. Adele has kindly donated all September proceeds from our party with her toward his adoption. Monday will be the last day to order.
Here's the link:
https://scentswithadele.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy

Superkids event this weekend

Yay! We succeeded in getting a load of kids clothing hung, tagged, and transported over to the Superkids Resale event in Gresham! It wasn't near the load I had envisioned taking over but at least it is something. Superkids sells vetted clothing, toys, furniture, and other items of interest to parents, prospective parents and kids. Consignors get a percentage of sales and have the option to donate anything that doesn't sell. Win-win all the way around. There's another sale next month in Vancouver which can take items as well. Purchasers get quality items for less than retail or thrift shop prices. Sure hope some of our stuff sells! I've had ten hours sleep over the last two days and I'm feeling it. Will be working the event as well at the Tupperware booth. Always look forward to helping people. Check out the scene at the event site! The event coordinator says there were 93,000--you read it right--93,000 items brought in for this weekend's sale! All I can say is, "Wow!"

Photos from Oktoberfest 2012!

Oktoberfest auction

Hey, all you peeps coming down to Oktoberfest at Oaks Park! We will be auctioning off a nice set of Tupperware at our booth this weekend with the proceeds going to HH's adoption fund. Come on down and check it and all the other great items we have for you! Better yet, date a party with me for an extra gift! Say ooommmmpa!

Her birth mother found her

It wasn't her dream, but the author got to experience what many adopted children long for: reconnection with their past and with the family who had to make the difficult decision to place them for adoption.

http://www.salon.com/2013/09/16/when_my_birth_mother_found_me/

Countdown?!!

I spoke with a very nice supervisor at the National Benefits Center today. While HH's case doesn't qualify for expediting at this time, she assured me that our file would be reviewed in the next couple weeks. Meaning, if all goes well, we could be looking at travel authorization in as little as six weeks. OMG! Now, before anyone gets too excited, from the look of things, there are a couple of Chinese holidays that might make a couple weeks impact on the other side of the ocean. On this side, we have to pray we don't get an RFE. What's an RFE? Returned for errors. The homestudy that has to be turned in with the I800a application has to have very specific questions asked and very specific wording. Some adoptive families have had their I800a's RFE'd 3, 4, and even 6 times. Which means the homestudy has to be rewritten, re-reviewed, re-submitted, returned to the queue, re-reviewed...you get the idea. If we get an RFE, that would probably put us into late November or early December. More than one....I don't want to think about that. That would be a very bad place. Especially with our holidays and holiday closures starting then. Time is running out. Lord, bring my HH home. Remove all obstacles for him. Don't let this one go to places unknown.

Update Update Update!

We got the update on HH! He's doing really well. He got an award from his school for all of his hard work! So proud of him! His classmates, teachers, and caregivers all really like him and feel he is an exceptional person! Can't wait to bring him home!

Scentsy Fundraiser is here!

For the month of September, my friend Adele will donate all proceeds from sales at Terry's party on her Scentsy website toward HH's adoption!


https://scentswithadele.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy

So much to share today!

I'm not sure where to start!

As far as the journey to bring HH home, I've gotten my fingerprinting done by USCIS and sent all of the docs from the Chinese consulate to our agency. We're now awaiting approval from USCIS which is the last bit of paperwork before our dossier goes to China (DTC). Yay!

I am anxiously awaiting an update on HH. My adoption coordinator says it is very extensive and even includes some of his school work!  Last week, I got new pictures. He has grown so much since the first ones!

Miracle Man had surgery last week to reconstruct his nose and lip. He looks so good! Dr. Kuang is awesome! Very thankful for our team up at Doernbecher!

Anyone like Scentsy? Look for a new fundraiser soon!

Chills!

Did you read the Huffington Post article? The part about mom's waiting for updates? Well, we're there! I got four new photos of HH and next week there will be an update on him--even some examples of his school work! Over the moon happy! We have to wait until next week because the agency has to have it translated.

