We went to the Houston Police Department this week to get fingerprinted. We need these prints to send to Qatar and get our "Certificate of Good Conduct" for the 4.5 years we lived there. It went fine and nothing wsa really unusual except for the hair on the police woman that checked us in. That was some wild hair.
First, we must ignore the fact that if we had committed a crime over there, they would have jailed us then kicked us out, not let us leave on good terms. To get the clearance from Qatar, we've got to get our fingerprints, have them notarized that we confirm they are ours, get that apostilled in Austin and then have that authenticated in D.C. Then, we can submit the fingerprints to the Consulate of Qatar in Houston along with pictures, photocopies of passports, residence visas, a letter stating why we want the police clearance. Then, they will put in the mail to Doha and we'll get the certificate back (probably in Arabic) in 6-8 weeks.
Fortunately, our friend O in Qatar will expedite the Doha leg of the paperwork but this is still a months long process.
As for the number of times I've been fingerprinted, I think it now stands somewhere around 2-3. I know we were fingerprinted in Qatar upon arrival for our residence permits and just last week but I'm not sure if I was printed at the bike rodeo in elementary school.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Licensed to Kill Trees
Home study paperwork has been shipped to Dallas!
What type of stuff was included? Well, it was a whole bunch of stuff including 28 pages of parental questionnaires, copies of birth certificates, driver's licenses, copy of house deed, marriage certificate, pictures of the house, verification of employment, financial statement form, medical clearance for everybody in the family, vaccination records for the pets, notarized commitment to cut the grass weekly, apostilled copy of my "PERMANENT RECORD" from elementary through high school (who knew!!!!), record of hair styles from age 7 to present with photos and descriptions of exactly what I was thinking, tapes of my high school Quiz Bowl matches 1994-1997 and proof of voting in every school board and judicial primary since age of 18. Well, maybe not the last few but everything before the grass was included.
For other great news, I've been proven to be free of infectious diseases including HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and many others...such a relief. Through the process we have begun to read our assigned materials (I hope there aren't book reports due at the end of the home study) and started leaning toward adopting just one infant at this time. More prayer and contemplation to come on that one.
J
What type of stuff was included? Well, it was a whole bunch of stuff including 28 pages of parental questionnaires, copies of birth certificates, driver's licenses, copy of house deed, marriage certificate, pictures of the house, verification of employment, financial statement form, medical clearance for everybody in the family, vaccination records for the pets, notarized commitment to cut the grass weekly, apostilled copy of my "PERMANENT RECORD" from elementary through high school (who knew!!!!), record of hair styles from age 7 to present with photos and descriptions of exactly what I was thinking, tapes of my high school Quiz Bowl matches 1994-1997 and proof of voting in every school board and judicial primary since age of 18. Well, maybe not the last few but everything before the grass was included.
For other great news, I've been proven to be free of infectious diseases including HIV, Hepatitis, Syphilis and many others...such a relief. Through the process we have begun to read our assigned materials (I hope there aren't book reports due at the end of the home study) and started leaning toward adopting just one infant at this time. More prayer and contemplation to come on that one.
J
Monday, May 16, 2011
Paperwork
Home Study paperwork is in progress. Doctor appointments are set for Thursday. Employment verification letter has been requested and is due this week. I think we'll be all set to turn in the pack to the social worker this weekend. We're starting the process of building our Dossier at the same time now. We just got that package and are still making the to-do list. I do love planning. It has been challenging to get things done this week since there has been some late evening phone around the world for work but I'm satisfied with how we are progressing.
It is sobering to think that the children that God has for us have likely already been born and are likely enduring some tough times now. I pray that God will give them comfort and peace. I pray that the birth families of those children can turn to God in their diffucult times.
It has been very sweet these past several nights since we told M & L about adopting. As we sit down together in preparation to pray, I'll ask each one of them what they plan to pray for that night. For the past several nights, M has prayed for the "kids without mommies and daddies, for God to protect them and that they will sleep good and have a good day tomorrow." I'm not sure how much she understands about a kid not having a mommy or daddy but it still makes me well up like a little girl each time.
Tomorrow is one day closer, and as every good Klingon accountant says, "It is a good day to compile and copy paperwork."
