Yesterday we went to the USCIS office to get our official fingerprints taken. Now another step closer to bringing you home.
The process went pretty smoothly we were in and out in about 30 minutes.
May 30, 2012
USCIS Fingerprinting done
Yesterday we went to the USCIS office to get our official fingerprints taken. Now another step closer to bringing you home.
The process went pretty smoothly we were in and out in about 30 minutes.
May 21, 2012
DTT and a number!!!
It has been a long time since I have updated our adoption blog and a lot has happened in the past few months - so here goes....
Our dossier has been approved and we are on the waiting list for Thailand. We are DTT (dossier to Thailand!!) and have been on this magnificent journey for a little over 9 months now. I have spent the first 9 months and have finished most of this "paperwork pregnancy" stage of our quest for our princess to join our house. You have two big brothers waiting for you!! Soon our little girl will be joining these two boys.
With two little boys around, I do not have many dolls, bows, pink or "girly things" around. My house is full of nerf guns, hotwheels, computers and a lot of TESTERONE!!! But that will change when you come home.
I long for the day that she will be in my arms and I will put pink bows in her hair, daddy doesn't let me put bows in the boys hair, at least not when he is around. :)
It still may be more than a year before you are home, but we will be ready for our princess. I actually saw this on freecycle a few weeks ago and had to get it for you. We have your toy box ready, now I am on the search for dolls to fill it up for you. Dresses and bows are in the future also...
We are Number 26
Our adoption agency places families on the waiting list and assigns each family a number once they have their dossier in. The Thai government releases referrals quarterly to Holt - the last few quarters have had 4-5 referrals for the regular healthy infant program, so that would make our referral a little over a year away (I will have to exert a lot of patience here). We are also on the Thailand waiting child program for a special needs child - so those referrals sometimes come quicker. We are currently Twenty Six for the healthy infant program - Of course like everyone I was hoping for a lower number, but in God's time. The perfect time for you to join us is already known by God... so I will wait... maybe not so patiently at times....
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” – Jeremiah 29:11
Your future is with us......
DTT
After months of paperwork, signatures and certifications our dossier was finally complete and was mailed and accepted by Holt on March 30th.
I-800A accepted
We received confirmation our I-800A was accepted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services on April 26th. Next step is the official fingerprints for Immigrations. Our biometrics appointment is scheduled for next week.
I am longing for the day to hold you in my arms my sweet baby girl....
You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
'Cause you're worth every falling tear
You're worth facing any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
But giving you all of me is where I'll start
Our dossier has been approved and we are on the waiting list for Thailand. We are DTT (dossier to Thailand!!) and have been on this magnificent journey for a little over 9 months now. I have spent the first 9 months and have finished most of this "paperwork pregnancy" stage of our quest for our princess to join our house. You have two big brothers waiting for you!! Soon our little girl will be joining these two boys.
 |
| Christopher and Joshua - May 2012 |
With two little boys around, I do not have many dolls, bows, pink or "girly things" around. My house is full of nerf guns, hotwheels, computers and a lot of TESTERONE!!! But that will change when you come home.
 |
| Christopher's Nerf gun collection |
I long for the day that she will be in my arms and I will put pink bows in her hair, daddy doesn't let me put bows in the boys hair, at least not when he is around. :)
It still may be more than a year before you are home, but we will be ready for our princess. I actually saw this on freecycle a few weeks ago and had to get it for you. We have your toy box ready, now I am on the search for dolls to fill it up for you. Dresses and bows are in the future also...
 |
| Little Tikes PINK toy box for my Thai princess. It will be holding her dolls soon!!! |
We are Number 26
Our adoption agency places families on the waiting list and assigns each family a number once they have their dossier in. The Thai government releases referrals quarterly to Holt - the last few quarters have had 4-5 referrals for the regular healthy infant program, so that would make our referral a little over a year away (I will have to exert a lot of patience here). We are also on the Thailand waiting child program for a special needs child - so those referrals sometimes come quicker. We are currently Twenty Six for the healthy infant program - Of course like everyone I was hoping for a lower number, but in God's time. The perfect time for you to join us is already known by God... so I will wait... maybe not so patiently at times....
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future” – Jeremiah 29:11
Your future is with us......
