Great News!!!

Everything for our dossier is accepted!!!! We are so excited!!!! The only thing left is to get the home study notarized again (small mistake by the notary). I am hoping that we will be on the waiting list by Monday. I am not sure that is even possible. Thank you to all of you prayed. I know it is all in God's timing. It is definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders.

All we can do is PRAY

I am sorry it took me so long to post after we sent in our dossier. As predicted, we had three things that had to be redone. I did not feel this was too bad, except we were at a cottage with my husband's family which meant it was a bit difficult to get papers signed and notarized. I will say up to this point the past month has been the most stressful. Every detail has to match and be correct in order for the dossier to be excepted. My husband and I tend to overlook the details, so it is amazing we only had a few papers to redo. I am going to overnight the papers tomorrow and pray that all is well and we can be put on the waiting list. I am so ready to start the next part of this process, even if it is just waiting. Please say a prayer tomorrow that all is good and we can be one step closer to bringing home our "little man".

Not so exciting update

I know it has been way too long since I have posted. Honestly there is not really anything new to update you on. The past month has been crazy with camping, VBS, Jason finishing up soccer, and adjusting to new summer routine. The most common questions lately? What do you do next with the adoption? Our next step is to do the dossier. The dossier is a collection of papers containing detailed information about a person. This is not as involved as the home study, yet still lots of running around to get things signed and notarized. I am beginning to get excited to get on the waiting list. Once we are on the waiting list we will be waiting to be referred a child. We will be waiting for a boy 12 months or younger. The waiting process from what I am told is the longest and hardest part of pre-adoption process. Please pray our last bit of paperwork comes together quickly and we can be put on the wait list by August. I will try to post pictures of camping soon.

Home Study Review

Our Home Study is in for review! Please pray it gets approved, because if it does not we may have to wait to send it in at the end of July. The person who reviews all of the Home Study packets is getting married and will be out of comission for most of June. I am so thankful for our social workers who have done a rush to get all of this in on time. Our goal is to get the rest of the paperwork finished and be on the wait list in August. From what I am told this is the hard part. The paperwork is still in our control, when we are put on the wait list, we just have to sit back and let it all take place. The only thing that will keep me from thinking about it too often will be that it is all in God's timing. He knows when it is best for us to receive a referral. He knows the child that has been chosen for us. I am so thankful to follow a God that is always in control, especially when we have none.

Quick Update

I think I just finished the last bit of paperwork for our home study. The past few weeks have been spent taking 6 online courses that took about 2 hours each. We also finished our 173 page education workbook. As much as we hated writing out the answers to about 50-75 essay questions we felt we learned so much. I am looking forward to getting our home study approved and sent in. It will be one more thing to cross off the list. We just sent all of our checks from our fundraiser, and it feels amazing to know that we have a large chunk sitting there to cover upcoming costs. This gives us the chance to save up more for later. We continue to meet great people who have or are adopting. It is great to know that there is a large support system right here in Grand Rapids.

On another note:
My other three munchkins decided they wanted to jump into a 65 degree pool today. Maia obviously did not jump in but would have if I let her. It is going to be a busy summer by the pool with a 1 year old. They still talk often of their baby brother from Ethiopia. I heard Gabbie tell a friend of hers that she might marry her brother. She said she wasn't sure but that it might be who she marries. Alexa prayed for her baby brother tonight. I think of him often. What will he look like? Will he be healthy? Will he be a young infant or coming up into his toddler years? No matter the answers to these questions I know God will be faithful.

Thanks for checking in on us and supporting us.

They are here!!!

THEY HAVE ARRIVED!!




We received our Home Study Binder, and Adoption Planner. What does this mean? This means lots of paperwork and interviews. I started looking through it last night, and did not even know where to begin. This next step with be exciting yet exhausting.

I just finished filling out a personal profile packet that was 51 pages long! I had to answer questions about myself and my life that I didn't even think I knew the answer to. If you are wondering exactly what your spouse thinks of you and your relationship just fill out this personal profile. Jason and I found out things about each other that we had never known. In addition to learning a lot about myself, I also realized that I have terrible grammar. I am sure many of you who read my blog already know this about me. By the end of the profile all of my sentences were fragment sentences and often consisted of one word. We only have a few more papers to get to AGCI so that our homestudy binder can come. Our social worker gave us a few items to work on while we wait. The list is long, but not too daunting. I will keep you updated.

It's Official

It's almost official!! We sent in our contract and more paperwork to AGCI. We also sent in a big fat check. Jason did all he could to be sure a child from Haiti wasn't an option before he parted with our first large payment. We were told the process through Haiti will probably be longer now than it was before. Our next step is to begin our homestudy. A home study or homestudy is a screening of the home and life of prospective adoptive parents prior to allowing an adoption to take place. Gabbie informs me that when the social worker asks her questions she will tell them what a great big sister she is. I am not sure Alexa will be able to brag about the same thing. She is very loving, but in a dominant sort of way. I often find her with her hand on Maia's head trying to lead her around the house. Maia is not a fan of this method of affection. I am looking forward to this part of the adoption.

Quick Update

I know I have not updated everyone on where we are in this adoption process. We are sending in our contracts tomorrow and hopefully starting our homestudy soon. I am very excited about this process. The girls still tell everyone that we are adopting a baby from Ethiopia. I wonder how long until they get tired of waiting. Gabbie seems to think that our little one will be here soon. We have had some wonder why we wouldn't consider hurrying the process along and adopting a child from Haiti. I guess my answer would be that I stil have a nine month old and am not ready to to have two of them. I honestly do not feel God leading us that way.

Jason and I will be sending in our fingerprints soon. We were told this can be a long process. Please pray this process goes quickly and all is well. I might have a few outstanding Calvin College parking tickets. Do you think those will come up? Ron, if you are reading this, please have mercy on me.