Celebrating Adoption Documents Sent

Our family is celebrating tonight!  We sent our adoption documents (dossier) to our adoption coordinator tonight!  Yahoo!

 

Taken at UPS before we shipped our dossier

As I was looking over emails, I saw that one year ago today, on June 4, 2012, we were accepted into the Haiti Program with our adoption agency.  They were very prompt in sending us information, guidelines, and the list of paperwork we needed to collect to form our dossier.  I looked at all the information and quickly became overwhelmed.  It was the beginning of summer and I procrastinated with getting our adoption paperwork started.  It wasn't until Dec. 2012 I looked at the paperwork pile again and decided to get started. It has taken about 5-6 months to collect all that we needed. It was with great joy that I we sent our dossier documents onto our adoption coordinator.  YAHOO!!!

Next Steps

I've been asked what the next steps are for us in the process.

From my understanding, our adoption coordinator will receive our documents, get them authenticated (no idea what that is), get them translated into french, and get them legalized in Haiti.  Once those things are done, and that takes about 6-8 weeks, our dossier documents can be submitted to the IBESR, the part of the Haitian government that handles adoptions.  From that point, we wait for a referral (when the IBESR matches us with a little girl).  This could be 2-3 months after our dossier is submitted to the IBESR.  It would be AWESOME if we could get a referral by Christmas.  Then it will take about 18 months before we will be able to bring our little girl home.

It's been a journey to get to where we are today and God has walked with us through this journey.  I leave it all in God's hands.  He already knows who our daughter is and He will bring us together as a family.

Notarys and Certification

It's been an exciting, disheartening, anxious, restful, trusting, productive week.  How can it be all of those you ask?  Well, let me share the story.

Earlier this month we got our finalized home study - YEAH!  There were a few minor things that needed to be fixed, got that taken care of - easy.

We sent all our Wisconsin notarized documents to be state certified and last Wednesday the returned UPS envelope was delivered to our door.  I was so excited, this was the last of the documents I needed to send our dossier into our adoption coordinator!  I thought to myself, we are almost at the waiting stage and one step closer to getting our little girl.   However, when I opened the envelope, we had 6 documents what were notarized incorrectly and had to be re-notarized and re-certified.  I looked at the documents, 3 reference letters, 1 bank letter, 1 employment verification - all of those, not a problem.  The 6th document was a letter from my doctor.  My heart sank because it took my 3-1/2 months to get the first letter notarized.  All Wednesday night I was anxious and disheartened.  I wanted to send our dossier documents in by the end of May and this was going to slow us down.  After spinning my wheels for awhile, feeling anxious and worrying, I remembered the verses in Matthew 6: 25-34
²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Then I got to thinking.....My worrying about the documents is not going to get them done any sooner, I won't feel any better by worrying, nor will my worrying help.  If God cares about the wildflowers in the fields, He cares about me a thousand times more.  Also, I thought I am suppose take my cares to God because he cares for me.  And when I take my cares and prayers requests to God, why am I amazed things happen?  Why don't I pray expectantly....so that is what I did.  I prayed for 6 miracles, all 6 documents to be re-notarized by Sunday, so I could send everything out by today, May 28, 2013 to be re-certified by the State of Wisconsin. My 6 miracles for re-notarized documents was fulfilled. 

God is GOOD and He provided EVERYTHING I needed.   On Thursday last week I stopped by the bank and they rewrote and notarized the letter while I waited, I did not expect that at all.  On Friday, I met with my doctor and a notary from the bank who met me at the doctor's office.  My doctor didn't have her state issued identification (i.e. drivers license) and the notary stated she would not be able to notarized the letter without it, we had discussed setting up another appointment for today, but another doctor was walking by and she stated she had her driver's license and she could sign the letter.  The nurse reprinted the letter with the other doctors information and I got the doctor letter notarized.  Praise God!

All three letters of reference were re-notarized, and my employment verification letter was done today.  I was able to send all 6 documents to the Secretary of State today and will hopefully have the documents back to me by Friday or Monday, and then I'll be able to send out the dossier to our adoption coordinator by Monday or Tuesday of next week.  Praise God!

Psalms 66:5  Come and see what our God has done, what awesome miracles he performs for people! 
  