DTT
After months of paperwork, signatures and certifications our dossier was finally complete and was mailed and accepted by Holt on March 30th.
 |
| Paperwork sent to courier for Thai embassy and Department of State signatures. |
 |
| Creating final dossier packets to send to Holt. |
 | ||
| Final Dossier packets. |
I-800A accepted
We received confirmation our I-800A was accepted by US Citizenship and Immigration Services on April 26th. Next step is the official fingerprints for Immigrations. Our biometrics appointment is scheduled for next week.
I am longing for the day to hold you in my arms my sweet baby girl....
You're gonna have all of me
You're gonna have all of me
'Cause you're worth every falling tear
You're worth facing any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
But giving you all of me is where I'll start
March 18, 2012
Finding Pictures
The dossier is on route to the US State Department and the Thai Embassy. One of the additional requirements are some family photos depicting our family life. These photos did not need to have the certifications from the embassy and state department, but need included with our final package to the adoption agency.
This is what the requirement from our agency stated:
" Photo's for the Thai government’s Department of Social Development & Welfare, please take care to choose nice photos to represent your family and home to the Thai government. Tape or glue a total of 6-10 good quality photos (photo-quality prints) of your family and the interior and exterior of your home on 81⁄2" x 11" paper or cardstock. Label each picture and include your names. Use discretion and good taste when selecting your photos. Remember, pictures play an important role in introducing you to the officials in Thailand. They are interested in seeing what the home and family environment looks like."
With me being a pretty avid scrapbooker, I have 1000's of photos to choose from.
How do I find only 10 photos? Which ones should I choose?
I printed out about 50 different pictures and finally Chris and I narrowed down what we thought to be the top 10. We wanted to include ones of the boys playing together, pictures of both inside and outside of the house and things we do as a family. I hope we picked the right ones.
Here are the 10 images of our family that will be sent to the Thai government.
I think these depict our family pretty well.
This is what the requirement from our agency stated:
" Photo's for the Thai government’s Department of Social Development & Welfare, please take care to choose nice photos to represent your family and home to the Thai government. Tape or glue a total of 6-10 good quality photos (photo-quality prints) of your family and the interior and exterior of your home on 81⁄2" x 11" paper or cardstock. Label each picture and include your names. Use discretion and good taste when selecting your photos. Remember, pictures play an important role in introducing you to the officials in Thailand. They are interested in seeing what the home and family environment looks like."
With me being a pretty avid scrapbooker, I have 1000's of photos to choose from.
How do I find only 10 photos? Which ones should I choose?
I printed out about 50 different pictures and finally Chris and I narrowed down what we thought to be the top 10. We wanted to include ones of the boys playing together, pictures of both inside and outside of the house and things we do as a family. I hope we picked the right ones.
Here are the 10 images of our family that will be sent to the Thai government.
I think these depict our family pretty well.
March 15, 2012
"Busy"ness in life
To my Thai Princess
First - I have not forgotten about you. Constantly I hear a song on the radio, read an article in a magazine, hear something on the news or just see someone on the street and I think about you. I wonder will you look like, how will you act, will you be more nature or nurture. I know my road to have you in my arms is at least a year away (probably much longer), but I am already looking for "girly" or pink stuff on freecycle or garage sales. I just found a PINK toy box last week on freecycle and it will be waiting for you when you come home.
Now on to my conviction on "busy"ness in my life
The past two months have flown by and I can not believe that we are already half way through March. Work has been swamped with teaching courses and developing/redeveloping and updating additional ones. I now know more than I ever thought I would on biometrics, photolithography and radio frequencies. I have always been an IT person and this alternate technology realm is somewhat new to me. Family life is always busy with little boys around and mine has been no different. Christopher had his 5th grade play, many boy scout events, homework projects and many Wii/DS nights at home. My favorite 2-year old (Joshua) is growing so fast and is learning new things daily. I love to sit down with him to play cars or read a book (he loves to sit in my lap and read books). Church volunteer life is always hectic, but I enjoy teaching the 4-years olds on Sunday mornings and hanging with the kiddos at the food pantry on Wednesdays. Teaching children about God’s love has always been a passion for me and I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to do so in various capacities. Next is the magnificent time I get to spend with friends - Scrapbooking days, Lord of the Rings festivals, meeting for lunches, Game nights, video parties and so many more.
