Finally it's fingerprint time!!!!!!!! Another step closer....

Hello everyone! As you all may remember, we have been waiting for our fingerprint appt from USCIS (immigration). They apparently are back logged b/c of Guatemala's upcoming shutdown for adoptions. The appts typically take 2 weeks from the time your home study is submitted. In our case, it took just a touch longer (haha), alot longer! Anyway, our appt is scheduled for Monday the 10th. Unfortunately, we will not be able to attend that appt b/c Brandon is having surgery. So, we are going to have to go the following week. Once USCIS performs our 20th set of fingerprints (haha) then we wait 2 weeks (hopefully) for the prints to be processed and to get our pre clearance. THEN, we "OFFICIALLY" will be added to FTIA's formal wait list for Vietnam. I asked where approx that puts us and it looks like somewhere in the 80's. To put that into perspective for everyone, our agency has placed approx 20-25 children this year. Most agencies are falling somewhere in that arena for placements of children from Vietnam. That is about all we know right now. Unless the process speeds up (which it can and it can also slow down) we are looking at around 24 more months.

Keep us and our little girl in your prayers! We pray that she is will be healthy, well cared for and that she will know and love the Lord!!! :)))

Until next our next update....MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

The Rumor Mill

A little venting for me today....So apparently there is a rather large rumor going around on the message boards that Vietnam will be closing THEIR doors to Intl adoption from the U.S. Here is the post that I received from our FTIA yahoo group today:

Hi Everyone,

It seems there is talk on the various listservs that VN will be
shutting down and halting adoptions next March. I contacted Rachel,
and she asked if I would let everyone on our listserv know that this
rumor is inaccurate and just that - a rumor.

The bilateral agreement between the US and VN will be expiring next
August, and both countries are working on renewing the agreement.

Rachel stated that we will be updated with more details on Friday.

Of course this makes me rather nervous b/c this is precisely what happened to the families adopting from Guatemala prior to the shutdown (rumors). So, please keep us, other adoptive families and more importantly THE CHILDREN in your prayers. It would be terrible if this did ever come to fruition.

Hugs and love,
Robin

STILL WAITING and other updates....

Since the first part of October not much has changed for us, other than waiting. I'm a touch on the frustrated side right now. We anticipated being on the waiting list by now for our little peanut but we are not. We have had everything completed on our end but just found out about a week and a half ago that our home study agency had not mailed our home study to USCIS (immigration). USCIS is the agency responsible for scheduling our preapproval (I-600A and I-171). Well guess what, they can't schedule that without our home study in their hands. The home study was couriered over to USCIS in IN., on the day that I spoke to our home study agency. So, we pretty frustrated, to say the least. It typically takes about 2 weeks from the time the agency submits your home study to the time USCIS schedules your fingerprint appt. Then you go get your fingerprints (Brandon and I), then it takes them 2 weeks to process that, then 2 weeks to get that paperwork to our adoption agency (FTIA). So, we are looking at 4 more weeks before we are on the waiting list at FTIA. HOOO-HUMMM! I am once again reminded why you must have faith in this process and that God is in complete control and things will happen in His perfect time. So, I will keep you all posted as to when we are officially on the list.

Also, more big news, our adoption agency has closed the doors to applications for the Vietnam program. They did this to accomodate all of the waiting families. They are not going to open the doors to additional adoptions from Vietnam until the process begins to speed up. We are fortunate that we are grandfathered in based on our application being received prior to this decision.

Last and certainly not least, we had the Hope Gala on Nov. 3rd. FTIA had the World of Hope Gala to raise money for orphans in Vietnam. 100% of the proceeds of this annual event will be going to orphanages, to caregiver training, education in Vietnam, etc. Brandon and I had the joy of volunteering that evening and again it brought us much closer to a daughter that seems so far away, not just in distance. We were so amazed at the turnout, as it was the first year of this annual event. The support given to the children was amazing. It's difficult to put it into words, but it was a very special evening for everyone involved.

Well, I guess that is just about it for now....I hope to be writing again soon to say we have our fingerprint appt!!! :))))

The latest...

