Wait List Number

Our number is:



So what does this mean?

Once a dossier arrives in Ethiopia, it receives a number. At first glance this may seem like a large number and a long wait, and while it could be, that's not necessarily the case. Every family is on the same list regardless of the child they are hoping to adopt. For example, number 1 may be requesting a boy so if the next referral is a girl, then family 2 would receive the referral. Family 1 would be next in line for a boy...they don't lose their place, but people can move around them. People in front of us could be requesting special needs, a specific gender, sibling groups, etc.

At the beginning of each month we will receive our new number and will post it to the blog. This will help us to have a better estimate as to where we are.

To count down at home we made a paper chain and hung it in the soon to be nursery! Dorky, I know, but it gives us a tangible visual of our goal!

Tax Credit

As many of you know, adoption is expensive. The cost of adoption is what prohibits many people from even looking into or pursuing adoption. However; there are options to "help" finance an adoption. Such options include: diligent financial planning and savings on your part, fundraisers, donations, loans, and prayer that God will provide away. One of the lesser known avenues to assist in the cost is the adoption tax credit. This credit is applied once the adoption is final. The credit does not provide aid prior to the adoption being final, but helps with the bills associated with the adoption cost after the baby is home. Families who use this still have to find a way to afford the adoption themselves so it's not by any means a reduction in the cost of an adoption.

This tax credit is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2012. Warren and I are joining in the fight to extend this credit and would love for our friends and families to take part. Please check out the links below for more information. We are urging you to learn about the credit, pray about the situation, and take just a few moments to write a letter on behalf of every family who is and will adopt, it would mean so much!

http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/advocate/

http://adoptiontaxcredit.org/advocate/sample-letter/

Spaghetti Dinner

My wonderful home church in Corbin is hosting a spaghetti dinner to help us raise funds for our upcoming adoption!

The dinner will be at the church on Oct. 6th starting at 5:30pm . If you need more information or directions please let us know.

We hope to see you there :)

Package to Ethiopia

We just received confirmation today that our dossier was mailed yesterday afternoon to Ethiopia, EEK!! So it has passed all the US government requirements, and received the seal of approval. The package is due to arrive in Addis Ababa sometime Monday. Once our USCIS (immigration) approval arrives, it will follow the same path as our dossier. It will be mailed to various government agencies here in the US to obtain all the official seals and then it too will be sent to Ethiopia. That letter should arrive within the next 2-3 weeks.

This does not affect our wait time for a referral, it just simply means that I have confirmation that the adoption is still going through. I have poured a lot of prayer, work, tears, and dreams into preparing this dossier and now that it's completely out of my control, it's a comfort to be able to see progress still being made.

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Fingerprints

We went to Cincinnati today for our final set of fingerprints. Surprisingly, the people we encountered today at the federal building were some of the most kind and helpful in this whole process. When we were walking through security they were smiling and seemed to be enjoying their jobs The guard leaving for his break even walked us to the fingerprint room which was good because the building was big and not well mapped out.

The lady in the fingerprint office was nice but once she realized that we were there for immigration approval for adoption she seemed genuinely excited for us. My appointment was at 1 and Warren's was scheduled for 3 but when we arrived early at noon, they took us both straight back and we were finished in under 30 minutes.

Warren and I had the rest of the afternoon to walk around downtown Cincinnati and enjoy his day off work.

Looking forward to receiving our official USCIS approval off to catch up with our dossier.