Gearing up for the take-off

I sit here at the computer as my munchkins are napping, laundry is going, and tons of things need to be done around the house. Just for a moment of reflection I want to post that we have two weeks to get everything done, and I do not feel a bit overwhelmed (yet). My list is made and things are being checked off. I am able to keep up on friends' adoptions as ours progresses along with theirs. I continue to pray for those waiting for SDA appts and court dates, and those waiting for fingerprints to clear with USCIS. I realize that in just a couple short weeks, I will not have the luxury of checking up on everyone at random. I will be in a foreign land, learning new customs, going back and forth to see my little boy, and missing my other children like crazy.

We don't even know if we'll have constant access to internet like here. We are planning to stay with a sweet lady through our church, but I have not heard from her in over a month. If we don't hear back soon, we will have to make other arrangements for an apartment and "hope" they have internet. We are planning to Skype with our families, so this will be important. We just signed up for "A Story Before Bedtime" so we can record ourselves reading stories to the girls while we're away.

We really feel like all the details are in order. Fischer goes to Nick's house on May 15. The older girls go to Gina's on May 16 in the late morning, and we will get to visit for an hour or so before we leave for the airport. We depart LAX at 9:05pm that day, hopefully sleep on the plane for 8-10 hours, land in Munich with a 2 hour layover to stretch our legs and let Annie get her wiggles out, then jump back on for a quick flight into the capitol of Micah's country. We won't arrive there until 10:35pm, where our driver will take us to our apartment wherever it may be :) We will then have a day of rest, and our SDA appt is on May 19th at 11am.

I cannot wait for that day, where we can learn more about Micah's background and see his file, share our story, and wait for our official referral to meet him. I pray for a same-day referral or an early referral the following day so we can meet him before the weekend, but realistically, we will not get to meet him until Monday, May 23rd, the day before Barry's birthday. And that is okay! That will give us the weekend to tour his city and experience the culture with Annie before we jump into the daily routines we will share for 5-8 weeks. We are very excited to finally be leaving to get Micah. It was just 6 short months ago we committed to adopt him. And here we are getting ready to leave in 14 days. It seems surreal. It felt like it took forever to get here, but it went by so fast in reality. Even our social worker told me that our travel date came fast.

Once again we wait, but this time without worry or stress. We are at peace while we organize everything and eagerly await our take-off! We ask for prayers from our family and friends, specifically that we will have a safe flight(s), that the arrival and SDA process goes smoothly, that we get a quick court date, and that our judge approves the adoption. Pray for our children that they will all be safe and healthy, that they do not get too homesick, and that they are reassured we are coming back as quickly as possible. Pray for Kristin & Bryan and Robert & Gina that they will be prepared and equipped for whatever comes their way with our kids :) That they can be strong and handle anything (especially Robert & Gina with our girls). SAFETY, LOVE, and HEALTH for everyone involved. Thank you!

SDA appointment received!

Whew, what a day! I got up late to go to an appointment, and my phone rang at 8:42am. It was Brigitte, our stateside helper with Reece's Rainbow. I almost couldn't believe it when she said, "What do you want to be doing on May 19th?" REALLY?! We want to be in Micah's country of course :) We are so excited. This is a week sooner than we expected!

I ran to my appointment, then had lunch with one of my dear friends, then rushed home to get Fischer and take his friends home, then took him to work, then came back home to post this blog. It's almost 3pm here, and I've known for 6 1/2 hours. What an exciting whirlwind of emotions. It's like I'm 7 months pregnant, and I finally have a due date! Thurdsay, May 19th at 11am we will be interviewing with the SDA (State Department of Adoptions) to tell them why we want to adopt Micah. The next day we will get our referral to meet him, then we will most likely meet him on Monday, May 23rd unless we get a same-day referral or an early referral on Friday. Then court will be 3-4 weeks after that.

I was sitting quietly alone waiting at my appointment and all of a sudden it hit me: I will be holding my son in less than a month! Happy tears... I am really so excited this moment is finally here. We will be traveling in 2 1/2 weeks! I almost can't believe it... time to start packing and organizing. FINALLY!!!!! :D

**I should put a disclaimer that our house is not going to be vacant :) We have friends who will be housesitting while they are remodeling their house... yea!**

"RAMP IT UP" for the Golden Family!

I am so excited to announce that the Goldens have less than $10,000 to raise for the adoption of Caleb and Jackson! Just a few short weeks ago they were $26,000 away from their boys. God has blessed them tremendously, and they are on the last lap.



Joel and Rachel met in high school and have been married for almost 16 years now. Over the past 8 years, they have felt a pull toward adoption, but for one reason or another they never pursued it. This time, however, is different. God has led them right to Reece's Rainbow and these wonderful children just waiting for a home. They became aware of RR through friends who adopted 2 little girls with Down Syndrome from Ukraine. These friends kept telling Joel and Rachel about these children but subbornly the Goldens refused to listen. Then came the day they met these two little blessings. Wow! God got ahold of them right then and made it known that this was what He had for them also. So then started the looking at pictures, researching, looking at more pictures, getting the homestudy underway, looking at more pictures, and starting the fundraising. They are very excited to be bringing home their first two children. There is a loving home, with family, friends, and an amazing church family just waiting for them to be here. Joel and Rachel find it so hard waiting on little things like paperwork or fund raising, when they are so ready for these little ones to be here.

