Almost Done! Well, sort of.

Yesterday was a big day. I mailed out all paperwork required by our home study agency and most of the paperwork for our adoption agency. It was so nice to see my little file box empty--at least for a little while. Our dossier is almost complete. We have a couple of things to do: passport photos for forms, pictures of the family...but mostly we are just waiting for our home study to be complete and then the coveted I-171H--the lovely form that everyone so eagerly waits for from USCIS. Then onto translation, authentication and sent to Vietnam. I'd love to be DTV (Dossier To Vietnam) before the end of the year--I shouldn't place a time frame on things that are out of my hands...but it's good to be positive, right? We're so proud to be "almost done" with paperwork...in just under 6 weeks!

By the way, I found this really neat site that I'm sure a lot of you will be interested in. BLURB allows you to turn your blog into a hardcover book printed on archival paper! Prices are fairly reasonable...especially since a lot of us put so much time and energy into our blogs! I've already mentioned to hubby that I would love this for Christmas. I plan to "book" my blogs every year. So how cool is that!!??? I am so excited about this product and can't wait to see what it'll look like! :o)

What A Man!

Trust me...it's not an Urban Legend. There are fantastic husbands out there who are thoughtful! For those wives who have them, please share your "hubby story" with me. Here's what Brian did for me:

Typically, Sundays after church are called, "Kitchen-Pass Days". Since Brian nor I get out often...ALONE, Sunday is our time to remove ourselves from our hectic life and do something for ourselves. We alternate Sundays so one of us is home with the kids. Brian and I have close friends (Will and Amanda) that we spend time with and usually I'll go shopping or see a movie with Amanda and Brian will golf with Will. This Sunday's Kitchen-Pass belonged to the guys' and it was sweetly offered to the girls'....thanks Will. Amanda had a bad week as well, and it was nice for our men to notice and hand-over their day. Oh, and by the way, yesterday was gorgeous...a perfect golf day! We took it graciously and made a mad-dash to the outlets for retail therapy. Oh and shop, we did! Gotta love outlets! I bought a few things for the kids, including Sweet Baby. It's hard to guess what size to buy, as well as not buying anything too seasonal.

Here is what I got for sweet baby:

Well, if getting the coveted Kitchen-Pass wasn't enough...guess what my hubby did for me? This morning I woke up and found this:

Hubby headed down to the local craft store while I was gone yesterday --yes, a craft store--and made this little flower arrangement for me. Do you see the little dragonfly!?? For those of you who don't know, the dragonfly is a lucky charm for Vietnam adoptions...much like the ladybug for China. Isn't that the sweetest? What a man!!

Record Time...

We did it! We were able to be fingerprinted--no appointment required--in RECORD TIME! I'm proud to say we drove into Baltimore, found parking...which is a miracle in itself, made it to the government building--was printed and back in our car in Less Than An Hour!!!

So, okay...my week has ended very nicely. Thanks God for lightening my load!

A New Day Makes A Difference

Sometimes all you can say is,"Well, it is what it is...there's nothing you can do except to put it in God's hands." So with that, I move onward. Thanks to everyone for giving me scripture and warm wishes, it made a difference in my outlook and has helped me remain focused on our goal...bringing our daughter home. Who would have ever thought that blogging would be a nice little support group! :)

We're still continuing to make progress. We had our final home study on Tuesday (9/18) which included the tour of our home and interviews with each of us, including our children. It was short and sweet. Hopefully, we will have our home study in hand within the next week or two. Today, hubby had the day off and we had our physicals for home study and dossier. We also completed our education requirements needed by our agency. Tomorrow, we will be heading to Baltimore to do our fingerprinting (USCIS). I'm not sure how that will go. When we received our "receipt" from our I-600a, we also received a letter stating that our fingerprints were paid for and to report to the Baltimore office during stated hours. No appointment was assigned. I know most of you have waited and were given a certain date to be fingerprinted, so this in a bit confusing. Maybe it's different in the state of Maryland. Sadly, neither one of us can remember if we had an appointment for our last adoption. Like labor pain, you quickly forget the process and the details. Sooo, we'll head down to Baltimore and see what happens---without an appointment. I'll fill you all in on what happens. So, we're moving along--making our lists...checking them twice!

