Is this the year?

We went to get refingerprinted in Indianapolis today. This is the 3rd time we've had to do this because it has to be redone every 15 months. It's hard to believe we've been in the process that long. We are really hoping and praying that our daughter will come home in 2010. I'm praying that many kids around the world will be matched with their forever families this year.

Bummer

We didn't get matched this month. I kept hoping we would see her face by Christmas. Our agency thought we would be matched within 6 months. Since it's been six months, I am really feeling bummed. This is so hard!!

Still waiting

Just a quick update-There should be shared list coming out at the end of this month. Of course we're hoping our daughter is in that batch! It would be great to see her precious face before Christmas. I am trying not to get my hopes up, but it's so hard not to. The verse that keeps coming to mind is: "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14 It's so hard to wait, but I know that God is faithful and His timing is perfect. There is a little girl somewhere in China who is waiting for a family. My comfort is that God is in control of this whole process, He knows her name, and He will bring her into our family in His perfect timing. May it be soon!

Waiting

I read this poem in a beautiful book I received the other day from Love Without Boundaries. It's full of Chinese adoption stories and poems. I've enjoyed reading other people's adoption stories and dreaming of our little girl.

Waiting
by Kelly Feichtinger

Wondering who,
Wondering where,
My child is waiting for me,
Somewhere out there.

I don't yet know your name.
I have not seen your face.
I only know that you were born to another,
In such a faraway place.

I long to enfold you in my arms
To hold you close and tight.
I yearn for the day when I can be the one,
To rock and kiss you goodnight.

My heart already loves you.
In my dreams, you are there.
You smile and call me "Mama."
Something I've been waiting to hear!

I pray that you are safe.
Please know that you are loved.
I've asked for Him to send his angels,
To watch over you from above.

Soon, I will hold you.
It's taking forever, it seems.
But for now, I'll be waiting,
And seeing you in my dreams.

DTC!!!

We are now DTC!!This means Dossier to China. Our agency mailed all of our documents today-the next stop is China! Now we just sit back and wait to be matched with our little girl. The closer we get, the harder the waiting becomes!

Dossier Complete

I heard from our dossier coordinator today, and she received my "employment letter" today from the Chinese Consulate. So she has everything and will be sending it off to China in the next few days. Now we are anxiously awaiting "the call!" It could be any day, it could still be a few months.

Bummer

I heard from our agency today, and I missed a document when putting together the dossier. Apparently I need a letter stating that I am a homemaker. When I looked at the checklist and saw Employment Letter, I assumed it just meant for Jason. Typing up the letter took me about two minutes, so it's no big deal. The big deal is that just like all of the other documents, it has to be notarized, certified, and authenticated. We are going to run to Springfield tomorrow on our way to St. Louis and get the letter certified, then it'll be sent to Chicago, then to our agency. Holt said everything else looked good. It's been really frustrating that I made this mistake, but I know that all things happen for a reason. The dossier will be on it's way to China in the timing God has planned.

Authentication...Check!

I was surprised and overjoyed to see our mail lady at the front door today with a really important envelope in her hand! I hadn't even started tracking the package yet because it had only been at the Chinese Consulate for six days. They said on the website it would take between 10-14 days to authenticate. It was a good thing I didn't have much planned for the day because I was able to turnaround and get the dossier shipped off to our adoption agency before the post office closed. I'm hoping and praying that everything was done correctly so it can be on it's way to China soon! So, the next step is for the agency to review it, and then it'll be heading to China!!

Here's the stack of papers, all notarized, certified, and authenticated!


This is what the authentication seal looks like. It was so cool to see the Chinese on it. Unfortunately the picture came out fuzzy, but you can get the idea of what it looks like.

For those of you wondering what authentication is, here's what our agency's guidebook says. "The government of the People's Republic of China acknowledges the legitimacy of a document and accepts it for its intended purpose through authentication."

Documents Certified-Check!

We just got back in town and the IL certified documents were waiting at the post office for us. I made copies, triple-checked to make sure everything was in order, said a prayer, and mailed them off to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago. The lady at the post office was impressed at how organized I was this time. I'm getting the hang of this! Now I understand why they call this phase the paperchase!

Iowa is fast!

We already received my birth certificate back from Des Moines. They received it Wednesday morning and it was on it's way back to IL later that day! I am really impressed with how quick the turnaround was. I talked to our agency and they said IL is much slower. I'm hoping we'll receive everything back from Springfield in the next few days. I'm nervous having all of those precious papers in someone else's hands!

