So we thought we'd be in "child search" in June... NOPE!
We are currently in week 15 of our wait for our child abuse clearance from Texas which was supposed to take 4-8 weeks. This one sheet of paper has had our adoption on hold for more than three months. It is frustrating to say the least.
Time is starting to be torturous. I have been trying to distract myself and stay busy but there is a nagging worry in the back of my mind. Where is she? What has she been experiencing these past months? God please let her be in a loving foster home. We pray for her at breakfast as a family every day. Ethan asks a few times a week if we can finally go get her. The thoughts are endless and continuously lead on to more. It is a really strange feeling, because we feel like someone is missing. It's not just an anticipation. It almost feels like someone was here and is gone now. Hard to describe.
Up side: we are pretty much done. Once this stupid paper gets back from it's extended vacation to Texas, our social worker will come to our house and approve it and write our home study. She will then send it to get certified which will take a couple of weeks. If the clearance came back today, we could be in "child search" in a few weeks.
What is "child search"? This is the part of the process where you are completely cleared as an adoptive family to be matched with a child. Once we are in this stage, we can go to our agency and look at the "child availables" which are profiles of adoptable children. We can "submit" on any children we want to be considered for. However, most likely we will receive a call from our social worker about a child that we've never seen in the child availables. If we want to be considered for any child, our social worker submits our info to that child's social worker. That social worker responds to ours and lets her know if she thinks we are a good match. If we are, we get to meet the child and make a final decision. If not, we keep looking. The tricky thing is that every child's social worker receives multiple interested families. So we have to appear as the best match to be picked.
We have been praying all along that we'd have her by Christmas. That is looking more and more impossible. The chances of getting placed within the first couple of months of child search are not in our favor. But it does happen. I'm trying to let that hope go. Putting baby shower invitations together for a friend yesterday almost wiped me!
So, here we sit, waiting impatiently, annoying our agency and trying not to look at the calendar. Asking for peace and faith and trust and hope.
Can't wait to have her in my arms!
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adoption. Show all posts
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Adoption Update - Winding Road & Extras
Oops, it has been two months since my last entry! Forgive! Forgive!
Much has happened in the last two months. My husband Joel went to Cambodia for a couple of weeks in March to shoot for a documentary and the boys and I held down the fort. He has been busy every since, plugging away at the project which will hopefully be completed in its entirety by June. You can find out more about it at thepinkroomdocumentary.com. It has been a privilege to work on something so amazing together.
Yesterday we said goodbye to one of our dearest friends, Stephanie VanTassell. She flew away to Africa to start a coffee farm, contract syphilis and have a love affair with Robert Redford. Wait! That was Meryl Streep. Nevermind. She went to work in Ethiopia with an organization called Drawn From Water (drawnfromwater.org) and although it was all I could do not to tranquilize and kidnap her before her flight, I am beyond excited for the adventures that await her on my favorite continent. Goodbye my love!
Adoption! After much political controversy and many adoptions gone South, Ethiopia made the decision to cut back their international adoptions by 95%. They have gone from processing approximately 50 adoptions per day to a maximum of 5. This would put us at about 5 or 6 years in waiting for a child match. We were disappointed and definitely let down and began to look at other options for our little family. After many phone calls, meetings and a stack of research on my desk, we have found an incredible adoption agency in Sacramento that specializes in low risk foster adoption. We have begun the process with them and hope to finish all of our paperwork by the end of May so that we can begin “child search” which is basically the waiting period where every time the phone rings, we hope and pray it is our agency telling us they’ve found our daughter. We are beyond thrilled to be able to adopt from the foster care system. It is something we looked into before and seemed as if there were not suitable options for our family. But Family Connections Christian Adoptions deals with families just like us and we can’t wait to bring our little girl home!!! It is hard to say how long we will wait before being matched with a child, so we will just have to wait and see. All we know is that she will be 0-2 in age. In the mean time, I am trying very hard not to begin making a wish list of wardrobe components from Gap and Jcrew Kids.
This week is Holy Week at our house and we are talking about the life of Jesus Christ, what He stood for and eagerly anticipating Sunday. Ethan loves Easter and can’t wait to decorate eggs, open his Easter basket, etc. This is one of those holidays that can really get lost in the mix of mainstream “holiday” stuff so we try to incorporate a focus for each day of this special week along with some fun things.
