The List

So there is a message board through our agency that has an unofficial list of where we stand in line. This list is kept up by the people waiting for referrals to let everyone else know how long the process is currently taking. It is not official because it is not updated by the staff at the agency but it provides a good idea of how much longer we have to wait until we receive our referral.

When we were officially put on the list about 3-4 weeks ago, we started out as number 58. Today we are down to number 46. Most of the people in front of us have only been waiting 3-4 months, and we have been for one. We will update this blog about once a week to show you were we stand on this unofficial list.

California Adventure (And Disney Too)

The 4 Mousketeers!

Annalise & Jonah

"It's a Small World"

Right now I am at my good friend Jen's house in California. We have had quite an eventful past few days together with her two toddlers, Jonah and Annalise. This has included two 8-9 hour car trips, experiencing L.A. traffic to its fullest, doing Disneyland on a holiday weekend and making meals out of goldfish crackers and fruit snacks. But it has been great! Jen has been able to give me some valuable advice on baby needs (from cribs to diaper bags) all the while modeling some pretty remarkable mothering techniques. Who but a mother can operate a portable DVD player and cut up string cheese to safe size pieces at the same time she is driving through the foothills?

I also want to share a link to some pictures of new families that have been formed through CHSFS Ethiopian Adoption Program. You can see many of these smiling faces at: http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Family_Photo_Album6.html

Gratitude

During the past two weeks we have experienced a broad range of emotions. We felt anticipation at knowing if our dossier was complete and accurate. Then during the early evening on Monday, January 29th... Michael suggested that I check my email because he saw there was a message from from our social worker at CHSFS. The message stated that our dossier "looked great" and that we had officially obtained the status of a Family Waiting for a Referral. Michael and I had originally planned on celebrating this news by going to Lulu's, an Ethiopian restaurant located here in Milwaukee, but I had already prepared dinner. So we made a toast to reaching the next step and enjoyed a celebratory dinner at home.

An hour later the mood in our home fell, as I received the unexpected news that my Grandma Kremkow had died that day. My heart sank. The next week was spent making travel plans, attending her funeral and grieving with family.

The reason I titled this post "Gratitude" is due to the fact that although I am still in the process of mourning the loss of my grandmother, I celebrate our time we had together. I am grateful for our countless conversations, holiday & summer visits and 32 shared birthdays. I am also thrilled that our upcoming adoption brought her much joy and pride.

The past two weeks have reminded me to be grateful for the path that I have been able to travel on, regarding things I can choose and those things out of my control. And I know that where ever my life takes me I will have a special guardian angel watching over me every step of the way.


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Forms and Fingerprints

On Wednesday I came home around noon, so Michael and I would be able to make it downtown in time for our 1:00 fingerprinting appointment. Much to my surprise, their was an envelope in our mailbox from the Secretary of State. They had sent us back the forms that we needed to be certified... which meant that we now had in our possession all of the documents required for the dossier. Kudos to Madison for their fast work... I sent these forms Friday evening and got them back the following Wednesday!

Michael met me at home and posed for a photo op, before we traveled downtown to the Department of Homeland Security. Glad we left with plenty of time to spare... since my map & directions weren't overly helpful. Also, thankful to have our friend Peter, who's a government employee home on "paternity leave," to lead us there via phone.

So now our fingerprints are in some national database... and we await another form that tells us we are who we think we are. I believe this form will also allow us to ultimately get a visa for bringing our child into the United States.

After our trip to the Department of Homeland Security, I spent the next 3 hours getting all of our documents (letters of recommendation, medical exams, tax forms, bank letters, background checks, etc...) notarized, triple copied, checks written and everything (AKA the "dossier") sent to Children's Home Society and Family Services. Now we await their review of our dossier to tell us if it looks complete or needs any tweaking. This will mean lots of obsessive email checking on my part - for news of their review!

Book about Ethiopia and Adoptions

Michele and I have just finished a book called "There is No Me Without You" by Melissa Fay Greene. It is about a women in Ethiopia who starts an orphanage, for children whose parents died of AIDS. It can be a depressing but uplifting and inspirational book that educates you about the hard life in Ethiopia, and the struggles that they continue to have. The book is extremely recent, so there are a lot of great details of what is currently happening. It also covers international adoptions and why they are so popular in Ethiopia.

If you have any interest in learning more about this country or adoptions, we strongly recommend this book.

Below is a link to the book on Amazon to get a better idea of what the book is about.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product//1596911166/ref=cm_rv_thx_view/105-0488467-4548414

Our Adoption Plan

It feels like we have known for a long time that our family will soon have a new addition... following a long paperwork trail and plane flight. But it has only been since September.

We were led onto this path following several events-

1. Michael and I became eager to parent a child


2. We learned and decided that the traditional method of having children was not an option available to us


3. We opened our hearts to adoption and were excited by all the different possibilities that lay before us


4. After many conversations, much research and meeting with 3 different adoption agencies we determined that we would adopt internationally


5. Our hearts and minds led us to seek out adopting a baby from Ethiopia

And now almost 5 months after sending in our application to our adoption agency, here we are. Perhaps in 5 more months we will have name and picture of our little one.

Some Milestones

Hooray! We have officially been accepted into the Ethiopian Program at Children's Home Society and Family Services!!! Also, we have a date, January 24th, for getting our fingerprints at the Department of Homeland Security. This means our dossier (approximately 30 pieces of paperwork needed to show we would be able to provide for a child) is almost complete! By my prediction our dossier could feasibly be done by next week... which means that we now have a 4 to 6 month wait until we receive a referral (information regarding our child) and then travel 2 to 3 months after that. Very good news!!! It is hard not to put an exclamation point at the end of every sentence :)