A Christmas gift of Hope

This will be our new crib set! (The first two pictures are the bedding farm theme and the bottom three are the convertible crib) Jason and I decided to get a "together" gift for ourselves for Christmas this year and decided we would need this more than a new TV or video game system. Plus it is going to be a great reminder of what all of this paperwork and hoop jumping is really for. We haven't really allowed ourselves to invest in anything for our future children since we always felt like it might not happen so this is a big step to actually invest in something and have faith that it will someday be filled.

I am so excited to have it set up and even though I'm sure it may taunt me sitting empty some days, I'm very excited to see the hope and promise of the empty crib. It is convertible (4 in one) so it will change from a crib, toddler bed, day bed and then head/foot board for a full sized bed. So... no matter what age or size of child is meant for us we should be able to accommodate! I'm sure that Martin and Morris will think it is for them...

PS. Here is a link to a website with popular Colombian names from 2009. Just for fun.
http://www.los-nombres.com/nombres-bebes-ninas-ninos-colombianos.php

The cleanest house in Rantoul is ours. We have scrubbed, cleaned, organized, and child proofed our home! We have our first meeting with our social worker tomorrow at 1pm, and we're hoping we're ready! In the morning we will get our first fingerprints of many for our approval as a foster home.

Then tomorrow Nicole (I) get the joy of a physical and then vacation can really begin! During vacation Jason and I have 10 hours of training to complete online for our international requirements. Our courses are through ALP (Adoption Learning Partners) and so far have been good for considering aspects of parenting we had considered but hadn't taken the time to really plan for.

We're trying to keep things moving, but I admit I am still confused by what can be done and the order of all the forms and steps. Right now we're just taking it one day at a time and trying to keep pushing through what we know we need to do. Somewhere out there our children are waiting.

Christmas is around the corner! It seems like time starts flying this time of year and with our additional efforts toward adoption it has been flying even faster!

The quick update is that we have filled out our contract and several other legal forms for Children's Hope International and sent our first pound of flesh to secure their services. Also we have selected our home study agency from Normal, Illinois called The Baby Fold. We will have our first visit/interview at our home on December 21st. Then we will start our class on international adoption in Normal on January 22. Between now and then we will start our 10 hour training course through CHI online.

I'm sure there will be many more forms and documents to sign and notarize between now and then and some fingerprinting and blood tests, but for now this is what we know! We'll give an update in the new year! Have a great Christmas holiday with friends and family and count all your blessings.

ACCEPTED

(Dictated by Jason)

We have completed one step of many! Our preliminary application to Children's Hope International (CHI) has been accepted!

The next step is to complete a home study. This includes an inspection of our home including interviews to determine our suitability as parents. Once the home study is complete we will be working on our Dossier (a collection of forms, certificates and paperwork). Along with our formal acceptance into CHI it is now time to start paying out large sums of money. (It is flying out the door by the thousands.)

As we begin to complete our forms we must decide what age of child or children we desire. We have been discussing adopting more than one child, perhaps a sibling group of 2-3 children from Colombia. It will definitely be a LEARNING experience to go from a family of 2 adults and 3 fur children to an very instant family full of REAL children. We will have quite a long time to prepare however since we were told it would be 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 years to receive a placement after our Dossier is accepted. That means from today it could be 3 -4 years before our adoption is realized. (This news was disheartening for me, but I'm trying to be patient.--Nicole)

(That was all Jason had to say. Now some additional details from Nicole)
When we were told about the wait the director of the program said that the wait was very unpredictable and that it seemed to be getting longer. For Colombian nationals she said couples were waiting 6 months because their applications and dossiers were sped along the fast track. They said officials in Colombia are aware of the length of the wait... no word on if anything is acutally being done to lessen it. It guess it depends on whose hands your application lands in.

This part of the process is called a race. I guess it is a race to complete and verify all documents so you can start the waiting! I am contacting The Baby Fold in Bloomington to start our homestudy and hoping that we can get started after Thanksgiving. We have packets with information for those who really want nitty gritty details we can share.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Nicole

PS. This stage feels like getting a shot. You know it is worth it but it hurts none the less.

Application sent!

We have applied!!

We are officially on our way in a formal way! Today I mailed the application, fee, and pictures to Children's Hope International. It should take about 2 weeks to process and then we'll start the official paper trail. We decided to go with Children's Hope because of their expertise in Colombian adoption which Bethany Christian Services appeared not to have. We would have been the first adoption from our area to Colombia through BCS whereas CHI (Children's Hope International) has very few programs but does each program well.

