Making Progress

This past week was spent getting more items checked off our list, finding the necessary appointments and reminiscing our last adventure. As I was looking through and comparing paperwork from Jack's adoption process it brought tears, excitement, frustration and all sorts of emotions. I came across his Russian passport and remembered so vividly the day he took that picture. He looked so lost and empty. But it also brought me excitement knowing he is literally the complete opposite today. I look forward to our little one to come and how all of our lives will change once they join our little family.

I watched a video of one of our visits with Jack at the orphanage before we were able to bring him home. I was tickling him and his laughter made me almost burst with joy inside. I kept watching it, over and over. Such Joy.

We were able to schedule our Psychological exams for this morning, though it is estimated to take several hours. I'm just happy they were able to get us in so quickly. I have a notary scheduled to meet us at our primary care physician's office tomorrow for the doctor's health form so we're closing in!

I've sent most everything to our social worker via email for approval while we're waiting on the few remaining documents. Everything is working out, even though it's a pain sometimes. I think the only thing that haunts us is the financial aspect of the process. So many things to pay for out of pocket. But we fully believe God is taking us on this journey and believe He will make the way.

Many have asked if we're pursuing a boy or girl so I thought I'd mention that we're not asking for one or the other but leaving it in God's hands as we did with Jack. :D

I'm so looking forward to getting this paperwork done and we're so close to having it all come together. I don't know that we'll be able to schedule our home visits for December but I'm hoping for early January. We might even be able to get our Dossier to our agency by February and that would be thrilling since it's just a step away from Russia at that point.

As we look forward to Christmas we are also looking forward to what next year will bring. We pray you all have a wonderful Christmas and New Year as well!

On a side note: Hearing of the awful, devastating events in Connecticut on Friday brought such heartbreak, especially knowing Jack was in his own Kindergarten class at that time. I read through the list of the victims and there was a "Jack" among them which brought an even greater reality to the madness. I feel such grief for those families and hugged my little boy so much over the weekend. We pray for peace and comfort for each family member and friend involved. We know God can heal broken hearts.

Moving along...

I have to say - the second time around isn't nearly as easy as I'd hoped as I said before, but knowing your social worker and family coordinator is such an asset. They were helpful and encouraging to begin with but I feel our rapport is so much sweeter. Ya know?

So far I've been buried in paperwork. Thankfully we were able to get in to see our doctor quickly and we're just waiting on blood work results to have his report notarized. I stopped in to get our local police clearance letters and walked into a glitch. They don't notarize them. Ugh. On the positive side, this particular report isn't needed with our Russia dossier, it's the state one that is necessary, and after checking with our social worker, the clearances I DID get yesterday will work (at least for now.)  What a major relief.

I found out our passports expired this past September but thankfully we can renew them by mail and don't have to go to the local courthouse, meaning David doesn't have to take any time off of work to head over there.

Now my task is to find a CPA that will write an employment letter for me stating I'm self-employed and my income info. I could try to ask the sweet woman who helped us last time but I wouldn't want her to think we're taking advantage. We'll see.

Another item on the agenda, this time around we have to have a psychological evaluation so I have to find a doctor that can write the report we need to the specifics that Russia needs.

Once we have all the necessary items for the home study we will submit them to our social worker along with a fat check. Oye. It has begun.....

That's the update. I'm really excited about this. Taking one step at a time.  Thanks for your support!

::  Michele  ::

Starting again...

We're back! Back on the road of forms galore, working toward that wonderful day we bring home our second child. I had to veer off the road this past Summer in order to maintain sanity. At the beginning of this year I was certain it would be "no big deal" this time around considering "I've been there, done that" but once the packets were 'in hand' it brought back memories of annoying and trying times struggling to get what we needed. Combine that with an overwhelming amount of work and I knew it wouldn't be as easy as I'd expected.

With all the excitement of new design work, a wonderful trip to Martha Stewart headquarters, networking with new friends in the 'biz' and schooling myself on new found interests that led to more work, I had little time for anything else and by May I was physically exhausted. From February through April I had been sick more frequently than all of the last 5 years combined. Work had taken it's toll and though things were busy over the last part of the summer as well I'm happy to say that with a bit of a break I'm finally back where I like to be - excited about the future. Not to mention the 'every so often' little pushes from Jack asking if I'm still working on getting him a little brother or sister. *sigh* *melting heart*

We've filled out most of the forms required for setting up a Home Study visit, though it feels like I'm missing a lot. I've mailed off some of the Florida clearance requests needed and we're hopeful to get a ton more done over the next week including doctors visits, verifications and reports. So many little things. I took a moment to look at the blog we kept for Jack's adoption, back at about this stage and remember the excitement along with the mounds of paperwork!

As I did before, I have to re-train myself to take it one paper at a time. It'll be done before we know it.

Thanks for tagging along and I hope to have another update soon. The next big step would be the Home Study report. With that in hand we'll have a big chunk of our Dossier completed, which is basically the chronicle of our current existence for Russia to approve.

:: Michele

p.s. for those who might be wondering about my fundraising, I haven't been pushing it because I'm a little worried I might step back into overwhelming myself. I will definitely keep you posted though, as any help would be GREATLY appreciated considering the amount of money it takes to fund an international adoption.

Officially begun

Well - it's finally here. The blog post you might have been looking for.  Our decision.

After much prayer, we've decided and believe that once again, Russia is where we'll find our 2nd child. We will be using the same agency we used for Jack's adoption and have already submitted our application. (Click here to visit their site.) We received our acceptance on April 10th, have filled out the agreements, sent them along with our first installment fee and are ready to start the next big step. Home Study paperwork. Oye.  There are at least 26 items we have to complete before we can schedule our home visits (3), some have several items within the items. Several are local and federal clearances that have to be requested. Others are things like proof of insurance, employment, residency, etc. 

We've gone through this before so there's not really very much that is new. We are just working our way through each form. Lots of items depend on other people and agencies and we're hoping there won't be any hangups or delays.

Keep us in prayer and not only us - our child is more than likely already born, just waiting for us to become their parents. When I think of that it brings tears to my eyes and an urgency in my heart.

We're on our way little one! Hold on! We'll be holding you soon.

I'll leave you with a family snapshot we took on Jack's gotcha day anniversary.

:: Michele ::

Welcome!

Hello there. My husband David and I have started this blog in order to create a story book of our journey to our second child. About 3 years ago we brought home our son from Russia and we'd like to add to our family once again. We are looking forward to that moment when we meet our child and especially the moment they are ours forever.

We also hope you will come along side us, virtually, as we'll need emotional and financial support on this journey, not to mention a lot of prayer. We appreciate every comment and look forward to sharing the news along the way.

So where does this story start? With fundraising. At this moment we are unsure which road to take towards our child but we DO know that it will take a lot of money to fund the expenses that are involved. As difficult and uncomfortable as it is, we really need help making this dream a reality. We've started by selling cookies and my Italian tomato sauce. Though it might bring in a little at a time, it'll be more than we had. We truly appreciate each of you who have donated or placed orders already. If you'd like to place an order, feel free to hop over to the fundraising site, goodiesandgreetings.com

This is where we've begun. I look forward to adding posts sharing what's next!
:: Michele ::