El Segundo Viaje

Merry Christmas

2011-12-04T13:02:00.001-08:00

Merry Montage Christmas

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More Paperwork - Check

2011-11-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again...another I600 to be sent it...and so it is done!

We are approved for another 18 months until we have to send another update...

And since we never sit still for long...

which has helped to take our focus off the wait

Here are some highlights of the last few months:

Fall family photo shoot
St. Simon's Island, GA to visit Ami & Ampi for Halloween
Walt Disney World with friends
EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and LegoLand too
Mason turned 5
Apple picking weekend in Michigan with friends
Andy went to the 10 yr anniversary of 9/11 in NYC

Officially 2 Years into the Wait...

2011-10-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

Here we are... Officially, 2 years into the wait for our second child.

Waiting is hard... Just when you feel like it is within reach, it lengthens...and feels

like you will never have your child home!

We are hopeful that it will not be a full 2 years longer & continue to settle into this long wait

but we are still holding out hope for a nice surprise referral sooner ;)

Mason is getting very excited about his "brother or sister" that will be joining our family. He is starting to ask alot of questions about it and wants to know when our next child will be home. Right now, he is rooting for a brother but that changes on a daily basis.

I asked him this week what we should name his sibling and he said "Cupcake"!

Pretty sure he is not having any power over the name - but like his enthusiasm :)

At least he is naming his sibling after something he

loves - so that is a good thing!

So here we are...waiting for number 2...

6 More Months Gone By...

2011-08-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

2011

Cannot believe that we started the process of bringing our second child home in Jan of 2008...and it is now 2011! We are still about 2 years away from a referral but we know that it will all be worth the wait when we are a family of 4!

We have just started our 3rd update for our I600 and it will be turned in this month! Hoping we will only have to do an update 1 more time before our child is home in our arms. Would really like it even before another 18 mos but I know the reality...and am still settling into the wait. Sigh...

I love our family of 3 but sometimes when I see our family portraits, I just feel like 1 person is missing. Cannot wait to know who you are and who God has in store for us! We are so lucky that you are coming to our family. We pray for you all the time and cannot wait for you to join us in our little family.

In the meantime - here is how we have been tolerating the wait over the last 6 months:

Winter Sledding

Mason was a big fan of this and our winter here in Chicago sure gave us enough snow to practice!

Snowmaggedeon 2011

More snow than I have ever seen in my life. The entire city of Chicago shut down for 24 hours...we had a blast hanging out with our neighbors and shoveling ;)

Captain Andy

Mason and I flew with Andy to Des Moines on a flight. What an awesome trip to see Mason watch Andy flying the plane...we had to sit in the back, of course, but Mason loved watching his Dee Dee in action - and on the radio!

Be still my heart...I love this picture of both my men!

St. Patrick's Day

No St. Patrick's Day passes without festivities around here!

Bears Football Play-Offs

Any excuse for a party

Annual Tradition with Dee Dee - Cubs Opening Day!

Go Cubs Go!

Easter Egg Hunt

No better reason to celebrate than the resurrection of Christ!

Bear Time

Bear Spent time with us from school

Crazy Hair Day

St. Simon's Island, GA

Got in some time with Ami and Ampi, and got to see Endeavor take off on the last shuttle...amazing!

Preschool Graduation

Our 10th Anniversary

And our first trip away from Mason to Cabo San Lucas - heaven!

Helping with Mom's Cookbook

My third cookbook was released in June!
www.welcomingkitchen.blogspot.com

First time "Big Boy" golfing with Ampi, Ben, and Dee Dee

4th of July at the Lake Chautauqua, NY

Summer time is not complete without a trip to the lake...

Great time with friends, family, and fireworks!

A gift from my mom...

2011-01-01T15:32:00.000-08:00

Priceless and special...

My mom gave me this ornament this year and it is so special to me. My mom is a great collector of ornaments and one of the things that my parents do is - every time they visit somewhere new - they bring home an ornament from their travels.

