Thursday, July 31, 2008

USCIS Fingerprinting

Thursday July 31, 2008

We went yesterday up to the Federal Building in Cleveland for our fingerprints for the process with Immigration. It didn't take very long at all. Our homestudy is complete and submitted to the agency for review. Once they put their ok it will be sent up to USCIS and that is the last piece before we get our approval from USCIS. We are getting closer. Meanwhile we continue to work on the room and make plans for the baby to come. We ordered children's books from amazon.com for the baby, well for when he is a little bit older. One is called "The Perfect Orange - A Tale from Ethiopia" and the other is an Ethiopian Folk Tale called "Fire on the Mountain". The day we received them in the mail I read them to see what they were like. I would highly recommend these two books. The give a little insight into the culture and what names different things are given in Ethiopia. We also ordered a children's books on adoption and on how not everyone looks the same but we are all wonderful. One of them is a Sesame Street book "We are Different, We are the Same, We are wonderful" and the other is a book called "Over the Moon". Over the Moon isa great book on the adoption process, short, colorful and describes in child terms what happens.

Monday, July 21, 2008

4th Home Study

Monday July 21, 2008

Our last home study visit is scheduled for tomorrow July 22nd. We are traveling to upper Sandusky again. Once this meeting is over and the home study is written we will submit it to United States Immigration Services for review. It is then a waiting game until they approve and we will be ready to submit to Ethiopia.

We also got today our appointments for fingerprinting (the FBI fingerprinting) for next Wednesday July 30 in Cleveland.

The babies room has been started. It is turning out to be more of a project than we thought. There was panelling half way up the wall the whole way around the room, which I didn't like. We originally thought that we could just peel it off. Turns out there needs to be some drywall work in there. Another project, that will be way worth it when we paint and can buy the furniture. The furniture is already picked out we are just waiting for the right time to buy it so it isn't piled in another room waiting.

Monday, July 7, 2008

Poem

Monday July 7, 2008

We received a gift for the baby over the weekend from my aunt I thought I would share with everyone. It is a framed poem, really cute, for the baby's room. I loved the poem and so far had not seen anything like this. The poem is as follows:

The Chosen Heart

Longing for a child to love,
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my hear I always knew,
A part of me was meant for you.

I think how happy we will be,
Once I adopt you and you adopt me.

I dream of all the joy you'll bring,
Imagining even the littlest things.
The way it will feel to hold you tight,
And tuck you in every night.

The drawings on the refrigerator door,
And childhood toys across the floor.
The favorite stories read again and again,
And hours of games with make-believe friends.

The day you took my outstretched hand,
A journey ended, but our lives began.
Still mesmerized by your sweet face,
Still warmed inside by our first embrace.

I promised to give you a happy home,
And a loving family all your own.
A house you've now made complete,
With laughter, smiles and tiny feet.

A parent is one who guides the way,
Know I will be there everyday.
Rest easy as each night you sleep,
A lifetime of love is yours to keep.

Longing for a child to love,
I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew,
A part of me belonged to you.


I love this poem and it will hang on the wall in the baby's room, just another reminder of how special he is and how loved he will be.

We have submitted all the paperwork for the homestudy, now we have to wait for it to come back to review. The next step will be to submit the completed home study to USCIS (immigration) and wait for that approval to come back then we can submit the completed dossier for review and then it is off to Ethiopia and we wait. Keep checking back i will keep updating as we get news.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Homes Study Visits 2 & 3

Tuesday July 1, 2008

Yesterday we had our 2nd home study visit. Our social worker came to our home and we talked about our childhood, education, marriage values, etc. for about an hour and a half. She did a safety inspection of our home and our visit was over. It was nice to sit and talk about how we plan to incorporate our child's culture into his life after adopting and returning home. It was something we had thought about but never sat down and talked about.

Today we had our 3rd home study visit. The social worker came and met with us individually for our interviews. It only took about an hour for each of us and was basically each of us having a conversation.

We both have applied for our passports, they said it would be about 3-5 weeks. I also mailed in our USCIS (immigration) paperwork today so we can get our FBI fingerprinting scheduled and all we will be waiting on is a completed homestudy to get our approval from immigration.

On another note, we started moving rooms around at the house to start getting ready for the baby. I know it is a ways away yet until we bring him home but we want to have everything ready to go when we get the call. We picked out the furniture for the room, the crib and dresser. So once we get the rooms switched around we will paint and finish the closet and then order the furniture. I can't wait!!