Hope hope hope

Today I hope I'll get an email from my adoption coordinator that all is OK with my dossier and they can send it in. I also have to wait for my I600 to come back from the USCIS which will enable me to bring an orphan home to the US. However, that is supposed to be back in a week. :)
Ok-- clarification- USCIS Form I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) is done before you know what child you will bring home. This allows the USCIS to first process the application that relates to your ability to provide a proper home environment and your suitability as a parent. Then, once a child who meets the INA's definition of orphan is identified, you must file USCIS Form I-600 (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative) on behalf of the child.

When I was at IAN on Friday they said that the USCIS had approved me. Cool.

Next step is once I get on the list IAN will try to match me with what I requested on my home study. A boy between infant and 17 months. There are at least 4 families on the list ahead of me wanting baby boys. I might then get an older child-- more toddler age because of that. IAN will send me a photo of a baby and ask for approval. I'll get a minimal medical info chart on the child. I believe I could request further medical testing at my expense. Some people request a video tape of the child and then send that to special international adoption doctors who evaluate milestones of the child via video tape. I don't know much about this part--I have to research it more.

Then once I say, YES THIS IS MY BABY. They work to get me on the court dates in Ethiopia. Once I get a court date, I plan my trip to Ethiopia, about two weeks after the court date (i believe... I could be completely wrong, but this is what I gather). So that is what I am waiting for.

Fin

I turned it ALL in to my adoption agency on Friday--all the redo docs certified by the state. YEA!!! I sat and double checked that all the documents were in. My USCIS is almost cleared and then they will send the whole package to DC to get a green light (usually takes a week or so) and then off to Ethiopia! :) Whooo-hooooo.... I could be on "the list" by Monday! Cross fingers and toes that everything in the Dossier is A-O-K! :) Can't wait to be on the list for a referral....

on my way now...

Since it is "fall break" I have taken advantage of the time off from school. Today I used 1/2 tank of gas-- tomorrow maybe the other 1/2! I ran all over Denver to redo all those documents that were "wrong." And I have to say going to these places in person, makes things happen. From my insurance/hospital to the City of Denver Police Administration building, I got the documents I needed. In the Police Admin building after talking to several people and on a phone to someone upstairs behind the bullet proof glass, the main man who could solve my problem said, "I think God wants you to have a baby" because the man who had been out of the office all day and the other man who was on call for court and could leave at any moment, both walked into his office at the same time to sign and notarize MY document. I was able then to take all my documents to the Sec. of State again to get certified and they should be ready tomorrow at noon(ish). SOOOO tomorrow I should be able to take them all back to IAN again and MAYBE just maybe (cross your fingers with me) I'll get on the list for a referral! :) Yea! And my kitchen is looking good too! :)

on the road again

Today I found the USCIS center in Aurora, CO and got my biometric fingerprints done. It took all of 10 minutes and cost $80. Of course it took about 20 minutes to get there. But just one more thing to check off the list. I am in the process of redoing the forms I need to do. The only two that are a pain are the criminal clearance and the insurance forms. Otherwise all others are doable. I think I'll wait to get them notarized down in the Wells Fargo Building downtown where I get them certified. That way they won't only be notarized on the same day, they'll be notarized AND certified on the same day. Beat that! Ha! Good feelings....

so upset

After 3 months of collecting and running all over the city and waiting in wait rooms to talk to the right person and mailing in requests and paying money to get certain forms and arranging a sub for the past 3 days to get everything certified downtown, I finally turned the dossier in yesterday. Just got an email. NINE items need to be redone. The main reason-- LEARN THIS NOW-- the date you have on every form, every place you sign, must MATCH the date of the notary. Like when you write a letter, don't date it at the top. Just add a blank next to the signature of the letter and make sure you don't sign it/date it, until you are in front of the notary.

The other thing that got me-- my main notary, I checked that she was registered with the state and her commission doesn't expire until 2012. However, her stamp was "non-compliant" with the Sec. of State. They have to have a circle or a square around their name and "notary" and their "My commission expires on date" has to be outside that circle or square. My notary had no square. So all of her documents need to be redone. UGH. Sadness.

You take three steps forward, one step back. Now to move forward.

Dossier in--- wait a minute...

I raced out of school and drove like crazy to get to IAN today to drop off my Dossier. As I drove back to school like a demon to get to my class, I felt lighter. Finally, that bundle of important paperwork that I have been working on and collecting for the past three months was DONE. And now that it is turned in I "get in line" and might be number 4 for a baby boy! Which is sooo cool.

THEN, on my way out of school at 6PM I got a voice mail from IAN saying there are some elements of my dossier that need to be "fixed." I do not like the sound of that at all. I started getting upset because if it is something as simple as like the wording of one of my letters, then ugh. I feel like I should have taken the whole thing in BEFORE I got everything notarized and certified. I've had to get a sub for my class for three days to get these things done. It's crazy. She said she was going to email me, but there is no email. As soon as I know what needs to be fixed I'll post about it. Maybe someone else will benefit from my misery! So many hoops, keep jumping higher and higher. There is a baby boy at the end of this journey.