Their tree reads like an atlas now with all the traveling that they have done and it is marvelous, as their child, to look at the tree each year and see what a special life they have been blessed with and all the adventures that we have taken as a family.

This year, instead of placing their Colombian ornament on their tree, they gave it to us to put on our family tree. I put it on the tree, next to our Guatemalan ornaments, and said a prayer for our children, their first families, and their birth countries which will always be a part of our family.

It is truly a very special and priceless gift to me...

Blessings and Happiness in 2011

Holiday Season 2010

2011-01-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

The holidays are winding down and I am thinking about the ups and downs of 2010 as we draw near to 2011. This year has been filled with extreme ups and downs in my family and we are all ready to ring in 2011 full of hope.

One of the things that has kept me going, is the thought that the time of adding another little soul to our clan is coming sooner and sooner. The movement this year in Colombia has been so hopeful and each list that is posted bring us so much joy as we begin to anticipate more and more who this little person might be who is going to join our family.

We have enjoyed celebrating the wait, growing closer as a family, and being hopefully optimistic that we might only need to go thru one more holiday season before they come home to our forever family...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fingerprints...check! Again!

2010-12-12T19:25:00.001-08:00

We actually got to do something besides just wait! We completed our USCIS fingerprints again! It was the third time we had to do them (for this adoption) and we are pros! In total, I think Andy and I each have been fingerprinted 10 times between both our adoptions! Unfortunately, we cannot take pictures in the fingerprinting office so we did not get to document the adventure.

We are thinking more and more about this little person who is going to be joining our family. It is very possible that their birth mother is pregnant with them now. When I think about this...I feel so many emotions and many of them are conflicting to each other!

I feel excited for our family yet scared and sad for our child and their first family. It makes me sad to think about what their first family will go through in order for me to have another child in our family.

I do believe that it is meant to be...
but it does make me sad that it has to be this way.

We have a relationship with Mason's first family and I really hope that we are able to sustain some type of relationship with our next child's first family or at least have the hope of it in the future. I know how important this is to all of us...

So...we pray, and wait, and hope, and dream...and enjoy our time and this great adventure until we have our family completed!

Loving the timeline...

2010-11-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

The Bat Family is excited!!

Why??

Besides our fabulous Halloween costumes?

The list showed some major movement again! It is still looking like we may possibly be matched to our next child in about a year and a half - 2 years! I am finally starting allow myself to get more excited and begin to plan a little for this next little soul to join our family. I am thrilled for us to be able to welcome home another family member and am also excited to allow Mason the chance to be a big brother! If it were up to me, we would have a whole bunch of kids...but as I am slowly learning, life is not in my control. We will see where our family is being lead but right now I am learning to enjoy the ride...and even the wait (kind of)!

Next up...fingerprints again for USCIS next week!!

Closer???

2010-09-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

We are ready to be a family of 4...and it might be sooner than we think!

This was the first month that I was really stalking around the internet trying to find the latest list from ICBF about when they are matching... I was on a mission. I searched and searched and was finally successful! The search was exciting for a few reasons. The fact that I was able to find it and understand it in spanish was a great thing - but the results of the list are the best news yet! There was a ton of movement in the 0-2 category!! They are now matching families "logged into ICBF" in February of 2007.

I am not naive enough to belive that this rate will continue but I am faithful enough to hope that it might ;) If this rate would continue, we could be matched in a year and a half! That is amazing news and movement! I can totally handle a year and a half wait - gives me time to really get us ready for this next little person to enter our life. I would love it to be sooner than that but would be very greatful for only a year and a half more...

While we wait, we are starting to talk to Mason about his brother or sister that will hopefully be joining our family. It is difficult, as an adult, to try to wrap your heart and head around the circumstances that are a part of us becoming a family. It is even more difficult to try to explain that to a child. We are using simple words, and are even spending more time talking about Mason's own story and path to our family.