That basically touches on the major points of life as of late, but there is more to come!
Much has happened in the last two months. My husband Joel went to Cambodia for a couple of weeks in March to shoot for a documentary and the boys and I held down the fort. He has been busy every since, plugging away at the project which will hopefully be completed in its entirety by June. You can find out more about it at thepinkroomdocumentary.com. It has been a privilege to work on something so amazing together.
Yesterday we said goodbye to one of our dearest friends, Stephanie VanTassell. She flew away to Africa to start a coffee farm, contract syphilis and have a love affair with Robert Redford. Wait! That was Meryl Streep. Nevermind. She went to work in Ethiopia with an organization called Drawn From Water (drawnfromwater.org) and although it was all I could do not to tranquilize and kidnap her before her flight, I am beyond excited for the adventures that await her on my favorite continent. Goodbye my love!
Adoption! After much political controversy and many adoptions gone South, Ethiopia made the decision to cut back their international adoptions by 95%. They have gone from processing approximately 50 adoptions per day to a maximum of 5. This would put us at about 5 or 6 years in waiting for a child match. We were disappointed and definitely let down and began to look at other options for our little family. After many phone calls, meetings and a stack of research on my desk, we have found an incredible adoption agency in Sacramento that specializes in low risk foster adoption. We have begun the process with them and hope to finish all of our paperwork by the end of May so that we can begin “child search” which is basically the waiting period where every time the phone rings, we hope and pray it is our agency telling us they’ve found our daughter. We are beyond thrilled to be able to adopt from the foster care system. It is something we looked into before and seemed as if there were not suitable options for our family. But Family Connections Christian Adoptions deals with families just like us and we can’t wait to bring our little girl home!!! It is hard to say how long we will wait before being matched with a child, so we will just have to wait and see. All we know is that she will be 0-2 in age. In the mean time, I am trying very hard not to begin making a wish list of wardrobe components from Gap and Jcrew Kids.
This week is Holy Week at our house and we are talking about the life of Jesus Christ, what He stood for and eagerly anticipating Sunday. Ethan loves Easter and can’t wait to decorate eggs, open his Easter basket, etc. This is one of those holidays that can really get lost in the mix of mainstream “holiday” stuff so we try to incorporate a focus for each day of this special week along with some fun things.
That basically touches on the major points of life as of late, but there is more to come!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Adoption Update - Keep on Keepin' On
Today it happened. I turned in the LAST document for our home study to our social worker!!! From this point she will send it to our home study agency for approval and then to our placement agency for approval. Then she will give it to us! Our very own certified home study! I am telling you, I had no idea how hard it was going to be, but we got through it. Now it is done. Yes, we still have a dossier to complete, but I am trying not to think about that right now. I am just trying to soak in the moment of triumph.
So what next? The very first thing that we do when we get our home study back is apply for USCIS approval. We send off our application and a crap load of money so that they US government will let us bring our baby girl home. We also will send out all of our adoption grant applications (about 10) to see if we are awarded any money for adoption expenses. We are keeping our fingers crossed on that one. Then we get to turn in “Packet A” and “Packet B” to our placement agency with about $3200 so that we can begin our dossier. Once that is complete, along with the submission of a few thousand more dollars we get to begin the wait for a referral, which is where we are matched with our daughter. The wait times have increased in the past few months which is super discouraging for sure, but I am just hoping and praying that the system will unclog and let the referrals start moving more quickly or at the very least that the wait will be bearable for me. Just thinking about it makes me feel like my heart is going to explode. There are a few steps after that, but I am not thinking about those. I am just counting the steps down until I have her picture in my hand and I know her name.
As long as the finances work out, we are hoping to have our dossier completed by the end of April. We will see what happens! God has provided in amazing ways so far and we have yet to be stalled in the process because of money.
For now, I am just enjoying the exhale.
So what next? The very first thing that we do when we get our home study back is apply for USCIS approval. We send off our application and a crap load of money so that they US government will let us bring our baby girl home. We also will send out all of our adoption grant applications (about 10) to see if we are awarded any money for adoption expenses. We are keeping our fingers crossed on that one. Then we get to turn in “Packet A” and “Packet B” to our placement agency with about $3200 so that we can begin our dossier. Once that is complete, along with the submission of a few thousand more dollars we get to begin the wait for a referral, which is where we are matched with our daughter. The wait times have increased in the past few months which is super discouraging for sure, but I am just hoping and praying that the system will unclog and let the referrals start moving more quickly or at the very least that the wait will be bearable for me. Just thinking about it makes me feel like my heart is going to explode. There are a few steps after that, but I am not thinking about those. I am just counting the steps down until I have her picture in my hand and I know her name.
