As is usual - it is crazy in our household - we are preparing for school...
Jacob will be a sophomore this year:
getting his driver's license - so he drives everywhere - we have to keep track of his hours...ugh
basketball just ended, football will be starting in the next two weeks and then we are off on the never ending - except for two weeks in the summer - sports seasons
he just went in for his physical - he is 6' tall and weighs 153.2 pounds - he was very concerned because he lost 2 pounds...again, ugh!
Nathan will be in 8th grade this year:
he just finished his rocket for 4H, we shot it off yesterday, this is the fourth year he has done a rocket and it was by far the best launch he has ever done
Nathan just finished softball - they got 2nd, now he waits until the first day of school to start junior high football - there will be a new coach this year :( so he is a little concerned about that...
Nathan is about 5'4" so he is starting to be able to look me eye to eye - you can tell he is liking that.
Kylie will be in preschool this year, or pretty school as she calls it
We bought her her PE tennis shoes - anyone who is from out here understands what this is all about - and she is so excited. But she can't figure out why she cannot wear them...so she just carries them around.
John will be in preschool too - just not as long.
He could really care less about the whole thing. Preschool to John is just a word, although he does love to play with other little ones that aren't his sisters. He probably does need the influence of other little boys - he wears a lot of high heels, pushes strollers, and likes pink...you get the picture
Kaycee will also be in preschool - we just haven't figured out where yet...To make a REALLY long story short - I would like to have her in a program with other deaf and hard of hearing kids...but we aren't getting there yet - with the resources we have - not to mention the nearest one is about 1 1/2 away from us....
Leonard is going to be starting his graduate degree on September 2. He is nervous and excited. He will actually be getting a dual masters - organizational management and project management. Sounds impressive, doesn't it? I am very proud of him.
And of course, me - I will be in my 9th year of teaching - ugh 9 years. Anyway, I am still in grad school too - I have 19 credits to go...39 down...I am tired, VERY tired!!! But oh well......
It is kind of funny actually - we are ALL getting ready for school this fall, we will all be in school from 2 years old to, well, me who is somewhere around 29-39 years old.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
continued
Computers...uugghh!
Anyway, now with the I800 - it takes up to 2 or 3 months to get the appointment for fingerprints, get our fingerprints, then wait about 2 months to get approved.
THEN we send all of our dossier to our agency (after it has all been notarized) then they send it to our state to get it certified, then to the Chinese consulate to get it authenticated. All of that can take maybe 1 or 2 months, depending.
SO - when will we have our paperwork to China? I thought maybe it would November - now I think that is hopeful! Our LOI went in May - really we only have until August to have few problems. If we take until November, we could have a "bumpy road" according to our agency. After November? Who knows, it would be horrible to think about...
All while a little boy sits in China, no language, no hearing, and no family.
Anyway, now with the I800 - it takes up to 2 or 3 months to get the appointment for fingerprints, get our fingerprints, then wait about 2 months to get approved.
THEN we send all of our dossier to our agency (after it has all been notarized) then they send it to our state to get it certified, then to the Chinese consulate to get it authenticated. All of that can take maybe 1 or 2 months, depending.
SO - when will we have our paperwork to China? I thought maybe it would November - now I think that is hopeful! Our LOI went in May - really we only have until August to have few problems. If we take until November, we could have a "bumpy road" according to our agency. After November? Who knows, it would be horrible to think about...
All while a little boy sits in China, no language, no hearing, and no family.
Worried...
So it has been a really long time since I last wrote. It isn't because there isn't anything going on, it is just that well, you know, we have been busy!
We finished up the home visits part of the home study, all but one child has their physicals- the last one is Monday and Leonard and I have ours done.
We are in a stand still with the adoption. It is crazy, sickening, worrisome, and long. And really, it is hard to explain, but let me try!
There are 24 hours of parenting classes required by the federal government for adopters. We have taken 30 with social services, and 22 through our homestudy agency = even though I didn't major in math, I think that comes out to 52 credits taken...I would say that is more than enough, but no. It isn't.
Ok, here comes the complicated part...some of it is our fault, some of it isn't.