When ever I have a few minutes to spare, I know there is laundry to be done or dishes to wash or a game of Words with Friends I need to get to. I have no excuses, but I have been putting off the dossier paperwork finalization. Whenever I looked at it, I would get frustrated or confused about something and then got busy with something else.
Our home study was approved in January, but I found out the end of January that I was still waiting for some type of accreditation document from Lutheran Social Services that needed included with the dossier. It was some issue with notarizing the Virginia license. I guess they have a main office in DC that had some of the documents that were needed and they had to be notarized by a DC notary and then others that had to be notarized by a Virginia notary. It finally came a few weeks ago.
And over the past week, we have finally spent time on the paperwork and it is on track AGAIN. Last week our dossier traveled to the Commonwealth of Virginia and has now been sealed with Virginia’s seal. I contacted the courier service recommended by our adoption service and they have received my package today with the completed dossier in it for additional certification. It is now on transport to the US State Department and the Thailand Embassy in Washington DC for their certifications and seals.
Priorities in my life are: God – Family – Everything Else. I am usually pretty good about that with my Chris, Christopher and Joshua family. I just need to keep integrating her in that set of my priorities.
Other families in this process
I would love to stay in contact with other families in the Thailand adoption process and learn about specifics in your process. If you could send me a private email at lisapadress@yahoo.com with contact information I can stay in contact with you.
First - I have not forgotten about you. Constantly I hear a song on the radio, read an article in a magazine, hear something on the news or just see someone on the street and I think about you. I wonder will you look like, how will you act, will you be more nature or nurture. I know my road to have you in my arms is at least a year away (probably much longer), but I am already looking for "girly" or pink stuff on freecycle or garage sales. I just found a PINK toy box last week on freecycle and it will be waiting for you when you come home.
Now on to my conviction on "busy"ness in my life
The past two months have flown by and I can not believe that we are already half way through March. Work has been swamped with teaching courses and developing/redeveloping and updating additional ones. I now know more than I ever thought I would on biometrics, photolithography and radio frequencies. I have always been an IT person and this alternate technology realm is somewhat new to me. Family life is always busy with little boys around and mine has been no different. Christopher had his 5th grade play, many boy scout events, homework projects and many Wii/DS nights at home. My favorite 2-year old (Joshua) is growing so fast and is learning new things daily. I love to sit down with him to play cars or read a book (he loves to sit in my lap and read books). Church volunteer life is always hectic, but I enjoy teaching the 4-years olds on Sunday mornings and hanging with the kiddos at the food pantry on Wednesdays. Teaching children about God’s love has always been a passion for me and I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to do so in various capacities. Next is the magnificent time I get to spend with friends - Scrapbooking days, Lord of the Rings festivals, meeting for lunches, Game nights, video parties and so many more.
When ever I have a few minutes to spare, I know there is laundry to be done or dishes to wash or a game of Words with Friends I need to get to. I have no excuses, but I have been putting off the dossier paperwork finalization. Whenever I looked at it, I would get frustrated or confused about something and then got busy with something else.
Our home study was approved in January, but I found out the end of January that I was still waiting for some type of accreditation document from Lutheran Social Services that needed included with the dossier. It was some issue with notarizing the Virginia license. I guess they have a main office in DC that had some of the documents that were needed and they had to be notarized by a DC notary and then others that had to be notarized by a Virginia notary. It finally came a few weeks ago.
And over the past week, we have finally spent time on the paperwork and it is on track AGAIN. Last week our dossier traveled to the Commonwealth of Virginia and has now been sealed with Virginia’s seal. I contacted the courier service recommended by our adoption service and they have received my package today with the completed dossier in it for additional certification. It is now on transport to the US State Department and the Thailand Embassy in Washington DC for their certifications and seals.
Priorities in my life are: God – Family – Everything Else. I am usually pretty good about that with my Chris, Christopher and Joshua family. I just need to keep integrating her in that set of my priorities.
Other families in this process
I would love to stay in contact with other families in the Thailand adoption process and learn about specifics in your process. If you could send me a private email at lisapadress@yahoo.com with contact information I can stay in contact with you.
January 13, 2012
Thailand/Levi HS Approval
Thailand/Levi HS Approval
That is the subject line that I received yesterday from Laura Richardson - Holt's Thailand Program.
