Well, today marks one month since our Dossier was Moscow bound. We have been busy since then- working on documents for our second dossier, and just busy with life!
We are excitedly following two families via blogs who are in-country right now, meeting their child. While at times, "the process" can make you feel like you are not really a few months (or weeks) away from meeting your child, reading their entries makes it feel real again.
Our agency talked to their Russian contact yesterday just to check in on our status. We are "on his radar" which is really good to hear. We also heard that July and August are big, long, vacation months for many Russian court officials, so it may be possible that we won't hear anything until September or October...but, we are supposed to still be as ready and as prepared as possible for a call in the next two months.
Well, time to get back to the paper chase...FBI fingerprinting letters, NJ State Medical Board letters, and more! Of course, we will continue to keep you posted!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
Fingerprinting Done, and reality setting in...
Our appointment for our FBI fingerprinting was at 8AM. We were out the door by 8:10. Amazing! So, we headed to breakfast, and then to Babies R Us. It was the first time I have ever walked into that store for us. I have been in there countless times for my friends, but this time was special. We were excited to start looking for things that we will need, and cracked ourselves up at how much we will have to learn: 5 minutes to fold a stroller? Oh my!
I think for me, anyway, (Greg usually doesn't think this much into things like I tend to) I have finally let go of any worries, and fears that this somehow will "not happen." I am finally into fulltime "We're going to be parents!" mode. And, it's a wonderful place to be.
On that note, we are still at least 3-4 weeks from receiving a call from our agency. Whenever they do call, it will either be with a referral (which for those of you who may not know, a referral is basically getting to know who your child is...their age/sex/medical info/pictures), or we will get a call to let us know how many months of waiting for a referral we will continue to have. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I now know of two families who were DTR in early April that already have their referrals, and are heading to Russia. How encouraging! I am honestly not rushing this part (at least not today), and enjoying this preparing for baby stage...thinking about how to do the room, what jogging stroller I want (which is a whole post in and of itself...do you know they have MP3 Speaker hookups on these strollers now?!?)
We will continue to keep you posted!
I think for me, anyway, (Greg usually doesn't think this much into things like I tend to) I have finally let go of any worries, and fears that this somehow will "not happen." I am finally into fulltime "We're going to be parents!" mode. And, it's a wonderful place to be.
On that note, we are still at least 3-4 weeks from receiving a call from our agency. Whenever they do call, it will either be with a referral (which for those of you who may not know, a referral is basically getting to know who your child is...their age/sex/medical info/pictures), or we will get a call to let us know how many months of waiting for a referral we will continue to have. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I now know of two families who were DTR in early April that already have their referrals, and are heading to Russia. How encouraging! I am honestly not rushing this part (at least not today), and enjoying this preparing for baby stage...thinking about how to do the room, what jogging stroller I want (which is a whole post in and of itself...do you know they have MP3 Speaker hookups on these strollers now?!?)
We will continue to keep you posted!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Officially DTR!!!!
Okay, so I know that the title of this entry may be a bit confusing for some of you who are not in the adoption process. DT means "Dossier to" and then the next letter stands for the country it's being sent to. So, our dossier is officially in the hands of DHL and on it's way to Russia! Whohoo!
We were told it would take about 4-6 weeks for it to be translated and officially registered with Russia's Ministry of Education. It is at that point that we will know if there is a child waiting for us that meets our requests (male or female under the age of 2), or if there is a child waiting but not yet eligible for international adoption. In that case we will get a month estimate. We are praying for 4-6 months from now.
What an exciting milestone!
We were told it would take about 4-6 weeks for it to be translated and officially registered with Russia's Ministry of Education. It is at that point that we will know if there is a child waiting for us that meets our requests (male or female under the age of 2), or if there is a child waiting but not yet eligible for international adoption. In that case we will get a month estimate. We are praying for 4-6 months from now.
What an exciting milestone!
Friday, May 21, 2010
FBI Fingerprinting Appointment Scheduled
We already got our appointment to be fingerprinted for the I-600A. June 4th. :) Mom is right- we ARE getting some good dates in while fulfilling our adoption requirements! :)
Another piece of fun news- our dossier is being sent out on Monday to Russia! I spoke to our agency's national office today. They've reviewed it, and it looks good. On Monday they are going to have one more person do a final check through, and it's on it's way!