We are praying for our child and their birth family and trying to send prayers to help prepare their hearts for us. It is humbling to consider what our child will go thru before ever joining our family and I wish that I could take that pain, loss, and hurt away. Hopefully, in time and with healing, we will be able to the be the family that they need to grow up and feel loved and safe.

2010-08-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

This is how we are all feeling about waiting another 3 years to be matched with our child ;) We did finish the second round of paperwork and are proud to say that we now have an official extension for our I600 so that is taken care of again for another 18 months. We have sent off an updated homestudy to Colombia and will need to be fingerprinted again in September.

We did just celebrate our 3 year family day with Mason this week...and it did remind me that 3 years really does go so fast! not when you are thinking about it but I cannot believe that it has been 3 years since we brought him home from Gautemala! Other than waiting for the next list to be posted (so we can track how long our wait might be) we are enjoying our summer and getting ready to send Mason off to preschool this fall :( Hoping that we get to travel to Colombia before he hits the 1st grade so that we won't feel so bad about taking him out of school for 6-8 weeks to travel!

New ICBF List

2010-02-26T18:00:00.001-08:00

A new list came out this week...looks like families in our bracket who have been submitted in May 2006 are now being matched with their children. What does that mean for us??? About 3 years and 3 more months of waiting...We can do it...

Home Study Update - Check!

2010-02-21T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well - it is that time again - more paperwork to do...
and the wait gets longer and longer ;(

We have had our social worker out to update our homestudy, we have been refingerprinted, all had updated medical exams, and have submitted all of this to the IL DCFS to get "reapproved" to submit it to USCIS before our deadline in April. Once we get this extension, it will be good for another 18 months. Due to the increaasing wait times, I am convinced that we will have to go thru all of this at least one more, and possibly 2 more times. Hoping for a referral in about 3-4 years from now - 2013 or 2014!

I am praying to be pleasantly surprised -- but I have been around international adoption long enough to not hold my breath! In the meantime, we are having a blast with Mason and are hoping to get some more traveling in this fall! Headed to Mallorca, Spain for a wedding and cannot wait!

God's timing is perfect and this next child will bless us with their prescence whenever it is the right time for our family. We learned through Mason's adoption that we can try to control it all and have a plan...but God's plan is even better than what we can come up with!

Happy 2010!

Wait List Nov 2009

2009-12-01T16:16:00.000-08:00

The most recent Wait List was published by ICBF on November 23, 2009.

Once again, the ICBF Wait List applies to adoptions through ICBF only -- not through CASAS PRIVADAS. It also ONLY APPLIES TO NON COLOMBIAN FAMILIES.

It DOES NOT reflect special needs children. The definition of special needs are children with disabilities, children over 8 years of age, and sibling groups of 3 or more.

Age of Child ------- Date of Application Approval by ICBF
Child 0-12 months ------ Mar - 2006
Child 13 - 23 months ---- Mar -2006
Child 2 years ----------- Jul - 2005
Child 3 years ----------- Dec - 2005
Child 2 - 3 years -------- Apr - 2006
Child 3 - 4 years -------- Oct - 2005
Child 4 years ----------- Sep - 2005
Child 5 years ----------- June - 2006
Child 4 -5 years -------- Apr - 2006
Child 5 - 6 years ------- May - 2007
Child 6 years ----------- Nov - 2008
Child 7 years ----------- Jul - 2009

2 Siblings 0 - 4 years --- Mar-2007
2 Siblings 0 - 5 years --- Jul-2006
2 Siblings 0 - 6 years --- Aug-2007
2 Siblings 0 - 7 years --- Nov-2008
2 Siblings 0 - 8 years --- Jan - 2009

Wait List Statistics

As of October 30, 2009, there were 3,749 potential adoptive families that have been approved by ICBF to adopt. This number is down by 19 families from July. These are the families -- in Colombia and abroad -- that are currently on the WAIT LIST. The actual break down is Colombian families 205, foreign families 3,544.

