Fingerprints

Today in the mail we also received paperwork to get our fingerprints done for our I800A. The scheduled us for the Saturday morning that we are leaving to go to North Carolina. So needless to say, I have to reschedule.

Certification Already?

Not really... today I received the package in the mail from Certification. I was really excited that it had been so quick. Well, turns out that they sent everything back because I sent them too much money. Their web site gave misleading information on some of its fees. So now I have to go to the post office and do it all over again. Maybe I will just wait until everyone is done mailing things for Christmas!

Same Blog...New Look

Don't be alarmed, you are at the right place. I just changed the look of the blog. Do you like?

Next...Certification

This afternoon I sent 12 notarized documents express mail to be Certified by the Department of State. I will need to get one more document Certified, but I went ahead and sent out what I had. After these documents come back I will need to send them out to be Authenticated. We are day 6 into the 120 day wait for the I800A application to be approved.

Our I800A is out the Door!

I did not know that I would be this excited, but I am! Today we received our notarized homestudy in the mail. I got all of our I800A papers together and our BIG certified check and headed to the post office. I was anxious/excited as I was standing in line to express mail our envelope. And then, off it went, and it was finally done. This is so exciting! Another big part of this paper chase process is done. Now I can get together all of our notarized papers and send them off to the state to be certified. I will probably get to that next week sometime. Thank you all for your many prayers for our family.

Our Homestudy has been Approved!

I just got back from Thanksgiving with our family in North Carolina. I was going through my back log of emails and there it was, an email from my adoption agency. Our homestudy was approved on Tuesday! Praise God! What a great gift and something more to be thankful for! We should be getting our papers in the mail this week and I will be sending out my I800A application as soon as I get them. On to the next big step in our adoption process. I will fill you in soon...

The Verse that started it all...

I felt led to post the verse that God led me to back in January of this year. I was praying for direction on whether or not the decision to adopt was right for our family. This is what He showed me. "I will stand upon my post of observation and station myself on the tower, and watch to see what He will say within me and what answer I will make. And the Lord answered me and said, "Write the vision and engrave it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may read it as he hastens by. For the vision is yet for an appointed time and it hastens to the end, it will not deceive or disappoint. Though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come; it will not be behindhand on its appointed day." --Habakkuk 2:1-3 Thank You, Lord that You know the appointed day!

Almost Here

Well, I have spoken with our adoption agency and it looks like we should be getting our notarized home study sometime the first week of December. So I am going to spend some time today getting everything together that I will need to send off with our I800A application. That way when the homestudy gets here I can just Fed Ex it that day. It is taking them 120 days to process the I800A application. We will pray for a shorter time. Thanks so much for lifting our family in prayer!

Nothing New

Well, it has been awhile since we have heard anything. Our homestudy is still being reviewed by our agency. As soon as we get the ok from them we can apply for our I800A. Hopefully we will hear something this week.

A Blessing to my Heart

We have a vase in the kitchen, that the kids have put there, to collect money for their new baby sister's adoption. Yes, I too thought that was a very sweet gesture on their part. It has been sitting on the counter since June. No one has put money in it except my three children. It is now half full with change. When my brother visited a week ago he asked me how much was in the vase. I told him that I had never counted it. My brother and I sat on the floor and we were shocked when we found that the kids had put $60 plus dollars of their money into the "fund". What an amazing blessing that was to my heart! My children do not get much allowance, Lianna and Gabriel get $8 a week between them and Jordan is paid $40 a month for his job. They only keep seventy percent of that to spend. They all have contributed unselfishly to "bring their sister home". I am extremely proud of my children. They amaze me everyday!

Homestudy Update

Our social worker told me the home study was all written up, she is just waiting for clearance from DCF (child abuse registry). Once that document comes back she can put the date on the homestudy, notarize it and send it to us. Then we can Fed Ex our I800A application to Immigrations - Homeland Security with some other documents they need to determine whether we can bring our daughter home. With this documentation she will be a US citizen the moment we land in the United States.

After we get our approval from Immigrations, the next step is to send all of our documents to China. All of these documents have to be notarized, certified, and authinticated. This is why it takes about six months for this whole process. We are getting there. God's timing is perfect, and everything will come together when it is suppose to. We are very excited!

In addition....Donny's very first passport came today! See, I am NOT the only one who didn't have one!

My First Passport!

Today my very first passport EVER came in the mail! I feel like such a big girl! Laugh, but it's true. And, yes, I do travel...just not out of the states.

On Our Way

We are just about finished with our homestudy and will soon be filing for our I800A. This is such an exciting time for our family and we so look forward to seeing our little girl's beautiful face. The kids are so sweet when they pray for her every night, because "Mommy, she could be born right now." I love their hearts. Pray for us as we travel into this amazing journey. And pray for our little girl until we can bring her home.