Great article in the Huffington Post!

What's going on with those adoptive parents to be?

Silver Lininings

It's been quite a week so far. I started the week with a couple cancellations at work and will be ending with one more. As a result, I thought I would take the kids to a movie on Tuesday morning. No such luck. I was expecting a call from our China program coordinator and she called while we were en route to the theater. I pulled over for what I thought would be a quick conversation. Turned out to be over an hour. Needless to say, the kids were bummed out about not seeing the show. We learned our I800a had been sent to the USCIS for their process and approval, we only needed to get one more referral in and the guardianship letter.

Oh, by the way....we have two more brand new documents we need you to submit along with the other stuff. Local police clearance. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Weren't the state and FBI clearances we already submitted sufficient? Nope. Thanks to being off work, I was able to get the document, get it down to the secretary of state's office for their stamp, over to FedEx and off to San Francisco. The second document won't get done until week after next, sigh.

On the other hand, USCIS has received the I800a, woo hoo!

Mom always said to look for silver linings in dark clouds. Sometimes, it has been really hard to see them. Lots of silver linings this week!

First fundraiser is here!

We're doing a Tupperware fundraiser to cover HH's I800a and dossier costs. You can pick up some nice things for yourself while helping us! Your order will be shipped directly to you anywhere in the U.S. Thank you in advance for your support! Here's the link:

HH Adoption Fundraiser I800

http://order.tupperware.com/coe/app/!twx$eparty_ctl.p_dispatch?pv_v=invitation_view&pv_a=new&pv_eparty=03645f165db3bb26c4954e429b38e794

http://order.tupperware.com/coe/...

Things that make you go Hmmm....

I just read a thread on a FB page for an adoption group I'd joined. It troubles me. The moderator had said not to post any fundraisers. One of the other members asked for ideas to be private messaged to her about successful ways people had raised capital for their adoptions. She wasn't advertising a fundraiser. Some folks gave her great information on what they had done and resources to look into. Others jumped down her throat and told her not to talk about fundraising at all. Period. Including the moderator. The language got pretty heated. I had no idea the topic was so controversial. Several people said that if you didn't have the funds to adopt, then you shouldn't be adopting. Other's said fundraising to adopt was demeaning. Where do you weigh in? Is it wrong to fundraise? Just because someone is raising funds that directly benefit one person, doesn't that mean you shouldn't do it? Is it better to go into debt? What about other fundraisers---Race for the Cure, MDA, etc. Should people afflicted with cancers, firefighters, the kids' choir...not ask for help in their cause. Should they just suck it up and go it alone all by themselves?

Pacific Place in the Log Flume...er, Adoption Flume

We've entered that sweet bit of water lapping gently at the log and quietly transporting us to adventures around a bend. What a great feeling!  Behind us,  the up and down roar of rushing water and clink clanking of machinery that moments before hurtled us down tall precipices, super-glued my eyes shut, and reached down my throat to tear screams out into daylight. Paperwork should have arrived at the consulate in San Francisco. Check. Email from agency confirming the homestudy has officially been approved and the I800a transmitted to USCIS. Check. Kids passports to be updated in the coming week. Check. Tupperware fundraiser set up. Check. Still need that password to post it. Hmmm. A little ripple. More fundraisers and fundraising to consider. Grants to apply for. Winter is around the next bend. The water moves faster and swiftly we will be carried to China. Swiftly, my not so little new boy will have the best birthday present ever. Us. Family.

First we scurried, then we hurried, melted a little, and, now, we wait.

By afternoon, the San Francisco Chinese consulate will have our dossier documents to authenticate. It feels so good to be at this point! Most of the paper-chasing finished! Getting that last document on Friday after so many challenges, delays, stops and starts. Thus is the adoption journey.

