Lilypie Countdown to Adoption tickers
Thursday, February 25, 2010
If you know me...
You know that I am horrible at sending out photos. Which is why there probably aren't many on our blog. That being said, I thought would publish some of us, our family, friends, and favorite moments! Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
It's Officially Official
I went to Yoga and then Sam joined me after for dinner at our local neighborhood bar, Busters. We threw back a brew or two not even realizing what we were to be celebrating!
We came home to this email:
Dear Sam and Christina:
Your Dossier was sent to Ethiopia today! Your tracking number is xxxx. To follow your Dossier as it travels to Ethiopia go to www.dhl-usa.com or call 1-800-225-5345.
As of today you are officially waiting to be matched. The matching process generally takes between 4 to 6 months, but now that your Dossier has been submitted you could be matched at any time.
A staff member will be contacting you within four weeks to schedule your next training session, Preparing for Your Referral and Travel. After your appointment has been scheduled we will send you the next packet of information, please review this information and have it with you during our next training session.
Yeaaaaah! It is officially official. I will be adding a tracking bar on our blog so you can track how long we have been waiting for our referral! Hopefully the time will go fast.
We came home to this email:
Dear Sam and Christina:
Your Dossier was sent to Ethiopia today! Your tracking number is xxxx. To follow your Dossier as it travels to Ethiopia go to www.dhl-usa.com or call 1-800-225-5345.
As of today you are officially waiting to be matched. The matching process generally takes between 4 to 6 months, but now that your Dossier has been submitted you could be matched at any time.
A staff member will be contacting you within four weeks to schedule your next training session, Preparing for Your Referral and Travel. After your appointment has been scheduled we will send you the next packet of information, please review this information and have it with you during our next training session.
Yeaaaaah! It is officially official. I will be adding a tracking bar on our blog so you can track how long we have been waiting for our referral! Hopefully the time will go fast.
Monday, February 15, 2010
In honor of Valentines Day, I bring you...
How well do I know my Husband?
I have seen this on other blogs and thought it would be kinda fun...I will have Sam review this too:-)
1. Your spouse is sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Sports, ESPN, Lost, Modern Family
2. Who takes longer showers, you or him?
I would say it is a toss up…probably me though
3. What is one food your spouse doesn't like?
Anything with Coconut or cheese. This is a bit of a challenging being cheese is a Taylor family favorite!
4. What would your husband say is the first thing that caught his eye about you?
that is easy…my butt
5. Where did he go to high school?
Fergus Falls something or other
6. What is his shoe size? 12
7. If he was to collect something, what would it be?
Well he still has all his baseball cards and Becketts, so I would say that or coins.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Anything with a lot of meat, mayo and pickles.
9. How does he take his coffee?
Black
10. What is his favorite cereal?
Oatmeal (maybe not his favorite, but that is the only cereal he eats)
11. Where did he go to college?
Fergus Fall Community College, Univ. MN Duluth and Univ. of MN Moorehead
12. What is his favorite sports team?
This is an easy one…Vikings
13. Where was your first date?
The Bonfire. Then we went for a walk in the park and just talked!
14. What is something I do that he wishes I wouldn't?
Plan, plan, plan. He thinks I am always in planning mode and we just need to live in the moment more.
15. What is his heritage?
Scottish and Irish for the most part
16. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind is it?
He raves about some donut cake he used to have growing up…I have actually never made him a cake…bad wife!
17. What could he spend hours doing?
watching/playing sports. If he reading a good book, that is all he will do.
18. What is one unique talent he has?
He can open a beer bottle with his belly-button. That is what stole my heart.
19. Where is his favorite place he has traveled?
Hawaii
20. What clothing item he would never wear?
Speedo
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Dossier Signed Sealed Delivered!
We mailed in our Dossier to our agency on Sat. and it arrived on Tues.! Now we are officiall just waiting, but we are not considered to be on the waiting list just yet. At this point a few of our documents in our Dossier needed to be sent to D.C. to be authenticated. Once they are mailed back to our agency, our Dossier will be mailed to Ethiopia. At that point we will officially be on the waiting list! I am guessing all of this will take 3-4 weeks.
I talked to our adoption counselor yesterday to confirm waiting times once we are officially waiting. She said the average to recieve a referral is 4-6 months. From there the average wait before you are able to travel is taking 4-6 months. So we are thinking at this point it could be anytime between 8 and 12 months before we have the kids home! It seems like a long time, but I know it will be well worth the wait.
