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Friday, December 28, 2007

Woo Hoo!!

So, I heard from the local caseworker today and she finally got the background check back. So after the new year we can continue forward with the homestudy and get the dossier all wrapped up, hopefully before the medical clearance expires, although I think that would mean that immigration would have to move quickly and I am not too hopeful on that.

On the bright side, the first blog off to the right just go their referral the other day and it only took 9 months and 11 days and they are going through the same agency as us, so maybe this means we will have a short person home before I'm 35!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

In case anyone is still reading....

I haven't posted in forever because there really hasn't been anything to post.

I started the new job on the 17th - last time I ever start a new job around the holidays... Not that I plan on starting another job Jessica...

Christmas was good. Presents were great. I won't go into a big list, but I think we all got most of what we wanted. ;) Other than Shelby and Sake trying to kill each other - hey first time in 3 months! - everything was good. We have tons of snow here too. Our street is down to one lane pretty much.

As far as the adoption goes, well, its not. I put things on hold with the placement agency until we hear back on the background check. When I told the case worker in Massachusetts, where WHFC is, what was happening, she sounded a little shocked. I just told her welcome to Utah. So obviously I am feeling a little discouraged about the whole thing. This better not be some sort of a sign that I am supposed to have one of my own, because that whole pregnancy thing still doesn't strike me as natural!!! ;)

Hopefully we'll hear something soon. This year would be nice..

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

And on and on and on.....

So, I finally got a letter in the mail today, from the Utah Department of Licensing. And in the interest of privacy and anyone deciding they don't like me in the future, (what is there, Blogger rivalry or something) this post has been changed. Oh boy!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Yay!!

Okay, no news on the adoption front, which is the whole reason that I started the blog....

But, I did give my two weeks today and start the new job on the 17th... Now come on homestudy!!!!

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Quickie

On the off chance that anyone is still checking this, here is where we are... I emailed the home study caseworker the other day, like I usually do once a week, and asked if in her experience, she though that the background check would be much longer. I got a "Probably not. Happy Thanksgiving". Nothing like that personal touch huh?

Oh, and still at Oracle.. If anyone knows of any openings I would like to here about it though. =)

Monday, November 19, 2007

Background Check

For everyone who knows me well, you are aware that I am well known for my patience, in fact if you haven't already called me for advice on how to control your tempers, be understanding with your husband (hee hee heee) please feel free to do so.

Okay, all sarcasm aside - and if you weren't dropped on your head multiple times as a child by a one armed hunch backed nanny you can tell that I was laying it on pretty thick - anyone who is reading this and has already adopted or is in the process of doing so, how f*^#ng long did it take for your background check to be completed? This is driving me nuts. It was sent in the first week of October, and here we are, 2 days before Thanksgiving and no background check. Just curious........

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Same old Same old....

So, still nothing new to report, but I thought that I could put a few more pictures up from vacation. I know, lame, but I don't have anything else right now... Until Jessica works out a new job for me that is. ;)








On the water taxi from the airport in Venice to the hotel... I thought that I looked exceptionally good after all that flying and trying to drink the Crown Room in Atlanta out of Vodka - I really do blame Cory and the bartender he renamed for that.


Seriously, even in Florence I can't get away from this freaking car!!! Does ANYONE want a Porsche, know anyone who wants a Porsche???????



This is at Dolce Vite in the Piazza Navona. The older woman on the left is from Germany originally. She had 5 kids by the time she was 28, then her husband died in WWII, so she married the man on the right, whose birthday it was by the way, so that she could get out of there to come to America. She was so interesting.



This is in Florence. The legend is that if you roll a coin down the boar's snout/mouth, I can't even remember exactly, that you will return to Florence some day. Since this was Cory's favorite place, hands down, I think that is likely to happen. Right behind that hog is where I found my adorable brown purse!!!!


A little something for Jenny and Troy. Check out these lines at the Vatican... And on the other side, going up to the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel - there were NO lines. As in not a person in front of us.


Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Traveling

So yesterday I got an update on the Ethiopia program from our agency. It's a good thing that we had already pretty much decided that we (or at least I) would be traveling to Ethiopia, because now it is required. The escort option is no longer a possibility. Apparently the officials in Ethiopia did not like having the children escorted, pretty much for all of the same reasons that we had changed our minds. Bonding with the child while traveling, meeting the family, getting pictures of the country and where he was....etc.