Papers are moving

I sent off 12 documents today for state certification. After they are certified, I will send them to Chicago to be authenticated at the Chinese Consulate. Then, we will gather those documents with the rest of what is required in the dossier (which is all of the paperwork & photos that are sent to China) and send it off to our agency, who will then review it and send it to China. We're making progress!

Special Needs Video

I just watched this amazing video, and it does a wonderful job of portraying what special needs adoption in China is. Please take a few minutes to watch it. These children are so precious, and this video really touched my heart. Since we're going through the special needs program, our daughter will have a special need, but her greatest need is that of any child-to have the love of a family.

Update

Since it's been over a month since I posted, I thought I'd give a quick update. According to Holt, we can get a referral at any time now, but it could take up to 6 months. It's hard to believe after so much waiting, that this is finally happening, and happening relatively soon! There's so much to do in the meantime that it can feel overwhelming at times. We're working on the dossier, applying for grants, finding out as much as we can about adoption by reading books, blogs, chat groups and listening to podcasts, and both working extra jobs to help finance it. It's really great to be making progress finally, and we can't wait to be matched with the little girl God has chosen to become a part of our family. Once we have the referral, it will be about 6 months before we travel to bring her home. That's the part of the wait I dread the most.

Home Study Approved!

Our social worker sent our HS off to Holt on Friday, and they already approved it. They said it looked great, so now once our SW notarizes it, she'll send us a copy. Now we can move forward with grant and loan applications. Please pray for us as we do some serious fund-raising. It's exciting to have one big thing done!

They need to know what?

It's amazing the information you need to reveal when you go through the adoption process. Our SW knows our life stories, including the names of our siblings' children, how much money we make, and what we eat for dinner. Well, not that, but you get the idea. We thought we had already laid it all out on the line, but we just got an email from our SW saying that we need to provide DCFS with a monthly breakdown of expenses, including what we spend on things like utilities, clothing, and family fun!! I just can't believe the level of detail they need about our lives. I didn't think there was much more that we could tell, but apparently there is!

One Thing Down...

Well, I can check the first thing off the dossier list! I had my physical today, so I feel good because I'm able to check something off! I love lists, and especially love checking boxes, so this is a good start.

I've been trying to figure out how to do the country change through immigration since they think we are still adopting from Vietnam. This has proved more complicated than I thought. I finally got in touch with someone who was able to send me the correct form, so I think I finally know exactly what USCIS needs from us.

Today as I was heading to drop the kids off for my appointment, Elijah asked why I had to go to the doctor. I explained that it was for the adoption-that the doctor had to say I was healthy before we can adopt. Isaiah asked, are you going to get the baby now? (As in, he thought I was going to get her today!) I explained that we won't be able to until he is at least 4. Hopefully that will help him understand this is a long way off in 3-year old time! Then on the way home, all on his own he started talking about having a sister. He said he loves having a little sister (hopefully this is true-we shall see!), and that we have to get the crib out for her. Then he asked what we are going to name her and proceeded to suggest we name her Ella (my niece's name). When I told him we had to choose a different name than his cousin, he said Owen (my nephew's name) then decided we could name her house or car. It was cute to see his excitement. And, no, we won't be leaving the name selection up to Isaiah!

China!!

After many months of waiting, praying, and waiting some more, we are restarting the adoption process! I first titled this post A New Journey Begins, but it's not really a new journey. It's more a continuation of the same journey, just down a different path. I wanted to start a new blog, but I realize that everything we've already gone through is all part of the journey to our little girl. God has been weaving his perfect plan all along, knowing exactly what would happen in Vietnam. When we first started thinking of adopting, we wanted to adopt from China. We knew about the one child rule, and the many baby girls who need homes. We also felt drawn to Asia. But, we didn't qualify for China because of age, so we thought Vietnam was a perfect fit. When Vietnam closed, we looked at other programs, but none of them felt right for our family. We decided to keep waiting and see where God was leading us.

We've had China on our hearts for a long time, but we didn't qualify because of our age. I don't think many people look forward to turning 30, but I can't wait because that will mean we are eligible! Since that's less than six months away, we're starting the paperwork process now. That way, we can (hopefully) turn in our dossier right when I turn 30. April 2007 was when we applied to our first agency for Vietnam. It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we initially started the adoption process!

We just found out today that we've been accepted into Holt's China program. Holt is a very reputable agency that has been doing international adoption from the beginning. They are experts at what they do, and we have already been very impressed with their staff. They've been very happy to answer any questions and great with communication. We'll be adopting through their Child of Promise program, which is a program to adopt a child with minor/correctable special needs. They will match us with a child based on the needs that we specify.

We are praising God that we are now ready to step forward again, and thankful for how He drew us to Him during the wait. Soon the hardest waiting will begin!