We have signed, notarized, apostilled and overnighted our last pieces of paperwork! So all we need now are official travel dates. It was over a year ago when we started the process to bring our four children home and at times it has seemed that time has stood still or it feels like we are at warp speed.
When we were trying to piece out how we were going to do this all, the financial and administrative requirements were equally daunting tasks. I'll focus on the paperwork side. We had what seemed like piles of paper we needed to fill out and then gather an even larger pile of papers to have notarized, signed, photocopied, etc. It took a lot just to wrap our heads around this. For anyone new, or just thinking about the process, it really isn't that bad. Once we broke it out into what was needed now, later and much later, we were able to tackle what needed to be done and get it out quickly.
Our home study took longer than we had hoped, but it was all part of God's timing and not ours. In the beginning I think we were more stressed about the home study visit and interview than anything else. We worried for nothing. Our social worker told us that she was here to help, not to add any obstacles.
One of the things you may encounter in the process are people who really don't care that you are adopting. I am a big believer in the term "kill them with kindness". We have had people who when we have gotten items notarized or apostilled act like we are burdening them with our request. Hello??? This is your job! We try to be nice, to smile, and of course say thank you. Sometimes, deep in the back of our minds, we imagine hitting them upside the head with the book full of papers we just had them notarize ;)...just kidding.
It may seem like all you do is paperwork, but then you get these little nuggets of info about the kids sometimes, or like us you stalk other peoples blogs and live through them as they journey to get their children. All while waiting for the day your referral finally comes....
What a glorious day it was this Christmas Eve when we received the official referrals for our kids!! I remember coming home and seeing Kim in tears as she was printing the 3,298 pages, lol. Seriously at this point we knew we were getting much closer and we could not have asked for a better gift. Our agency jokes that since we are adopting four we are the first family to have their own filing cabinet.
We are prepping for travel by gathering things for the kids to do (coloring, drawing, puzzles, etc.), looking for inexpensive backpacks for them to travel home with, and final home preparations (I'm sure there will be more) as we prepare to be a family of eight.
Thank you all for following along, praying, supporting and encouraging us through this process. Please continue to pray for us and all those in the process and especially for the children here and around the world waiting for families. God Bless you all!!
Until next time....