Their paperwork pregancy is almost over; their dossier was submitted just seven days after ours on April 21, 2011. They will be traveling in 4-6 weeks and need our help. So in honor of their last "less than $10,000" I'm starting a "Ramp it Up" fundraiser. Can you give $20, $50, $100, or more... or even $5 in lieu of that daily Starbucks?! (you can still get your drink if you want :) Every little bit helps and counts! There is no giveaway or drawing for something amazing; the only reward is knowing you helped save two orphans, and knowing God will bless you abundantly for doing so. What do you say friends? Let's RAMP IT UP!!!!

go to http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorgolden and donate whatever you feel led to give. Every donation, no matter the amount is much appreciated. THANK YOU!

Racing

My mind that is...
Our dog woke me up at 1am to go potty (at least I thought that's what she wanted)...turns out something out front was making her curious. So I stayed up for a few minutes to calm her down and went back to bed. Not to SLEEP, just bed. I've only had a handful of sleepless nights since the adoption process began, most of them in the beginning. As I tried to go back to sleep, my mind started racing with thoughts of so many things. Mostly about Micah and our travels... like will I remember everything even with a check-off list? I wonder if I'll need help filling out the remainder of the paperwork for Micah's visa process. Should I take the laptop or use the computer of the new friend we are staying with to save my shoulders and space? Will Micah's new blanket fit in the suitcase with everything else we are taking? I'd really love an iPad. Should I take the carseat for the flight on the way home (I read somewhere yesterday that some flights require it for children with an assigned seat)? Should I buy an umbrella stroller here or there (Remember we are taking Annie)? I need to get up and exercise before the kids wake up. Jeff, Missy, and Lily are coming today; I hope they like what we are serving for dinner, and I hope my cupcakes turn out (it was Missy's birthday a few days ago). I can't wait for them to get here :) LOL... on and on. So at 4:15 when I was still wide awake, I decided to get up. I put on my jogging/walking clothes, socks, shoes, drank 16 oz of water, had my protein bar... got on the treadmill and... my iPod is dead. :( Yes, I could walk/jog without it, but it's no fun. So I sit here blogging while it's charging with plenty of time to exercise before the kids wake up, haha. Started laundry, cleaned up a bit... nothing is new on the WWW at this time of day, so I blog about nonsense and random thoughts.

We are still waiting on our travel date (should be in the next few days). I have been feeling peaceful the last few days after my initial rush of "gotta do a million things" after our dossier was submitted. I pray for a travel date to come soon. I pray for the Whites to have their court date soon. I pray for the Goldens to get their travel date soon and that they can raise their remaining $10,500 by then. I pray for the Cannells that their fingerprint experience on Monday will go smoothly and quickly AND that they can raise the $34,700 they need in the next month. I pray for the Buricks, that they may all adjust easily to their new little buddy and that sweet Vlad will thrive in his new family, also praying for Corbett that she has a smooth delivery of baby #3. So many prayers and thoughts go out to those in the adoption community: the Colemans, Koenigs, and all the others in process. I feel so blessed that we are part of such an amazing network of families committed to save at least one orphan (some 2, 3, or 5!)... that our hearts are open to accept the children with an extra 21st chromosome or other special need such as HIV, CP, or EB. That God has asked us to "help the least of these" and that we are willing and capable to answer His call, even when we didn't know how we could possibly afford to do so. That our lives will be abundantly blessed by these children in our lives, that they are here to teach US a thing or two about Heavenly Father and not so much the other way around.

I'm also so grateful for my family. I am so proud of my sister right now. Sara finished her last final exam of college just the other day; earning her Bachelor's degree (the first in my immediate family). She accomplished this while working full time, being a mommy and wife, and taking care of all the other duties in her life. It took her 13 years off and on, but she did it! I couldn't be a prouder big sister. Several times in my life I have looked up to her instead of the other way around, and now is one of those times. She is a shining light and example to all of how to be loving, caring, dedicated, and positive through all of life's ups and downs. I love you, Sara! Someday I'll finish my degree too :) Only 1/3 of the way to go :)

I am also really proud of my brother. Adam works so hard to provide for his family and be a great dad and husband. After buying his first house last year, he and Amanda have worked hard to make it a home. Right now he is working tirelessly on his front yard landscaping with the precious little spare time he has (really NONE). While he and his wife work full time, kids are sick, etc. He is a great example of how to be a good man, and I am very proud of all he does and who he is. I only wish we could all be around each other more, especially with all of our children. It's really hard sometimes to live 5 1/2 hours away from family. Right now is one of those times. Easter has always been a big family gathering; I grew up spending it with my extended family and cousins and my girls rarely get to do the same, even with Thanksgiving and Christmas. It makes me sad.

There are so many others to be proud and thankful for, but now I am going to get on the treadmill and do my walk/jog before the kiddies start waking up. Thank you blogger for letting me journal my thoughts... even if nobody else reads them or gets anything from them :)

Love,
Me

reecesrainbow.org/sponsorray (fully funded)
reecesrainbow.org/sponsorcoleman (fully funded)
reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwhite (court coming soon)
reecesrainbow.org/sponsorgolden ** (still in need of $10,500)
reecesrainbow.org/sponsorcannell ** (still in need of $34,700)
reecesrainbow.org/sponsorkoenig ** (still in need of funding, giveaways happening!)

Submitted!

After what has literally seemed an eternity, we are proud to announce that our dossier has officially been submitted to the SDA (State Dept of Adoption) in Micah's country.

For five months, I have literally driven all over the state of California paper-chasing, making appointments, making sure we were all where we needed to be, ordered forms, certificates, sent off for apostilles, and kept all the chaos organized. I remember looking at the dossier instructions in November, which were sent in three files, and feeling so overwhelmed with all we had to do. In addition to the dossier, we had to simultaneously compile all the items for our homestudy, which was painless now looking back.