Thankful Thursday

It's been a long time since I've posted for a Thankful Thursday, so today I thought I would post about an adoption update that I am SO EXITED about!.  I talked with our social worker today and she is finishing up our home study tonight....we should get it early next week.  YAHOO!  One more thing done.  

I'm thankful we are making progress, even if it's baby steps, its still steps in the right direction.

Renee's Healthy Choices Journey - Part 1

This year I am turning 40 years old.  My goal by my 40th birthday is to be Fit and Forty.  I started the year making fitness goals, goals that were big changes in my daily life.  January my goal was to exercise at least 150 minutes per week.  That's 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.  I didn't exercise that much at the beginning of the year and I still don't exercise that much during the week as of today.  That was a lofty goal with a big change in my daily routine.  I had started out strong but after about two weeks gave up.  Here is how the other months have gone.
Goals for the year, so far....

• January - exercise 150 mins per week (lasted about 2 weeks)
• February - do 100 sit ups per day, 5 days a week (lasted about 2 weeks)
• March -Track the food I eat on Looseit.com (tracked for about 3 weeks)
• April - decided not to eat chocolate or drink alcohol (Completed!) 

Okay, April confession, I did have a glass of wine on two days in April, but no chocolate.  I gave up alcohol and chocolate because I learned I turned to them when I was having a stressful day and not turning to God, who loves me and wants to be the one to turn to FIRST in all things.  Also, it's just lots of empty calories, that I don't need.  I lost about 4 lbs in April, not a large weight loss, but better then nothing.

My birthday is in November and I've learned if I can make small changes each month, then I'll see changes over time, baby steps.

Today is May 1st and I've started a new healthy challenge for May.  My goal is to log 30 miles of walking in the month of May.  I just had a Facebook friend and former co-worker log in 106 miles of walking for the month of April.  She inspired me.  I got started today with my first walk of 1.30 miles in 20 minutes.  Yeah.....only 28.7 miles to go this month.

Adoption Update, One Year Later

Looking over the blog last night, I read that one year ago today, April 13th, we filled out the application for America World Adoption Agency (AWAA).  I wish I could say we have all our paperwork turned in and we are waiting to be matched with a child from Haiti, but that is not the case.

After we filled out the adoption application with AWAA, they sent us a packet of LOTS and LOTS of paperwork to fill out.  Then we got another packet of information to fill out from our Home Study agency with LOTS and LOTS more paperwork to fill out.  I got overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork and it sat for about six months.

In the Fall 2012, one night at dinner we were taking with Rose about obeying and how she is called to obey her parents (Andy and I) and we are ALL called to obey God.  As dinner progressed and we were talking about many things that night, Rose asked about her sister.  When would her sister be with us and if we were filling out adoption paperwork.  Out of the mouth of my 6 year old, I was being reminded that I am not being obedient to God and the adoption process and shortly there after began filling out paperwork.

Fast forward to today, April 13, 2013.  We are in the final stretches of getting what we need for our dossier collection and our home study.  My goal is to have what we need by the end April, if all goes as planned.

God is good and faithful and so glad we are walking this journey with HIM. 

Here is a recent picture of our little family that we needed taken for our dossier.  Pictures taken on Easter Sunday.

Happy Anniversary Wausau

Valentines Day 2009 we rolled into Wausau, WI to begin what we thought was a year and a half stint until we were to move again.  We celebrated our 4th Anniversary of moving to Wausau, WI, yesterday - Valentines Day.

Our Adoption Journey Offically Begins

After 3 years of talking about Adoption, we decided 2012 is the year we are getting started.  At the beginning of the year, we had no idea how we were going to fund our adoption.  To get started I wanted to at least have a 1/3 of the funds we needed.

In my time with God, praying and reading His Word, the two words that always came to me were, faith and surrender.  Andy and I were not going to be able to be on the journey of adoption in our own strength, we needed to surrender our needs to God and have faith that He would provide.  God provided in an amazing way and we received a 1/3 of the funds we needed for our adoption.  Praise the Lord, He is Good!!!!

Tonight, we have officially started our adoption journey by submitting our application to the adoption agency.  God has put on our hearts to adopt a little girl from Haiti.  We are excited for the journey ahead of us and know that God is walking with us on this journey.

Thank you to those who have been praying for us and for those who continue to pray for us as we officially begin our adoption journey.