Remember, Colombian families (whether living in Colombia or ex-pat Colombians abroad) receive PRIORITY and PREFERENTIAL treatment. That means that the Colombian family will be considered for any available child BEFORE any foreign family. If the Adoptions Committee considers that the Colombian family makes the best match, then the available child is assigned to the Colombian family. If the Adoptions Committee does not think that the available child makes a good match with the Colombian family, other families are then considered. Some Colombian families (those living in Colombia) will remain in the Region where they processed they paperwork -- no matter how many children are available. This means that some Colombian families wait many months, others get referrals in a few weeks. Usually the expat Colombians will be assigned to a region based on the immediate availability of children, unless they have otherwise requested a region. Often ex-pat Colombian families get referrals before families in Colombia because they are typically willing to be sent to any region where a child is available.

Again, as of October, 2009, the following families remain on the Wait List:

92 families who were approved for adoption in 2005 -- down from 144 in July
504 families who were approved for adoption in 2006 -- down from 666 in July
869 families who were approved for adoption in 2007 -- down from 948 in July
1,110 families who were approved for adoption in 2008 -- down from 1,196 in July
969 families who were approved for adoption in 2009 -- up from 572 in July

ICBF Approval!!!

2009-10-03T07:26:00.001-07:00

It is official!! We are on the list to wait for our future child! Our approval date is September 28th, 2009! We are thrilled and excited to be actually waiting for a child instead of "waiting to be waiting".

Any forward movement is good...

So, in about 4 years from now, we will hopefully be headed to Colombia for a while to meet our child.

Cannot wait....but will somehow have to learn how....

No News...

2009-07-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

No news on the adoption front...still waiting to see if we are going to be approved the first go around. Praying that is the case and that we are not delayed further by having to fix anything and resubmit for approval. We did have to go get out firngerprints redone as they were expiring on our I600 form. So that is done and we have received our new I 600. I am sure we will have to be fingerprinted many more times before the adoption is complete...

We are keeping busy this summer...see Mason's blog for a full account of our summer activities!

We are headed out this weekend to celebrate the 4th with family in Lake Chautauqua, New York! We are also getting to see Andy's family in Ann Arbor this week so we are taking a midwest tour to see our families!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Mother's Day 2009

2009-05-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Praying today for all our children's birth families, all our friends waiting to become forever families, all our mother's, mother-in-laws, stepmothers, and our many friends who are learning the ropes of parenthood right along with us!

Here are my two kids right now...waiting for one more!

LEGACY OF AN ADOPTED CHILD

Once there were two women who never knew each other
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother

Two different lives shaped to make you one
One became your guiding star, the other became your sun

The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it

One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim

One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried you tears

One made an adoption plan, that was all that she could do
The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.

Now, which of these two women, Are you the product of?
Both, my darling, Both, Just two different types of love.
---- Unknown

Submitted!

2009-04-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

I received an exciting email this morning. Looks like my prayers were answered and we were submitted last week! God is Good!

Your application and dossier was filed at ICBF on Friday.
We hope to hear from ICBF within 2 months or sooner!

Praying for sooner ;) This is an exciting step for us. The next step will hopefully be approval which starts the official timeclock until referral. It will be a long time (3-5 years) for us to be matched with a child but it is exciting to be closer to even starting the official wait. The wait it very long but we are praying that timelines decrease in Colombia instead of increasing....a girl can dream ;)

Good News!

2009-04-15T19:05:00.000-07:00

I received some exciting news today from our agency:

The translation of your dossier has been completed. The
application and dossier will be submitted at ICBF early next week.

After the submission we must wait for several weeks to hear from ICBF about
the code number for your application and weeks later if you are approved.

I wish we were submitted this week...but I will take "early next week".

We are still plugging along....

A new ICBF list came out this week and right now, it is looking like about 3.5 years from when we are approved by ICBF until referral. Praying that this timeline does not lengthen but that it will shorten over time...

Crossing our Fingers....

