It has been an eventful week! We started our week off with a VERY successful spaghetti dinner. We had over 200 people attend! It was great to talk to everyone about our plans and Ana. We are truly amazed at how supportive our community has been. And extremely grateful. We had a wonderful group of family and friends to help with our amazing day! It looks like we are well on our way to our goal - about $3-4000 more to go!
That same day, Kyle hurt his knee during a soccer game. Jim spent Monday and Tuesday taking Kyle to the dr, xrays and an MRI. He has torn his meniscus and possibly ACL. He is scheduled for surgery June 1. We will know more about the extent of the injury after the surgery. No driving, no soccer, not much of anything makes for a pretty miserable 16 year old. We are hopeful the the "best scenario" that the dr. gave - 4 months- is even less and that it isn't the worst - 8 months! This leads to a travel issue for us. It looks like he will not be able to travel. Since we do not have a date yet, we are hoping that by the time we go - he will be able to go with us. Not sure I can take 3 and leave one behind :(
Adoption paper work - another down of the week! Just when we think we have taken 10 steps forward, we seem to take 11 steps back! Forms need changed or redone, Keegan and Kelton's passport applications were not signed by the post office and sent back (after we paid the ridiculous expedite fees), our INS form is still not back despite many phone calls, it seems like we can't win. Jim has dealt with most of the stress resulting from this since he is more available during the day to be on the phone with "people who can not handle doing their jobs" - direct quote by Jim many times during the past week.
So, we are hoping that this week has more good news than bad - expecting our INS paper, the boys' passports and hopeful the forms that needed slight changes will be done. As our forms are done, they are being sent to be translated. So when the official forms are finally there, they will just need to be submitted. It looks like we won't be making our early June date (since that is only 3 days away). But, as hard as it is to except, we know that it will all come together in God's time.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Getting Closer and Great Friends
It has been 9 months since we made the decision to adopt Ana. I think I can honestly say that these 9 months have been far more stressful than any of the 4 other nine month experiences. Just like the others, I have lost sleep, spent lots of time wondering what life will be like with our new child and have done many things to prepare. The difference is I had a better sense of the whole process and what to expect (ok, maybe not with Kyle) and I am pretty sure that I did not feel the stress that I have felt over the past couple of months. However, I can't speak for Jim and the stress he felt during my pregnancies!
Today I picked up our last piece of paperwork - my medical form. It took forever to get it all finalized (long story) but it is finally done! Tomorrow we take all the other papers (14) to the notary and then send them to Harrisburg for the apostile then.... we wait. Wait for the translations to be finished, wait for the papers to get to Ukraine - we haven't had good luck with this so far, hoping this set of paperwork gets there sooner than the last! Wait for our SDA date. Praying that it all comes together quickly so we can finally see Ana again!
Tonight I sat at Mary Beth's chorus concert thinking, next year we will be watching our TWO eighth grade daughters up on stage singing! I got teary just thinking about watching MB and her sister singing together! We have so many memories to make as a family of 7!
I am amazed and grateful for all of the help coming from family and friends and people we barely know for our fundraiser on Sunday. We are so blessed to live in such a caring and giving community and feel overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. I have felt so much stronger over the past week and I know that all of the prayers for our family and the support that has been offered have given me a sense of peace. Thank you to all of you. Know that you are making a huge difference in a child's life and helping to give her a forever family!
Today I picked up our last piece of paperwork - my medical form. It took forever to get it all finalized (long story) but it is finally done! Tomorrow we take all the other papers (14) to the notary and then send them to Harrisburg for the apostile then.... we wait. Wait for the translations to be finished, wait for the papers to get to Ukraine - we haven't had good luck with this so far, hoping this set of paperwork gets there sooner than the last! Wait for our SDA date. Praying that it all comes together quickly so we can finally see Ana again!
Tonight I sat at Mary Beth's chorus concert thinking, next year we will be watching our TWO eighth grade daughters up on stage singing! I got teary just thinking about watching MB and her sister singing together! We have so many memories to make as a family of 7!
I am amazed and grateful for all of the help coming from family and friends and people we barely know for our fundraiser on Sunday. We are so blessed to live in such a caring and giving community and feel overwhelmed by the outpouring of support. I have felt so much stronger over the past week and I know that all of the prayers for our family and the support that has been offered have given me a sense of peace. Thank you to all of you. Know that you are making a huge difference in a child's life and helping to give her a forever family!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Yay!