That is the subject line that I received yesterday from Laura Richardson - Holt's Thailand Program.
The Holt Thailand Program Director, Thoa Bui, has reviewed the Hague-compliant home study for the Levi family. The home study was approved today, January 12, 2012.
We should be receiving the official notorized approval achnowledgement, copies of homestudy, agency's approval letter and agency recommendation in the mail soon. These are the last documents that we need for our dossier.
December 19, 2011
Updates
I have many updates and they are all AWESOME!!!
I received an email from Karen (LSS social worker) via email on November 30th and all the clearance letters have came back. Yeah!! Since we had so many, she thought it may take awhile.
Friday, December 2nd
On the way to work today, Chris was listening to the Christmas Offerings CD by Third Day and he said he listened to the final track on the CD and that I would love it. He was soo correct. My new favorite song is track 13 - Merry Christmas. If you have never heard it - here it is.
Merry Christmas by Third Day
http://www.soundhound.com/?t=106402c797814e05d544b9c3e83f60ad
This Christmas (and every day until she is home) I am praying for her and all who care for her until she comes home.
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
Saturday December 3rd
Karen came over for our final home study visit. Christopher and Joshua were great (as usual) and I think we may be able to pass as parents. I loved showing her the bedroom upstairs where our new little girl would be living when she comes home.
Wednesday December 14th
We received the draft of our homestudy. Karen is on vacation until the first of the year - so we will get back with her then with comments/questions that she had. We also received an email from Thoa (the Holt Thailand coordinator) today asking for a status of our homestudy.
Friday December 16th
I spoke to Thoa about the current status of our homestudy. We expect to be able to turn our dossier in some time in January. We are still waiting for certified copies of birth certificates, reference letters and official letter from our bank. Once we receive the final homestudy and these documents - we can submit our dossier to Thailand and get on the waiting list for a referral for our baby girl.
These next 1-2 years will be so difficult waiting for our baby girl, but your family is here waiting for our little princess.
We will be there for you soon baby girl!!!!
I received an email from Karen (LSS social worker) via email on November 30th and all the clearance letters have came back. Yeah!! Since we had so many, she thought it may take awhile.
Friday, December 2nd
On the way to work today, Chris was listening to the Christmas Offerings CD by Third Day and he said he listened to the final track on the CD and that I would love it. He was soo correct. My new favorite song is track 13 - Merry Christmas. If you have never heard it - here it is.
Merry Christmas by Third Day
http://www.soundhound.com/?t=106402c797814e05d544b9c3e83f60ad
This Christmas (and every day until she is home) I am praying for her and all who care for her until she comes home.
It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas
Saturday December 3rd
Karen came over for our final home study visit. Christopher and Joshua were great (as usual) and I think we may be able to pass as parents. I loved showing her the bedroom upstairs where our new little girl would be living when she comes home.
Wednesday December 14th
We received the draft of our homestudy. Karen is on vacation until the first of the year - so we will get back with her then with comments/questions that she had. We also received an email from Thoa (the Holt Thailand coordinator) today asking for a status of our homestudy.
Friday December 16th
I spoke to Thoa about the current status of our homestudy. We expect to be able to turn our dossier in some time in January. We are still waiting for certified copies of birth certificates, reference letters and official letter from our bank. Once we receive the final homestudy and these documents - we can submit our dossier to Thailand and get on the waiting list for a referral for our baby girl.
These next 1-2 years will be so difficult waiting for our baby girl, but your family is here waiting for our little princess.
We will be there for you soon baby girl!!!!
November 29, 2011
Thanksgiving has come and gone
Thanksgiving has come and gone... We have so much to be thankful for and two of them are here with us now. Our little girl will be joing the family soon. and I can't wait to hold her in my arms.
A lot has happened in the past month. We have completed most requirements for our homestudy. Both Chris and I had our homestudy interviews. We have sent off child abuse clearances for every state/country we have lived in since we were 18. I think there were 11 places between the two of us - being that both of us were in the military, we moved around a lot. As of last week Karen was still waiting for some clearance letters from Guam and Colorado, but I believe all the other ones have came through.
