Form 1600-a April 28, 2008 The marriage certificate came in the mail so tomorrow the United States citizen and immigration application for advance processing of orphan petition (I600-A) will be sent to Atlanta. Our homestudy will meet up with it and we will be given a appointment for another round of fingerprinting!!!.We will then have ANOTHER background check and then they will issue us another form to be able to bring Kati home!!!!!I am so SICK of paperwork!I can't wait to bring Kati home!!!!!!!This is all so worth it.edit

International Adoption Terminology And Steps

April 26, 2008

ï Home Study: Report prepared by Social Worker that includes a compilation of medical forms, background check, financial information, etc. This report will meet State approval.
ï I 600A= Form requesting permission for us to bring a child/children into the country to adopt and become a citizen.
ï 171H= Official permission to bring child/children into the country. NOTHING happens until this paper is ready.
ï Dossier = Packet of info (home study, financial statements, background checks, Form 171H) sent to Russia.
ï MOE = Ministry of Education (in Russia) that is in charge of International Adoption processes.
ï Referral: After dossier is translated to Russian and registered with the MOE, the MOE invites you to go to Russia and meet your child.
Trip 1: Travel to Russia to meet the child that has been referred to you. After several days of bonding, a legal adoption petitions is submitted.
Trip 2: Travel to Russia after 4 to 6 weeks from Trip 1. There is a court appearance and a judge has to approve the adoption petition. After more paperwork, the child comes back to US with new parents.
This is just a brief summary of the steps to Katiedit

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Comments

What an exciting time finding our new little grandchild! This part has passed pretty quickly. To God be the Glory!

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Posted by: Itty and Granddaddy on April 26, 2008 at 08:43 A.M.

Control Freak

April 23, 2008

I am having a hard time not wanting to be in control of the adoption process.It is amazing the days that I obsess about it I don't get anything done!! I just obsess! I guess I am scared that this adoption is too good to be true and it is not going to happen. I think I have always felt like the more I control things I can make sure it happens. When I look back over my life I realize the best things that have happened to me were out of my control.I guess this just shows my lack of trust in God. I am going to try to not think I can in any way control the outcome to getting Kati and just trust he loves her more than we do.
The homestudy is over and we were asked questions about our childhoods, parents, kids. One of the scariest questions was about disipline. Gray was a biter last year . The cure to that was tobasco sauce!!!!!!!!!! Gray even has a t-shirt with hot sauce on it. We confessed to putting hotsauce in his mouth and I am glad the social worker did not write that in the report. The homestudy is written so now we wait for immigration form!!edit

Girls Room

April 24, 2008

Our social worker said we could start doing the babies room.Andy and Sid share a room on the second floor . I think we are going to add two bedrooms and a playroom in the attic.Sid and Andy will have that all to themselves. Gray and Kati would be on the second floor by us.I am really excited about a girls room!! We are going to have to get busy!! I have been nesting . I called 1-800-got junk and they hauled 2 trucks of junk(toys) for only 100.00(200.00).Scott was so mad!!!! He wanted to write it all down to write off of taxes.I told him, "TOO BAD!!". He got over it. He is getting so much more mellow in old age.This little girl is going to wrap him around her little finger. He truly is the best Dad I know and my children are so lucky. He truly loves our children. I am trying to prepare him that he needs to work more to be able to pay for girls stuff!!!edit

Homestudy Completed

April 22, 2008

We had our last homestudy last night.Our social worker was awesome but yet at the same time it was extremely unnerving to have someone have the power to make the decision that can alter the course of so many lives.The process is extremely invasive. The paperwork to even begin a homestudy is amazing. The average time to complete a homestudy is 4 months so we are doing pretty good. O.k here is the timeline......
Jan 20 2008-Scott hears the call to adopt. We thought we were going to adopt in Kazakhstan
Jan ?-contact Villa Hope to do homestudy
Jan?-first homestudy at Villa Hope signed a TON of paper
Jan. 22- went to a meeting with our agency and met a family who adopted from Russia and felt God leading us to Russia. We started gathering paper,birth certiuficates, marriage cert, finiciaL STATEMENTS, LETTERS OF RECOMENDATION, MEDICAL EXAM TO SHOW WE ARE HEALTHY AND NOT CRAZY, A MEDICAL EXAM FOR OUR DOG!,LETTERS FROM C.P.A , wrote a life story about our childhood ,ECT...
Jan 29- We got our fingerprints done at Mountain Brook Police Station (the officer scolded me because I told Gray he was going to be put in jail if he did not stop standing on the chair!!)
The past week 2 meetings in our home looking in childrens rooms, asking basically everything!!!!!I will write more about it tomorrow!!!!We are praying daily for God to protect Kati until we can bring her home!!!!!!!Our next move is sending off more fingerprints to the immigration office. They will issue us a form that will make Kati a U.S.A citizen the moment our plane touches down on U.S soil!! That blows us away.After this the dossier will be sent to Russia for translation and then the wait.........edit

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Comments

It is all falling into place just as it is meant to be. Just keep up your faith and patience and the time will pass quickly. I cannot wait to see this darling new Ortis and finally buy a gift that is PINK!
Much love to the whole clan and little Kati. You are prayed for each day.
Laura

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Posted by: Laura on April 22, 2008 at 02:34 P.M.

Grateful

April 15, 2008

Today I have been overwelmed with all that God has given me. I know I don't deserve it.I have the best parents in the world who love me and my husband.They have been such a great example to us. I hope Scott and I can be like them when we are their age.My mother has more compassion than anybody I know. I know this has come from great pain. She has never gotten bitter but let God do his work.She has taught me to love my husband and put him first.I learned from her love lets go and does not manipulate. I know this will help me with Kati. I am praying that I will help her find who God wants her to be ,not what I want her to be!!!!Yes that means if she wants to play softball I will be there cheering!!!!!!edit

No Stress

April 14, 2008

I have always been a bit of a worrier!!!I always have scanned the horizon for any potential problems and have always had a hard time slowing down my mind. It is amazing that I am really not stressed or scared about the adoption!!I know this is God's strength that he has given me for this time!!!!!! It has truly always been the small stuff that gets me!!!