TO-DO LIST

Here's what's happening with the adoption in detail for those wondering. We submitted our home study about 4 weeks ago and received an appointment to be fingerprinted August 2nd. In the mean time we've been putting our dossier together and last week sent it in for review. We got a list of things to fix and things that were missing. As soon as we complete these things, we should be in a really good place...

- get new doctors letters (wording and notarization was wrong... plus I spilled water all over them. ha!)

- complete class for first time parents (signed up for August 3rd)

- get Aaron's employment letter re-stamped (the stamp was smudged)

- fix financial form (DONE)

- get 3 reference letters signed and notarized (they're on their way!)

- type out power of attorney, sign and notarize

- fingerprints (August 2nd)

We're getting SO close!

HAPPY AFRICA DAY!!

Today is Africa day. We're thinking of our little one and listening to Emmanuel Jal. We're excited to teach little Art about his beautiful country and celebrate his culture.

SO close to submitting our home study! Ready for the next step.

TODAY STINKS...

Maybe it's just that it's been pouring rain all day, but this crazy process is not my friend today. I hate it! I hate that so much time and so much money stand between me and Art right now. I hate that we have to go to great lengths to prove that we are good people! I hate that we have to eat stroganoff every night and pinch pennies when we were otherwise in a great spot financially. And... why does everything take 2 months longer than you think it will? I know that Arthur is worth all this trouble and I know that I'll get my positive attitude back, but today... just stinks.

MAKING PROGRESS

Remember that wall I mentioned earlier, with the water damage? With help from some friends, and a trip to IKEA, we fixed it without having to spend a ton of money. And... just in time for our final home visit tomorrow!

A LITTLE UPDATE

There's a little bit of water damage in what would be Arthur's room from before we got a new roof. It's something we've been wanting to take care of for a while, but a couple weeks ago it started to climb the priority list. So, I started peeling back the wood paneling (i know, wood paneling! yuck!) and let's just say that the cost of the project grew exponentially! That's ok, we can deal... except that the very next week we found out that Aaron's car needed some work... ok A LOT of work, like more than the thing is even worth! On top of that we found out that we owe taxes!

After a coffee date with a friend at work I thought it wise to make an appointment with a financial advisor. I was just so overwhelmed and didn't know what to do. After talking with the financial advisor and looking at what we could be saving, given a few changes, I was blown away. Aaron and I have been faithful from the beginning of this process that God would provide the funds to get through this adoption. It's funny to think that part of His answer to that prayer would be in our own checking account!

When we haven't been worrying about this we've been working on getting a couple documents we were missing, like Aaron's birth certificate and my passport with my married name on it. We also started some Hague certified training. We have to have at least 10 hours completed before we can submit our dossier.

ROUND ONE OF PAPERWORK SENT!

Just sent off some paperwork today. Included was an adoption agreement, fee schedule, release form, questionnaire and a home study agreement (since we're doing our home study through Children's Hope). Now we wait for final approval, then things will really start moving!

Oh! Also, Wednesday we learned that there has been a change in the Ethiopian adoption process. All prospective adoptive families must now travel to Addis Ababa for the Federal Court hearing before your adoption can be approved. This means that we have to travel to Ethiopia twice now instead of just once to go pick up our child. This also means MORE MONEY! I'm half overwhelmed by this news and half excited, because we'll get to meet Arthur a little sooner and have a few more days to experience the culture there.