Clearance Letters
Of course every state had a different process for this request. For example, some states required $$$ (I think Colorado was the most expensive at $30) a few states were actually free. Some states required notorized forms, some just signatures. Some states required our address when we lived there (I hope the military unit we were assigned to was good enough for when we lived in barracks), while others we just a simple name and SSN. Of course nothing could be standardized.
The final homestudy visit is scheduled for this coming Saturday, December 4th. I think Christopher is ready for his interview.
The next stage in the process will be to finish up the dossier and immigration paperwork.
... I wanna give her the world, I wanna hold her hand..... I wanna show her what it means to be loved...
Lisa
October 24, 2011
Paperwork/Homestudy Update
WOW - it has been a busy month. We have been working on getting a lot of paperwork required to start the homestudy with LSS. We also had our first couple meeting with them last week (Oct 20).
I think our meeting with Karen (social worker from LSS) went well last week. I guess it is obvious that both Chris and I were in the military with our structured life that we live. I did not even really how structured our lives were until we had to start talking about it. Our single meetings will start up this week and hopefully we will be able to have the final one sometime in November.
I have been reading other people's blogs and some Thailand newsgroup feeds about current delays in the Thailand adoption program. Also, Holt just recently stopped all new applications for Thailand adoptions as their backlog of applicants in getting larger. We are one of the backlog of applicants that hope to make it to the front some day. This makes it much harder for someone like me - at the beginning of the process - to wonder if I will ever get to the end.
It is also saddening to hear about all the families currently being misplaced by recent flooding in Thailand. I pray that she, her birth family and caregivers are safe.
I know the next few years will be long ones, but we are a family that will try to be patient. I know everything will happen "In God's Time". We have some much more love to give and all children deserve a Christ-centered home where they can feel safe, secure and loved. We are going to be able to give that to at least one little girl in a few years.
I will try to write more in a few days. Here is a recap of some of the paperwork and forms we have done for the homestuday - of course I have a spreadsheet with every form need and the status of each also.
Some of the Home study documents that are completed, notarized and turned in to LSS
Child Abuse clearance request for VA (Chris and Lisa)
Copies of birth certificates (Chris, Lisa, Christopher and Joshua)
Copies of marriage certificate
Copies of divorce certificate
Medical physicals (Lisa, Chris, Christopher and Joshua)
Fingerprints (Chris and Lisa)
Safety/fire house survey
Floor plan of house
Financial certification
Copies of tax refunds
Copies of pay stubs
Release of Information for Daycare and School (Christopher and Joshua)
Photo of family
Certified driving record for VA (Chris and Lisa)
Discipline policy reviewed and signed
Things for Homestudy we still need to complete
10 hours of training
Child Abuse clearance reports from KS, CO, MD and Guam (Lisa)
Child Abuse clearance reports from TN, AL, GE, AR and Korea (Chris)
Guadianship forms
I think our meeting with Karen (social worker from LSS) went well last week. I guess it is obvious that both Chris and I were in the military with our structured life that we live. I did not even really how structured our lives were until we had to start talking about it. Our single meetings will start up this week and hopefully we will be able to have the final one sometime in November.
I have been reading other people's blogs and some Thailand newsgroup feeds about current delays in the Thailand adoption program. Also, Holt just recently stopped all new applications for Thailand adoptions as their backlog of applicants in getting larger. We are one of the backlog of applicants that hope to make it to the front some day. This makes it much harder for someone like me - at the beginning of the process - to wonder if I will ever get to the end.
It is also saddening to hear about all the families currently being misplaced by recent flooding in Thailand. I pray that she, her birth family and caregivers are safe.
I know the next few years will be long ones, but we are a family that will try to be patient. I know everything will happen "In God's Time". We have some much more love to give and all children deserve a Christ-centered home where they can feel safe, secure and loved. We are going to be able to give that to at least one little girl in a few years.
I will try to write more in a few days. Here is a recap of some of the paperwork and forms we have done for the homestuday - of course I have a spreadsheet with every form need and the status of each also.