Since we adopted Kaycee, something new has been implemented by our government - it is called the Hague. In the adoption community, this really is not a pleasent word.
All agencies must become Hague accredited - meaning they have to jump through a lot of hoops, fill out a lot of paperwork and be approved. HHMMM, does that sound like international adoption?
Ok, with the Hague, they are requiring all parents to take 6 classes, each 4 hours long. We have taken 3, been given credit from our 30 hours for 1 and have 2 left.
These are not offered again until the middle of August.
Supposedly, we cannot complete our homestudy and apply for our I800 until these are done. I have spent many sleepless nights, many times on the phone and many emails to our agency. FINALLY! The immigration specialist stated that we could put a note in our homestudy that states we understand these classes need to be taken before we travel - ok, no problem! Got that under control.
Some people, including my husband ask why one month would make sure a huge difference. Why was I worried so much...here goes the explanation:
Noah's file came to our agency late last year. It was under the old system - where China sent an actual paper file to the agencies, and each agency got their own list of SN children.
We didn't decide to adopt Noah until February. We were NOT ready in the least - finacially or paper ready. So we knew it would take a long time to get done.
Fast forward a couple of months - China has now changed their system - it is all electronic - and all agencies share the same list of SN children. Noah's file had to be completed, with a Letter of Intent, by the middle of May.
When China was on the paper system, they would let families have at least 6 months to get their paperwork completed, now that they are on the electronic system, they only have 3 months.
Go back to the I800- with the old system, the I600, we could apply for fingerprints before our homestudy was completed, wait for our appointment, get fingerprinted, send in our homestudy, wait to be approved ,then be completly done. It took us 5 months - and that was pretty quick with Kaycee.
Now with the I800 - we have to have our parenting classes completed, then finish our homestudy (because the homestudy cannot be completed without the parenting classes done), then apply for our fingerprints
We finished up the home visits part of the home study, all but one child has their physicals- the last one is Monday and Leonard and I have ours done.
We are in a stand still with the adoption. It is crazy, sickening, worrisome, and long. And really, it is hard to explain, but let me try!
There are 24 hours of parenting classes required by the federal government for adopters. We have taken 30 with social services, and 22 through our homestudy agency = even though I didn't major in math, I think that comes out to 52 credits taken...I would say that is more than enough, but no. It isn't.
Ok, here comes the complicated part...some of it is our fault, some of it isn't.
Since we adopted Kaycee, something new has been implemented by our government - it is called the Hague. In the adoption community, this really is not a pleasent word.
All agencies must become Hague accredited - meaning they have to jump through a lot of hoops, fill out a lot of paperwork and be approved. HHMMM, does that sound like international adoption?
Ok, with the Hague, they are requiring all parents to take 6 classes, each 4 hours long. We have taken 3, been given credit from our 30 hours for 1 and have 2 left.
These are not offered again until the middle of August.
Supposedly, we cannot complete our homestudy and apply for our I800 until these are done. I have spent many sleepless nights, many times on the phone and many emails to our agency. FINALLY! The immigration specialist stated that we could put a note in our homestudy that states we understand these classes need to be taken before we travel - ok, no problem! Got that under control.
Some people, including my husband ask why one month would make sure a huge difference. Why was I worried so much...here goes the explanation:
Noah's file came to our agency late last year. It was under the old system - where China sent an actual paper file to the agencies, and each agency got their own list of SN children.
We didn't decide to adopt Noah until February. We were NOT ready in the least - finacially or paper ready. So we knew it would take a long time to get done.
Fast forward a couple of months - China has now changed their system - it is all electronic - and all agencies share the same list of SN children. Noah's file had to be completed, with a Letter of Intent, by the middle of May.
When China was on the paper system, they would let families have at least 6 months to get their paperwork completed, now that they are on the electronic system, they only have 3 months.
Go back to the I800- with the old system, the I600, we could apply for fingerprints before our homestudy was completed, wait for our appointment, get fingerprinted, send in our homestudy, wait to be approved ,then be completly done. It took us 5 months - and that was pretty quick with Kaycee.
Now with the I800 - we have to have our parenting classes completed, then finish our homestudy (because the homestudy cannot be completed without the parenting classes done), then apply for our fingerprints
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