We traveled to Salem to get the documents verified on Monday with the plan of sending them off for authentication on the same day. We didn't count on being pointed in the wrong direction in 90 degree heat to get a money order to pay the consulate to look at and approve the docs. (Anyone hear, "I'm melting, oh what a world!"? After trudging several looonggg blocks flanked by a pair of 12-year-olds who were trying very hard to be patient, I learned we had to back track and go the other way. More trudging.

Upon reaching the cool oasis of Safeway and basking in its refreshing air while waiting for the clerk to alight from her backroom haven, she informs me: cash only for money orders. Trudge to car dragging said 12-year-olds behind with promises of McDonald's on the race home. To drop them off. To head to work. Too late to get to the store with cash. Cash. Who knew? Mffff...well, I knew--about ten years ago! But that was then, this is now. Sorry. I forgot. Like, I've only bought money orders maybe three times in my life!

Off too late from work Tuesday to get docs off.

Wednesday. Off early. Traffic. Too late to get money from bank. Think. Think. Think. Solution found. Off to get money. Off to copy and FedEx docs priority or express or whatever they call it. Docs checked twice. Return envelope inside. Money inside. Whew!

The docs should come back next week so I can turn around and send them to our agency. If all goes well. It must. Clock is ticking. I hear it reverberating in my sleep. Waking. He must come home. He must. Must.

Good news from the agency: They've almost finished the written part of the homestudy. That gets to go to the consulate as well. But they will have the adventure of sending it.

USCIS so far has been silent on the I-800a but then they may have just gotten it. It had to go through the agency first. Praying for a miracle there. Usually, it takes them 55 or more days to send back the approval. God moved the mountains for Miracle Man. God, please move them for HH!

Say what? Questions we adoptive parents hear.

What not to ask an adoptive parent!

http://www.babble.com/kid/15-things-you-should-never-say-to-an-adoptive-parent/

If you're an adoptive parent or child, you've heard at least some of these. I would include a question from the local butcher: Guess she met Mother Teresa? Ah, nope. Let's see, she's two and Mother Teresa died how many years ago? You do the math.

Can you believe? I still have not heard back from anyone at my agency about the I800a! I just filled it out the best I could and should be sending it and the $830 payment out tomorrow. Guess that's all I can do for now.

On the flip side, the financial statement has been taken care of and I should have it either tomorrow or Monday. So very thankful for that! Once that is in hand and everything had been verified with the secretary of state's office, they will go to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco for authentication. After that, I get to send the whole kit and caboodle to my agency so they can send that bundle along with a bunch of other stuff over to China's CCCWA so that body can work on things.

Then there was the required class that I was supposed to take via webinar this evening. Only they were having problems with it not working right. Which means I either have to race home from work early again next week or try to do it later in the month on the day Miracle Man has his next surgery.

I never thought I would run up against anything as challenging at the Indian domicile certificate. If you're not familiar with this document, any person in India can go down to their local police station and obtain one. It verifies who they are and where they live. Should be easy, right? Back when I was adopting Miss Sunshine, I spent two weeks on the phone with various state, regional, county, and city employees trying to get an equivalent of the domicile certificate here in the states. I can tell you that the police here will not do it. The county property assessor's office will not either. City hall won't. Strings had to be pulled to get someone in the state government to do it. I can hear you thinking, "Couldn't you have had your lawyer draft a letter to that effect for you?" Which is what several people asked in those two weeks of calling. No, it had to be on government letterhead.

Well, now I have the China process equivalent of that challenge. . And it doesn't seem like it should be that big a deal. Because I am self-employed, my agency needs a statement from an accountant verifying that I make what I make. My businesses so far are fairly simple so  I don't use an accountant. Twelve phone calls today with several of the accountants telling me that since they didn't do my taxes and didn't know me from Eve, they couldn't possibly verify my income. One may call me back tomorrow with what they need to do the job at $140 per hour with an estimated 2-4 hour time frame or about $540 at the projected high end. I need to get this done asap since my son has only until January 1 before he ages out.

"And another one's gone and another one's gone and another one bites the dust!"