So, we are really trying to focus on the end goal this week (even though, the negative force from last week seems to be trying even harder to mess with us at the present time). But progress towards our goal of Ana being home:
* Fingerprints done! Now we wait for the form to be returned but we have done everything we need for this step now. Waiting might be the hardest part!
* After tomorrow, all of the dossier paperwork will be completed and ready to be notarized (1/2 of it already is) and then apostilled! It will then be sent to Ukraine for translation.
*Remember the FedEx package that was not delivered on time? It is now in our facilitators hands and will be taken care of this week!
* Fundraiser in full swing! Started advertising and set up an adoption fund with our church. We have so many good friends who have stepped up to help. We are feeling blessed to have such a great group of friends and family to help and pray for us!
Feeling like we are on the right track! I love progress!
* Fingerprints done! Now we wait for the form to be returned but we have done everything we need for this step now. Waiting might be the hardest part!
* After tomorrow, all of the dossier paperwork will be completed and ready to be notarized (1/2 of it already is) and then apostilled! It will then be sent to Ukraine for translation.
*Remember the FedEx package that was not delivered on time? It is now in our facilitators hands and will be taken care of this week!
* Fundraiser in full swing! Started advertising and set up an adoption fund with our church. We have so many good friends who have stepped up to help. We are feeling blessed to have such a great group of friends and family to help and pray for us!
Feeling like we are on the right track! I love progress!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Thank you
Thank you for staying with our new private blog. It was a hard decision because the blog has put us in touch with many people willing to help with the fundraiser, an amazing group of people praying for us and the supportive community we have needed through this process. However, there have been some issues with the former facilitator and we have decided this will provide us with at least a little peace about the situation.
Have you ever just felt that you were tired of dealing with the negative and evil forces that tend to appear in our lives? That is were we are this weekend. We have been working hard toward something so good - how can we allow this to bring us down and give us so much stress this week? We have had other moments like this through the adoption and have overcome them - especially by finding our new agency. Balancing the paperwork, planning a fundraiser, work and my busy family has been a struggle this week, as I have already posted. I think I could have kept the evil part of the week from getting in my head, if I had not let myself get so stressed about everything else in the first place. What we really need to do is bring Ana home. We need to regroup and get our focus back. God has led us to the path we are currently on and we intend to stay there until Ana is with us!
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We will be busy with church, soccer and Kyle's family birthday party. I am so thankful for the 4 reasons I can celebrate Mother's Day along with the 5th - who I can't wait to hug and kiss and tell her how much we have missed her! I already received my first present: Kelton and I were playing M-O-M this afternoon (his version of the basketball game PIG but changed to fit the holiday!) and he let me win (or so he says, I actually think I am just that good!)
I met with some friends today - even in my stressed out state - and watched some new video of Ana. I wished I could just reach through the screen and touch her, tell her we will be there soon and just ease her mind that this will not be, yet another time, that she is let down by someone who is supposed to love her.
Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday May 22nd at the Warriors Mark Church! Hope to see you there!
Have you ever just felt that you were tired of dealing with the negative and evil forces that tend to appear in our lives? That is were we are this weekend. We have been working hard toward something so good - how can we allow this to bring us down and give us so much stress this week? We have had other moments like this through the adoption and have overcome them - especially by finding our new agency. Balancing the paperwork, planning a fundraiser, work and my busy family has been a struggle this week, as I have already posted. I think I could have kept the evil part of the week from getting in my head, if I had not let myself get so stressed about everything else in the first place. What we really need to do is bring Ana home. We need to regroup and get our focus back. God has led us to the path we are currently on and we intend to stay there until Ana is with us!
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. We will be busy with church, soccer and Kyle's family birthday party. I am so thankful for the 4 reasons I can celebrate Mother's Day along with the 5th - who I can't wait to hug and kiss and tell her how much we have missed her! I already received my first present: Kelton and I were playing M-O-M this afternoon (his version of the basketball game PIG but changed to fit the holiday!) and he let me win (or so he says, I actually think I am just that good!)
