Dossier Orientation Call

The phone call went well. I got some questions answered and now I can "bust-out" the rest of the list! Christy is very nice and I look forward to working with her more. I am afraid I may have scared her or impressed her I'm not sure which :). She would get to a section to explain it to me and I would say timidly, "Um, I already did that." At least she would laugh and say "Oh good." I am very motivated and secretly love paperwork - what a nerd, I know.

Dossier "Paperwork" Checklist

I thought a running checklist would be easier for everyone to visualize what we need to do and what we have completed so far. The red are the things we have completed in the last few days.

Statement Regarding Criminal Offenses - Brian
Statement Regarding Criminal Offenses - Autumn
Medical Self Report - Brian
Medical Self-Report - Autumn
Release of Information

Two Power of Attorney Forms
-County Certification
-State Certification
Statement of Reason for Adoption
Passport Photos
Photos of Family
Photos of Home
Letter of Employment - Brian
Letter of Employment - Autumn
Financial Statement
Birth Certificate - Brian
Birth Certificate - Autumn
Marriage Certificate
Medical Letter - Brian
Medical Letter - Autumn
Police Clearance - Brian
Police Clearance - Autumn
Two Letters of Reference
Obligation of Post Placement Reports

In addition to completing this paperwork, we need to have a completed home study. To have a completed home study we need to have our 3 appointments with the social worker and complete a bunch of paperwork (This will include duplicates to the list above like reference letters, medical reviews, police clearance, certified copies of certificates/licenses). We will get that paperwork list on the 28th!! We will then need to turn in our completed home study to the Immigration office and wait for our Favorable Determination Letter (FDL) - THEN WE GET A PLACE ON THE WAITING LIST!!

Homestudy Update 2

I just spoke with our social worker, Lori. We have our first interview on Thursday, February 28th. This will be about an hour long appointment where we will go over the paperwork we will need to complete for the homestudy. Our second appointment will be Wednesday, March 5th. On this appointment, Brian and I will have an hour and a half separate interviews. On the 28th we will schedule our third appointment which is the home inspection and should be the final appointment. After our final meeting Lori will need a few weeks to complete the report and then our homestudy will be done - I am hoping this might be by the end of March!

It's A Boy

Congratulations DeeDee on your referral!

Dossier Packet

We got the dossier packet. When I saw the box, yes box, I was very intimidated. Luckily, it was not a 6 inch box of papers but rather (just like Emily guessed) a three ring binder with the paperwork inside. That seems a bit more managable. Brian and I have a big date planned tonight - looking through our binder of paperwork!!! On Wednesday I have a phone call scheduled with Christy from AGCI. I will be able to ask any questions we have about the dossier binder and then I'll be allowed to "officially" start the paperwork. Our plan is simple, do the few things in our control as quickly as possible.

We Have Names

Today we were assigned a case manager, Christy, with AGCI. We should be hearing from her soon and getting our dossier packet in the mail. We also learned the name of our social worker - Lori. She works with Adoption Alliance and will be conducting our homestudy. Lori too is supposed to contact us in the next couple of days to schedule our homestudy interviews!! WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS!

You Know You Are An Adoptive Parent Or Should Be If:

1. The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has ever made you lose sleep.

2. You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

3. You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

4. The fact that if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child, there would be no orphans in the world is convicting to you.

5. You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

6. It drives you crazy when people ask you about your adopted child's "real" parents.

7. You have ever been "pregnant" with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth (2 years!)

8. You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway knowing where God calls you He will provide.

9. You have ever taken a airplane ride half way around the world with a child you just met.

10. You believe God's heart is for adoption.

11. You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacy's you could ever leave on this earth.

12. You know what the word Dossier means and you can actually pronounce it!

13. You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life.

14. You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have them in your life.