Magic Chef waved it's wand for the last time this morning. Lights on, nobody home...we killed another microwave today. It just couldn't take the strain of daily use. One year and one week since purchase, don't ya know! So thankful I bought the extended warranty this time! It  is the fourth or fifth microwave in six years. I've lost count. I think it is fifth. I bought a pricier one last year in hopes that it would last longer.

Kind of disgusting the way they don't last. Mom's microwave bought in the late 70s worked fine when I sold it ten years ago. Probably still working for whomever bought it.

Home Depot will credit me the purchase price of my latest kill before the weekend is out and I'll be able to get number six. They were really great about it and asked me to dispose of the deceased  responsibly. The county recycling center is right across the street from the  Home D location nearest us but the guy in customer service at the 1-800 number has no idea.

Any recommendations on microwave brands? I've killed Panasonic, Sunbeam, Samsung and now Magic Chef. Who should I try next? Think I should get an extended warranty again?

Finish line in sight!

Almost done with the paperwork my social worker needs to complete his report and get the homestudy done. We only have until next week. I'm almost done with the dossier paper work too. Just a couple items and having a CPA go over the financials and give a statement of what my earnings are and the prospects for earning the same thing next year. Anybody know a CPA they could recommend? After that's done, I plan to hand-carry the docs down to our state capital to get the apostiles to expedite that part of the process. I hope there is a way I can expedite the I-800. We're really HH's last hope for a family!

Miracle Man surgery switcharoo

For the last couple years we've been working toward a bone graft for Miracle Man's jaw and had planned on that surgery for this summer; Unfortunately, his teeth have to move more and this is taking longer. His team has decided to go ahead with some lip repair and rhinoplasty. The doctors will move part of his nose down toward it's final position but cautioned that it will need to be moved more during the next surgery. So we're looking at surgery toward the end of August. Too bad it will be so close to the start of school! Talk about thrilled! Miracle Man can't wait to look more like his peers! So important at his age. His only concern was whether he would be able to play soccer and happily learned he would be able to start with his team.

No Time to Lose!

All our paperwork has to be sent to China by September 1! I'm expediting everything that I can. In our state we can walk in to get copies of vital records so that is really lucky. It is a lot quicker than ordering off the web which can take a couple weeks to arrive. Another area which can be expedited is after all the docs have been notarized; We can take them to our secretary of state's office to be apostiled. Of course, if I lived on the other side of the state that might be a pain! That should shave another week or so off the process. The really big bugaboo is the I-800 process. That usually takes a couple months. Anybody know if that can be expedited? What about the authentication process for going to the Chinese consulate in San Francisco? I sure hope there is a way! Say, can that be hand carried? Might be worth the consideration. HH's future is on the line. What is a couple hundred dollars compared to that?!

"You gotta want it bad enough."

Those are lyrics from one of my favorite Kenny Rogers songs. Kenny, if by some act of God you should ever read this, thank you so very much for the tremendous gift of that song! It has gotten me through so much over the years. We made it. Thanks to some really good friends who came over several days running to help with the final work that I was unable to do this past week due to the car accident I was in last Monday. I am so very thankful. Proud too. Miracle Man worked so hard and was such a trooper! We all worked as hard as possible and as we were able. The floor marathon ended Saturday night about 9 p.m. Vinyl planking turned out to not be quite as easy as Pergo since I had to use a box cutter instead of the Skil Saw but was much easier than if  I'd had to do roll or peel and stick. The living room looks so nice!

We've moved now from home study to paper-chase for the dossier. I have several pieces of that compilation put together already. One really amazing item: the state abuse clearance from our state normally takes 50-55 days. Mine came back in 14 days! Thank you, God! This all means we will soon need to fund some pretty sizeable chunks of money. I have already started a Go Fund Me fundraiser and will be posting other fundraisers either on the front page or in the Fundraisers tab as they start. Clicking on the badge at left will take you to the posts on the God Fund Me website. It shows a breakdown of the costs involved and what is needed. I will update that as time goes by so folks can see where we're at.