2009-04-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

We are praying that our dossier is going to be submitted to ICBF this week! Last week was delayed as many government offices and workers are not available to work during Semana Santa.

Hoping this is our week for submission!

This wait after our submission is going to be incredibly long! Possibly 4-5 years! So we are praying that the submission to ICBF and approval from ICBF are fast so that the true wait can begin after our hopeful approval from ICBF.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Phillipians 4:6

Where is our Dossier??

2009-03-26T18:14:00.001-07:00

It has arrived in Bogota, Colombia!

Yeah!! Next news we are waiting for is the dossier's submission to the ICBF.

For now...I am just sending our paperwork good vibes in Colombia...

Here is a picture of Bogota at sunset:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T07:38:00.000-07:00

Wishing everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day! We celebrated with many, many other people this weekend in downtown Chicago for the dying of the river and annual parade.

This is my wish for you:
”Comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,
laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,
beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,
confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.”

Irish Blessing

Arrived...

2009-03-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

I received conformation that our dossier has made it to Washington D.C!

" We received your dossier and reviewed it. Early next week it will be mailed to Colombia for translation into Spanish and to be submitted at ICBF. The translation takes 2 weeks."

Music to my ears (or eyes, as the case may be in an email). I realize that we are a long way from a referral but at least I feel like we are moving forward to the real wait. Hurry up and wait, right? I am looking forward to the official acceptance from ICBF and I pray that, at least, that the wait will be fast to our approval by ICBF...

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

I am grateful to have Mason here to help make this long wait more bearable! He is such a funny little character! He picked this fabulous outfit out all by himself! Ha! I cannot wait to see him be a big brother to his sibling coming from Colombia! I wonder if he will have a little brother or sister...

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered!!!

2009-03-10T16:23:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to report that our dossier is complete and is in the mail! Yeah!!!

We spent the day running around making last minute changes and getting final documents notorized. Then we all went downtown to the IL secretary of state to get the apostilles on all the documents...

IL Secretary of State Office in Chicago

And then we dropped off this precious bundle of paperwork at the local Fed Ex office! It is crazy how protective of this paperwork you become after spending all this time collecting, reviewing, and organizing it...It does feel great to be done and have it on its little way to Colombia soon!

I am still waiting for final details about the path our paperwork takes from here until it is registered with ICBF but I am praying that at least this part goes quickly as I know the wait for a referral is about 36 months right now...uggh!

But right now, we are focusing on the excitement of this step being done and heading out to celebrate!

99% Done!

2009-03-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Well... we are in the home stretch of our dossier! Hoping to have everything in place and then head down to the Secretary of State's office on Tuesday for the final seals. After that...it will be sent to our agency, translated, and then off to Colombia where it will be until we have a referral! I am praying that the wait time quickens from the 3 years that we are being told now....

It feels good to be almost done with the paper chase and getting ready to settle into the long wait.
I keep thinking about our newest addition to the family with each paper that I set into a pile to get ready to mail.
It must be like milestones in a pregnancy...exciting and scary all at the same time!

In the meantime....Mason is keeping us busy! We had an awesome weekend skiing with our family in Lake Chautuaqua, New York! Mason loves being around all his cousins!

We Are Back!!

2009-02-02T18:10:00.000-08:00

And we are tired of waiting in this "no-man's land"....
We are ready for another child and Mason is ready for a sibling!

We are still waiting to hear back from the private orphanage in Colombia. There is no predictablity with this part of the wait so we have decided to switch our path back to our initial one. We are going to resume collecting our dossier to submit to the Colombian government (ICBF). The process will not be fast (about 3 years) but at least we can submit our stuff and know that we are waiting in a path that is moving forward...Slow but steady!

Maybe things will speed up and Mason will have a sibling sooner than later but right now we are just excited to move forward. We are hoping to have our dossier to Colombia in about 6-8 weeks....

2008-12-23T21:00:00.001-08:00

Feliz Navidad!! We are celebrating Christmas with family, friends, tameles. and turkey!! Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Pictures of the celebrations to follow after the holidays...