Well, I have to say...I'm looking forward to the end of this week and ready to start a new one! I'll leave you all with another video clip. This one requires a tissue (or two) and will make you ready to jump on the next plane to get your little one!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

**You'll have to pause music playlist at the bottom of blog before viewing**

Breathe, Kate. Just Breathe.

Sometimes I feel like God is that little speaker you talk into at the local fast-food drive-thru. You give Him your order, speaking clearly...telling Him what you want. Most of the time, you NEVER get what you order. My order this week was completely wrong and super-sized with "stress"! I am COMPLETELY aware that He is in control At All Times. I get that...I really do. BUT, I'm also the type that feels that I have to have every little thing is place, right down to the last detail. Especially when I'm bogged down with lots of "to do lists"--trying to keep everything in order AND complete them, it drains me physically and mentally. Don't get me wrong. I love to multi-task! When it comes to paperwork and organizing, arranging, sorting...I'm there! BUT..the slightest little glitch can set me off if I'm at the point of explosion--which is what happened to me this week. I won't go into detail about the needle that burst my balloon, but I will say that through it all, I needed the "gentle-shove" to be reminded that God has planned out everything for me and even though I may not understand why, I will--at some point. And when I do, the feeling of love I will have knowing God has mapped this all out for me will truly knock me to my knees. Until I understand His reasoning, I'll continue to love Him more every day for setting challenges in my path and making me a stronger person.

Praise to the Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.
~Isaiah 25:1

Here is a song that has stuck with me this week...I love it and it's a reminder to stand firm, stand strong.

**You'll have to pause music playlist at the bottom of blog before viewing**




Jeremy Camp "Walk By Faith"

Wow, that was fast!!!

Yesterday, we headed down to our local CJIS to be fingerprinted for our clearance checks. Today, I opened my mailbox to find none other than the very clearance check forms we thought would take a few weeks to receive! WooHoo!

I've been very busy gathering documents and filling out paperwork since our first home study visit on Sept. 5th. Now, just over a week later, I'm about 85% complete with required forms. We basically just need medical forms filled out for all family members. Oh, and we need a visit from the Fire Marshal. When our social worker comes back on Sept. 18th, I will proudly hand over my stack-o-papers and say to her, "I told you that I was an efficient, multi-tasker!"

For those who are curious as to what goes into a home study (through our agency):

1.) Protective Services Clearances

2.) Child Support Clearances (N/A!)

3.) Police Clearance: Any criminal history through state and FBI

4.) Sanitary Survey

5.) Fire Safety Inspection

6.) Medical Reports on all family members

7.) Statement of Net Worth

8.) Verification of Employment

9.) Tax Returns

10.) Copy of Birth Certificates of family members

11.) Copy of Marriage License

12.) Adoption Decree from our adoption of our daughter from China

13.) References (3)

14.) Driving Records from MVA (certified)

15.) Home Safety Checklist

16.) Guardianship Statement

17.) School Adjustment Report

18.) Home Study Agreement (contract)

WHEW!!!

Now..more good news! Since we adopted Luci Bella from China in 2005, we are able to have a subsequent home study done this time around. They will use a large part of our old home study and require less interviews. Which means, that it should take no time at all to get this completed!

After our home study is complete, we'll start compiling our dossier and waiting for our fingerprint appointment to get our I-171 H Form. Fortunately, most of our home study documents can be used for our dossier. I'm hoping we continue to move at a steady pace.

So far, so good!!!

Operation Babylift

One of the reasons why we are adopting from Vietnam is because I am half Vietnamese. My mother met my father during the Vietnam war and they came to the US in 1972. I was born shortly after. During that time period, many Vietnamese children were left without parents...a country in total despair. The history behind Operation Babylift has always fascinated me. I love to hear the stories of the children, who are now my age, and how they've faced adoptive and racial issues. This is a movie trailer clip about Operation Babylift, which should be released sometime in 2008.

For more info, go to www.thebabylift.com

**You'll have to pause music playlist at the bottom of blog before viewing**

I think I'll join the circus...

...I am a master juggler. We had our first home study visit last night and our social worker gave us "the packet". Forms to fill out, copies of this or that, clearance checks and fingerprints with the FBI and local government, fire marshal, references, financial statements, a sanitary survey (is my home "sanitary"...hmmm)...the list goes on and on! Lucky for me that I have OCD tendencies and welcome the challenge! Is it sad to say that I love to fill out forms, file and organize?!!?

Bring it on...