Some of the Home study documents that are completed, notarized and turned in to LSS
Child Abuse clearance request for VA (Chris and Lisa)
Copies of birth certificates (Chris, Lisa, Christopher and Joshua)
Copies of marriage certificate
Copies of divorce certificate
Medical physicals (Lisa, Chris, Christopher and Joshua)
Fingerprints (Chris and Lisa)
Safety/fire house survey
Floor plan of house
Financial certification
Copies of tax refunds
Copies of pay stubs
Release of Information for Daycare and School (Christopher and Joshua)
Photo of family
Certified driving record for VA (Chris and Lisa)
Discipline policy reviewed and signed
Things for Homestudy we still need to complete
10 hours of training
Child Abuse clearance reports from KS, CO, MD and Guam (Lisa)
Child Abuse clearance reports from TN, AL, GE, AR and Korea (Chris)
Guadianship forms
September 12, 2011
I never knew how much I would enjoy filling out forms
Really I did not know I enjoyed it so much. I spent 11 years in the military and don't think I have ever filled out so much paperwork all at once. I have been used to filling out SF-86's every few years for work, but this kind of paperwork is everything you need for that and a few other things.
I do not even know my little girl, she may not even be born yet, she may have been born weeks or even months ago or she may be born today. (I am hearing this adoption process takes 2-3 years and children are 2-3 years old when brought home.) I am praying every day for you and you will be home with your forever family soon. God has already picked you out and I know he is taking care of you until we can bring you home.
September 8th - First initial intake interview with Karen from Lutheran Social Services. She gave us about an inch of forms we need to fill out prior to our 1st of 4 required visits for our homestudy. This was the day of the massive floodings in Fairfax/Prince William county. We actually had to walk through a small muddy parking lot into the LSS office. I had picked up Chris from work, so he was wearing his new dress shoes, I dropped him off at the door so they would not get ruined.. Luckily I wear flip-flops ALL the time so did not really mind about my feet getting muddy. Our commute home took nearly 3 1/2 hours, this was primarily because of all the rain, Tyson' Corner normal commute traffic, road closures and metro construction around that area.
September 9th - Got my fingerprints for the homestudy done at work.
September 10th - Started filling out forms needed for the homestudy. I also spoke to some of my friends we had asked if they would write referral letters for us and they received their letters in the mail today.
September 12th, 2011
I scheduled my medical physical (9-23-11)
September 11th, 2011 - This was a day of rememberance for our nation. My current children do not remember the world prior to 9-11-01. I never realized until Christopher came home from school on Friday (September 9th) and said he just found out in school was 9-11 really was. I spent some time explaining exactly to him where he was that day and what happened. On Saturday (September 10th) Chris watched a movie with Christopher about the 9/11 attacks.
9/11/01
Christopher was 3 1/2 months old and I had just became a stay at home mom (after he was born) to him and his two older sisters (Angel was 11 and Jaymi was 8). Christopher and I were at our first WIC appointment at the Charles county office near LaPlata MD. (I still think it is sad that a military veteran of 16 years with a family of 5 qualified for the government WIC program and reduced lunches.) That day was spent trying to find where Christopher's dad (my then husband) was at and watching the news. The phones were all jammed and I could not contact anyone. Bret (Christopher's dad) finally emailed me he was OK and to tell me he would be home in a few hours, but had to go to the Pentagon for "clean-up" later that night.
I do not even know my little girl, she may not even be born yet, she may have been born weeks or even months ago or she may be born today. (I am hearing this adoption process takes 2-3 years and children are 2-3 years old when brought home.) I am praying every day for you and you will be home with your forever family soon. God has already picked you out and I know he is taking care of you until we can bring you home.
September 8th - First initial intake interview with Karen from Lutheran Social Services. She gave us about an inch of forms we need to fill out prior to our 1st of 4 required visits for our homestudy. This was the day of the massive floodings in Fairfax/Prince William county. We actually had to walk through a small muddy parking lot into the LSS office. I had picked up Chris from work, so he was wearing his new dress shoes, I dropped him off at the door so they would not get ruined.. Luckily I wear flip-flops ALL the time so did not really mind about my feet getting muddy. Our commute home took nearly 3 1/2 hours, this was primarily because of all the rain, Tyson' Corner normal commute traffic, road closures and metro construction around that area.
September 9th - Got my fingerprints for the homestudy done at work.
September 10th - Started filling out forms needed for the homestudy. I also spoke to some of my friends we had asked if they would write referral letters for us and they received their letters in the mail today.