J
It is sobering to think that the children that God has for us have likely already been born and are likely enduring some tough times now. I pray that God will give them comfort and peace. I pray that the birth families of those children can turn to God in their diffucult times.
It has been very sweet these past several nights since we told M & L about adopting. As we sit down together in preparation to pray, I'll ask each one of them what they plan to pray for that night. For the past several nights, M has prayed for the "kids without mommies and daddies, for God to protect them and that they will sleep good and have a good day tomorrow." I'm not sure how much she understands about a kid not having a mommy or daddy but it still makes me well up like a little girl each time.
Tomorrow is one day closer, and as every good Klingon accountant says, "It is a good day to compile and copy paperwork."
J
Friday, May 13, 2011
Lots to do...but first a cool story
J called me while I was out and told me we already heard from the social worker via email this morning with a pile of documents to fill out to prepare for the home study. Guess what we'll be doing this weekend?
J and I decided to meet for lunch and as baby A and I were driving downtown, I was listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's song called "Beauty Will Rise". It is a beautiful song about beauty rising up after the ashes. Tears came to my eyes thinking about his story and the pain that he's gone through that led him to write this song...(look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about). His loss of his daughter and the words he sang in the song reminded me of our loss of our first child, Isaac, (see "About Isaac" on the sidebar) and the beauty that rose out of the ashes when we continued on with God's hand on us and the growth of our family with M, L, and A. And I promise that not a second later, six white birds flew across the highway right in front of our path. Six. I have no idea if it was intended this way but I'd like to take that as confirmation from the Lord that we are meant to have six children. I, M, L, A, and then two siblings*** from Russia. We'll see!
(But I have to laugh and I'm not quite sure what to think of this but five minutes later, five army type helicopters crossed the highway in the same way. ;) )
B
***edited 10/13/11 - We are no longer seeking to adopt two siblings after reading more about issues that could arise and considering the ages of our bio children.
J and I decided to meet for lunch and as baby A and I were driving downtown, I was listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's song called "Beauty Will Rise". It is a beautiful song about beauty rising up after the ashes. Tears came to my eyes thinking about his story and the pain that he's gone through that led him to write this song...(look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about). His loss of his daughter and the words he sang in the song reminded me of our loss of our first child, Isaac, (see "About Isaac" on the sidebar) and the beauty that rose out of the ashes when we continued on with God's hand on us and the growth of our family with M, L, and A. And I promise that not a second later, six white birds flew across the highway right in front of our path. Six. I have no idea if it was intended this way but I'd like to take that as confirmation from the Lord that we are meant to have six children. I, M, L, A, and then two siblings*** from Russia. We'll see!
(But I have to laugh and I'm not quite sure what to think of this but five minutes later, five army type helicopters crossed the highway in the same way. ;) )
B
***edited 10/13/11 - We are no longer seeking to adopt two siblings after reading more about issues that could arise and considering the ages of our bio children.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Agreements Processed!
That’s one of two bits of good news we received today. We got an email from AWAA letting us know that our agreements we sent have been processed and we will be contacted within a week by a Social Worker to start the Home Study process and also a “Family Coordinator” to help walk us through the process of putting together the dossier paperwork. I must admit I’m a bit nervous about the home study part. Not because I’m afraid they’ll find anything wrong but because we are still in the process of settling in to our house and things are not quite put away yet. (We just moved back to the US from the Middle East and our sea shipment just arrived last Tuesday. The boxes have sort of exploded all over the house.) And cleaning? Who has time to clean, or even motivation to do so when the boxes are in the way? I guess the timeline for the home study may be much longer than I anticipate so it may not even be an issue at all. Or, it may be the motivation we need to get it all done. (I say that after a lazy day of not accomplishing much around here. I need a motivator.)
