Waiting for Paperwork

So, we have completed the Heart of the Matter Seminar DVD program, our local background checks are done. We are still waiting on Abuse Checks to come back and there are three people who have not returned the reference forms... Ahem... Ahem... We hope that our friends and family (you know who you are) will return those as quickly as possible so that we can move forward with the Home Study and complete that by the middle of October. We have everything we need to apply to USCIS and we are waiting patiently for the Home Study to be completed.

Aside from that, not much is going on. I recently accepted a new position within MIMA, so we have to re-submit some of the paperwork relating to employment verification. I know, I have really bad timing! But its a great opportunity and I'm super excited about my new job!

The Heart of the Matters Seminar

We took the test last night. Poor Chris was very grumpy about it. I agree with him a little bit that we shouldn’t be required to do something like the seminar or DVD, but at the same time, I think that the information is very important. Parenting an adopted child is not as straightforward as parenting a biological child. I think that the DVD series had a TON of really valuable information and that we learned a lot about attachment, the cycles of need, and how these things relate to the parenting plan. I only wish that it was done in a more interesting format.

The tests were not that hard, but the last part was a short answer/fill in the blank kind of test. That part was the most difficult and it was from the section of the DVD series that covered the most information. We had to go back to the DVD for reference several times.

All in all, we both did well on the first portion of the test. The latter portion must be hand graded, so we are waiting for the results from that part of the test. Once those come back, we should be completely done with paperwork. Next Monday we are heading to the police station to fill out local background checks. After that the home study is complete! I can’t wait!!!

Our Second Home Study Visit

The second Home Study visit was very short. Lori collected our physical exams and Chris’s biography and gave us information on some of the paperwork we were missing. We have to get local police background checks done for the home study, which we will do this afternoon at the police station. After that, all we are waiting on is the Child Abuse Records Search, the Heart of the Matters certificates, and the reference letters from my friends and family. So far, only one letter has come in. I’m hoping to have the home study process complete by the end of the month so we can get our approval from the USCIS by the end of the year.

Overall, the home study is going really well. We are learning quite a bit of valuable information from the Heart of the Matters video series as well. We discussed some of the things we learned from the video, our visit with CAWLI, and our thoughts on older children as well as children with special needs. Lori is great and I think she is really learning quite a bit about us, China, and our family.

The Cleaning Begins Again!

Well, our second home study is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. We plan on cleaning the house top to bottom (yes again) for the visit. My sister graciously offered to help. Fortunately, since the social worker already went around the house on the first visit, I don’t think she will need to do a thorough inspection this time around. And, since there are only two of us in the house, how dirty could it possibly get in just a few weeks?

We are down to our last bits of paperwork (we just need to get the doctor to sign the physical exam forms and collect the reference letters from our friends and family, and last but not least, finish the Heart of the Matters DVD series). The DVD series is very dry. We know we have to watch it, but the format is very much like sitting in an actual seminar for several hours. At least we can sit there in our PJ’s eating popcorn! Haha! We hope to complete the DVD by the end of the week. Well… At least I hope to complete the DVD by the end of the week. We have to have it completed by the time the home study is complete. That doesn’t give us that much time since everything else is nearly done!

Now if only I could get my mother to fill our the reference letter before the next millennium comes around…

Our Trip to Boston

We spent the weekend in Boston last weekend. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. We spent some time touring the city, seeing the New England Aquarium, and taking in the sights before we had to meet with CAWLI. We spent Sunday with some good friends of ours at a cookout just outside the city. They adopted two of their children from China through the same agency we are using and it was a really great experience to be able to speak with them about their adoptions and how they handled their children in China. It made both of us feel so much better to know what types of things we should expect.