I've been reading the 47 page travel document that BCS sent us....phew! Very overwhelming. What a busy, and complicated trip! I think I am most nervous about the 8 medical exams we have to have in Moscow. Lots and lots to do! :)
I'm typing lots of smiley's...can you tell how happy I am to be sending out our dossier?
Another piece of fun news- our dossier is being sent out on Monday to Russia! I spoke to our agency's national office today. They've reviewed it, and it looks good. On Monday they are going to have one more person do a final check through, and it's on it's way!
I've been reading the 47 page travel document that BCS sent us....phew! Very overwhelming. What a busy, and complicated trip! I think I am most nervous about the 8 medical exams we have to have in Moscow. Lots and lots to do! :)
I'm typing lots of smiley's...can you tell how happy I am to be sending out our dossier?
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
And, it's...off!!!
I just put our precious dossier #1 in the hands of UPS! It is off to our agency for a thorough check-over. Then, they will let us know when they send it off to Russia! Woohoo!
The official wait begins! We have lots to continue to do...begin working on Dossier #2 (due right after our 1st trip), preparing the room...a fun summer project, and fulfilling all those things on the "to do before placement" list!
We are praying lots for our "blog friends" who are waiting for court dates to go back to bring their child home. Some areas of Russia are moving slowly but surely, while others aren't processing things until that official agreement between countries has been signed.
After this quick update....signing off to cheer on the Flyers!
The official wait begins! We have lots to continue to do...begin working on Dossier #2 (due right after our 1st trip), preparing the room...a fun summer project, and fulfilling all those things on the "to do before placement" list!
We are praying lots for our "blog friends" who are waiting for court dates to go back to bring their child home. Some areas of Russia are moving slowly but surely, while others aren't processing things until that official agreement between countries has been signed.
After this quick update....signing off to cheer on the Flyers!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Positive is good!
Russia
Adoption Notice
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
May 12, 2010
A U.S. interagency team held meetings to discuss an adoption agreement with their Russian counterparts on May 12. The meetings are ongoing and will continue on May 13. The initial talks were positive, productive and conducted in a spirit of cooperation. Both sides are interested in taking steps to increase the safeguards for adopted children. The discussions were technical in nature because they involve domestic laws of two countries. There is still important work to be done and this continues to be a high priority for both governments.
It is our understanding that there has been no change in the status of on-going inter-country adoptions originating from Russia. Many thousands of Russian children, who were not adopted by Russian families, have found loving, safe and permanent homes in the United States through inter-country adoption. We are pleased to be discussing with the Russian government a future approach to ensure intercountry adoptions continue.
http://www.adoption.state.gov/news/russia.html
We are sending our Dossier out on Friday (pending the arrival of our Trenton docs...that should have been back to us today...) Then, hopefully Bethany can get them out to Russia about a week from when they get them. Praying, praying, praying!
Adoption Notice
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues
May 12, 2010
A U.S. interagency team held meetings to discuss an adoption agreement with their Russian counterparts on May 12. The meetings are ongoing and will continue on May 13. The initial talks were positive, productive and conducted in a spirit of cooperation. Both sides are interested in taking steps to increase the safeguards for adopted children. The discussions were technical in nature because they involve domestic laws of two countries. There is still important work to be done and this continues to be a high priority for both governments.
It is our understanding that there has been no change in the status of on-going inter-country adoptions originating from Russia. Many thousands of Russian children, who were not adopted by Russian families, have found loving, safe and permanent homes in the United States through inter-country adoption. We are pleased to be discussing with the Russian government a future approach to ensure intercountry adoptions continue.
http://www.adoption.state.gov/news/russia.html
We are sending our Dossier out on Friday (pending the arrival of our Trenton docs...that should have been back to us today...) Then, hopefully Bethany can get them out to Russia about a week from when they get them. Praying, praying, praying!
Monday, May 10, 2010
Hague Training Class, I-600A, Apostilles, Oh My!
It has been a very busy past two weeks!