As long as the finances work out, we are hoping to have our dossier completed by the end of April. We will see what happens! God has provided in amazing ways so far and we have yet to be stalled in the process because of money.
For now, I am just enjoying the exhale.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Losing My Grip
So it is no secret that I have been in some what of a euphoric state for almost the past year. Although life has not been perfect, I have found a way to really enjoy it and grow. The past few weeks, however, have knocked me off of my saddle. The whirlwind of traveling for the holidays, events, saying a HARD goodbye to dear friends, passing the stomach flu around, settling into my new job, the endless sea of adoption paperwork and my sister’s unexpected (and a bit scary) delivery have taken the wind out of my sails.
I devoted yesterday to cleaning my house and stocking up on groceries so that I’d feel a little more in control and it helped a little. Then today, I lined up a long to do list on the adoption front and things were looking up as I began to check things off one by one. But then I got some updated info from our adoption agency about changes for the new year and found myself on my rump again. I feel a bit like I am walking through three feet of mud in my sneakers. Yuck.
When we got home tonight, I did the usual. Fed Josiah, put him to bed, loaded the dishwasher, switched the laundry, read with Ethan, tucked him in, did a little work, checked tomorrow’s schedule and plopped down on my bed with brushed teeth and clean pajamas on. I was half-heartedly praying when I said to myself, “Why can’t I get under control?!”. And then it clicked. I AM NOT IN CONTROL. I responded with, “Oh.” and then took a breath.
Christ was the freest human that ever lived yet he lived in complete slavery to the will of the Father. I hope that in the future I can remember to walk in true freedom instead of trying to create my own false sense of stability in the craziness of life.
I devoted yesterday to cleaning my house and stocking up on groceries so that I’d feel a little more in control and it helped a little. Then today, I lined up a long to do list on the adoption front and things were looking up as I began to check things off one by one. But then I got some updated info from our adoption agency about changes for the new year and found myself on my rump again. I feel a bit like I am walking through three feet of mud in my sneakers. Yuck.
When we got home tonight, I did the usual. Fed Josiah, put him to bed, loaded the dishwasher, switched the laundry, read with Ethan, tucked him in, did a little work, checked tomorrow’s schedule and plopped down on my bed with brushed teeth and clean pajamas on. I was half-heartedly praying when I said to myself, “Why can’t I get under control?!”. And then it clicked. I AM NOT IN CONTROL. I responded with, “Oh.” and then took a breath.
Christ was the freest human that ever lived yet he lived in complete slavery to the will of the Father. I hope that in the future I can remember to walk in true freedom instead of trying to create my own false sense of stability in the craziness of life.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Adoption Update - Here We Go!
So I admit I have been putting off the final jump into our home study. I was slowly chipping away and taking our time, and yesterday our agency called me to get the big ball rolling. I saw the number on my caller ID and had a knot in my stomach. Adopting has always been a dream of ours, but it is scary to actually step into it. I have had a lot of fears and I have let them get the better of me, finding ways to put things off for one more month. Most of all, I have been afraid that the finances will not work out and that we will be left hanging in the end. Once I answered the phone, there was talk of fingerprinting, social workers, Dr. appointments, smoke detectors and my head was totally spinning. So I called my friend Rachel who is in the end stages of her adoption and she spoke peace and life into me. Then she showed up on my doorstep with a beautiful orchid as a remind me of our sweet baby and the fact that we are not alone in our journey.
Today I woke up and although I am still a little shaky, I am ready to make my list. This is something I have tried not to do... make a list. Because it is going to be sooooooooo long! But I did it, and while I was writing, I had a profound realization: the reality is that my son or daughter may be out there somewhere right now waiting for me. Needless to say, this was the kick in the tush that I needed to get my head on straight and get some skin in the game. Then I checked the mail, where a little unexpected check was waiting for me. And when I went to work on our fundraiser before I went to bed (see previous post) I realized we had more orders that I thought! God knew I needed a little encouragement... haha.