Second bit of good news is that I heard back from my endo doc today letting me know some test results relating to my diabetes. My A1C hasn’t been checked in too long for many reasons…newborn, Christmas travel, moving back to US, etc… So I finally just picked a new doctor here based on reviews on the internet and went to see her on faith that she was a good doctor. She seemed very nice but my first visit was rather quick. But really, she can’t change any of my meds without having test results so that was the first step. All this to say, my A1C was a little elevated but not too bad for me at 7.4%. I really feel like I haven’t had good control during all these changes so I was expecting much higher (less than 6% is ideal). I was very happy with that result although I know it should be lower. She even said my thyroid meds were probably affecting that number since they needed tweaked. So hopefully that will help too. After living in the Middle East for 4.5 years, I knew I was getting good medical care there but it feels good to get back to the US and on US meds with names that I know.
Why is all this info important for the adoption process? Some regions in Russia will not adopt to us simply based on my health, specifically diabetes. There are regions there though that will allow it so we are very concerned with keeping the diabetes under control (which it has been ever since I was diagnosed in 2007). We are praying that it will not be an issue at all. I am healthy and not overweight so hopefully that is what they will see more than my diabetic label.
Oh, and I almost forgot…both J and I got our birth certificate copies in the mail today. We’re trying to get some paperwork out of the way early if we can. J was ragging on Indiana in an earlier post so I have to say how it’s funny his didn’t have very far to go since he was born in the state we live in but mine had so much farther to go yet got here quicker. Hmmm.
B
Second bit of good news is that I heard back from my endo doc today letting me know some test results relating to my diabetes. My A1C hasn’t been checked in too long for many reasons…newborn, Christmas travel, moving back to US, etc… So I finally just picked a new doctor here based on reviews on the internet and went to see her on faith that she was a good doctor. She seemed very nice but my first visit was rather quick. But really, she can’t change any of my meds without having test results so that was the first step. All this to say, my A1C was a little elevated but not too bad for me at 7.4%. I really feel like I haven’t had good control during all these changes so I was expecting much higher (less than 6% is ideal). I was very happy with that result although I know it should be lower. She even said my thyroid meds were probably affecting that number since they needed tweaked. So hopefully that will help too. After living in the Middle East for 4.5 years, I knew I was getting good medical care there but it feels good to get back to the US and on US meds with names that I know.
Why is all this info important for the adoption process? Some regions in Russia will not adopt to us simply based on my health, specifically diabetes. There are regions there though that will allow it so we are very concerned with keeping the diabetes under control (which it has been ever since I was diagnosed in 2007). We are praying that it will not be an issue at all. I am healthy and not overweight so hopefully that is what they will see more than my diabetic label.
Oh, and I almost forgot…both J and I got our birth certificate copies in the mail today. We’re trying to get some paperwork out of the way early if we can. J was ragging on Indiana in an earlier post so I have to say how it’s funny his didn’t have very far to go since he was born in the state we live in but mine had so much farther to go yet got here quicker. Hmmm.
B
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
"The Cost of All Documents is $50"
That is what the phone message at the US Department of State Vital Records Section said. FIFTY DOLLARS FOR A SHEET OF PAPER WITH A FANCY EMBOSSED STAMP AND SIGNATURE!!!! That's right. To get a copy of the Consular Report of Birth Abroad for L & A, it is $50/copy.
What is a Consular Report of Birth Abroad? It is the official birth certificate issued by the State Department for our kids L and A. They were born in Doha, Qatar. Pop Quiz: Does being born in Qatar disqualify my sons from being elected President?
In other news, we've started talking with M & L about adding some potential brothers & sisters. L was okay as long as there would be at least 2 more brothers. M said it would be best if there were a total of 4 girls and 4 boys. I'll guess we'll see how it works out.
At least JJ at the office said she would do all of our notarizing for free. That woman is top-notch.
What is a Consular Report of Birth Abroad? It is the official birth certificate issued by the State Department for our kids L and A. They were born in Doha, Qatar. Pop Quiz: Does being born in Qatar disqualify my sons from being elected President?
In other news, we've started talking with M & L about adding some potential brothers & sisters. L was okay as long as there would be at least 2 more brothers. M said it would be best if there were a total of 4 girls and 4 boys. I'll guess we'll see how it works out.
At least JJ at the office said she would do all of our notarizing for free. That woman is top-notch.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Accepted to Attempt!