Some things came really fast and easy (our passports, which I thought would take the longest), and other things took their time (getting our medical forms filled out correctly, getting our USCIS fingerprint appointment letter, and getting this dossier submitted after a two week closure even when we rushed to get our documents there beforehand).

And now the hardest part is over (we think). We should have our SDA appointment letter in the next 2-3 weeks and hopefully will be traveling in 5-6 weeks. If all goes as hoped, Barry will come home with Annie around June 22, and I should be bringing Micah home the beginning of July!

I really hope we get back before the 4th! That's one of my favorite holidays, but Micah and I can still celebrate Independence Day in another country; it'll be our last hoorah, and his "independence" will have a completely new meaning for that day/time of year ;)

So continuing with the theme of the past five months, we continue to wait. But this time the wait should be much shorter and go by much more quickly.

I want to thank some friends for helping me get through the dossier stress. This does not include everyone who has helped, but some key people in my life the past few months.

1) Marianne Fick, my friend from high school, whose example and story touched my heart, and truly without her we wouldn't have even found Micah. She has given countless hours of advice, support, and love.

2) Brigitte Van Nice, our stateside helper with Reece's Rainbow who has given many, many hours of email responses, advice, and support. I really hope to meet her someday.

3) Sherry White, an amazing RR mom who is at Micah's orphanage RIGHT NOW adopting two more sweeties after her trip there last summer to bring home three littles... she has helped me understand the process, learn more about the orphanage, and has been a huge support in trying to keep me from worrying so much.

And to new friends Karrie Cannell and Rachel Golden, who are sharing this journey of adoption and who have helped keep me grounded and focused on the end result.

4) Karrie is inspiring as she finds the light in every situation, strong as she and Donnie found and commited to Carson's newfound brother in the middle of their process, and a shining example of being a follower of Christ. I was blessed to meet her in Turlock a few weeks ago since she just lives in Lodi... go figure! :)

5)Last but not least, Rachel and Joel should be submitted very soon also, and we will be traveling at the same time, to the same orphanage. Joel has offered humor in times I needed it the most, and Rachel and I share a bond that I can't quite describe yet, but I feel it's timeless and distanceless (is that a word?). I cannot wait to room with her after our hubbies go home after court, so our boys can continue their bond with their mommies before they part ways to their new homes. They committed to Caleb and Jackson about the same time we committed to Micah. We have been neck and neck every step of the way, offering encouragement, prayers, love, and support. I cannot wait to meet them very soon!

Blessings to all on this beautiful day! Thank you to everyone who has helped us save this sweet orphan, a half a world away. We could not have come this far without your help, prayers, and support. We are really almost there!

Please if you have just a moment more, read this blog. It's short, and it will touch your heart. http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/2011/04/left-behind.html

Puzzle update

I put Micah's awesome puzzle together the other day :) In the beginning, for every $5 that was donated, you/we wrote your name (or your family's name) on a puzzle piece. Since we didn't have the puzzle completely filled out (we had "sold" 31 pieces), and we are getting close to traveling, I chose to glue it and frame it with a mat. A change from the original plan is that we decided to write all the names of people or families who helped bring him home in one way or another... this could have been $5 designated for the puzzle fundraiser, babysitting so I could paper chase, writing a reference letter for our home study, donating notary services, giving to another fundraiser, or expediting our USCIS application... helping in any way to help bring Micah home. This doesn't mean our puzzle fundraiser is over :) Now we only have 177 out of 252 "pieces" available for you to be part of this project. Do you want your name to be on the mat? Please go to http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorray and email us at barryandshelly@yahoo.com to let us know when you have donated (sorry we don't get notified when a donation is made on our FSP ) :) Look how many of you have helped us so far!

Nesting

Going through the adoption process can be described in the same phases as a pregnancy: three trimesters, braxton hicks contractions, nesting, and real contractions. I am currently in my third trimester, having occasional false labor pains, and am deep into nesting :) So as I wait for the big day to arrive, I have been busy preparing the house and other things for Micah. We are doing his room in a John Deere theme. We were deciding between classic cars and tractors, but found that John Deere supplies were easier to find :) I am LOVING doing a little boy's room! When I was pregnant with Fischer, we didn't know what he was going to be, so we did a neutral Disney Bubbles theme; needless to say this is a big first for us after five children (four being girls)! :)

I ordered the materials to do Micah's name sign for his room about a month or so ago. I finally got around to painting it and applying the vinyl today. I am really happy with how it turned out.

This is the bedding we found on eBay. I didn't need the whole set, so my mom purchased the panel for the quilt/comforter part. I got the extra material to make curtains, bed skirt, bumper, pillows, etc. I can't wait to see it when it's all done, but here are the samples.

Yesterday, I was visited by a friend from my Mom to Mom group and we were blessed with an adorable collection of boys clothes and diapers :) Thank you, Becca! This goes great with the items we purchased for his birthday. I can't wait to put them all on him.

I made a scrapbook a couple weeks ago to take with us to Micah's country. I did a digital photo book through Creative Memories, and it arrived yesterday also (big day!) I feel very accomplished and am so proud of how it turned out.

It's really hard to wait for things to happen, and I'm trying to stay off the computer out of boredom. I'm trying to work on projects that need to be done around the house (there is a host of sewing and scrapbooking projects to work on). Blogging counts as a worthy project!!! It was funny this morning, I had done more work by 10:30 am than I do in most weeks! So to say I'm nesting is a really good explanation of how I'm feeling. We should have our travel date by the end of the month (I'm hoping!)

