A refreshing day

I spent most of Saturday attempting to reorganize the basement.  It is a great space, but we don't make very good use it.  I made a LOT of progress and hope to finish up tonight . 

Sunday evening was spent at the picnic for our homeschool co-op.  These ladies were totally my lifeline when we moved here a year ago.  I honestly don't know how our lives would have been had we not connected with this group.  For sure the adjustment would have been longer and harder.  It was delightful to be with these friends again, and to meet the new families who are coming into the co-op this fall.  Patt and Mark did a terrific job with mixers to help us get acquainted.  Oh, and Sarah's family is in the co-op this year, so it'll be a first for me to have my grandchildren and Tikvah together in this setting.  Its going to be fun!

My friend Maren came (at last!) for a coffee date this morning.  She brought along some AMAZING books she created from the blogs about her family's two international adoptions.  It was fascinating to see the photos and hear of her experiences, both in India and also in China. One of these adoptions was from the same province in China where we will need to go for Abigail.  I enjoyed hearing about specific places we'll likely visit while there, and what to expect.  That seems to make it a little easier to get through.

This afternoon I went to Ann's house, and how fun to bump into Amanda there too!  God must have known I needed to take a breather today, cause the day was full of socializing. I'm truly grateful for the encouragement and refreshment.  Have I told you yet how much I love my friends???

 I shared this quote on Facebook last week, but it is still speaking to me.  I read this on someone else's blog, so I claim no credit to it.  "We are very goal oriented.  We think that the goal is the purpose, when actually it is sometimes the JOURNEY that is the purpose.  The things we learn on the journey are the things He wants to teach us."  I have very, very little control over this journey.  Two different adoption agencies, the state of Ohio, and the officials of China are seemingly calling the shots.  They say, "jump" and we just do it. Thankfully I know the One who is REALLY in charge of this journey.  I allowed myself a brief time to be overwhelmed, but I really don't have time to dwell on that.  This is NOT about me.  Our goal is VERY important, and we are working hard towards it - getting Abigail home.  But I am also reminding myself to take a deep breath, take one step at a time, and learn what I'm supposed to on this unfamiliar and sometimes strange journey. 

So, did we make any progress on our list today?  Yes.  It seems even our CATS need health papers, so I bought them collars and made an appointment with a veternarian.  Ethan came home armed with several smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher as just a couple of elements needed for our inspection by the fire department.  He is currently watching "Wild China" on Netflix to count towards our 40 educational credits that we are each required to have.  I watched it last week, and it was really good!  


Tomorrow, I begin writing and chasing documents again. 

Feeling a little overwhelmed...

We just got our packet from Adoption Star that outlines 40 credits of educational requirements, basically the writing of ANOTHER book (remember that Monster Document with the other agency?) and all the safety checkpoints that have to be done before the social worker visits our home. Then there are the physicals and documents that involve asking OTHER people to do stuff.  It seems that one of the bad sides of needing to work with two agencies is that they both have requirements, and we end up having to jump through even more hoops!  I'm hoping that I can maybe print out the Monster Document and use it as part of our credits with Adoption Star.  There was a LOT of research that went into that thing.

 At this point all I can think about is Abigail sitting in the orphanage WAITING for us to get our act together and get this stuff done.  Wow.  Any prayer warriors out there?  We are going to need much wisdom and stamina to get this accomplished - and somehow accomplished quickly. The documents with WACAP that take the longest cannot be started until the homestudy is done.  Nothing like a little pressure, right?  Anyway, this momma is a little overwhelmed today and would appreciate your prayers!

More news on Ella

I just got word that two families who both have their dossiers IN and are ready to travel are interested in Ella, and the agency is hoping for a very quick adoption on her.  I am absolutely THRILLED to hear this!  They are also being nice about keeping me in the loop now, which I really appreciate.  As she comes to mind, please say a little prayer for Ella and for her new family..

Official update on Ella, plus another milestone

From the "other" agency.  If our bugging them has found her a home, I'll be content.

"Thank you for your email. I am sorry that you did not hear back from her.  (the supervisor we spoke with in person at their agency)  Unfortunately we are not able to transfer her file to another agency. We actually have a few families considering her file right now, so I am hopeful that they would be able to move forward with her placement in the next few weeks.
I am so excited for your family and you have officially started the process! I wish you all the very best!
If you ever have questions in the future, please let us know!"

We got good news from our own agency today as well.  Our documents are being translated today and will be sent electronically to China yet today or tomorrow.  Yay!!!!

Just a small paper chase today

After my total mad dash to get the pre-approval papers in for China, I took a well-deserved day off Wednesday, and Chrissy came for a nice, long visit.  She and two of her adorable girls were able to stay for lunch.  I'd lost touch with most people over the past month, and its good to be back in social mode again.  God has blessed me wish such wonderful friends in Cincinnati! 