Other benefits of CHI (if you're interested):

• In-country staff, housing and hand-holding. (Someone will meet us at the airport and basically drag us around to where we need to go, there will be a place for us to stay already arranged.)
  
• Weekly updates sent to our email.
• Lower program fees.
• Personal connection and smaller agency feel.

Next on the "To Do" list will be to prepare for our homestudy and dossier... although what all that consists of is still somewhat of a mystery so I guess for now we WAIT to hear back from the agency.

Nicole

PS I didn't have a good picture, but thought this one was funny.

Research

Researching Agencies!

(As written by Nicole)

So an update is due! Jason and I are emailing questions and following up with Bethany Christian Services and Children's Hope International. Our questions are mostly about the differences we've seen between the two agencies and trying to decide what our "musts" are for our choice in agency.

There are differences in fees, staffing in Colombia, training requirements, and experience. Right now we're trying to wade through the differences to figure out if there are some unrealistic promises, untold fees, and who has the proper amount of hand holding! We're leaning towards Children's Hope International because of their experience and expertise in International Adoption. Also we've taken it as a bad sign that the social worker who would be our main coordinator through Bethany Christian Services consistantly spells Colombia incorrectly and has offered very few words of encouragement and instead has only mentioned all the obstacles and complications that come with our choice in country.

We now have all birth certificates and the marriage certificates and thus brings the end of what we know to do without an agency! Now we need patience, wisdom and prayer!

Bethany Christian Services in St. Louis

(As dictated by Jason to Nicole... additional comments by Nicole in parenthesis) Image from Bethany Christian Services website.

We drove to St. Louis, Missouri on October 20, 2009 to learn about the Bethany Christian Services Adoption Agency. This agency along with Children's' Hope International are the main international adoption agencies we are considering. It was a long drive.

We were thankfully able to use a GPS from the Kleinsteibers! (Thank you) I (Jason) did however think I know better than the GPS, but it was nice to see the checkered flag at the end and a time of arrival!

We learned about various types of adoption. This meeting was well organized and very informational and worth the trip. It was also required if we do decide to apply through the Christian Service.

Afterwards Molly (who rode along) begged us to stop at McDonald's, where she quickly devoured a cheeseburger (minus the onions). (We did not arrive home until 12:30, which as all know is far past Jason's bedtime.)

Soon we will follow up with both Children's' hope and Bethany and work towards making a decision as to which agency we will use as we pursue our international adoption.

Stayed tuned for further info. (Please feel free to leave a comment if you have worked with these agencies or know people who have or just to give us your advice! )

Here are the websites for the two agencies:
http://www.childrenshopeint.org/
http://www.bethany.org/


JASON

Welcome to Blogging

Well it has officially happened. We are blogging. Jason and I are starting this blog to keep family and friends informed on the journey through adoption as well as provide an outlet for ourselves. Welcome and please feel free to leave messages, questions, or just to check in every now and then to see what is new.

Jason contributed this idea for a picture because this is the "seed" stage of our journey. We have long talked about adoption and felt the desire to adopt grow in hearts. Our decision to adopt was spurred into action after trying to start a family this last year with no success. I (Nicole) have had people ask about our infertility or if we had considered trying medical options rather than adoption. Although we did see a fertility clinic we decided not to try invitro or other surgeries when what we really desired and wanted to put or emotional and financial resources into was to become parents, love and cherish a child. We have felt some sadness that we may not experience pregnancy and those beginning months of our child's life but a the same time the Lord has given us peace and we feel excited to know this is our intended journey and that at the right time and in the right way we will become parents.

So in this seed stage here is what we know. We want to adopt. We are open to the possibilities and realize that our child is out there and we will find our way to them. We have 'chosen' to adopt internationally from Colombia because we feel so drawn to the culture, the language, and both Jason and I have had experiences in Spanish speaking/Latino cultures. We have researched several different adoption agencies and have attended an informational meeting with Childrens' Hope International (Chicago) and will hopefully be attending the Bethany Christian Services (St. Louis) on the 20th.

We are still trying to figure out how to handle financing or when will be the "right" time to officially apply with an agency although we are hoping to have officially started by this summer. We have applied for marriage certificates and birth certificates and have already received some. I have renewed and changed my name on my passport and am awaiting my new passport. We are trying to read lots of books, find support groups, and start to prepare our home and lives for our "Plus one".

We'll blog again when we have more information! Thank you for all the support and love!