Reece's Rainbow, Twitter and Patricia Heaton

I came across a blog today written by Renee (blog link below) and felt the urge to share it. I can't word it better myself, so here goes:

What in the world could these three things have in common? Well, you see, it all started with Kirill... word is spreading about this sweet little guy, far and wide, and somehow Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond, The Middle) got word of him and looked into Reece's Rainbow... here's what she had to say about what she found...


"I know there can be big pitfalls to social media, but I will be forever grateful to the tweeter who alerted me to the work of Reece's Rainbow. I clicked on a link to see the faces of those little neglected angels who have passed on, and immediately started weeping. It was so heartbreaking. Sometimes we feel helpless in the face of such horror, but because of the example of Andrea Roberts, we see that, with a lot of hard work and perseverance, there is something we can do.

Between work and family, I don't have a lot of time. But I do have financial means and a public profile. God charges us to use our circumstances, whatever they may be, to share His love with the world. I had just hit the 10,000 mark for Twitter followers, and the idea hit me - give $10,000 dollars - one dollar for every "Tweaton" who follows Reece's Rainbow. Accomplish supporting this great organization along with spreading awareness. So far, in a few hours, RR has about 500 new followers, and I hope many more to come.

I am involved in supporting various charitable organizations, but I have recently been asking God to show me where he wants me to be. I think Reece's Rainbow is an answer to that prayer. These kids have had very few people to be their voice, but Andrea Roberts has changed all that. I am so grateful to be a part of her work."


And so, remember when I said to watch for ways how you can help? Well, I still want you to pray, of course! PLEASE! But, you can also help out in another huge way! You can go follow Reece's Rainbow on Twitter. Don't have a twitter account? It's really easy to set one up. You don't even have to ever use it if you don't want to! Just set it up and click on the Reece's Rainbow page and hit "Follow". That's it. They could get up to $10,000 with Patricia's help! While you're at it, it might be nice to follow Patricia, too! ;) Thank you Patricia for supporting Reece's Rainbow in this amazing way that most people just aren't able to, and thank you all for helping out by following Reece's Rainbow!

Thank you Renee, Patricia, and Andrea!

News!

I didn't say it was good, but it's not really bad either. How can it be bad when we are adopting a beautiful little guy? :) Our dossier arrived safely in EE on Monday, but it will not be submitted to the SDA until April 14. The SDA is closed the first two weeks of April. We were hoping to slide it in on March 31, but there are several other families ahead of us that have dossiers being translated. This is also not a bad thing because that means there are orphans being adopted! I guess how it works is they can only submit dossiers to the SDA on Thursdays. So ours will be for sure on April 14, and that is okay! Two more weeks. I have said that patience is definitely not my forte. I much prefer things to happen quickly and according to my timeline. But in this very stressful process, I have learned over and over that this is God's will and His timeline. Things have set us back in some areas and been super fast in others. I have to "let go and let God." I am really at peace about this whole thing, and expected it deep down inside.

Second bit of news is wonderful! We have been put in contact with a wonderful woman in Micah's city who is a member of our church. She has graciously offered for us to stay with her for about 20% of the cost it would have been for our own apartment. We will get to grocery shop and use her kitchen (another blessing to not eat out every meal!) She also has internet for us to use and be able to Skype with the kids back home. I am so excited to meet her!

We have also decided to bring Annie with us on our adventure; something we just settled on after months of thinking she was staying in CA. I have been so torn up about the whole thing, not wanting to leave her, but thinking we wouldn't be able to take her (travel, appointments there, visiting Micah, etc.) But after visiting another blog, I saw they brought their 2 yr old son and mom with them. They were able to take them into the orphanage with them and let the boys bond. I started thinking and wondering if Micah's orphanage would allow us to do that (we had read that most do not). So I contacted our team, and we were told that although they do not encourage bringing children, we can take Annie with us to the SDA appointment and to Micah's orphanage, but not to court. We do not have anyone to take with us to EE, so we thought we were at another wall. But, after a couple days of talking to other RR families we feel confident that there will be someone to help us watch her during the times we really cannot take her with us (to court and all the paper signing processes). The woman who we are staying with also said there are many young women in the church who would be glad to help. So we are set! Her passport appointment is Friday (another reason it's okay our submission will be later).

We are also getting Fischer's passport Friday "just in case" we can afford to send him out there at the end of the trip, after school is out. I'd really love to bring him to see Micah's country and all the wonderful sights/sites out there. And then he can help me bring home the kiddos :)

I am really feeling so blessed and at peace and ease about everything. It has seemed like eternity to get here, but we are really almost there. And when all is said and done, the adoption will have taken less time than a regular pregnancy! I still can't believe that part. Our SDA appointment should be sometime around May 15 I'm guessing, so we will be leaving in just about 6 weeks hopefully.

Thank you ALL again for your prayers, support, and love.

It's THERE!!!!!!!

FedEx Activity Location Details

Mar 28, 2011
2:00 PM
Delivered
(Location noted here)

Mar 28, 2011
10:49 AM
Int'l shipment release
(Location noted here)

Mar 28, 2011
10:44 AM
In transit
(Location noted here)
Package available for clearance

Mar 26, 2011
5:02 AM
Departed FedEx location
PARIS FR

Mar 25, 2011
8:42 PM
Departed FedEx location
PARIS FR

(They are 10 hours ahead of us, so it got there at 4am our time.)

HOORAY! Now let's pray that it gets submitted to the SDA on Thursday! :)

Dossier Sent!

Dossier (n). Fancy French term for "beastly stack of adoption papers for an international adoption".

What an awesome fews days! We got our USCIS approval "the golden ticket" on Tuesday and had it notarized on Tuesday night by an awesome lady who offered to finish our papers off for free! Here is a photo of the remaining pages to be sent to EE. The first 12 pages were sent in December to let Micah's government know that we want to adopt him, and the powers of attorney for the faciliation team doing our work over there for us.

