Holy Nudges

On February 11th, our paperwork was officially logged in to China and we became eligible for a "referral". I expected this referral process to take 3 to 6 months, so I was shocked when I received an email stating we should stay near our phones on Feb 22nd as it was possible we might receive a referral. I was cautiously excited, but didn't expect anything. When that day came and went though, I was more disappointed than I had expected to be. I knew the chances were slim... we had to be at the bottom of the list, right? I mean, we'd only been eligible for a week and a half.

Again in March I received the same email.... March 22nd, stay near your phone, you may get a referral. I wasn't nearly as expectant this day and did not sit by the phone. Of course the day came and went with no news. I decided I had to accept what I already knew, she would come when God knew Daren and I were both ready and not a minute sooner.

Throughout this process, people kept asking if I had called the adoption agency, what was going on, how long it would be etc. I wanted to know what the process was we were going through. How big were the groups of children being released, how old were the children, how many people were in front of us, etc. But, very untrue to form for me, I had been pretty laid back about it. I wanted to call, but never got around to it. I was told earlier in the process that I needed to speak to this one lady at the agency and I just never called her.

Anyway, this past Monday I got what I like to call one of those "holy nudges." Around 11:00 our time, I just got this feeling I needed to pick up the phone and call. Finally around 11:20 I called. The wonderful Mrs. M picked up on the first ring. I gave her my spill.... "Hi M, this is Rachel Phillips, I've never called before but my husband, Daren and I are in process with Child of Promise..." I continued and gave her my little spill just saying I'd like to have more info about the process.

She says, "Ok Mrs. Philips, I see here that you have requested a child under 2?"

"Well, I 'd like her to be under 3 when we get her, but she can be somewhere in the two age range."

"So, you'd be open to a two year old child?"

"yes"

"And, you want a child with a heart condition?"

"yes"

"Can you hold on a moment please?"

"Sure", but in my mind I'm going what's going on? I was bouncing up and down in my dining room. I'll never forget it.... I was even a little panicky inside.

She comes back to the phone: "Mrs. Phillips, a little while ago another family turned down a two year old female with a heart condition b/c the mother is pregnant. Would you like to look at her referral packet?"

um, what?

"You mean, would I like to look at her to be my child?" what the heck is going on, isn't there a process here? Is this a joke? There is no way this is happening!

"Yes Mrs. Phillips. You match with this child perfectly, and if you are interested we can send you her referral packet to look over."

"Okay, well what's the process?"

She walked me through the process, and I asked her to send the info over. She was precious, and I was in love. We called the Dr. to look over her paperwork, medical stuff, etc. He saw us the next day during his lunch break and rubber stamped her. We called the agency, and accepted the referral. There was one hang up though....

Since she had originally be referred/matched to another family, they had to resubmit her to China. We had to wait for China to repost her to the adoption site and then our agency has to try to grab her again! The wait was excruciating. I kept telling myself God is in control, but saying it and turning it over are two different things! Once again though, and as always, He was faithful....

The Phillips Go to Washington

Not really, but it sure feels like it!!!!

After months (7 to be exact) of putting paperwork together, we finally sent our packet off to Washington. It took much longer than I expected and here's why...

Our home study went along, uneventfully. It finished in a normal amount of time and we were ready to process our immigration paperwork. That is supposed to come back in 6-8 weeks, then, my understanding was we could go the next day, get our fingerprints and be ready to send off the dossier.

Um, I was wrong. It did only take 6 weeks for the immigration ppw to come back, but then our fingerprinting appt. was set for us, 3 WEEKS IN ADVANCE! So, there's another 3 weeks of waiting. We went and had it done, at which time we found out the results would be mailed.... 2 weeks later I get a notice saying my fingerprints were bad (apparently user error on the part of the operator, not me) and i have to wait, yet another 3 weeks to get them taken again!!!! I called our social worker, in tears, and she said to just try to go down there one day and see if they would take me. 2 weeks later, I go down, take them and get them back two weeks later. All in all I wasted about 2 months on fingerprinting.

But, the Tuesday before Christmas, they showed up (an early Christmas gift from God!?!?) :) I had the whole next day open with nothing scheduled (which has probably never happened) and Deda was spending the day with Mc. I was able to spend the whole day getting paperwork in place, stamped by various government entities, copies made, cashier's checks cut, etc, etc.

I mailed it out at 4:15 the Wednesday before Christmas! It was mailed to a courier in Arlington, VA. He will walk it thru the US State Department and the Chinese Embassy. I expect to get it back by the end of the week. Then I have to add several pictures to it, a few other things and we'll be ready to submit!!!!!

Fingerprinting

Sooo, it's been a long time since I've written but mainly because there hasn't been much to write! We passed thru our home study with flying colors and we were then able to submit to Immigration. It took about 8 weeks to get back and then when it was returned our fingerprinting appointment was about 3 weeks after that. So basically we've been playing a waiting game.

However, we did complete our 10 hours of adoption education this week, and we got our fingerprinting done yesterday. So, that was the last piece of outstanding government paperwork we needed. It will be sent off to whomever it goes to and should be back in about 3-4 weeks. After that, our dossier packet will be complete and we will have to get the packet notarized, stamped by the county and stamped by the state. Then we have it couriered to Washington!!!

Woohoo!!!!

Last Home Study

This is what my dining room table looks like right now...

So much paperwork!!!

Anyway, our last home study was fine. Our SW came by and spent about 30 minutes. She talked to us for a while asking about home safety. Then, she talked to Mc. She was out of control wild. I guess I just built it up too much, "mommy's friend Miss Julie is coming over today and she is going to help us get baby sis..." She seriously acted like a crazy person. Next, she took the home tour, saw where baby sis' room is going to be :) and where she'll get to play.

Our next step is immigration. boo. The worst part. Julie will finish our home study next week and send it to us for approval. Once that happens, it goes to our adoption agency for approval. Then, she will package all of that up along with our passports and fingerprints and she mails it to US immigration. This is about an 8 week process... I think they basically check everything you've ever done in your life form the day you were born. I guess it's good. They are making sure we aren't terrorists or anything... but I could just tell them that and save us all alot of time! :)

So, I'll let everyone know when we mail that off! When it comes back, we'll still have a few steps left before submittal to China, but we're over the first big hump!!!!!

Final Home Study Next Week!

Our home study last week was quite uneventful! Daren and I both had separate 10 minute interviews, turned in some paperwork and we were done.

Our social worker is coming Monday, August 31st for the final study. This is the big one! She comes to our home and sees us interact as a family. She is also going to interview McHaney... yes, that should be hilarious! Anyway, I'll have a full report after that one for sure!

2nd Homestudy!

Our second home study is tomorrow. Daren and I have to go thru separate interviews... should be interesting!!!!

First Home Study

Well, our first home study was exactly as I expected... like drinking from a fire hose! But, it was a lot of good information and our social worker thinks there is a good chance "baby sis" will be with us by NEXT SUMMER!!!!! :)

We are in the process now of filling out all of our home study paperwork and doing all of our homework. This includes each of us writing a 2-3 page autobiography. I've done mine and it is ridiculously hard to fit your entire life into 3 pages. We also had to fill out essays on our thoughts about adoption, birth parents and marriage. I haven't used my brain that much since college!

Anyway, we're just about finished with this step and we'll be moving on to our dossier soon. I expect our next meeting to be sometime next week.