a million more to go! I just had to report that our adoption application is in the mail today, along with our very first payment! WhooHoooo! I do feel a sense of relief, however now everything seems more real. I think over the next year I will ask myself, "Am I crazy?!" several times. Of course, the answer will always be YES, but in a good way. :)
As soon as the agency receives everything and says we're approved we will be able to move on to the home study. I'm hoping we hear from them in a weeks time.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Webinar Report
Wow - so last night we watched the online webinar for the Ukraine program. The time in-country has increased to 6-8 weeks. That's a long freakin' time in a foreign country!! After seeing that, all sorts of thoughts come flooding into my head, mostly to do with work and the house and the dogs. How will we pay our bills while we're gone? How can we leave our dogs for 2 MONTHS?? How will we save the money to support ourselves while we are both off work for 2 months (and longer for me)? Somehow we have faith that it WILL work out and that this is meant to be. So...our application is complete and I am calling the agency today to see how they prefer it to be submitted.
So far, lots of friends & family have asked what they can do to help. Each one of you can help in your own way. Whether it's praying for a smooth process & trip, donating money to the cause, being there to lend an ear during those frustrating times (which we KNOW there are sure to be some of those!) or whatever else you can think of. We know you are all here to support us however you are able to. As Truman says, "I have no pride" - so we will take all the help that is offered!
Also, please don't be offended if we don't travel & visit much over the next year. We are attempting to save as much money as possible - but you are all welcome to travel to Kentucky and visit us!
Thank you all for following along with our story! We love you!
So far, lots of friends & family have asked what they can do to help. Each one of you can help in your own way. Whether it's praying for a smooth process & trip, donating money to the cause, being there to lend an ear during those frustrating times (which we KNOW there are sure to be some of those!) or whatever else you can think of. We know you are all here to support us however you are able to. As Truman says, "I have no pride" - so we will take all the help that is offered!
Also, please don't be offended if we don't travel & visit much over the next year. We are attempting to save as much money as possible - but you are all welcome to travel to Kentucky and visit us!
Thank you all for following along with our story! We love you!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Ukraine Webinar
Hello again! Each day we get closer & closer to getting this process going. We have filled out our application and are just waiting to hear back from some friends on their information to list them as references for us. I anticipate us turning this application in this week sometime. We have already begun doing some minor things at home to get ready for the home-study. We needed to have more smoke detectors and a CO detector and a couple fire extinguishers handy. Truman got all that installed on Saturday. Yesterday we cleaned out some closets and got a good start on a garage sale box(es)!
Tonight we are scheduled to watch a "Web"inar on Ukraine and the entire process. I'm sure it will just make us more excited and ready to get this started!
That's all for now, we'll post more after we have officially submitted our application.
Tonight we are scheduled to watch a "Web"inar on Ukraine and the entire process. I'm sure it will just make us more excited and ready to get this started!
That's all for now, we'll post more after we have officially submitted our application.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Before Getting Started
We have wrestled for months with the idea of adopting. Should we adopt internationally or domestically? If international, which country? Do we want to adopt siblings? How long are we willing to wait? How much can we spend? If domestic, do we want to adopt via foster care or through an agency and wait for a phone call (that may never come)? Little by little, things started falling into place. After months of research on countries and agencies, we have decided on the Ukraine program via Commonwealth Adoptions (www.commonwealthadoption.org) .
This program's wait time is much shorter than other countries we considered, but also costlier. In the end, time was the deciding factor for us. We hope to travel to Kiev, Ukraine in about 12 months. Our stay there will be 4-6 weeks, and we will begin the process of "selecting" our child. No worries...we will have a Ukrainian guide & translator with us at all times to help us get from one place to another. Our worry right now is...Who will we get to house-sit & keep an eye on the dogs??!! Any takers??!
We are hoping to get some final questions answered this week before we formally submit our application into the program. Once that is submitted, our home study process will begin. Before, during & after the home study process, we will begin assembling paperwork for a dossier (pronounced "dos-e-a"). This is a packet of information all about us & our background (eg...criminal, medical, bio's, etc..). If we are organized and on the ball, we can get all this completed in about 3 months. Once it is submitted & approved in Ukraine, we get the "invitation" to travel 3-6 months later. I think we'll have about 3-4 months to prepare for travel, then be in Ukraine for 4-6 wks.
We will update this more once we have actually submitted the application. Wish us luck on what will probably be the most exciting & frustrating & nervewracking & wonderful time of our lives. Please leave comments &/or ask questions! We'd love to hear from you.
This program's wait time is much shorter than other countries we considered, but also costlier. In the end, time was the deciding factor for us. We hope to travel to Kiev, Ukraine in about 12 months. Our stay there will be 4-6 weeks, and we will begin the process of "selecting" our child. No worries...we will have a Ukrainian guide & translator with us at all times to help us get from one place to another. Our worry right now is...Who will we get to house-sit & keep an eye on the dogs??!! Any takers??!
We are hoping to get some final questions answered this week before we formally submit our application into the program. Once that is submitted, our home study process will begin. Before, during & after the home study process, we will begin assembling paperwork for a dossier (pronounced "dos-e-a"). This is a packet of information all about us & our background (eg...criminal, medical, bio's, etc..). If we are organized and on the ball, we can get all this completed in about 3 months. Once it is submitted & approved in Ukraine, we get the "invitation" to travel 3-6 months later. I think we'll have about 3-4 months to prepare for travel, then be in Ukraine for 4-6 wks.
We will update this more once we have actually submitted the application. Wish us luck on what will probably be the most exciting & frustrating & nervewracking & wonderful time of our lives. Please leave comments &/or ask questions! We'd love to hear from you.
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