All of the paperwork we've had to obtain had to be notarized, then apostilled. An apostille is a piece of paper with a state seal that authenticates the notary stamp and form. Each state has their own process, look, and price.

Here is what an Arizona apostille looks like. It only cost us $3 to get this authentication. The reason we had to have this one done in AZ is because our landlord had our rental form done in her homestate, and the form has to be apostilled where it was notarized.

This is what a California apostille looks like. It costs $20, unless you go in person, then it costs $26. Highway robbery? Yes... one of the most expensive states, but we are in a budget crisis. Go figure. About 44 of our pages had to be apostilled in CA. Yike$.

This is a picture of our beautiful golden ticket :) Not too fancy if you ask me... it should be lined in gold! But this is one of the most important pieces of our dossier. We're going to frame this baby!

Since we are in a hurry to get Micah as quickly as we can, I decided to get the last four pages apostilled in person instead of waiting 1-2 weeks to get them back in the mail. Sacramento is about 8 hrs from us, so I broke it up and drove to Turlock with the girls Wednesday morning and got there at 12:30pm and had lunch with an amazing new friend from Lodi, who is also adopting from Micah's country (http://bringcarsonhome.blogspot.com/) They are actually adopting Carson and his newfound older brother, John! We had a wonderful time, and I got to my mom and dad's around 3pm. We enjoyed a couple hours before having dinner with my brother and sister and kids at Chili's, then hung out at Adam's letting all our girls play until 9pm. It was so nice to see them because I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving!

Then I woke up bright and early to head to Sacramento Thursday morning. My best friend, April, came with me to help with my littles and we had a quick drive up and back in the rain and wind. Our plan was to sight-see in Old Town, but the weather had other plans.

This is the nice gentleman who did the last four apostilles for us at the Secretary of State in CA. I didn't get his name, but he was genuinely happy for us and wished us luck.

The beautiful State Capitol across the street from the Secretary of State office. I love going to this place. Had a 4th grade field trip there, then went back about 7 years ago and it's just FUN! A beautiful park surrounding it too.

After getting the last of the dossier in order, we through Capitol Park and found the FedEx office a few blocks up. In the Adoption Handbook from Reece's Rainbow, it says to kiss your dossier goodbye. I'm assuming it's for good luck, but we know who really is in charge of this process :) Still, Chloe and I gave it the good luck kiss goodbye.

I can't tell you the nerves that were balled up inside the pit of my stomach. I didn't know whether to be happy, sad, scared, or nervous. I was all of them. Here I am sealing up the envelope inside the box for extra protection. I was trying not to get emotional letting this "beast" go. Since November 5th, I have literally been running all over the place to get forms filled out, making requests for information that seemed to baffle the people I was asking, as if nobody in San Bernardino County has ever done an international adoption and asked for such things. In the end, 4 1/2 months later, I met some WONDERFUL people along the way who really cared to help us and supported our efforts in adopting Micah. To all of them I am eternally grateful.

Filling out the international airbill to get to Yulia ASAP.

We needed to get the dossier to EE by Monday in order for the team to translate it and submit it to the SDA on Thursday, but the FedEx lady said it won't get there until Wednesday. That is when I got choked up. The SDA is closed the first two weeks of April, so me rushing around may be in vain if they can't submit us until April 14th.

Goodbye old friend that has caused me more stress than anything else I've ever done in my life. From here it should be a downhill ride to bring Micah home.

Update: Found out when I got back to Wrightwood Friday night that the beast has already arrived and departed Paris, FR!!! Maybe it will be there Monday afterall. When I sent the CSPs and POAs, I sent it on a Thursday and it got there on a Monday. Here's to hoping and praying! Oh please Lord, stay on our side like You have this whole journey.

The hardest part

You will really want to read this whole post so you can learn our latest exciting news!

The hardest part about this adoption process has been waiting. I'm a planner and like to know how and when things are going to happen, even months in advance! As a mom of four full-time children, things can get hectic, so having a calendar with everyone's schedule really helps. When we jumped in (literally) into the adoption process in November, all we really had to go by was the timeline of Darya's adoption (my friend Marianne's daughter whom I've mentioned in previous blogs). It took them 7 months. So that's what I set for us, however unrealistic. I later found out that when you're adopting in regions of Micah's country, it can go much faster. With Micah being in the capitol, it can take weeks longer because their courts are busier. So okay, it might take us 8 months :) The paper chasing we had to do seemed to take forever, but in hindsight wasn't really. It was just a lot of driving around, hauling the littles around many days a week. That had to be the most stressful part of the process... paper chasing... hoping we could get something signed or notarized, then having to go back for certain forms... narrowing down appointment dates, etc. NOT FUN! There were moments I would cry uncontrollably because I didn't think I could get a certain form notarized, then later got it, and found out I didn't need it! Talk about frustrating. Many requirements have changed as we've gone along as well.

They call Micah's country a moving target. Talks have ensued on the adoption process coming to a halt there because of trying to streamline their adoption laws. If something like that happened, we could be waiting longer, or not get him at all. We have rushed through everything to make sure we could get there as fast as we could. We still are. It's a "hurry up and wait" process. We committed to Micah on November 5th. 4 1/2 months later, we have our golden ticket in hand. THAT IS RIGHT! We got our I-171H emailed to us today by our USCIS officer. This is our last step in the U.S., then we can mail our dossier (a.k.a. "Beast") to Eastern Europe. That beast is 45 forms that have been notarized and apostilled, containing hundreds of pages, that will be FedEx'd to the facilitation team in Micah's country. They will then translate it all into their language, then petition for an SDA appointment. This is where we get to see Micah's personal file, accept the referral to meet him and FINALLY get to meet him face-to-face! Then a court date will be set where we appear before a judge and hope that he/she approves us to adopt him (this isn't usually a problem). Then there is a 10 day waiting period that is rarely, if ever, waived. This can extend over 14-15 days if weekends or holidays are included. Once he is officially granted our son, we get to run around obtaining his birth certificate, passport, medical clearnace, visa, and come home. The process there could take 5-8 weeks.