Our I-600A is off in the mail! This is our “Application For Advance Processing of Orphan Petition." When the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives this, and processes it, we will have to have another set of fingerprints done which will then allow us to receive our I-171 H form. This paperwork can take a while to get back, so we are very thankful Russia does not need it until Dossier #2!
Another big thing we did this past week was attend our required 8 hour Parenting Class in accordance to the Hague Treaty. We sat through a long day of powerpoint presentations on many topics. Some of the topics included: Parenting the Hurt Child or children who have endured trauma, Attachment and Bonding, Chop Adopt (medical issues internationally adopted children can have), etc. But, the best part of our day was the friendships we made with other adopting families, and the adoptive parent and adoptee panels. During the panels, we were able to meet two families who recently adopted from Russia- what an inspiration and encouragement they were! They enabled us to "bring back that love good feelin.'" We've been drowning in so much paperwork lately, that we seemed to have forgotten what joy we are going to have at the end our our journey. It was so so nice to be reminded of just how worth it every bit of this process will be!
Another big item checked off on our to do list is Apostilling. Our Harrisburg documents are on their way back to us now...for tomorrow's delivery to our home. Our Trenton documents will be arriving at our house, apostilled on Wednesday. That means that Thursday we will be making copies, and Friday we will be sending our entire Dossier #1 off to Bethany! They, will then double check everything, and mail it off to Russia! WHOOHOO!! WOW. It's hard to believe it's getting that close!
Mother's Day was much different for me this year. Last year, and, well, the past 3 years have been filled with a sad feeling- will I ever be able to be a mom? Such thoughts really made me so so sad. How could God put such a deep longing within me, and not fulfill that? But, thank God, this year was not filled with those same sad feelings. This year, I was mostly happy, and looking forward to brining our baby home! I pray God is wrapping His arms around our baby until we can. Those are the thoughts I was filled with this year... And, Dakota and Daddy got me a Mother's Day gift! A Russian Vocabulary Book! How thoughtful!
To conclude what I feel was a rambling post, I want to remind everyone to pray over this upcoming meeting in Russia, on the 12th.
Lots of love,
Liz & Greg
Our I-600A is off in the mail! This is our “Application For Advance Processing of Orphan Petition." When the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) receives this, and processes it, we will have to have another set of fingerprints done which will then allow us to receive our I-171 H form. This paperwork can take a while to get back, so we are very thankful Russia does not need it until Dossier #2!
Another big thing we did this past week was attend our required 8 hour Parenting Class in accordance to the Hague Treaty. We sat through a long day of powerpoint presentations on many topics. Some of the topics included: Parenting the Hurt Child or children who have endured trauma, Attachment and Bonding, Chop Adopt (medical issues internationally adopted children can have), etc. But, the best part of our day was the friendships we made with other adopting families, and the adoptive parent and adoptee panels. During the panels, we were able to meet two families who recently adopted from Russia- what an inspiration and encouragement they were! They enabled us to "bring back that love good feelin.'" We've been drowning in so much paperwork lately, that we seemed to have forgotten what joy we are going to have at the end our our journey. It was so so nice to be reminded of just how worth it every bit of this process will be!
Another big item checked off on our to do list is Apostilling. Our Harrisburg documents are on their way back to us now...for tomorrow's delivery to our home. Our Trenton documents will be arriving at our house, apostilled on Wednesday. That means that Thursday we will be making copies, and Friday we will be sending our entire Dossier #1 off to Bethany! They, will then double check everything, and mail it off to Russia! WHOOHOO!! WOW. It's hard to believe it's getting that close!
Mother's Day was much different for me this year. Last year, and, well, the past 3 years have been filled with a sad feeling- will I ever be able to be a mom? Such thoughts really made me so so sad. How could God put such a deep longing within me, and not fulfill that? But, thank God, this year was not filled with those same sad feelings. This year, I was mostly happy, and looking forward to brining our baby home! I pray God is wrapping His arms around our baby until we can. Those are the thoughts I was filled with this year... And, Dakota and Daddy got me a Mother's Day gift! A Russian Vocabulary Book! How thoughtful!
To conclude what I feel was a rambling post, I want to remind everyone to pray over this upcoming meeting in Russia, on the 12th.
Lots of love,
Liz & Greg
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