Our Dossier just was "delivered"!
YAY!
Gotta love Fed Ex Tracking!
Mary
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Monday, April 25, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Paper Babies On The Way
Well, we passed the psychiatrist and MMPI (all 585 questions for each of us) and the psychiatrist signed the paper! We got that and our regular physician's signature on Thursday, so that completed our dossier, or our Paper Babies!
After a stop at the bank for notarizations, we went downtown to certify. (In Ohio, an intermediate step between notarization and apostille is necessary. So, we sign the papers. The notary notarizes that we are indeed the people who signed these papers. The certification certifies that the notary's signature is indeed valid, that is really is THE NOTARY, and then the apostille certifies the certification for all papers going to foreign countries.)
Friday was our wedding anniversary, and I have the best, most thoughtful husband ever! He surprised me by arranging an overnight for us at Belterra Casino. We are NOT big gamblers, but the hotel and spa there are great, we had a gift card for a nice steak restaurant there, and we did go try our hand at the machines. Since we used to live in Vegas, we have learned how to play the machines and leave feeling good....we each put 20.00 in our machine of choice, and as soon as we are "up" we cash out, and are finished. Jim came out with an extra 7.75 and I netted 87 cents. Not big winnings, but we had fun, and left with more money than we went in with!
Our daughter Marie was the main fort holder here, assisted by Emily and Catie, so we had no kid worries at all. It was so wonderful to actually sleep in until 6:30am! Then, since I didn't HAVE to get up, I went back to sleep until 8!
Our night of rest complete, we returned home to ready for Easter and the celebrations here. Jim went to Columbus to apostille the dossier, and I stayed home cleaning the house. By 4 pm our Paper Babies were en route across the pond to their destination. Projected delivery...Tuesday.
And today we celebrate 7 years that Catie and James have officially been Stolz's. They were the first children we adopted, and so began our odyssey with international adoption. Catie is 21, and James is 13. James has officially been a Stolz longer than he had not been a Stolz. I look at photos of our time in Ukraine adopting them, and see them now and I just can't believe how blessed we are!
My prayer is for the Peace of the Risen Christ to be with all who are sharing our journey!
Mary
After a stop at the bank for notarizations, we went downtown to certify. (In Ohio, an intermediate step between notarization and apostille is necessary. So, we sign the papers. The notary notarizes that we are indeed the people who signed these papers. The certification certifies that the notary's signature is indeed valid, that is really is THE NOTARY, and then the apostille certifies the certification for all papers going to foreign countries.)
Friday was our wedding anniversary, and I have the best, most thoughtful husband ever! He surprised me by arranging an overnight for us at Belterra Casino. We are NOT big gamblers, but the hotel and spa there are great, we had a gift card for a nice steak restaurant there, and we did go try our hand at the machines. Since we used to live in Vegas, we have learned how to play the machines and leave feeling good....we each put 20.00 in our machine of choice, and as soon as we are "up" we cash out, and are finished. Jim came out with an extra 7.75 and I netted 87 cents. Not big winnings, but we had fun, and left with more money than we went in with!
Our daughter Marie was the main fort holder here, assisted by Emily and Catie, so we had no kid worries at all. It was so wonderful to actually sleep in until 6:30am! Then, since I didn't HAVE to get up, I went back to sleep until 8!
Our night of rest complete, we returned home to ready for Easter and the celebrations here. Jim went to Columbus to apostille the dossier, and I stayed home cleaning the house. By 4 pm our Paper Babies were en route across the pond to their destination. Projected delivery...Tuesday.
And today we celebrate 7 years that Catie and James have officially been Stolz's. They were the first children we adopted, and so began our odyssey with international adoption. Catie is 21, and James is 13. James has officially been a Stolz longer than he had not been a Stolz. I look at photos of our time in Ukraine adopting them, and see them now and I just can't believe how blessed we are!
My prayer is for the Peace of the Risen Christ to be with all who are sharing our journey!
Mary
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Hey, Jim, I know what we are going to do today...(well, tomorrow)
Big plans......
We were successful in finding a psychiatrist to do an evaluation and sign our final piece of paper for our adoption. Jim and I have both been calling every lead we could find, and yesterday, one finally paid off. A very helpful young woman checked with the docs in the group where she works, and today called me back to say "yes, we can do this!".