So tomorrow, I drive to Turlock with the girls and head to Sacramento Thursday morning to get our last documents apostilled (fancy, expensive piece of paper that authorizes the notarized forms). Then the beast will be sent via FedEx to the facilitation team! Our SDA appointment should hopefully be in the next 4-5 weeks, then we will be with Micah in his country until we bring him home!

SOOO happy the longest wait is now over. We are at the top of the roller coaster, and from here everything is DOWNHILL. Thank the Lord!

Ya te-be ko-kha-yu (I love you)

To put that in the proper Cyrillic letters would be hard on here, so I did the best pronunciation translation I could :)

Last night we were so blessed to find a video of the children in Micah's orphanage. My friend said she hadn't found Micah, but to try and look closely because she had found Johanna and Jackson (the two other littles being adopted). So I looked with faith and I came across a little person that looked like it could be Micah, but I thought maybe it was a girl (his hair was longer), and thought there's no way she would've missed him if that was him because the pics are so big compared to some. So I was sad, but still hopeful. Keep in mind this friend has seen him in person, so she would know! So I asked her what she thought and she said, "That's definitely him! I can't believe I missed him. His hair is so beautiful I thought it was a girl." HAHA! Then her husband confirmed too, so we have new pictures of Micah on a video that I can't copy and get still photos from, but they are still new pictures! If you watch the video below and pause on :23 and :43, you will see our sweet love. My friend is going to a conference this weekend and will try to get more for us. I am elated to see how he's grown in 8 months. The most recent pictures we have are from July 2010, so this is awesome. And to think, we should be there in the next month or two is unbelievable. Hurry up golden ticket!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdkDqo_iDQs

Ya te-be ko-kah-yu, Micah!

Biometrics DONE! :)

Whew! What a whirlwind... we FedEx'd our USCIS I-600A application to Dallas TX on January 28th, it arrived on February 1st and our check was cashed on February 3rd. I thought that quick turnaround meant things would go fast. From there, our file was sent to MO. I called every week to see if we had a biometrics appointment and kept being told it was "on the floor" and we'd hear soon. I kept asking how much longer and there was no timeframe, no appointment, no officer. Last Monday, March 7th, I called again and an officer answered the phone who was willing to look a little deeper into our file and offered to pull the file herself and made our appointment ON THE PHONE! :) That was a surprise and an answer to a prayer. Unfortunately, the first appointment she had in the system would be on April 4th, another MONTH away :( So as soon as we got our official appointment letter on Saturday, we planned to walk in today and hope we could be seen. We were blessed that our friend, Amy, could watch all the girls for us, got to the Pomona ASC office right at 9:05 with the hopes that they would do our prints without an appointment today... we were told they could see us but that we'd possibly have to wait and that others would have priority over us. There were only about 4-5 people in there, but he said that if new people came in with appointments, it would set us back further. We said, "okay" and were prepared to wait all day if we had to... we just wanted them done! Can you believe we only waited 5 minutes before they called our number?! We were in and out of there in 20 minutes! YEEHAW as Marianne said this morning :) haha

Once we got home and settled in, I called USCIS and asked for the same nice officer who helped me last Monday, and she was available. She remembered me! I told her we were able to walk in and do our prints this morning and she sounded so happy for us. She told me that she would get to our prints by Wednesday and process us within a week! What a blessing!!! She offered to take our file personally and handle it and that if we don't hear something in the next couple weeks to call her. After talking to friends, I found out this is the same AWESOME officer that helped them! How blessed they were to have a caring, compassionate officer who processed them quickly. So, we are hoping to have the same outcome, and are confident we will because of how proactive she has been. It is nice to have someone on our side helping things be expedited along :)

When this is all done, I will give her proper credit by name and explain more about the country we are adopting from and why she found the need to be urgent with us. But for now, just know that we are so extremely blessed and the Lord is looking out for sweet Micah!

:)

Dear Micah,

Dear Micah,
I think of you every day. You are always on my mind and heart. I glance at your picture often and wonder what you are doing. Are you warm, fed, happy, and loved? I know you are in a good orphanage, and I'm so greatful for that, but I want to hold you and let you know that your mommy and daddy love you so much. I look into your eyes and see hope; I look at your smile and see happiness. It's going to be so amazing to have you join our family. The girls talk about you every day... they say things like "When is Micah coming home?" "How many teeth does he have?" "How tall is he?" "I want him to come home now!" It's going to be really hard to leave them when we come to get you, but we know that the relatively short time we are gone from them does not compare to the lifetime we are able to give to all of you together. I hope you feel our love and know we are getting there as fast as we possibly can. All of our paperwork is being processed and we are just waiting for the approvals and appointments that will allow us to come and get you. If I could go to the offices and make them push the right buttons or sign the right forms, I would in a heartbeat! The waiting part of the process is a rite of passage from what I am told; it makes us grow and stronger. It makes us reflect on what we've done so far and hope for what is yet to come. It also makes us think and pray for his little crib buddies that are there waiting for their families also... thankfully the ones we know about all have families coming for them except Antonio, and we are praying so hard for him every day. If we had more room and approval for more than one, we'd probably bring him in as part of our family too. They all tug at our heartstrings and make us wish we could do more. For now Micah, please know that we love you more than you'll ever know and we cannot wait to bring you home.
Love,
Mommy

And we wait...