Oh, and still waiting for the background check!! They must be backed up. Where's the trust? Everyone doing background checks. ;)

I'm also going to try and add a few pictures from Italy to this post. Let's see how it goes... Thought I would do this since I never remember to send them out.








Capri





Venice



Trevi Fountain

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Still waiting...

I suppose this is the nature of the beast, but it does seem to be taking quite a while for our background checks to come back.... It's not like we've done that many bad things. ;)

Once we get that back though, our caseworker has told me that she works fast, and will get the homestudy done quickly. We just need one mere reference to be returned as well. That one is one of Cory's jobs, so I'm sure it will be done soon. hee hee.

The social worker from the placement agency asked me how the dogs were going to deal with a child in the house. I am optimistic.... Although Tigger may pack his catnip and move out.

Halloween went pretty smoothly this year. No blood. Sake and Chivas were tied up and all three had a little puppy valium beforehand, but it went well. Shelby only scared one child, all 12 lbs of her. I don't get it. Other than that she just kept doing her cute little chipmunk pose until kids got close enough for her to get her front paws on their bags of candy. Smart girl.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

One thing I forgot...

This is a pretty common question and I know that some people are uncomfortable asking. We have not tried to have any kids of our own. So as far as I know everything is in working order. Adoption is just something that we wanted to do. There are 5 million orphans in Ethiopia alone! That's it for today. =)

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Answer a few questions...

This should cover some of the basics, but let me know if you have any other questions.

- We are at the very begin of the process. We have started the homestudy process and are waiting for the background check to come back. Hopefully we pass. =) Then we have a few home visits... Hopefully we pass that as well. The social worker doing the homestudy basically holds the fate of this in her hands. They can decide on a whim whether or not we make fit parents, based on any criteria they see fit. During this we all take our pre-adoption education, I believe that is 10 hours and we can do some of it on line.

- We have also sent in the first part of our application, with the first part of the fee, to the agency. We went with Wide Horizons for Children. http://www.whfc.org/ I researched a lot of agencies, and for a lot of reasons chose this one. I had the best feeling about them and unlike a lot of the agencies out there they do not work on a sliding scale. I just didn't think that system was fair. And I chose this one BEFORE I knew that Angelina Jolie used them. I swear. We are working on the second half of the application to them, which includes medical statements from the doctor, saying that we are healthy.

- We also have to start on the dossier now. That is what officially goes to the Ethiopian government, once the homestudy and USCIS (immigration approval) information is done. That is when we are actually put on the list to wait for a referral.

- When I say that we are at the very beginning I mean it. We are looking at about 18 months before we bring home a child. Originally we had planned to have a child escorted home. Ethiopia is one of the few countries that allows this. But now, I think that we have reconsidered, and at least I will be traveling over there. Ethiopia has a lot of interesting sites, and I would like to see where he is coming from and also meet any of his family that is possible.

- Yes, I said he. We are requesting a boy. No I have not hit my head recently. And we are also requesting an infant which is anything 0-12 months at the time of referral. This is also why it will take so long. As with any country, it takes longer for infants.

- The children are tested for AIDS, when they come into the care of the state and before leaving the country. They are also tested for Hepatitis and syphilis I believe.

That should answer most of the questions I've gotten so far, but if you have any others, just let me know!!

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Okay, I can't believe that I am doing this but I'm beginning to understand why so many people who are adopting blog. It really is the easiest way to let everyone know what is going on.

First of all, I don't mind answering questions about this at all, I really don't, but there is a lot of basic stuff that I seem to be repeating to everyone over and over again, so I thought this would be the best way to get all of that out of the way.

So don't make fun of me and if anyone has any questions, please let me know, and if you have any suggestions on how to make this at least mildly interesting, let me know.

I am also going to include links here of blogs that I have been reading, if anyone is interested in taking a look at them. Either to learn more about the process or just to see how stinking cute their kids are!!!

A by product of doing this is Cory said that he can log on at work and keep up on what is going on with his life!!!!