So, tomorrow, Jim gets to go in early to do his MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), a 485 yes/no/true/false questionnaire. Then he comes home to work, and I will go in around noon to to my MMPI. About 2pm (they said they will each take up to 2+ hours!) the psychiatrist will meet with me for 30-60 minutes, then he will meet with Jim for 30-60 minutes, then he will meet with both of us together. We are hoping for the shorter time on all of these estimates. At the end of this day long drill, we will be considerably monetarily poorer, but hopefully in possession of the final psychiatric clearance needed for our country.
Then off to notarize, certified (in Ohio, notarizations are certified first at the county level) and apostilled. Then we can mail this paper pregnancy across the pond and be that much closer to having our little boys home!
Mary
We were successful in finding a psychiatrist to do an evaluation and sign our final piece of paper for our adoption. Jim and I have both been calling every lead we could find, and yesterday, one finally paid off. A very helpful young woman checked with the docs in the group where she works, and today called me back to say "yes, we can do this!".
So, tomorrow, Jim gets to go in early to do his MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory), a 485 yes/no/true/false questionnaire. Then he comes home to work, and I will go in around noon to to my MMPI. About 2pm (they said they will each take up to 2+ hours!) the psychiatrist will meet with me for 30-60 minutes, then he will meet with Jim for 30-60 minutes, then he will meet with both of us together. We are hoping for the shorter time on all of these estimates. At the end of this day long drill, we will be considerably monetarily poorer, but hopefully in possession of the final psychiatric clearance needed for our country.
Then off to notarize, certified (in Ohio, notarizations are certified first at the county level) and apostilled. Then we can mail this paper pregnancy across the pond and be that much closer to having our little boys home!
Mary
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Our Golden Ticket
We have our Golden Ticket, otherwise known as USCIS approval.
This means we SHOULD have our dossier in route to Eastern Europe. But we have one more document that is giving us trouble. In this particular EE country, one document required is a psychiatrist signed clearance that we are mentally fit to be parents. Sounds simple enough. But when you are not seeing a psychiatrist, finding one who is willing to do whatever kind of evaluation they need to do to sign this paper, is difficult, at best. I have had NO LUCK with even getting call backs from the psychiatrists that I have called. Jim has had a little more luck than that, but the only openings we have found are in late May to late June. We are searching for alternatives, but at this point, we are not finding anything.
Please pray that someone will agree to see us quickly and sign our final paper!
Mary
This means we SHOULD have our dossier in route to Eastern Europe. But we have one more document that is giving us trouble. In this particular EE country, one document required is a psychiatrist signed clearance that we are mentally fit to be parents. Sounds simple enough. But when you are not seeing a psychiatrist, finding one who is willing to do whatever kind of evaluation they need to do to sign this paper, is difficult, at best. I have had NO LUCK with even getting call backs from the psychiatrists that I have called. Jim has had a little more luck than that, but the only openings we have found are in late May to late June. We are searching for alternatives, but at this point, we are not finding anything.
Please pray that someone will agree to see us quickly and sign our final paper!
Mary
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
USCIS
I phoned the friendly folks at USCIS yesterday to inquire about our progress. After a few questions, I was transfered to an oh-so-unhelpful voicemail with promises to return my phone call 'as soon as possible". So, undeterred, I tried again today.
And, they told me that our I 800a was APPROVED as of April 7th! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!! It did not come in the mail today, so I am very much expecting it tomorrow.
With this being our 4th international adoption, you think we would be more accustomed to the "hurry and and wait....then SPRINT to the next level" process inherent in the system. Not so.
I will update again when I have that golden ticket in my hot little hand, and then be updating much more frequently as we have more news to report.
After watching the Dateline special "The Boy From Babyhouse 10" on Sunday, and knowing that both of our sons are living in institutions, our determination to break them free and bring them home as soon as possible has intensified!
And, they told me that our I 800a was APPROVED as of April 7th! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!! It did not come in the mail today, so I am very much expecting it tomorrow.
With this being our 4th international adoption, you think we would be more accustomed to the "hurry and and wait....then SPRINT to the next level" process inherent in the system. Not so.
I will update again when I have that golden ticket in my hot little hand, and then be updating much more frequently as we have more news to report.
After watching the Dateline special "The Boy From Babyhouse 10" on Sunday, and knowing that both of our sons are living in institutions, our determination to break them free and bring them home as soon as possible has intensified!
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