So this was the "hurry up and wait" feeling everyone told me about :) We submitted our USCIS paperwork via FedEx last Friday and it arrived safely in Dallas, TX yesterday!! We are done running around chasing papers, so now we pray, raise funds, and wait. We only have $10,000 to raise now after our sizeable tax return and a generous loan from Barry's mom. We are trying not to borrow the rest from her, but hope to get as many donations as possible while we wait.

We have beeing hearing about these wonderful waiting children getting grants at Reece's Rainbow, and I am so very happy that the money donated will help them all find families. I pray that their grants help their forever families find them soon. However, I can't help but wonder about the sweet children whose families committed to them on a leap of faith and really need help to continue with their travel journeys. I know God will provide, no matter what... He will provide as long as we are faithful and endure to the end. We are praying for all the families who are raising money for their sweet babies (especially my new friends the Goldens and the Cannells) and hope the money keeps coming in for them! We are trying to organize a jog-a-thon but are not getting a response from the locations we've contacted. We are running out of precious time and wish raising money was easier, and that the weather was warmer for some of our ideas :)

Well, for now I continue in prayer and gratitude for the generosity and support we have received so far. We have a wonderful support network all around us and are blessed by kindness each day. I pray Micah's story touches someone out there to help wherever they can to bring him home and out of the orphanage. I pray for all the sweet kids at Reece's Rainbow who need homes. Our FSP is at reecesrainbow.org/sponsorray (and you can click on the right to see other waiting children).

With a humble heart,
Shelly

Home stretch!

Two things happened today.

One was the usual running around for fingerprints, notarizations, etc. Same ole stuff, different day. But later in the evening, I realized that we are DONE running around! Once we get our signed Homestudy report next week, I can mail that off with our I-600a application to USCIS (formerly INS), then we just wait for an approval and biometrics appointment (more fingerprints, lol). Once we get that done, we wait for our I-171H a.k.a "golden ticket". Once we get our golden ticket, we can send our dossier to Micah's country, and wait for our SDA appointment to meet him! In reality, these last two steps can take 2-6 months, but we are really in the home stretch! I don't have to run around anymore, now I just get to sit back and wait, and FedEx will be my new best friend!

The second thing that happened was probably one of the most funny moments in my life. When we found Micah's profile at RR, we thought that was his real name. After we got attached to it, we found out that RR gives aliases to the kids to protect their identity in their home countries. We decided to keep Micah because it fits him, and it means "Who resembles God" or "Who is like God" depending on which website you check. So, it is fitting for him and the situation and we are settled on it. However, just for fun, I told the girls last night that we could name him anything we wanted; that he didn't know who Micah was. We were talking about middle names too. I offered Garrett because that is my grandma's maiden name, and it was a name I would have used if I ever had another boy. Chloe liked it, but Gracie did NOT! She retorted, "His name is Micah! Don't you understand? He's my brother, and I love him so much. I want him to come home with me. His name is just Micah and nothing else!" She was literally yelling at us and very upset by the whole thing. I was laughing so hard. She yelled, "Don't you understand" twice! So, we said, "Don't worry, his name is Micah. We aren't changing it." Then she calmed down. That little girl has some fire in her, but she knows what should be, and now Micah will know that we ALL chose his name :)

Bureaucracy

Contrary to the heading of this blog, I am not going to complain in this blog :) Out of all the documents we have had to have notarized, the most difficult have been the medical forms, the assessor's proof of home ownership, and the letter of VA benefits for Barry.

The medical forms took over a month because the doctor went on a two week vacation, then the first set of forms he signed had to be re-done according to the faciliation team in Micah's country. Those got done last week (Thursday), and we're good to go. Our doctor is very supportive of what we are doing and he and his nurses have been very helpful.

That same Thursday last week, two days after talking to a county assessor employee who said she could help me, I went in to have our "proof of home ownership" letter signed with a notary. The 3rd floor wasn't able or willing to help, the 4th floor supervisor stayed within his black and white lines sayin "no" while trying to be understanding, then the manager on the 5th floor was the nicest person in the world and was willing to help us. She even got a little creative with the document because the letter I brought in with specifics did not match their records. She screen-printed and cut and paste the information on their letterhead. Unfortunately, the document she provided was not accepted by the facilitation team so we had to start at square one. Yesterday, I called and emailed that same supervisor a blank copy of the letter and she filled in the blanks and made it work. I am so grateful for her! She even told me that the Assessor was happy she helped me even though it was a unique situation and so out of the ordinary. So even though there was no procedure in black and white, they were able to go out of the lines to help us. We were the first case in 27 years that came to them with this request!