We will not give up!

While it could have been worse, it couldn't have happened at a worse time. A few hours ago I was rear-ended by another driver. The car in front of me had stopped and I had stopped as well. Thankfully, there were no broken bones or life-threatening injuries. I am hurting and will  see the doctor tomorrow. The trunk of the car can't be opened because the fender is crumpled up over part of it. The lock is unoperable and to my dismay, the trunk light was on. I called the car company after discovering this and while playing answer all their questions, repeatedly telling the lady on the other end of the line that I couldn't understand her  and to speak more clearly, the car's battery went dead. In my driveway. Nose in. When towing this vehicle you're supposed to do it from the front.

My plans for this evening had been to finish installing the vinyl plank floor in my living room and to do some painting. I don't know how that will happen now. I'm going to delegate as much to Miracle Man but he, after all, is still a boy. The final home study visit is this week and we have no more budge room to finish repairs on the house. I am down. I am not out. I will find a way to get everything done. I will not let HH's future go into darkness because of this or any other roadblock. I will go over, under, around, break through or blast to smithereens the difficulties in the way. I will break on through to the other side. HH will know a family. My family. We are coming HH. We will not give up!

3/18/2013 What do the children who get passed over feel about adoption?

What do the children who get passed over feel about adoption?


Warning: Have your kleenex ready.
In "Stuck" older adoptees tell what it meant to them. Please watch the movie, then join the fight to give all children a family by adding  your name to  the petition.


http://www.change. org/petitions/ make-a-child-
s-right-to- a-family- our-priority

My post on the petition:

I am mother to two wonderful adopted children and expectant mother to two more children by adoption. While my first daughter would probably have eventually found a family had I not adopted her, neither of my sons would have received a family if it were not for me. My first son has a rare syndrome which scared prospective parents off. His birth parents would not have been able to address his needs had they chosen to raise him. The director of his child care center told me no one in his 6 1/2 years had ever even asked for his file. I am a single mother. There were roadblocks to his adoption and weeks before I was to step on the plane to bring him home, the unthinkable happened: I was outsourced. I know you think I shouldn't have proceeded. I didn't turn my back on him. I had the resources. I stepped out on faith and brought him home anyway. He is now a teenager and as awesome a son as you can imagine. Where would he be if I hadn't? He was not allowed to go to school with the other children and would not have been until he had had enough operations so that he looked like everyone else--meaning he would never have gotten an education. He eventually would have ended up living on the streets, the object of ridicule, and suffering all kinds of abuse.

My son-to-be has waited for over 13 years. He has limb differences. That's all. Our local Shriner's Hospital can fit him with the prosthesis he needs. He is a very handsome young man, well-spoken, confident, and very deserving of a family--which all children are. In a few months, he will no longer be eligible for adoption. His future without a family, bleak.

In the course of adopting my children, I have worked two jobs at times, built an addition on my house (doing a lot of the work myself!) and now look toward successfully fundraising for my last two. I wish I could say they weren't my last and maybe they won't be but they likely will be. The need is so very great. Some of us feel called to have and ultimately do have birth children. Others have birth children and feel the pull of domestic or international adoption or both. Others, for whatever reason, only adopt.

I've said it many times: adoption is not for the faint of heart. An adoptive parent must be willing to undergo scrutiny by local, state, federal, and international governmental bodies, independent agencies  and a slew of other people and bodies who hopefully all concur the prospective parent worthy of parenting a child. Adoptive parents often have been through nightmare pregnancies and painful losses to realize their dream of a family. Financial burdens and an ever-changing landscape of requirements leaves many would-be adoptive parents discouraged, disheartened, and feeling the mountain is too high to climb. Biological parents don't typically have to face all this.