Our meeting with CAWLI was great! Meg is awesome and we did get the chance to meet with Lillian. Lillian’s first comment to us was that we were so young! But she was thrilled to hear that we were looking to adopt an older child rather than a baby. I feel very secure with her at the head of the agency and I know that she will do everything she can for us. We spoke with Meg for about two hours. She told us stories about some of the adoptions she has placed through the agency and gave us a lot of insight into the orphanages and foster homes in China, as well as what we can expect from children who have been in the Chinese system for any length of time. She also explained how the orphanage system works as well as what we should expect while we are in China. We know its going to be a challenge, but I’m glad that we had the opportunity to hear about both the good things and the bad things so at least we have an idea of what to expect. She also explained the Waiting Child program a little bit more and I think that we have opened a few more doors as to children with special needs. It is definitely food for thought. Both Chris and I came to the conclusion that we would be more than happy to adopt a child with a minor, repairable/repaired heart defect (ASD or VSD). We know a family here who adopted a son with the same condition and I’m glad that we had the opportunity to speak with them about their experiences. After some extensive discussion with Meg and our friends, we are very confident that we can handle something like that.

Overall, it was an awesome trip. We even got to travel through Chinatown and enjoy some really GOOD Chinese food. I’m glad that Chris is being more open to yummy foreign foods! At least we know he won’t starve in China!

Home Study- the Aftermath!

After a full week of cleaning and scrubbing and driving everyone crazy, we finally calmed down...

A big THANK YOU to everyone who helped get the house clean! Special thanks to James and my sister for taking the time to dance around with the water hose and scrub the orange stains off the fence!

Our home study visit was on Friday. Overall, it went well. It was not nearly what we were expecting. Lori, our social worker, was super nice and very easy to talk to. She fell in love with our animals at first sight! She spent the first 20 minutes there petting Rhaina and Nike, and of course, they were all about the LOVE!

We handed over all of the paperwork we have been collecting for CAWLI and we hope that it will make it to the adoption agency in one stack. We have a few minor items that we were waiting on the social worker for and then we are off to USCIS for fingerprinting and government approval. After that, the paperwork is OFF TO CHINA!! And then the real waiting starts. We hope to have the paperwork process and USCIS approval completed by the end of December.

So, the social worker asked us pages of questions about how we grew up, what our relationships were like with family members, and how we were disciplined. She asked how we plan on raising our own child in reference to religion, discipline, school, and support networks. She looked at the house, the room for Saiya, and went over some of our finances. Much of the paperwork she had brought with her was duplicated from what we already filled out for CAWLI. So, I tried to let her know as much as possible so she didn’t have to make double work for herself or us.

She seemed very competent, but not that informed on China’s adoption regulations. I got the feeling she has done most of her work with South America. I can only hope that she is in constant contact with Meg from CAWLI so that we all know what has to happen next. All in all, the home study visit went really well. We are almost done with paperwork and super excited about that! All we have left to do is send out the reference letter forms and get a physical exam along with completing the adoption education video course.

After that, we are DONE!

Busy Busy Busy!!

Our Home Study is scheduled for this Friday and we are slowly getting the house in order for our social worker. I was away last weekend helping my sister move and while I was gone, Chris weeded the garden, hung the chandelier in the entry way, and swept the house. (Did I mention that I have the GREATEST husband in the WORLD!!) So now all we have left to do is dust the ceiling fans and sweep (yes again) and vacuum the carpets. I might give the dogs another bath before she gets here.

My sister registered her children in the same school that our little girl will be attending. I think it’s a great idea to have them all in the same school. This way our daughter will have cousins she knows at the school. Of course, by the time she gets here, Sebastian may be in middle school, but at least Syrafina will still be in the same school. At the same time, it makes it easier for pick-up after school.

Next weekend is our trip to Boston. I am really excited about that trip as well. It’s almost like a mini vacation! We are meeting up with a friend of ours while we are there and we are going to tour the town and the New England Aquarium. It’s the perfect time of year for a walk in the park! And on Tuesday, we get to meet with the CAWLI staff and they can answer any questions we have as well as collect some of the paperwork we have gathered.

Ok, back to cleaning!