So my plan for today is to make two doctor’s appointments for our physicals and get our references together. After that, I am going to Rachel’s house to go through the home study paperwork with her and get my bearings on the government stuff.
I am so thankful that God has surrounded us with an incredible support system. I don’t know how people do it without one. So here it is - now I am officially stepping off the edge of the cliff. Ahhhhhh!
Today I woke up and although I am still a little shaky, I am ready to make my list. This is something I have tried not to do... make a list. Because it is going to be sooooooooo long! But I did it, and while I was writing, I had a profound realization: the reality is that my son or daughter may be out there somewhere right now waiting for me. Needless to say, this was the kick in the tush that I needed to get my head on straight and get some skin in the game. Then I checked the mail, where a little unexpected check was waiting for me. And when I went to work on our fundraiser before I went to bed (see previous post) I realized we had more orders that I thought! God knew I needed a little encouragement... haha.
So my plan for today is to make two doctor’s appointments for our physicals and get our references together. After that, I am going to Rachel’s house to go through the home study paperwork with her and get my bearings on the government stuff.
I am so thankful that God has surrounded us with an incredible support system. I don’t know how people do it without one. So here it is - now I am officially stepping off the edge of the cliff. Ahhhhhh!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Gourmet Treats for Adoption
This Christmas and Thanksgiving, enjoy some decadent homemade goodies and help us bring our baby home!!!
Here’s how it works:
Below you will find a Thanksgiving dessert menu and a Christmas goodie gift menu.
Email at asandvos@gmail.com with your order AND your address by Monday, November 22nd.
All Thanksgiving orders will be delivered Wednesday, November 24th in time for Thanksgiving dinner and all Christmas orders will be delivered Friday, December 17th!
**THANKSGIVING**
All desserts are $15 each and will be delivered to your door!
Rustic Cinnamon Apple Pie
Yummy fall fresh apple cinnamon filling in a flaky crust.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
Nostalgic Thanksgiving classic!
Creme Brulee Pudding Pie
Vanilla bean pudding pie in a buttery crust topped with homemade whipped cream and a brulee sugar topping.
Southern Pecan Pie
Old fashioned recipe with sweet gooey filling and toasted pecans on top.
Midnight Snowfall Chocolate Tart
A shortbread crust filled with rich luscious chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
**CHRISTMAS**
All orders are $7 each and will be delivered to you, beautifully wrapped in bundles, ready for gift giving!
(10 Pieces)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Chocolate Truffles
(6 Pieces)
Peanut Brittle
Iced Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Colossal Christmas Brownies
*YES, EVERYTHING IS MADE FROM SCRATCH :)
All profits will go towards funding our adoption from Ethiopia!
Here’s how it works:
Below you will find a Thanksgiving dessert menu and a Christmas goodie gift menu.
Email at asandvos@gmail.com with your order AND your address by Monday, November 22nd.
All Thanksgiving orders will be delivered Wednesday, November 24th in time for Thanksgiving dinner and all Christmas orders will be delivered Friday, December 17th!
**THANKSGIVING**
All desserts are $15 each and will be delivered to your door!
Rustic Cinnamon Apple Pie
Yummy fall fresh apple cinnamon filling in a flaky crust.
Classic Pumpkin Pie
Nostalgic Thanksgiving classic!
Creme Brulee Pudding Pie
Vanilla bean pudding pie in a buttery crust topped with homemade whipped cream and a brulee sugar topping.
Southern Pecan Pie
Old fashioned recipe with sweet gooey filling and toasted pecans on top.
Midnight Snowfall Chocolate Tart
A shortbread crust filled with rich luscious chocolate and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
**CHRISTMAS**
All orders are $7 each and will be delivered to you, beautifully wrapped in bundles, ready for gift giving!
(10 Pieces)
Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge
Chocolate Truffles
(6 Pieces)
Peanut Brittle
Iced Gingerbread Cookies
Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Colossal Christmas Brownies
*YES, EVERYTHING IS MADE FROM SCRATCH :)
All profits will go towards funding our adoption from Ethiopia!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Adoption
Joel and I were married in 2005, we just celebrated our 5 year anniversary! We always knew we would adopt one day, but it was always something way down the road. We had our first son, Ethan Isaiah in 2006. He is a bright, sweet little boy whose wheels are always turning. In 2008, we decided to have another baby and quickly became pregnant. At the end of our first trimester, we lost our baby and were totally heartbroken. We were confused and frustrated, but with a “dust yourself off” attitude, we started to try again. But In the midst of our anticipation, I began to think about adoption. I started doing some research and wound up ordering an information packet on Ethiopia adoption, telling myself I just wanted to be prepared for the future.