Every child deserves the love and care of an appropriate family. They deserve education, healthy living; freedom from abuse, neglect, forced labor, human traficking, ridicule, and stigmatization. Putting the adoption tax credit into law was a great step forward. We must step out in faith and with supreme courage and boldly make it our mission, our cause and our duty to ensure each and every child, everywhere, does not go without their needs being met. Period.

3/1/2013 We have a date!

Our first homestudy visit will be this Sunday! Yay! So, I'm sick. Fever, chills, and painting in my son's room when I should be resting. Lol, what else! When I finish in there I get to remove the carpet in the living room. I'm looking forward to that like a hole in my head! Very excited about the homestudy!

2/9/2013 Found it!

Found what?! I found where HH is! Confusion cleared. Won't say where he is but I am so very happy to have found it!

2/4/2013 And they're off and running and running....

Both sinks and toilet plus blackberries slain, that's thanks to DS1 aka Miracle Man. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without him. He is sooo very talented in figuring out how to do things! While he worked on aforementioned projects, which had taken one look at me and cackled, I took on fixing his dresser. I have tweaked it repeatedly over the years without great success--since he used it as a ladder when he was little. I adjusted runners, put in washers, got longer screws, and on and on. I finally realized the bloody thing was bowed in the middle--hence the top and bottom drawers worked just fine, thank you very much! But the middle two wouldn't ever get even close to staying in their tracks. Two trips to Ace, 24 screws (all but six shredded, yes they were steel), several drill bits and drivers later, plus a couple hunks of wood and nails thrown in for good measure, and it all works--no slipping, no dreaded ka-chunk, squeal, falling stuff. Just nice gliding like it is supposed to be. Whew! I sure did enjoy hitting the thing with the hammer, though, made me feel lots better.  The parts for the 1-year-old fridge--with the warrantee that doesn't cover handles and shelves--should be in tomorrow and easy to put in, yeah, right. But that's tomorrow. Anyone need some car tires? A shed cum chicken coop? A really old king bed?

1/30/2013 Hyper-drive

Our family-finder emailed me today, she heard back already from China and we have been matched with HH! Not only that, our homestudy social worker emailed me too! I was kind of hoping we'd hear late next week! For those not familiar with the adoption process, we now have pre-approval (P.A.).  I also heard from the program handling some of the work on our house...I have to re-apply. It never ends! Well, now to get everything done, done well, and quick! Lord, mountains must move!

1/28/2013 Keyed chucks and melted fasteners

In this day and age of keyless chucks, why is it that my only surviving drill is the keyed one from my father? That chuck wastes my time with having to crank, untwist the key, crank, untwist the key, repeat, repeat, repeat to get a bit tightened in. Process in reverse to get the bit out when I finish drilling pilot holes, then forward again to tighten the inserted screwdriver bit. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Last night, I put in a new hand towel ring and after three attempts finally got the new toilet paper holder in place. Never could get the set screws to stay tight in the old ones so out with them! While the towel ring didn't give any trouble, the toilet paper one proved problematic. The fasteners didn't want to go in right and when I did get them in, they melted or had to be pulled out again because the screws that followed wouldn't go in all the way. I ruined several fasteners and screws  while contorting myself around the toilet to fit drill, screw, and hand in between cabinet and potty. And finally...found the second piece of hardware was off by, oh, half an INCH!!! Start over. Ruin more hardware. ARGGGHHH! Moved everything the wrong direction. Start again! Finally got it. Most of the goofs won't show thank goodness. I decided the grab bar should wait...especially since it would need a stud finder to ensure proper installation. Thought I would get to that today, but no. The "short" errands needed to accomplish this and other parts of the other projects took way too much time. Tomorrow morning, it's the grab bar's turn. Then the only hardware will be the towel rack which is on order. Phew! After all the running around, I found the melamine shelf I had had cut to size wasn't dimensional and didn't fit into the unit I'd cut them for. There must be a reason. There must be a reason. I'll keep telling myself that.

1/25/2013 Pre-app on its way to China!