September 12th, 2011
I scheduled my medical physical (9-23-11)
September 11th, 2011 - This was a day of rememberance for our nation. My current children do not remember the world prior to 9-11-01. I never realized until Christopher came home from school on Friday (September 9th) and said he just found out in school was 9-11 really was. I spent some time explaining exactly to him where he was that day and what happened. On Saturday (September 10th) Chris watched a movie with Christopher about the 9/11 attacks.
9/11/01
Christopher was 3 1/2 months old and I had just became a stay at home mom (after he was born) to him and his two older sisters (Angel was 11 and Jaymi was 8). Christopher and I were at our first WIC appointment at the Charles county office near LaPlata MD. (I still think it is sad that a military veteran of 16 years with a family of 5 qualified for the government WIC program and reduced lunches.) That day was spent trying to find where Christopher's dad (my then husband) was at and watching the news. The phones were all jammed and I could not contact anyone. Bret (Christopher's dad) finally emailed me he was OK and to tell me he would be home in a few hours, but had to go to the Pentagon for "clean-up" later that night.
September 8, 2011
Homestudy/Dossier instructions received
I now have instructions for the Dossier and the initial intake homestudy interview has been scheduled.
I spoke to Karen from the homestudy agency last week. Apparently, our home study agency LSS works has two different offices in the Washington DC area. One for Washington DC/Maryland and one for Virginia. The name I had first was for the Washington DC area and they had to refer me to the Virginia office. Karen sent me the initial application paperwork for LSS. We have our initial interview with LSS scheduled for the afternoon of September 8th (that is today). After we get the requirements needed for the homestudy we can start requesting official documents.
I also received the link and password for the Holt Thailand adoption guidebook. This lists everything needed to complete our dossier and other steps throughout the process.
I spoke with Thoa on the phone (Holt Thailand director) who gave m some more specifics on the Thailand program. There seem to be a lot of people currently in homestudy/dossier process right now, so I am praying I can get this paperwork done quickly so I can get on the waiting list for our referral. Right now they are estimating 2-3 years from application. I don't want to wait that long for my little girl, but I know everything in GOD's TIME.
Tuesday, August 30 - received initial application from LSS to do HomeStudy, scheduled initial interview
Tuesday, September 6 - received Dossier instructions from Holt and spoke with Thoa from Holt on more specifics on the Thailand program
Wednesday, September 7 - Notarized initial application for LSS
I have started searching and reading several sites on Thailand culture. Christopher comes in sometimes and reads the information with me also. Big brothers, mommy and daddy are getting ready for you to come home.
I have been following several other Thailand adoption blogs as well as signed up for some Thailand adoption newsgroups. I love reading other people's stories and following them on their journey. I hope to meet some lifelong friends along the way.
I spoke to Karen from the homestudy agency last week. Apparently, our home study agency LSS works has two different offices in the Washington DC area. One for Washington DC/Maryland and one for Virginia. The name I had first was for the Washington DC area and they had to refer me to the Virginia office. Karen sent me the initial application paperwork for LSS. We have our initial interview with LSS scheduled for the afternoon of September 8th (that is today). After we get the requirements needed for the homestudy we can start requesting official documents.
I also received the link and password for the Holt Thailand adoption guidebook. This lists everything needed to complete our dossier and other steps throughout the process.
I spoke with Thoa on the phone (Holt Thailand director) who gave m some more specifics on the Thailand program. There seem to be a lot of people currently in homestudy/dossier process right now, so I am praying I can get this paperwork done quickly so I can get on the waiting list for our referral. Right now they are estimating 2-3 years from application. I don't want to wait that long for my little girl, but I know everything in GOD's TIME.
Tuesday, August 30 - received initial application from LSS to do HomeStudy, scheduled initial interview
Tuesday, September 6 - received Dossier instructions from Holt and spoke with Thoa from Holt on more specifics on the Thailand program
Wednesday, September 7 - Notarized initial application for LSS
I have started searching and reading several sites on Thailand culture. Christopher comes in sometimes and reads the information with me also. Big brothers, mommy and daddy are getting ready for you to come home.
I have been following several other Thailand adoption blogs as well as signed up for some Thailand adoption newsgroups. I love reading other people's stories and following them on their journey. I hope to meet some lifelong friends along the way.
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