Until then...

Enjoy this funny picture of us us elf hats at a local Winter Walk!

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T17:58:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween! We had a wonderful Halloween with some friends. Mason has a lot of new pictures on his blog showing how we have been celebrating everything fall!

No new news on the adoption of his sibling! We are absolutely in a waiting period and that is just going to be the way that it is. We are being submitted to a program in Colombia but will not know anything until the spring. If we do not get into this program, then we will submit to ICBF and continue to wait about 3 years!

So either way...nothing is going to happen for a really long time ;(

In the meantime, we plan to stay positive, prepare as best we can for this new little person to join our family, and enjoy every minute that we have as a family of 3.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

171H!!!

2008-10-14T16:45:00.001-07:00

We have our 171H!! What does this mean?? We are now approved by our US government to adopt internationally. We need this paperwork in order to be granted a visa for our future child! Now I have to figure out what the next step will be...

Yeah!

Here is Mason and Bali celebrating today!

Please ignore the state of Mason's T-shirt!
(This is his current favorite lizard shirt and insisted
on putting this on over his pajamas today )

I love a toddler with an opinion :)

Lovin Fall...

2008-10-04T19:26:00.000-07:00

No news on the adoption front but we are not really expecting any for a little while...

So... We had a great time at the pumpkin patch today!

Check out Mason's Blog for all the details!

Happy Fall Everyone!

Start the Countdown...

2008-09-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today is the day! Our home study was approved by DCFS in Illinois. Illinois is the only state in the country to require home studies to be approved by DCFS prior to heading to USCIS. This added about 8 weeks (but who is counting) to our process of completing the home study.

But, the good news is, they did not request any additional changes and it is on it's way to USCIS and the countdown to our 171H has officially begun.

The 171H...ahhh....the memories! With Mason's adoption, we needed the 171H to get on the list for a referral. It was such a highly anticipated document. And, when it finally came, was a little anti-climactic as it was only one piece of government looking paper that I was not even sure that it was the 171H!

I stalked our mail carrier for days until it finally came and was jumping up and down in the sidewalk screaming when it finally did come. I called our agency and we were officially put "on the list". It was only about 1 week after we got it that we were matched with Mason. And then I stalked my agency until we had a referral. The difference this time is that there is noone for me to stalk ; )

I am sure that I can think of someone! I will have a lot of time now...the 171H just means that our paperwork can be approved by Colombia...the wait is still years away until referral.

One Week and It Is Ready to Go!

2008-09-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Future so Bright...Gotta wear shades!
Mason with a cheesy grin and cheey old shades of mom's!
We might pull this one out on prom night ;)

Love our psychologist!!
She has the report complete and off to our agency. We are still waiting for our home study to get back from DCFS in IL but hopefully both will be ready to go at the same time....

Those are the 2 things that we are waiting on right now...and then we can resume our paper chase!

Also...say a few prayers for the court system in Colombia right now. They are currently on strike and many families are there waiting for the court to resume work so their adoptions can be complete.

Psych Eval?? Check!

2008-09-02T18:43:00.000-07:00

Well, we are officially not crazy! Good thing that we fooled her ;)

Pretty painless and the best news is that the report should be
ready in about 1 week! The psychologist is an adoptive mom and
told us that she would feel awful if her part was to hold up anyone's
adoptions so she tries to get them done as soon as possible!

That was music to my ears!!!! I wish everyone in field of adoption
preparation felt the same way!!

So, hopefully, the home study and psychological evaluation
should be ready at about the same time. That is good news since these are
the first 2 things that we will send down to Colombia to get the ball rolling!

Once these 2 items are ready to go, then we will go back to paper-chasing
for the rest of the items in our dossier!

One question though?? Do all psychologist really have couches????

Are we Nuts???