Then for the last three weeks, Barry and I have tried to get a letter showing what his monthly benefit payments are from the VA (Veteran's Administration). Getting the letter was no problem, but getting someone to sign it in front of a notary was quite the ordeal. The call center was rude to Barry, saying "they don't do that." I called the local office two weeks ago and was told they couldn't help us, that we needed to go to the Regional office in Los Angeles. My notary charges 50 cents per mile and the office is 80 miles away... I did the math and thought no way! I would've had to find a local mobile notary in L.A., and they would probably charge just as much (my notary has given us half off everything and been more than accomodating for what we are doing). So I took a few days off from this and thought, I'm going to try with the local office again and talk directly to the supervisor just to see if I can convince her to help us. So two faxes and several phone calls later, she has agreed to sign in front of a notary. You would think the VA is all the same, but it's not. They have Federal, State, and County offices who handle different things. The State office cuts Barry's check, so they are the issuing authority. The county office (our local office) can verify benefits in writing, but do not want to be liable for anything legal having to do with Barry. It all makes sense, but it's bureaucracy as my title states. I am grateful for the Lord softening hearts in those around us to help us. The local supervisor has agreed to sign the letter in front of our notary tomorrow morning. Please pray that it goes well! I am nervous posting this before it's done. But now I have a contact in L.A. who can help us if anything does go wrong tomorrow. Oh the joys and perils of paperwork! :)

The best news is this VA letter was the last piece of paperwork we have any control over for our dossier. Now we are waiting for our signed homestudy to send to USCIS, and subsequently our "golden ticket" telling us we can go get Micah. Then, the FINAL piece is sending our dossier to the SDA in his country and waiting for an appointment to meet him. Once we are in his country, we have to wait for a court date, then the 10 day waiting period and he's ours! Realistically these last two steps can take 2-6 months, but our hope and prayer is that we can bring Micah home by Easter. Will you pray with us?

Thank you all for your love and support!

Scentsy Candle Fundraiser

Today was a productive day! Three more (important) forms were notarized, and we have 21 pages ready to be apostilled at the Secretary of State. We've had $70 in donations this week from two friends of mine from elementary and high school! AND, my friend, Gina Snow, just became a Scentsy consultant and is hosting a fundraiser for us! Go to http://www.ginasnow.scentsy.us/
, and look for the "Bring Micah Home" party. 20% of the sales will help bring Micah home :) For those who don't know, Scentsy has wickless candles and other fun stuff. The party starts today and starts over each month until he comes home :)

Bumps in the Road

I've tried to put my feelings into words but they are just not coming out right, so please forgive this jumbled mess. I'm also trying hard not to complain, because I know compared to other situations, ours is good. I'm especially praying hard for Davids from Latvia, read about him at http://iwillbeacarrier.blogspot.com/2011/01/davids-story-urgent-need.html. I hope he finds a family fast!

Okay, so for the most part our adoption process has gone fairly quickly. Our homestudy is done and we are just waiting on the final signed copy so we can send it along with our I600a to USCIS. Then once we get our golden ticket from USCIS, we can send our dossier paperwork to Micah's country. The biggest headache we've endured so far is the dossier paperwork. Everything has to be exact, no exceptions. This has caused us to have to return to our doctor to have our medical forms re-done. We are also fighting with the VA to get a proper letter of income for Barry's VA benefits and our local office does not want to help us. So either we try again with the local office or we have to drive to Los Angeles to hope that the regional office will help us. We should not have to drive 80 miles to get an income letter notarized. We have been blessed to find a sweet notary to help us and give us a 50% discount on all our forms, but the mileage charge is 50 cents per mile, so that adds up quick. We've already paid her $40 just for our doctor visit, which as I mentioned has to be redone. In addition to money, these things take time. Time that our little boy is spending in an orphanage waiting for us. Time Barry can't afford to take off work because he's saving every hour and day for when we travel to get our little guy.

So in addition to all of this, yesterday, we got our State Clearances in the mail (after only waiting one day!) I was so excited. I opened the letters and see we are clear (SURPRISE!) j/k :), go to my file to pull out the "official checklist" and see that the letter is supposed to be notarized at the State level. I start sobbing. The State office is 8+ hours away from us in Sacramento. What does this mean? What do we have to do to get this done? Why was this not an option on the fingerprint form? Who do I call? Sob, sob, sob. So I went to the State website and did some more research and see that we checked the wrong box on the form. After paying $25 per print plus $20 per "rolling fee" (a total of $90), we find out we did them wrong. The problem is that I had the right box checked, but the fingerprint technician told me with my original option that we would not get a copy sent to our home, that it would only go to the US Embassy in Micah's country, so I changed the box. After research, I found out the tech was wrong, that it in fact would've been sent to us AND the US Embassy, so we have to re-do them. It's okay now; it's all a learning process, but I'm just so frustrated at the hurdles and bumps in the road that we are facing at the end of our journey. We are almost done. We are literally waiting on 6 pieces of information, one of which is USCIS and can't be sent yet. I feel like we are so close to Micah, but we keep hitting brick walls.

Then there's the fundraising aspect. We have raised about $8,000 total (including our personal funds). This is GREAT! We have about $15,000 left to go... not bad for 2 1/2 months of work. But we are running out of time to raise the rest. Our girls are asking every day, "When is Micah coming home?" They are so excited to have another brother. I tell them, "Soon." But I really don't know, because after all our paperwork is done, we have to have the money to finish the process. Without the remaining funds, we can't travel to get him. There are airline tickets, apartment costs, in country travel, and the $9000 facilitation team fees when we get there. There is Micah's medical appointment, visa and passport costs, and his airline ticket home. We are almost done with everything we can do here in the States. The remaining paperwork we have to have notarized, apostilled, and FedEx'd will only cost about $600-700. And our USCIS fees are $850. Everything else is in country costs.

So when our little girls ask me "When is Micah coming home?" I want to answer them "We've done all we can, and we're just waiting for our invitation to meet him." But I can't do that until we have the remaining money. We are still working hard on the puzzle fundraiser. Many people have donated to have their names written on the back of a piece for Micah to know who helped bring him home. This is what it looks like so far, but we still have a long way to go. Each piece is only $5. Will YOU help bring Micah home?

Thank you to the Hotchkiss Family for your $50 donation last night! Any amount will help us, literally ANY amount. Please help our girls get their little brother as soon as possible. Please help bring Micah home to his forever family.