Adoption Information

I have had several questions on how the adoption is going to work. So I thought I would write a blog post about the process.


We are working with Gladney Center for Adoptions. We have heard so many wonderful things about them and already have wonderful things to say about them. They will guide us through the process. We will basically do what they say when they say to do it. :) That takes the guess work out of it for us.


We have been given an estimate of 18 months from start to finish until actually have our baby girl. We are already almost a month into that time frame.


The initial paperwork phase takes about 3-6 months to complete. We are hoping to shorten this to 3-4 months, but most of the waiting can't be helped. There are certain forms that can't be completed until others are done. The part that takes the longest is the Department of Homeland Security forms and subsequent fingerprinting. That alone can take more than 3 months. And it can't be turned in until the homestudy is complete. And that can't be done until the application is complete. We just received the application last week and are working hard to complete it asap. It can't be turned in until we all have our doctor visits and the doctor fills out the forms that we are in good health. All of those appointments have been scheduled for this week. It has to run like a well oiled machine in order to shave time off of the 3-6 month guesstimate. We're trying our best!


After the Gladney Approval and the CIS(Immigration Services) approval, our foreign dossier can be sent to Ethiopia. We are already working on the dossier. It will contain many of the same items our application does, so some of it is duplicated. Every document has to be notarized and authenticated at both the State and National levels. We have hired a company to do the dossier for us. We will have to complete many documents, but they will be telling us what to do and will be compiling it all for us in order to eliminate chance of error.


When the dossier arrives in Ethiopia we will officially be on the waiting list. The estimated time to receive a referral is 8-10 months. A referral is when we are actually matched up with a child. We aren't exactly sure how old the child will be when we are matched up, but we have requested the youngest age which is 4-12 months. Most that I've heard about are about 4-6 months old at that time, I think. After we accept the referral, it is an estimated 3-4 months until we travel to Ethiopia.


On the first trip to Ethiopia, we will have our court date where we will (hopefully) pass and be officially declared her parents. We will have visitation rights with her each day that we are there, but we won't be able to take her from the care center where she will be living. This first trip will last 7-10 days.


The second trip will be just 3-6 weeks after we arrive home from our first trip. On the second trip, we will be able to go and get our baby girl! She will stay with us for the remainder of our trip and will fly home to the U.S. with us. She will officially become a US Citizen when we touch American soil. Each case is different, but we are thinking she will be close to but under 1 year old when we bring her home.


We appreciate your prayers as we go through this process. We are just ready to go hop on a plane and go get our sweet baby girl already! The waiting will be the hardest part. Especially the waiting between the two trips. After we've met her and then have to leave her all the way in Africa.... I'm sure I'll be a total mess the day we have to leave her. I'm not allowing myself to think too much about it right now.


We know that God has our child picked out already and He will take care of all the details. We trust that it will all happen in His perfect timing. If it takes 18 months, so be it. We'd like for it to be sooner, but He is in charge. We know it can happen even sooner than the expected time too. All things are possible with God and nothing is too hard for Him! Of course we are optimistic and believing for a miracle, but we will praise God no matter what happens.

Sissy's First Hair Cut

This actually took place back in January, but I totally forgot to post them!

I took these pictures with my phone.

Gracie's hair was starting to get some split ends and starting to grow unevenly. The middle back grows so much faster than the sides that are more towards the front. So, we had a few inches trimmed off of middle back to even it up a little bit.

She did so good in the chair. She sat still the entire time and enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror.

She looks scared in this picture! I told her to look at me and smile, but she didn't want to take her eyes off of watching what was going on in the mirror.

Pretty girl!

Backyard Bunnies

One evening, Jason and the kids were playing ball in the back yard and they found this little guy.

Then they found these! They had made their nest in our yard!

Jason used Rhett's bike helmet to provide a little shelter for them.

The kids used an umbrella over the helmet to give them some more protection. They stayed for a few days after we took these pictures and then one day we went to check on them and they were gone. I hope they found a happy home!

More Soccer

Our days have been filled with soccer, soccer and more soccer! Good thing I always wanted to be a soccer mom, huh?! The boys both play games on Saturdays and Braden has also been playing most Sundays as well.

Rhett's First Upward Soccer Game

Corner Kick. Great form!
Braden

The boys' #1 Fan!

Goal Kick
Braden's Team after the tournament

Go Comets!

Rhett is 7!

Our baby boy turned 7! We had a great time celebrating his birthday with friends and family at our house. We rented an inflatable jump house and the kids had a great time. After the party, Rhett said, "That was the best day of my life." I had to hold back tears when he said it. There's just something about knowing your children are so happy that makes a mamma fulfilled.

The birthday boy requested cupcakes with "48" on them. That's for Jimmie Johnson, his favorite NASCAR driver. He also specifically requested some plain cupcakes with no icing. Because "he hates icing". Ask and ye shall receive, dear one!

3 Little Monkeys

As you can see, he was pretty happy about the money he received!

Uncle Jeff got him a whole set of catcher gear. He has been asking for this for years. He was so excited!
Singing Happy Birthday! The cake was an ice cream cake from Shake's. It was so yummy!
Blowing out the candles with a little help from Tre man!

The party was on Friday night. His actual birthday was the following Monday. When he came down the stairs for breakfast before school on his birthday, this was the breakfast I had prepared for him.
Braden, Gracie, and I all sang Happy Birthday to him. He thought it was pretty cool.

I'm glad you had such a happy birthday Rhettster! I love you SO much. You make me laugh everyday and I don't know what I'd ever do without you. You have such a strong will and even though that gets you into trouble sometimes, I pray that you never lose that. I know it will make you that much more successful in all you set out to achieve in your future. I pray everyday that I would be the mom that you need and deserve. You will always be my baby boy!

Love,

Mamma

Watch this video!

Our family made this video to share some exciting news with you

Dance Practice

This is a little video of the first run through of Gracie's class' part in the opening number for the recital. They just started learning it this day. Considering that, I thought Sissy did pretty good. The 2nd time they did it she did a little better and she remembered to throw her rose at the right time at the end too. :)