I met with some friends today - even in my stressed out state - and watched some new video of Ana. I wished I could just reach through the screen and touch her, tell her we will be there soon and just ease her mind that this will not be, yet another time, that she is let down by someone who is supposed to love her.
Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday May 22nd at the Warriors Mark Church! Hope to see you there!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Ok, this one is not really "All About Ana"
Today is Kyle's 16th birthday party. He turns 16 on Monday. It has all happened so fast. We are so proud of the person he is becoming. I look at him and remember holding him in my arms almost 16 years ago when I was dreaming about all of the time we would have together. 16 years went so fast (probably faster after his sister and brothers were born!).
So, I should make some part of this All About Ana! As we have been finalizing the party plans this week, I have thought about how exciting it will be to plan a party for her. All of our kids get excited when there is a family birthday and Ana's birthday will be even more exciting since we will be with her. I imagine that she never had a party before. We have so many wonderful memories to make. And I have definitely learned that the time goes by too fast so make as many memories as you can!
I don't know if it is lucky or not that out of the seven of us - we all have birthdays in different months. In one way, everyone gets to celebrate their day but, life would be a little less complicated if we could celebrate a couple birthdays at once! So, 7 out of twelve months we will have a reason for a party!
So, I should make some part of this All About Ana! As we have been finalizing the party plans this week, I have thought about how exciting it will be to plan a party for her. All of our kids get excited when there is a family birthday and Ana's birthday will be even more exciting since we will be with her. I imagine that she never had a party before. We have so many wonderful memories to make. And I have definitely learned that the time goes by too fast so make as many memories as you can!
I don't know if it is lucky or not that out of the seven of us - we all have birthdays in different months. In one way, everyone gets to celebrate their day but, life would be a little less complicated if we could celebrate a couple birthdays at once! So, 7 out of twelve months we will have a reason for a party!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Deep Breath!
Thank you for listening to my whining yesterday. I apologize. I feel better this morning - Despite being up since 4am cleaning puke out of Keegan's bed and hair and then sleeping with him on the couch.
I am still overwhelmed but feel a new sense of resolved that we can accomplish this. God has not let us down yet even in the times that we felt this process was hopeless. It is a very long and hilly roller coaster ride:
First Hill: The decision to adopt. I have mentioned before that this was not an immediate decision for us but something that we talked and prayed about for a couple of weeks.
Second Hill: The financial aspect. International adoption is very costly and not something we had planned for in the past the year. We thought we had climbed to the top of this one and had just about enough to cover our cost until a couple of weeks ago when we decided to take the kids. Now the cost of airfare and extra lodging plus extra we needed for the adoption cost has me concerned but I continue to ask God for guidance. So many that have been reading the blog have mentioned to me that they enjoyed the "It's a family process" blog. Jim and I really do feel that, with our agency's encouragement, taking the kids is the right thing for our family. Worth the extra cost, worth the hassles of travelling with 6 (we do this anytime go on vacation anyway - always need a bigger vehicle, never fit in a hotel, etc) And worth the extra stress it is causing me at the moment.
Third Hill and the one I am really struggling with: Paperwork and my mistake on the USCIS form. Our goal is to have everything else done by the end of the week and ready to be notarized - if you saw the list you would realize it is a huge goal to accomplish! Today I am feeling like it can be done! Other than that, we just need to hope and pray that the new form, sent yesterday by overnight mail, finds its way to the right office this time. This could be a huge hold up for us and not good if we want to make it there by mid June.
Time to go get re -energized by 24 three year olds today! Have a great day everyone and thanks for the encouragement. I am feeling a peace that God has been with this process all along and is going to continue to see us through.
It looks like the fundraiser is starting to come together. Check back for more details!
I am still overwhelmed but feel a new sense of resolved that we can accomplish this. God has not let us down yet even in the times that we felt this process was hopeless. It is a very long and hilly roller coaster ride:
First Hill: The decision to adopt. I have mentioned before that this was not an immediate decision for us but something that we talked and prayed about for a couple of weeks.