A few weeks later, through a random and interesting series of events, we became heavily involved with an effort to rescue tribal children in rural Ethiopia. You can read more about this organization at drawnfromwater.org. Our first thoughts were a hesitant, “God, what are you doing?”. We continued to wait for our second child through the spring of 2009, and were given the opportunity that summer to go to Ethiopia to work with Drawn From Water. The trip was life-changing to say the least, and while we were there, our heart for adoption expanded into something bigger than we could have imagined. Once we returned, however, we quickly realized that we were not in a position to adopt for many reasons. I think that we were pretty confused and almost disillusioned with the whole experience because we didn’t understand what God was doing at all. I almost felt like I was mourning again. And to make matters worse, we began to watch several friends begin their own adoptions. To our surprise, we found out just a couple of weeks later that we were pregnant! My first thought was “Thank you!” and then my second thought was “Why now?”. The road just kept twisting and twisting.
During the pregnancy, a lot of changes occurred in our home and finances. We had Josiah Clay in 2010 and began to settle into life with two little boys but we could feel something brewing. Something big. While at a church event, we had the chance to listen to a presentation by a foster-adoption agency and quickly figured out that the time had come to start down this road. Our immediate thoughts went to Ethiopia, but the intimidating cost made us skeptical. We decided to find out more about foster adoption through the state of California and at first, it looked like it would work out. However, once we began the training in our home study, some of the county policies made it clear that it would not be a good fit for our family. In the midst of this decision, we had a conversation with some friends who are nearing the end of their adoption process. We realized that we had been running from what we were meant to do because the obstacles seemed too large. We thought of Caleb in the Bible and knew that we had failed to have faith. We were deeply challenged and decided once and for all to do what we knew we had to and that was to walk forward into our adoption from Ethiopia.
So here we are, walking into the unknown - the world of international adoption. And believe me, it is a whole different world. We are excited and moving forward without fear, waiting to see what God does and waiting for him to make the way.
A few weeks later, through a random and interesting series of events, we became heavily involved with an effort to rescue tribal children in rural Ethiopia. You can read more about this organization at drawnfromwater.org. Our first thoughts were a hesitant, “God, what are you doing?”. We continued to wait for our second child through the spring of 2009, and were given the opportunity that summer to go to Ethiopia to work with Drawn From Water. The trip was life-changing to say the least, and while we were there, our heart for adoption expanded into something bigger than we could have imagined. Once we returned, however, we quickly realized that we were not in a position to adopt for many reasons. I think that we were pretty confused and almost disillusioned with the whole experience because we didn’t understand what God was doing at all. I almost felt like I was mourning again. And to make matters worse, we began to watch several friends begin their own adoptions. To our surprise, we found out just a couple of weeks later that we were pregnant! My first thought was “Thank you!” and then my second thought was “Why now?”. The road just kept twisting and twisting.
During the pregnancy, a lot of changes occurred in our home and finances. We had Josiah Clay in 2010 and began to settle into life with two little boys but we could feel something brewing. Something big. While at a church event, we had the chance to listen to a presentation by a foster-adoption agency and quickly figured out that the time had come to start down this road. Our immediate thoughts went to Ethiopia, but the intimidating cost made us skeptical. We decided to find out more about foster adoption through the state of California and at first, it looked like it would work out. However, once we began the training in our home study, some of the county policies made it clear that it would not be a good fit for our family. In the midst of this decision, we had a conversation with some friends who are nearing the end of their adoption process. We realized that we had been running from what we were meant to do because the obstacles seemed too large. We thought of Caleb in the Bible and knew that we had failed to have faith. We were deeply challenged and decided once and for all to do what we knew we had to and that was to walk forward into our adoption from Ethiopia.
So here we are, walking into the unknown - the world of international adoption. And believe me, it is a whole different world. We are excited and moving forward without fear, waiting to see what God does and waiting for him to make the way.
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