We’ve decided to put this site together so that we can keep a written account of our adoption journey in bringing our little guy home from Ethiopia. I’m going to try to write enough information so our son will understand a little more about what the adoption process was like and it may be of some interest to family members and friends wondering where we’re at in the process and not wanting to ask us, “where are you at in the process?” I’m also hoping that others will read our posts and realize that they too can adopt a child, even if not from Ethiopia. And why not kill two birds with one stone? We’re also going to use this site to update you on other hopefully interesting events that are happening within our family other than the adoption.
We started the paperwork trail for our adoption in November, 2008 and have gone through the home study process and retrieved original copies of all the forms we’re required to obtain. Now we’re waiting to hear back from USCIS (Homeland Security). Hopefully. they’ll be sending us a letter very soon inviting us to Des Moines to get our fingerprints done so that they can be sent into the FBI. Once those are done we’ll be waiting for USCIS to send us a letter stating that we’re able to adopt. That’s going to be a celebratory day because at that point we’ll be able to finalize our dossier and submit it to our agency so that it may be sent to Ethiopia. Then we can receive a referral. This is a hard part of the process for me because I can’t make USCIS hurry up with their part of the paperwork. We’re basically at their mercy and on their timetable.
Luke and Anna are preparing for their younger brother in the way of setting aside certain toys for their ‘baby brother’ and Luke has moved up to the top bunk so that his little brother can sleep on the bottom one once he gets home. We’re so blessed to have children who are able to open up their hearts to others, especially when it will mean sharing their family, home and personal belongings. This includes Kelli and Ryan our older two.
On my next post I’ll talk about why we decided to adopt again, and why Ethiopia.