Second Hill: The financial aspect. International adoption is very costly and not something we had planned for in the past the year. We thought we had climbed to the top of this one and had just about enough to cover our cost until a couple of weeks ago when we decided to take the kids. Now the cost of airfare and extra lodging plus extra we needed for the adoption cost has me concerned but I continue to ask God for guidance. So many that have been reading the blog have mentioned to me that they enjoyed the "It's a family process" blog. Jim and I really do feel that, with our agency's encouragement, taking the kids is the right thing for our family. Worth the extra cost, worth the hassles of travelling with 6 (we do this anytime go on vacation anyway - always need a bigger vehicle, never fit in a hotel, etc) And worth the extra stress it is causing me at the moment.
Third Hill and the one I am really struggling with: Paperwork and my mistake on the USCIS form. Our goal is to have everything else done by the end of the week and ready to be notarized - if you saw the list you would realize it is a huge goal to accomplish! Today I am feeling like it can be done! Other than that, we just need to hope and pray that the new form, sent yesterday by overnight mail, finds its way to the right office this time. This could be a huge hold up for us and not good if we want to make it there by mid June.
Time to go get re -energized by 24 three year olds today! Have a great day everyone and thanks for the encouragement. I am feeling a peace that God has been with this process all along and is going to continue to see us through.
It looks like the fundraiser is starting to come together. Check back for more details!
Monday, May 2, 2011
Still Working Hard
So, we are trying to get all of our dossier paperwork done in record time so we can travel. There are 14 documents that all ask for something different, need notarized, need apostilled. AHHH!!! Plus, work stuff for both of us and the crazy end of the year schedule and spring sports! I might not sleep at all this month and just pull a couple of all nighters! Although, I didn't even do that in college so there is no way I could pull that off now!
The part holding us back is my mistake and has had me in tears more than once today: I sent our Home Study to the wrong USCIS office. I used the address that we had for the original form instead of the place where the form is now. The person Jim talked to today set that could set us back by 75 days. I am so mad at myself for not paying closer attention. Jim sent another overnight so we are praying this takes care of the problem.
We have had lots of great fundraiser ideas. My preschool hallway (who is awesome, by the way) thinks that a carnival is the way to go with each friend volunteering to do a booth. I'm still feeling like this is more overall work than I can handle at the moment with everything else going on. So, I started thinking more about a spaghetti dinner with maybe some carnival games set up in another area that people could play. But, I still really need some family and friends to commit to volunteering any time they have to help plan and run it. When I look at the calendar, I think that the weekend of May 20th is the best choice and gives us a couple of weeks before we travel so we know where we stand. But, that is not very far away! I am really not very good at asking for help but I think I need a lot of it right now! or a couple clones of myself, a money tree, and a life organizer!
I end every blog with asking for your prayers for all 7 of us but today I feel like I really need you to pray for me! I am feeling very stressed and overwhelmed today. One of those days where you are just really not sure which problem/issue you should tackle first: kids schedules, school stuff, money/fundraisers, paperwork and the list goes on! But, as I ask for your prayers I think of my friend, Lindy and her family, who are going through a very hard time in the adoption process. They need your prayers more than I do for my hectic life!
The part holding us back is my mistake and has had me in tears more than once today: I sent our Home Study to the wrong USCIS office. I used the address that we had for the original form instead of the place where the form is now. The person Jim talked to today set that could set us back by 75 days. I am so mad at myself for not paying closer attention. Jim sent another overnight so we are praying this takes care of the problem.
We have had lots of great fundraiser ideas. My preschool hallway (who is awesome, by the way) thinks that a carnival is the way to go with each friend volunteering to do a booth. I'm still feeling like this is more overall work than I can handle at the moment with everything else going on. So, I started thinking more about a spaghetti dinner with maybe some carnival games set up in another area that people could play. But, I still really need some family and friends to commit to volunteering any time they have to help plan and run it. When I look at the calendar, I think that the weekend of May 20th is the best choice and gives us a couple of weeks before we travel so we know where we stand. But, that is not very far away! I am really not very good at asking for help but I think I need a lot of it right now! or a couple clones of myself, a money tree, and a life organizer!
I end every blog with asking for your prayers for all 7 of us but today I feel like I really need you to pray for me! I am feeling very stressed and overwhelmed today. One of those days where you are just really not sure which problem/issue you should tackle first: kids schedules, school stuff, money/fundraisers, paperwork and the list goes on! But, as I ask for your prayers I think of my friend, Lindy and her family, who are going through a very hard time in the adoption process. They need your prayers more than I do for my hectic life!
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