2008-09-01T18:48:00.000-07:00

We get to be officially told that tomorrow! And not just by family members...by a real professional! We are scheduled for our psychological testing for this adoption this week and I hope they do not realize that we truly are nuts ;)

As for the rest of the paperwork, we are plugging away at it. We are taking our time and waiting until our psych eval and homestudy are ready to go and then we will pick up the pace again on the rest of the dossier. I do not want to waste any more time and money getting this paperwork all done, and then have to redo it before we send the dossier. The state of IL is very slow with all the home study paperwork. I think we will already have to do alot of the paperwork that we started with our last agency. At least I am helping out the ecomony ;)

And just for a little Mason cuteness...

Hey Mama...what is this I hear about a brother or sister??
Bring them on!!

What have we been doing???

2008-08-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

How do we take this family of 3 and make it a Family of 4?

Well...we have to start all over again at the beginning...

Right now we are in the phase of the "Paperchase" for those of you who are familiar with international adoption ;) We spend an exorbitant amount of time and energy getting interviewed, fingerprinted, examined, and we get to practice our organizational skills keeping all of this straight!

We have become fast friends with the closest notary, mail carrier, and Fed Ex office staff. We have stayed with our doctor (who we are not even that crazy about) for the last few years because there is a great group of people at the State Farm Insurance office next door, who notorize our medical letters with minimal pain and suffering! They are great...and no, neither Andy or I work for State Farm!

Our home study is finally done and in IL, this process takes longer than any other state in the country, so we are happy to have it over and on to the first round of approval with the state of IL, before it can even go to immigration to get the approval that we need (171H).

So...in case anyone wants to know what we have been up to this summer...on top of moving, writing a cook book, traveling and entertaining a ton of family and friends (see Mason's blog for details!)...this is how we are spending our time and energy.

Items we completed for our Home Study:

Interview with social worker
Home visit
-> check fire and carbon monoxide detectors, fire safety route, measure rooms
5 Letters of Recommendation
2 sets of fingerprints
10 Hours of Hague Training
Clearance of our home study by DCFS (IL Dept of Social Services)
State police clearances for both of us

Items we are working on for our dossier...

ICBF Application (Colombia's Social Service Agency)
Letter of Introduction
Certified Copy Marriage License
Certified Copies of our birth certificates
-> Andy's has to come from England...fun!
Certified Copy of Mason's Birth Certificate
Medical Letters for both of us
Letter from Employers
Form 1040
Psychological Interview and Report
Personality Testing
FBI Clearancees
Citizenship Certificate of Adopted Children
Citizen Certificate of Andy
Affidavit of Names
I-171H with Notarized Tail
Letter of Recommendation x 3
Passport Photo Pages
Photos of Family & Home
Photos on Construction Paper for Child
Certificate of Hague Approved Training (10 hours of classes!)

It is a ton of work but it will be completely worth every minute!!!
I get frustrated with the delays that we have hit in this initial part of this adoption. It is taking longer for our second adoption
preparation than for our first, and the process is even simpler than for Guatemala, if you can believe that!

I know that with each delay, it is just lining us up to be ready at the right time for our next child that God has planned for us...and this helps me to be patient.

And...during our time in Colombia...I hope to be on this beach
in Cartagena! Cannot wait to explore Colombia with my family of 4.

Adios!

Here we go again....

2008-08-02T10:56:00.000-07:00

Andy and I have jumped back on the international adoption roller coaster! We began el segundo viaje or our second journey back in March of this year. We are going to be adding another member to our family, and this time from the beautiful country of Colombia. We are excited to adopt not only another child, but another culture and country into our international family. Looks like I will be the only one in my family born in the United States!

The process to adopt from Colombia is different than from Guatemala. Most of our waiting will be before we are matched with our child. We have a long way to go before we are matched but thought we would start this blog as a way to document the process and keep everyone informed. Once we are matched, we will go to Colombia about a month later and will stay for 4-8 weeks there. So, start saving your travel points if you want to come with us to Colombia.

Here we go again...Mason thinks we are nuts ;)