Our agency emailed me that our pre-app has been translated and sent to China. It should take 1-2 weeks for it to be evaluated for approval. We've also learned they have the name of a family who will be adopting HH's good friend and we will be put in contact with them. I hope the boys will be able to visit one another! Tomorrow I make an appointment to get everyone's passports renewed so that part of the process will get done for the dossier. I'm also taking the list of medical tests to my primary so she will have an idea what we will need to be doing. Getting ready to kick everything into gear! :)

1/23/2013 Convergences

This week I am dealing with convergences. What kind of convergences you ask? Everything happening at once. In November/December several areas of life conspired to have major amounts of paperwork due all at the same time. Now, household repairs. Not the ones I had been planning to do or knew I needed to do. No siree! In the past week two sinks, one toilet, the front gate, and refrigerator (just over a year old mind you!) have broken, needed repairs or required more repairs. So I've repaired the toilet, taken apart sink one and am poised to install the new hardware for it, began installation of a grab bar so HH can get in and out of the tub without problems, new hardware for the hand towel ring, TP roller, and will be ordering a double towel bar so all the kids will have their own place to hang their towels. The old towel bars, et al never stayed up. There must be some secret to tightening those teeny screws that are supposed to hold them on the brackets. Not sure what it is but I missed that lesson. In all of this, I realized I probably will need to install railings for the front and back steps for HH...there are only two steps up each but it likely will be something we'll need to do.

1/19/2013 Success!!

Third time was a charm! The documents will get translated and sent off to China next week. Then we have maybe six to eight weeks until they respond with an approval or denial.

1/18/2013 Oh, No!

Here we go again! Perhaps the third time will be the charm. Monday, I thought I had emailed all of the documents to our agency for our PA. Today, I got an inquiry about when I would be sending everything and stating that it all had to be in by tomorrow. Well, I sent two parts of what they needed, document one and the scanned signature page of document two without the rest of the document, oops! So tonight I sent the missing document. ADHD, knock it off and let me do what I need to do!

1/14/2013 2nd Round finished and re-submitted, yahoo!

Thanks to one of my friends, the forms have been translated into a fillable format that would save, retained the logos, and can be read by our adoption agency! What a relief to have that behind me! Next stop, get passports renewed!

1/9/13 And, it's not done yet. Re-do it.

Round two paperwork submitted on Friday has to be re-done by hand. The translation from Adobe to Open Office to Word gave them gobbledeegook. I'm so thrilled I could scream! writing by hand is so slow and cumbersome. And my handwriting is the pits. Well, at least it isn't the 23-page missive.

12/30/12 Paperwork!!!

The first batch of paperwork went to the agency at the beginning of the month. I have been working on completing the second batch which the agency will send to China for pre-approval. Last week, I got the third batch of paperwork and more information on our young man, including a couple of videos. DS's room still is not finished, nor the carpet ripped out, etc. I did get in there to go through his things and straighten them. I should get that done at least this coming week. There were a few other speed bumps: my paycheck got shorted $500 and won't be credited until January. Go figure, when I needed it to be of record most! So, well, I went out and sold more Tupperware. Still should sell more before the year ends just to make sure I have earned enough to satisfy the requirements. That all took time but should be worth it in the end. Next challenges will be getting the house finished, going through the homestudy, beginning fundraising in earnest and applying for grants while putting the dossier together. I can't wait to have it all done! the more I look at young Mr. Joyful, the more I feel he belongs in my family.