While I fielded a few phone calls, there wasn't much typing. My arms were thankful for the rest. The phone calls were all aimed at finding our initial paper packet for the homestudy.  These left via certified mail on Thursday, and as of the following Wednesday had not been received.  The homestudy office manager was able to find the packet taking a vacation in the local post office.  Whew.  We are on track again there.  She has ordered our criminal background checks with the state of Ohio and sent out yet another list of documents to acquire and things to accomplish.  While I don't have that list in hand yet, I know some of the requirements, and will be working on two of them today - a certified copy of our marriage license and my birth certificate.  Remember, China requires these documents to have been issued in the last six months?  Since both of these events  happened in the good ole USA they shouldn't be too complicated, or take long to receive, right?

The only typing of the day was to the "other" agency asking them again to consider transferring Ella's file if their recent newsletter feature of her did not have the desired results of finding her a family.  Yes, I ABSOLUTELY plan to keep bugging them until she is placed with someone - whether it is us or another family.

The big deal of the day is to start making big progress on the house.  While the main level looks really pretty good, disaster lurks in the upstairs and the basement!  We took on a major reorganization project just before we found out how FAST those papers had to be sent in. The piles had to just stay where they fell at that point. I figure I have until the mail comes on Saturday before the next round of paperwork really hits us.  Here's hoping the stuff can go back IN the shelves (or better yet, out the door!) nearly as quickly as it came out of the shelves.

Waiting...

I just RE-sent the final document, via e-mail, for our pre-approval.  The agency is having mail server issues again tonight.  But the very excellent news is that the monster document should be in the caseworker's inbox when she arrives in the morning.  I stayed up way late into the night, worked on it all day and evening, and am so, so glad to be done with that one!

Also sent this evening was the "Rehabilitation and Nurturing" document to China, that indeed was allowed to be only one paragraph and a maximum of 1/2 page long.  I can't usually even manage to say, "Bless you" in that little amount of space! 

Everything that had to be notarized or otherwise signed, and all of the photos went out via express mail today and are to arrive in Washington by noon tomorrow.  Now we wait for word from China as to whether they like us or not.  The caseworker tells us that China is quite predictable and has only surprised them one time in all of the years they have worked with them.  If you get the pre-approval you can pretty much celebrate.

We had a little setback on Ethan's birth certificate.  Something was omitted when it was mailed, so the State Department sent it all back to us.  We corrected the error, and sent it express back to them - the OTHER Washington - D.C.  The certificate isn't needed until a later step, but it takes a really long time to arrive.

Both of these things were pretty urgent to get into the mail today, and Ethan was a bit late getting home.  As we were zoom, zoom, zooming towards the post office we noticed that all the stoplights were out, and none of the businesses seemed to have any lights.  A thunderstorm came through earlier and knocked out power to some of the areas.  Things didn't look good for getting the copies we needed and doing express mail, and there was no time to find another post office branch.  BUT when we arrived at the post office, their building was the first thing on that entire stretch of road (probably 3 miles) that had electricity.  We thanked God, and got our mailings done just in time for the employee to lock the doors behind us!

While we are waiting on China we can hopefully be making progress with our homestudy.  I haven't heard anything from that agency in several days, so its time to make some phone calls.

Oh, and if you have been trying to comment here and haven't been able to, I believe I found the setting that allows comments now.  Sorry about that!

I took a break this afternoon for lunch and a nice, long visit with my good friend, Cindy.  She was gone much of the summer, and it was so good to have her in our home again.  I'm always encouraged after spending time with her.  Thanks, friend!

One thing she did was to help us work on those family photos.  Just in time too!  My oldest daughter, Sarah, described the "walk in the woods" photo from yesterday like this. "That walking in the yard picture is hilarious and kind of terrible. It looks like, "We go for walks in the woods. And a random supermodel comes with us."  I totally laughed out loud, REALLY loud when I read that!  So, here are a couple more tries that I think are going in our packet:

We were bumped to another level and assigned our own caseworker today, so I guess that is progress.  We did more signing and more notarizing today with the goal being a nice, big package of documents to go into the mail tomorrow.  I hope the US Mail is functioning better than our agency's e-mail server.  It has been bouncing back to me most of the day.  

After this package is mailed, there are only two things remaining to send for the Pre-Approval from China.  

1. The "Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan" aka "The Letter of Intent."  This consists of eight specific and rather detailed questions we must answer to convince the Chinese authorities that we would be a good placement.  Um...then it states "Your plan should be one typed paragraph and no longer than half a page."  Whaaaaaaat?  Looks like I need to CALL (since the e-mail isn't working!) and make sure that is accurate.

2.  The Parenting Resource Plan.  Yes, still working on THE dreaded document.  It is thirty-six pages so far.  I have only a couple more sections, so hopefully we'll top out at forty pages and be done.  This has seriously been grueling brain work. 

We registered for our first of several required classes today.  This first one is called, "Coming Home: Adopting the Older Child." 

 

I'll close with a link that I've gone back to many times.  I love what this guy has to say.  He sums it up well for us, but much better than I could have said it.  A little investigating, and what do I find?  This guy is an orthopedist right here in Cincinnati!  Amazing!  He and his wife are in China RIGHT NOW and have just gotten the two children he talks about here.  I have followed their journey through their blog.  Amazing.

 

The Question Everyone is Afraid to Ask: Are you crazy?