Trainings Completed!

Good news to report! While we still don't have our I 171 H from USCIS, we did finish up our training hours that are required for this adoption this evening. We so far have accumulated a little over 14 hours of training (10 were required), but we do plan on continuing our education as we wait for our little one.

On another note, Ciara sat down on the bed beside me this morning and asked me, "Can we go get my baby sister." Oh, how I wish it were that simple. I explained to her that one day we will receive a call and will find out if it will be a baby brother or a baby sister. She interrupted me with a squeal of excitement (I guess we will be printing out her own set of those pictures when we receive them. I can't imagine all the people in Wal-Mart and other stores that she will tell the good news to and all the questions that will lead to.) I then explained that some people would have to finish up some really important paperwork and then Mommy and Daddy would fly to Ethiopia to get baby brother or sister. All the while, I was thinking that I was going to completely confuse my child's thinking about how children come into this world, that adoption is just paperwork, etc. but I didn't really know how else to explain it. I know that a three year old can't comprehend all of this, but I really wished that her Daddy hadn't already left for work this morning and could have answered this question.

We had our picture taken for the new church directory tonight. Both of us can't wait to have to get our family portrait redone and were busy calculating just when that might be. It will be so exciting to be a family of four and then who knows what! Sean keeps on talking about starting our second phase of parenting when we are in our 50s. On that note, I'll close for tonight. I need to go hit the bike if I'm going to be able to still run around and chase little ones in my 50s.

Just Waiting

I know it has been awhile since we have posted. We are simply just waiting. We are almost done compiling all of the documents for our dossier. Our home study, the agency's license and a few other documents are now finished being authenticated by the Texas Secretary of State. We are still waiting on our I 171 H from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. Once we receive that, we will take it, our certified copies of originals of our passports, our limited power of attorney, and our last reference to be authenticated by the NC Secretary of State. After that, we have to scan all of the authenticated documents (and make a copy for us) and send everything to Gladney. Then, our dossier will be sent to the US State Department for authentication before finally being sent to Ethiopia. Our wait for a referral officially begins when we receive our Gladney approval (we've already received this), our USCIS approval (the I 171 H) and have submitted our dossier to Gladney.

Sean and I taught two Transracial Parenting classes this past weekend for the NC Division of Social Services Post Adoption Conference in Greensboro, NC. While there, we ran into a family that I had worked with while I was the Director of New Life Christian Adoptions. I got to see there children (one of whom was adopted through New Life). He had just turned a year old in July and is as cute as a button. He let me hold him and gave the best hugs. I was doing pretty good with this waiting until then--holding a little one again felt so good. Ciara is going through her independent phase now, so cuddle time is usually only allowed by her at bedtime and in the morning or if she gets hurt.

Fingerprinting, Home Study Completed, Gladney Approval and Passports Received

We just returned from vacation yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful to have time together and a break from our regular jobs and this paper pregnancy. Our vacation was filled with many firsts...Ciara's first time playing putt-putt, her first time flying a kite, her first time fishing (she caught two, Sean caught three, and I caught none), and her first time eating the fish that she caught (she said they tickled her tummy). The picture above is of one of the fish Ciara caught (with Daddy's help, as she dropped the pole when she saw a fish was on it) and of Ciara and Daddy at Tweetsie.

We went on the 28th for our fingerprints. We left Garden City, SC around 7:15am and traveled to Charlotte. Our appointment wasn't until 2:30, so when we arrived around noon, we decided to go ahead and get a bite to eat. Around 1:00, we decided to head over to the Application Support Center and just see if they could go ahead and fingerprint us. We were in and out in about 15 minutes for both of us. To our knowledge, they were able to get clear fingerprints on both of us. We then traveled on to the NC mountains where we continued celebrating Ciara's birthday (it began at the beach with Sean's side of the family and continued in the mountains with my side of the family).

After grabbing a bite for supper yesterday, we hurried home to check the mail. Sure enough, both Sean and I received our passports (they are still processing Ciara's). We also received our official letter of approval from Gladney and two copies of our home study (both dated on July 31--Ciara's birthday). We will work on completing our Power of Attorney (we needed our passport numbers first) and notarized copies of an original of our passports this week, as well as getting our home study sent to the Texas Secretary of State for Authentication. We also received my employment letter and our "Statement of Accounts in Good Standing" from our bank back from the Virginia Secretary of State without any issues. The only item remaining that we need to receive before we can finish our dossier is our I 171 H from USCIS. I must say that it feels like we need to celebrate a little more with all of these documents coming in.