I talked to our adoption counselor yesterday to confirm waiting times once we are officially waiting. She said the average to recieve a referral is 4-6 months. From there the average wait before you are able to travel is taking 4-6 months. So we are thinking at this point it could be anytime between 8 and 12 months before we have the kids home! It seems like a long time, but I know it will be well worth the wait.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
Immigration Approval!
Yeahhh! Sam and I received our immigration approval on Jan. 22nd! I was not at home to share the exciting moment with Sam, but I was at least with friends and family! We are super excited as this was the last thing we needed in order to submit our Dossier. Well, I should say one of the last things. We need to have one more training with the director of our agency, which is scheduled for tomorrow evening. Our Dossier will be mailed this week. Once it is approved by Secretary of State’s office it will be mailed to Ethiopia. Once it is in the mail to Addis Ababa we are officially waiting!
A number of people ask…what does the timeline look like from once you are considered to be ‘waiting’? The average time to receive a referral for our two children is 4-6 months. It is then another 3-4 months before you are able to travel. The reason is after you receive and accept your referral you need to have a court date scheduled and pass court. We do not need to appear for the court date as our agency will represent us. After you pass court it takes another month our so to get an embassy date. The only caveat to this is that the courts are closed from August through October. That means that if we do not pass court before August we will have to wait until the courts re-open. That would be a real bummer but it is the reality of the situation so I am preparing myself for this to happen. So if I had to guess, I would say we would have our children home by late fall and before the end of the year.
Another question that I have received a lot lately is “Would you consider changing from Ethiopia to Haiti?” The answer is yes. Unfortunately Haitian adoptions are closed currently. You are only permitted to adopt from Haiti if you were currently in the process or if you have previously. This doesn’t seem right when there are so many orphans in need of good homes and so many families who are willing to open their homes. When there is a natural disaster, such as this, adoptions are halted because they do not have the resources to process adoptions under the Hague Treaty standards. The intent is to protect child trafficking and to ensure they are not having children adopted to only find out later that there is a living parent or relative. I get it. But come on, there has to be a better solution.
All that being said, I am still very satisfied with our decision to adopt from Ethiopia. It is terribly sad and heart wrenching what happened to Haiti, however that does not mean that there is any less of need to adopt from Ethiopia. Unfortunately, there are just more children globally who need homes and families. It is an all around sad situation. If I could just do both, I would.
On a side note, Sam’s cousin Andre was adoption from Haiti. He was adopted 20 some years ago, but still I am sure this hit close to home for him.
A number of people ask…what does the timeline look like from once you are considered to be ‘waiting’? The average time to receive a referral for our two children is 4-6 months. It is then another 3-4 months before you are able to travel. The reason is after you receive and accept your referral you need to have a court date scheduled and pass court. We do not need to appear for the court date as our agency will represent us. After you pass court it takes another month our so to get an embassy date. The only caveat to this is that the courts are closed from August through October. That means that if we do not pass court before August we will have to wait until the courts re-open. That would be a real bummer but it is the reality of the situation so I am preparing myself for this to happen. So if I had to guess, I would say we would have our children home by late fall and before the end of the year.
Another question that I have received a lot lately is “Would you consider changing from Ethiopia to Haiti?” The answer is yes. Unfortunately Haitian adoptions are closed currently. You are only permitted to adopt from Haiti if you were currently in the process or if you have previously. This doesn’t seem right when there are so many orphans in need of good homes and so many families who are willing to open their homes. When there is a natural disaster, such as this, adoptions are halted because they do not have the resources to process adoptions under the Hague Treaty standards. The intent is to protect child trafficking and to ensure they are not having children adopted to only find out later that there is a living parent or relative. I get it. But come on, there has to be a better solution.
All that being said, I am still very satisfied with our decision to adopt from Ethiopia. It is terribly sad and heart wrenching what happened to Haiti, however that does not mean that there is any less of need to adopt from Ethiopia. Unfortunately, there are just more children globally who need homes and families. It is an all around sad situation. If I could just do both, I would.
On a side note, Sam’s cousin Andre was adoption from Haiti. He was adopted 20 some years ago, but still I am sure this hit close to home for him.
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