hmmmm

I was so excited today as I went to school...driving to school is funny because I live across the street. However, I knew that I was to return to the Sec of the State this morning to pick up my COMPLETED dossier. And if I don't move my car in the AM, then my contractor parks behind me and it's an issue. Anyhoo, I was so excited as I waited for my off period. Then I got a call. Sadly they told me that one of the documents could not be certified at all because it was a copy--that's the one IAN gave me, so that made me sad. And that 7 others couldn't be certified because the notary wasn't "compliant." I was immediately sad and deflated. I was ready to drive the whole thing to my agency today--got a sub for my 5th period so I could go do it. And now... another step back. When I got there, I realized it was my school notary was non-compliant because she didn't have a box around her name in the stamp. It was so silly and odd. But stopped my process. I asked if I could go to the Wells Fargo in the basement of the building and re-notarize the same pages. They didn't know, but that's what I ended up doing. The Wells Fargo notary was very nice and re-notarized my bad documents. And I called IAN and they are sending the original homestudy to the Sec. of State themselves and it will come back in 2 days-- so all hope is not lost! I will probably be able to STILL be done with this by Friday!!! :) I brought the new documents back to the Sec of State worried because I thought I'd have to leave them overnight again. But this woman took pity on me and rushed them for free and gave them to me. Along with her card to send her a photo of my baby! :) Yea!

News...

Today I slipped down to the Sec of State and took my dossier in to get certified!!! :) Tomorrow I am supposed to return to pick it up and then I can hand it off to my agency! Whoo hoo! :)

Emotions

Lately people have been asking how the adoption is going... and I have been waiting since Sept. 7 for the Police to mail me my clearance... I've been getting down because it was taking so long. And yet, I just got home and walked in and searched my mail frantically and IT'S HERE! So now I can take my dossier to the Sec. of State and get it DONE. I am so excited. At the same time I am emotional. Starting to doubt if this really will ever happen and how long I'll have to wait. The unsureness. This morning I was singing in the shower. I started to sing "Baby Mine" and started to cry. Ugh. What is up with that? I want so badly to have it finished and get a referral...

so close

I did it. I took today off school to complete the Dossier! :) I now have to wait a couple of days for the Denver Police to mail me the report. And then I can take the whole thing to the Sec. of the state as soon as I get that document. I think I can have this whole thing done and to IAN by the end of this week or early next week depending on how long the mail takes and how long the sec. of state takes. And that is just exciting! :)

It feels good to have everything in place. I took my 8 passport photos today. I didn't like the picture, but they are there ready for whatever they need them for! Ahhhh...

Dance-a-thon

Last night we had our big back to school meeting/potluck/fund-raiser. It was so nice seeing all of the families and which parents belong to which child and meeting the new families. Our theatre department is a community, a family. We are together sometimes for 7 years. So events like last night are fun to sit and talk to people and get to know each other a little better. I told the entire group about the adoption plans last night and many sought me out to talk a bit about it. I just got in the mail a request for another set of fingerprints for the USCIS (immigration) and remembered I still need to get passport photos to finish the dossier. Several parents told me to take a day off and FINISH that thing. There are recent reports that adoptions in Ethiopia are slowing which is scary. So I am taking their advice and taking Monday off to go get those last items done. Hopefully I can also get everything certified by the state too tomorrow. That would be the best possible scenario. Plus I danced the last full hour of the dance-a-thon fund-raiser with my students. This AM I am feeling my age...ugh... ;)

I-600!

For many in the adoption process mailing the I-600 is a big step. It is getting a sealed copy of your homestudy and mailing it with another check of course to the USCIS (US Immigration). They will process my request to bring a child into the US from Ethiopia and I should receive clearance any time in the next 8 weeks. It is a large step forward in my process. I'm singing little songs today as I put my envelope in the mail. :)

I can't wait to get to the Denver Police Station and get my criminal clearance report and then I will be able to finish my dossier... the OTHER LARGE step in this process. All in all, when I come home every night to my kitties and dog, I imagine my other life that will be there soon.

Oh, and the kitchen renovation is ON! In two days they ripped out my wall and it is SO exciting. The house is coated in a fine powder and I have to live among boxes of dishes... but I can't wait for it to be complete. More than anything it finally feels more like HOME. :) Happiness.

Money, money, money....

My second interview is over! :) One more and my homestudy will be complete. I just got my Dossier checklist from my agency in the mail today too. I don't understand why notarized isn't enough, but for EVERY document I have they have to be CERTIFIED by the state they originated in. Hmmm... that stinks! Now I have to collect the following: an adoption petition (a letter saying I want to adopt), an original birth certificate, an original divorce decree, a criminal clearance report from my local police, an employment verification letter from DPS, a notarized/certified letter from my doctor saying I'm in good enough health to raise a child, a letter from my bank, copies of the last 3 years of my tax returns, proof of medical insurance, proof of medical insurance for my adopted child, three notarized letters of reference, three notarized letters of power of attorney, and 8 passport photos of me. All of the above have to be certified and notarized. Certified means that I have to take the notarized document to the secretary of state (to the state that it was notarized in) and they have to certify the document? Wha?? Yes. What a pain in the buttocks! Ugh.

But my interview was fun. We talked a lot about my childhood and who I am. Easy. We will do the "home inspection" next time. I am getting a new refrigerator tomorrow. So the home inspection will give me motivation to clean and organize the "junk room." One week... can I do it?

I also looked at new kitchen cabinets today. Some are very very pretty. And very very expensive. On one hand, if I'm spending all the money to redo the kitchen I should use good materials. On the other, I'm spending all my money on redoing the kitchen and don't have much extra for the materials. It's an odd place to be!

I'm still working on securing my loan. I have two possible places. It's hard to guesstimate how much I'll need for the remodel, adoption, and travel to Ethiopia. Hmmm...