Well, I will pick up where I left off last time. We mailed in our I-600A paperwork (preapproval for Vietnam) just about 2 weeks ago. ASC sent us the rough draft of our home study a little over a week ago and I made some revisions to it and emailed it back. Once the final copy is done, they will send us a copy, a copy will go to our agency (FTIA) and then one to pair with our I-600A paperwork. When all of that is received by the "powers that be" here in Indiana, then we get our I-171...This is our official fingerprints for adoption. It's one of about 100 sets of fingerprinting we have to do in the process. I can honestly say that I think I might feel like a felon once this is done (hehe). Once all of the above is completed, THEN we get added to the wait list at FTIA. It appears our # will be approx. in the 60's, somewhere, in terms of families ahead of us for a baby girl. To put that into perspective....There have been approx 10 referrals of children since January. Theoretically, that means we will have our beautiful little girl in about 6 years ;-) (wink-wink). We've been told that the process will begin to pick up as Vietnam gets their new systems in place and protocols regulated. We try to keep in mind that Vietnam shut down for 3 years for unethical practices both by both the Vietnamese and Americans. So, to ensure that those practices remain under control, they are continually modifying and changing policies. They have recently implemented a few that appear to be a step in the right direction. It is anticipated that the process will begin to speed up and we are prayerful that it will.

As for the job hunt, that has been off and on over the past few weeks. I have had several interviews but nothing that I felt was a, "great fit", so I am continuing to keep my eyes open and we shall see.

Last but not least, I spoke with Rachel, our coordinator at FTIA about when she thinks I can begin working on our dossier. (side note- our dossier is what we complete when we are approx 4-6 months away from a referral) Rachel said that it probably won't be for 12-15 months :( The sad part about that is, you can't adopt a baby without a completed dossier. Soooo, that tells us that we are (BEST case) 16 months away from a referral and (WORSE case) 2 years. So, we will wait. That leaves us lots of time together and lots of time to think. We have been pondering little girl names....We like, Kendall. We also like, Emerson (calling her Emmie or Emma) Faith. I'm guessing with the wait we have, we'll come up with JUST A FEW more :) I've also purchased a few lil baby girl outfits. I know, we don't know when she'll come home but I figure if I buy 12 months and up, I'm pretty safe! Vietnamese babies are smaller than American babies. Plus, I can't help it :) I got her camouflage overalls with pink buttons for her daddy!!! I just couldn't resist! Of course I got her a pink hat to match.

Well, that is it for now...I'll let you know when we have our official number on the wait list.

Love and hugs to all!

Final in home visit

So lots has happened since I last wrote...Or at least we feel like alot has happened :) We completed our final home study (in home)visit. We really enjoyed both of the social workers we have worked with. I can honestly say ASC made us feel so comfortable. Our social workers were very thorough in getting to know us, yet very pleasant. They helped guide us in determining what age group of child(ren) would be best for us and so we made our final decision. Once we determined what age group we are comfortable with, it is written in our home study which is eventually sent to Vietnam to assist in finding our daugther. We decided that if we did not get a sibling pair, we would be open to a child 0-16 months but the younger, the better. So, we will leave this in Gods hands and see where He leads us. Over the past few weeks we've been gathering documents, reference letters and getting our I-600A ready to be sent off. An I-600A is basically your preapproval (government) paperwork to adopt from a specific country...In our case, Vietnam. We have all of our documents in the envelope, addressed and ready to be mailed, we are just waiting on one piece of paperwork we had to send off for, to arrive in the mail. Once that arrives and our reference letters get to ASC, we should be added to the, "waiting list" :)))) That is when we will pretty much sit back and wait until it's time to complete our dossier. Our adoption agency (FTIA) will prompt us to begin our dossier when the time is right. We anticipate that will not be for 6-12 months...Though we will keep you posted.

Now that we are certain we have a pretty long wait ahead of us, Brandon and I have decided that it probably wouldn't hurt for me to go back to work full time. This way, I won't be pacing the house in my spare time, while we wait ;-) I'm looking forward to it b/c it will keep me busy! This time away from sales and working part time at Starbucks has really allowed me to complete all of the necessary paperwork that I wouldn't have had time to complete in our previous situation. I've purchased several book pertaining to adoption and Vietnam, so I will be doing lots of reading as I begin the hunt for a Pharmaceutical sales position. We're excited and we'll keep you posted as we learn more about our wait and the process unfolding.

Hugs to all,
Robin and Brandon

1st Home Study Appointment & additional updates!