6/12/12 Long day's journy into another country

Well, it certainly has been a long time since the last post! Since then, we've lost little "R" due to changes with her placing agency and country of origin. During the intervening time we also lost a couple other children from the same country for a variety of reasons. Very discouraging! I couldn't bear to post anything until now. I began to explore other countries and programs after the last little one I lost. I felt adrift without knowing which way to turn until about two weeks ago when a lady called from the agency here to inquire if we were still going to adopt or not and said that she felt their China program would be a good fit for us. I have to say that I had been looking at several of the children from China on their website; however, I had been set on bringing home siblings and knew that wouldn't be possible with China. This phone call was what I needed to hear. I knew the names of the children whose files I wanted to see and rattled them off and later emailed a couple of additions. I poured through the files on each child, narrowed down to two boys whom I couldn't separate in my mind even though I was already leaning toward one of them. I sent the files to two friends with medical and behavioral backgrounds to get their input. We all agreed on the same boy. I am now in the throes of completing the paperwork that will go to China as I continue to work to make my house what it needs to be. I have been blessed with the means to overcome a couple of hurdles already toward this adoption in the last two weeks and now believe this is the direction I and my family are meant to take.

5/22/2011 Little "R" Update

"R" now walks around the playground, the agency reports. She likes her AFOs.  AFOs? I thought she was supposed to be wearing HKAFOs. Does this mean the casting last year improved her ability to walk that much? Is it just that that's what they have for her? They've scheduled surgery for her to improve continence when just a couple months ago they said they didn't have the resources to keep cathing her, what's up with that?! Glad to hear these things. They still haven't answered my questions from last fall. Grrrr. Maybe they just don't know on a lot of them.

May 18 2011

The second home study visit was postponed until today. Just as well. I nearly killed myself getting ready for it anyway. Over the past weeks we've rearranged our laundry room, kitchen cupboards, and bathrooms to reflect the requirement that all cleaners and medicines need to be locked up so children and young adults can't access them. Bought a new fire extinguisher since the ones I already had weren't the level the state now requires adoptive parents to have. Cleaned the living room carpet over 5 days since they now worry about allergies caused from carpeting and things it harbors only to find out they want the carpeting replaced with wood, laminate or tile so there will be a third visit to make sure the carpet is gone (not sad about this but it is only 5 years old). I spent several hours framing and installing a door for the furnace closet which didn't get done in the remodel. I did okay but would have done better if not under time crunch. What purpose is there in a keyed chuck except to waste my time? I hate the bloody things! Also put in a couple of kitchen cupboard doors that needed doing, plotting fire escape routes and posted them, and made sure every detail in the public areas of the house were taken care of.

They're thinking it would be good for DS to have more out of school activities and mentioned may be group therapy as an insurance against negative fallout from middle school involving his disfigurement. Both could be a good thing. I mentioned the activities he already participates in and our plans for the future for him. I wonder what the third visit will bring?

May 1 2011

We had our first home study visit yesterday. It went well. DD talked the social worker's ears off. The state has some new requirements we'll have to go through--so what else is new? The only thing that remains constant in the adoption world is change! We have another visit next week. DD worries about not being the baby anymore. Reassured her she would always be my first baby and just gets to wear a new hat now and will always have another girl to play with.

Homestudy bound

April 20, 2011 Looks like we'll be doing the homestudy for little "R" next week. The house needs work but is in the best shape it's been for any of the kids' homestudies. We've received new photos and an update. I've also learned we may be eligible for an additional grant for the final agency fee. That still leaves the other agency fees, dossier preparation fees, I-800A, visa, medicals and several other expenses to get covered. I'm looking into more grants and also have taken a lot of good advise on fundraising.  I hope to be able to do a pay pal button on the blog with the funds going to the agency.  Have to see if it can be set up that way.

The kids are wondering if "R" will be able to ride a bike or scooter. I've told them it might have to be a special adaptive machine.  "R" fell, cut her chin open, and had to have stiches.  She didn't tell anybody about it and bled a lot.  They think she's got a high pain tolerance so I'm preparing for the possibility that she may have some sensory processing issues just in case.

DD won a game at school and declared she did so for her new little sister. The kids were fantastic helping in the yard today.  The front yard looks almost the way I want it to for now. We'll move work indoors probably tomorrow as I have a feeling our spring is over for a week or two and we're back into cold and wet.