Dossier Complete!!!!

Mailed the rest of our dossier papers last week. Woohoo!!!!!!
Now we are waiting to be matched and see our little guy! Could be anywhere from one to four months...I hate waiting.

Almost there...

Fingerprints...done.
Dossier...almost complete.
The waiting really sucks, but it will be worth it!
Jason said the other day that he had his head around 5 kids, but wasn't sure about 6...!

Fingerprints!!!!!!

We received our fingerprint notice today! Our appointment is for next week...can't believe how fast that went! Then we wait (again) for immigration (CIS) approval.

We're approved!

Our homestudy has been approved...yea! That is the biggest hurdle. Now we are waiting for Immigration clearance which may be difficult this time because I have not changed my citizenship yet (been meaning to do that...) and there's a new guy at the CIS office who is pretty picky. Better change it before the next adoption! After that, we receive our referral.
It will be between one and four months until we have our picture.

Almost there!

CHSFS has all our paperwork!! They are, as we speak, reviewing our stuff! I am starting to worry about the trip. Leaving the kids...the travel advisory...leaving the kids...I know they will be fine, it's me I'm worried about. I'm not a mom who relishes in her alone time from the kids! Need to focus on the final outcome--BABY!

Homestudy: COMPLETE and sent in!
Now the real wait begins...we made our deadline (set by me, not the agency!), so if what they said is true, we might have a photo in a few weeks!!!!!!

Mailed all but one document to our Social Worker yesterday. Now she can finish the homestudy and then...more waiting!
Once we have a referral, we can actually mail stuff to him/her. Stuff like blankets and photo albums...keepsakes. Some of it goes to the general care center, but personal items will stay with the child and we can bring them home with us. Very different from China...

Well...medicals are done. Getting passport photos this week. We meet with our social worker this Friday morning, and then from there, we are on the downhill side! Once our homestudy is turned in, we wait for our referral! I've been doing alot of research on Ethiopia and it should prove to be an interesting, although short, trip.

Terrorists stink!
I love to fly and always feel safe--what I don't like are the long waits because of random acts of idiocy and religious-psycho-terrorism...it simply just wastes my (and everyone else's) time.
I am still planning to go--sans lotion and shampoo, evidently!
My sister has agreed to travel with me, so the issue of having noone to talk to for 19+ hours is gone.
Our agancy posted some more pictures of some of the babies available--they are SWEET! Can't wait to meet our baby!
Our friend "Auntie" Laura is once again instrumental in getting us notarized and official--thanks!

Well...I have already started thinking about packing!! "Be prepared!" Jason and I both think this could be a "carry-on" only trip--it's only five days...looks like I may have to make an overnight layover in London...bummer, eh?! That calls for dinner with London Lisa! This way, we're averaging every five years between visits!
Some info about Ethiopia on the link below--it's a neat place.
Can't believe I'm going to Africa...cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia

Ethiopian Tidbits...

Our new agency is great! They have already sent us a ton of info on the upcoming trip to Addis Ababa--when can I pack???!!
There are no referrals made during the next two months, in which time we will be preparing our dossier--more fingerprints, medicals, gathering of documents...
Then, in October, we will be anxiously awaiting a picture and a name!!
Anyone interested in a brief trip (M-F plus 2 travel days) to Africa??

Here we "grow" again...!

Well, it's official! We sent our application to our new adoption agency, Children's Home Society & Family Services last week, and we spoke to our social worker there, Peg, about what's next. She told us if we get our paperwork ready, once we receive our referral, we could be travelling before the end of this year--THIS year--2006!!
I am working on our dear, dear friend, "Granny" Cherry to travel with me. 19 hours on a plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Africa...totally worth it. Jason will have to stay home for this one which stinks because he'll miss all the FOOD!
We have requested a boy, one year younger than Ellie Mei and George.
We'll keep you posted...
~Minna