So we had our first home study appointment early this week with our home study agency which was recommended to us by our adoption agency, Families Thru International Adoption (FTIA). Did I mention we LOVE our agency!? :)))

Basically our appt consisted of meeting with a social worker for a little over 2 hours. The first hour was spent talking to us about the documents we needed to start gathering, including completing our I-600A, I171 and then compiling our dossier...phewww, is that going to keep us busy! A dossier is a compilation of approx 20-25 notarized and certified documents. After the first hour, we got into our family history. We were asked about our individual family relationships, activities growing up, how we were raised, etc. You name it, we covered it...I think anyone observing would've needed a flow chart to keep up, as we were moving at warp speed! ;-)

As the appt ended we scheduled our next appt when the social worker comes to our home for 3 hours, meets with us again and tours our home to make sure it is safe for a child. At this time she'll be meeting our heard of animals as well (keep her in your prayers ;-) That will be our last meeting with the social worker and then she will write up our home study and send it off to our agency. Once that is completed and our I-600A is sent in, we will be added to the wait list with FTIA for our baby girl!!! Speaking of wait, we have found out that we will be on a very long list...We are looking at somewhere between 2-3 years for our little peanut. That gives us plenty of time to DECORATE the room and shop for baby and kiddo clothes!! :))) Please keep us (and our lil angel who probably hasn't been born yet) in your prayers, I'm about to truly learn patience!

Time for our HOME STUDY to begin!

Well, now that we have chosen to adopt from Vietnam and we have picked an adoption agency, the next big step in the process is the home study! This is several meetings with a LSW (licensed social worker)both in our home and out, where they evaluate our ability to parent, help us determine what is best for our family in the way of children (ages, multiple children, etc). On average this process takes about 2 1/2 months but some agencies complete them faster. The home study agency we have selected (which is different than our adoption agency)...Is typically pretty quick about completing the home study (4-6 wks). We can't wait to get started! Our first appt. is next week and outside of our home. One step closer to building our family....

VIETNAM!!!! :))))

Though we struggled to get here....I am VERY EXCITED to share that Brandon and I have chosen to adopt a girl OR sibling pair(which are RARE) from Vietnam! :)))) We are fairly certain of the agency we are going to work with but I hesitate to post it b/c I am going to "skim" through one last packet before we make our final decision (that's the type A in me ;-) After researching over 25 agencies...We both feel a strong sense of peace with one of them!

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO ONE DAY BRINGING HOME OUR CHILD(REN) FROM VIETNAM!!!!! :)))

(Proverbs 3:5-6) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.

Much love,
B & R

Finding peace amidst the wait

Well it's Sunday and we did not receive any mail this week (well we got MAIL, just not THE MAIL ;-) we've been waiting for. The irony is, both Brandon and I are beginning to feel at peace amidst our wait. We are arriving at decisions and a level of comfort with those decisions. We attended two agency events this week and at this time have decided that Guatemala is probably not best for our family. We are feeling a strong tug toward Vietnam the last few days (B is REALLLLLY feeling a tug-tug-tug). Both Brandon and I have a feeling of excitement pertaining to Vietnam. We will still wait to make our final decision until the infamous MAIL arrives but we are getting more and more excited about moving forward soon!!! :))) Stay tuned!

And the wait continues

NO MAIL TODAY. So, I've always said I was a patient person...."UM, NO", I'm not. I called today to see if they received our paperwork and they told me that, "they are currently amidst processing it". Customer Service said it could be as long as another week- week and a half. Looks like I will be learning patience afterall :)

Hugs!

The gangs all here...

So we are still on "MAILBOX WATCH"...No sign of the envelope we are looking for yet. B is being the ever calm and patient one (he balances me). I am "ME", praying for Gods grace for my impatience! Speaking of.....I read this verse two nights ago after my first post, (ROMANS 12:2) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will. I'd say that just about covers it! :)
Also, many of you have written back via email asking me where Xena and Remmie are on the site. I didn't have photos saved to my computer of them, but they are there now, so the family is complete. I've also had people ask how to leave a comment on our blog. If you look right below the last post on this front page, there will be little, tiny link you can click on that says, "click here to respond to post". I believe you click on that and then you are able to respond. Everyone have a great weekend!! :))))

Waiting for our response!!

Hello all! Many of you already know that we are amidst waiting some key paperwork from our government. This paperwork will determine what country we may adopt from! We are running to the mailbox daily, as if it were Christmas time and we were 6 years old once again...Awaiting Santa's arrival. The three countries that we are looking into are, Kazakhstan (choice #1), Vietnam and Guatemala. We have both (Initially, me more reluctantly than B) determined that it is 100% in Gods hands and only time will tell. Stay tuned, our next post will hopefully be telling you all what country we will be adopting from, the adoption agency and last but not least, our home study agency. Lots of things to start doing!!!!

Love, Brandon & Robin