Dossier

Pam ~ I spent some time on Saturday putting together all of our dossier paperwork.  Our dossier has to contain all ORIGINAL documents {with a couple exceptions} along with 2 copies of all the paperwork.  We went last Wednesday and made all the copies, but they have been sitting on our kitchen table waiting for me to have the time to "assemble" them.  We are still missing one document {which will hopefully come in the mail SOON}, so these pictures aren't quite complete :-), but I think you can get the basic idea.  And, just in case you are actually interested, here are the pictures of the photo pages I put together.

All (-one) of our original dossier documents

Yesterday's Fundraiser ~ Our friend, Megan, raised just under $200 for our adoption fund at the fundraiser yesterday!!!  Praise the Lord!!!  And a BIG Thank You to Megan for all her hard work!!!!

All we are waiting on now in order to submit our dossier is just under $600.  The paperwork is sitting on the table waiting to be mailed!!!  It is really hard for us to see the dossier packet and know that the only thing keeping us from getting on the waiting list for our children is $600.  PLEASE pray along with us that the money will come in SOON!!!!!

Dossier Update

Pam ~ Yesterday was a BIG day!!!  We thought we had all of our dossier paperwork completed {I stayed up until midnight on Tuesday night doing our photo pages ~ if you know me at all, you know that I do not normally stay up past 9:30/10:00ish!!!} so we planned to go make all our copies after work.

I took our BIG binder to work and during my students' nap time, I set to work organizing all our documents and double checking to make sure we had EVERYTHING!!!  I was going to just sit at my desk and do this, but it soon became apparent that I needed MORE ROOM!!!  I went to our lunchroom {just outside my classroom door} and spread everything out on a table.  Then I stepped back and looked at the last six months of my life.  So many documents that will allow us to bring our children home!!!

But then, horror of horrors, I saw a document on the list that I didn't have!!!  Well, I thought I had it.  But then I didn't.  I know.  Very confusing.  Imagine how I felt!!!!

After an hour going through all the documents and the binder about six times, posting questions on our Yahoo group, and a phone call to our family coordinator, this is what I discovered.

We need an "Agency Post-Placement Commitment" document AND a "Home Study Agency Post-Placement Agreement" document.  They are TWO DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS!!!  Whoops.  And double whoops.

So I've sent an e-mail to our social worker about the one that we are missing and am hoping to hear back from her soon.  Unless I missed something else :-( we have everything else we need!!!!

We went and made three copies of all of the documents that we have {2 copies to submit with the dossier, and 1 copy for our own records}, and then drove to church for prayer meeting.  It was funny.  Nathan and I were nervous leaving all the papers in the car.  There was six months of hard and emotionally draining work just sitting in the back of the cold car.  Of course nothing was going to happen to them {our church is in the middle of a small town in the country}, but still.

My goal is to have the papers all re-organized and re-checked and put into their envelopes by the end of this week.  I can address the big mailer envelope and then all we are waiting on is the rest of the money needed to write the $7700 check.  We're almost there!!!!

Adoption Update

Pam ~ It's been a busy past week, so I missed updating you all on a MAJOR milestone in our adoption journey.

OUR I-171H CAME IN THE MAIL!!!

Last Wednesday I had a half-day at school {because of Thanksgiving being the next day} so I got home before Nathan.  I never get the mail, but since it was cold and dreary weather, I decided to go ahead and get it so that Nathan wouldn't have to when he got home.  And there was the envelope from USCIS!!!!

I am so thankful for having heard from fellow adopting moms that the I-171H isn't a very obvious document.  It's "official" title is "Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application for Advanced Processing of Orphan Petition."  Can you see why we all call it the I-171H form?????

Anyways......
The only place on the form that I-171H is written is the very bottom right corner in very tiny letters!!!!!!

I texted Nathan right away to tell him that it came in the mail.  Just NINE days after our biometrics apt.!!!  Praise the Lord!!!

The last "paperwork" item for our dossier is putting together our photo pages.  I don't know why this has been a stress to me, but it has.  I finally made myself sit down tonight and go through our photos.  We have to have 2 "formal" photos of Nathan and I {facing the camera, smiling, etc.}, 1 photo of the outside of our house, 1 photo of the main living area inside our house, and 4 "casual" photos of Nathan and I {with family/friends, "hanging" out, etc.}.

Would you like to see what I have come up with????  {minus the photo of our main living area ~ it's still on my camera}

I'm really hoping that these will be okay.  Now all I have to do is get them printed, and put them together with some journaling on card stock.  I'm open to suggestions from any adoptive moms who've BTDT!!!!