J got a call at work today from the adoption agency telling us that we've been accepted to begin the adoption process with them! Yeah! Soon after, we were sent an email with many forms to fill out. We've already signed them and filled out the first of several checks and have it all ready to take to the UPS office tomorrow! (It's not necessary to send via UPS but we want to get it there asap.) Once they receive our papers and payment, we will be assigned a Family Coordinator and the Dossier and home study process will begin!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Paper Pregnancy
Paper Pregnancy, it is a new term for me too. The agency folks used it to describe the process. It is probably like regular pregnancies: fun at the beginning but pretty painful and messy at the end.
Did you know that it is harder to get a certified copy of one's birth certificate from Indiana than it is from Texas? Indiana made us fax B's driver's license.
Back to the Paper Pregnancy concept. I wonder if the average weight of paper required for an international adoption is greater than or less than the average weight gain during a typical pregnancy. According to the authorative guide to pregnancy weight gain (Wikipedia), the average weight gain is 25-35 lbs. I think that is equivalent to about 2400-3300 pages of paper. My bet is that we won't have 2400 sheets of paper. That would be pretty painful and messy.
J
Did you know that it is harder to get a certified copy of one's birth certificate from Indiana than it is from Texas? Indiana made us fax B's driver's license.
Back to the Paper Pregnancy concept. I wonder if the average weight of paper required for an international adoption is greater than or less than the average weight gain during a typical pregnancy. According to the authorative guide to pregnancy weight gain (Wikipedia), the average weight gain is 25-35 lbs. I think that is equivalent to about 2400-3300 pages of paper. My bet is that we won't have 2400 sheets of paper. That would be pretty painful and messy.
J
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Would Somebody Just Give Me a List
Just a little insight into the difficulty my hubby is having waiting for things to start - and we haven't even been offically approved by our agency yet...
Written by J:
Where is the list of things that need to be done with approximate timing and cost? How hard is it to say, "J, get these things and do such and such with them?" Get those birth certificates and those vet records and have them stamped by Willy Wonka, Bilbo Baggins and Voldemort and then mail them back. How hard is that?
How am I supposed to take comfort in a spreadsheet if I have no basis to build the spreadsheet from? Especially if I have to use the new version of Excel to do it. I hate that version. They've hidden all of the buttons and I can't figure out how to do any of it. I was once a full Jedi on the previous version of excel, but on the new version, I feel like the young Skywalker when he first meets Obi Wan.
Well, this will probably teach some patience if nothing else.
Something we need, huh? J is very organized and analytical in his approach and wants a checklist that he can tick off. Hopefully we will hear back from the agency tomorrow that our application has been accepted and they will provide hubby with his desired to-do list. I have a feeling though that a lot of this is going to be out of our control. There will be a lot of waiting that will definitely cause us to rely on the Lord for the details. We've already started stressing a little about the age(s) of the child(ren) and how they will fit into our family. We are reminding each other that God already has the child picked out for our family and none of our worrying about it will change His plan for us. It's just a matter of the people involved figuring out how to get that child or children to us.
B
Written by J:
Where is the list of things that need to be done with approximate timing and cost? How hard is it to say, "J, get these things and do such and such with them?" Get those birth certificates and those vet records and have them stamped by Willy Wonka, Bilbo Baggins and Voldemort and then mail them back. How hard is that?
How am I supposed to take comfort in a spreadsheet if I have no basis to build the spreadsheet from? Especially if I have to use the new version of Excel to do it. I hate that version. They've hidden all of the buttons and I can't figure out how to do any of it. I was once a full Jedi on the previous version of excel, but on the new version, I feel like the young Skywalker when he first meets Obi Wan.
Well, this will probably teach some patience if nothing else.
Something we need, huh? J is very organized and analytical in his approach and wants a checklist that he can tick off. Hopefully we will hear back from the agency tomorrow that our application has been accepted and they will provide hubby with his desired to-do list. I have a feeling though that a lot of this is going to be out of our control. There will be a lot of waiting that will definitely cause us to rely on the Lord for the details. We've already started stressing a little about the age(s) of the child(ren) and how they will fit into our family. We are reminding each other that God already has the child picked out for our family and none of our worrying about it will change His plan for us. It's just a matter of the people involved figuring out how to get that child or children to us.
B
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