November 17th: Isaac turns 4 months old!
November 12th: I called the NBC and our officer notified me that our PAIR letter had just been issued that morning and was being mailed to us!!! HUGE praise!
November 6th: We received an email stating that our I-604 investigation was complete and sent to the NBC for review
October 30th: Birth mom's interview with the embassy! Went well! Praise the Lord!
October 29th: Birth mom court date! Went well! Praise the Lord! We also received our travel visa's that we had sent off for.
October 21st: Received an email overnight from the embassy requesting interview with birth mom
October 17th: Isaac turns 3 months old! We also found out birth mom's court date (Oct. 29th)
October 10th: AGCI Travel Conference Call
October 5th: My sweet friend Angela loved and and fed Isaac while at HH picking up her little girl! Grateful!
October 3rd: PAIR request sent to the embassy in Addis
Sept. 19th: PAIR letter arrived on our officer's desk at the NBC
Sept. 17th: Isaac turns 2 months old!
Sept. 14-17: My dear friend Cat was in ET to lay her precious son to rest, and despite her heartache, she still went and loved on Isaac for us. Humbled.
Sept. 3-5: Huge prayer answered, my sweet friend's Alison & Emma were picking up their precious kiddo's at HH and were able to love on our boy for us and get pictures/video of him for us!
August 30th: PAIR request mailed off to the USCIS
August 26th: Next steps call with T, our case worker
August 21st: Referral papers officially accepted and mailed off to AGCI!
August 19th: The day that changed our lives forever! We got THE call... our REFERRAL!!! After sitting in the #1 spot for 122 days, and being on the wait list for one week shy of 34 months, WE WERE READY!!! We saw our sons face for the very first time!!!
August 3rd: Isaac arrived at Hannah's Hope at 17 days old! Angela Hunt was there when he came in. Our prayers for 3 years of him getting to Hannah's Hope quickly were answered!!! God is faithful!
August 2nd: We didn't know it at the time, but Isaac's birth mom took him to the orphanage in Addis on this day.
July 29: July wait list #1 STILL. (Little did we know at the time, Isaac was born on July 17th!)
July 11: FBI check & clearance
July 9: Urgent Home Study update started because of expiration dates
June 25: June wait list #1. Been on the wait list for 32 months. Tired.
May 30: May wait list #1
April 19: April wait list number... We're FINALLY #1!!!!!
March 28: March wait list number #2!!!! Almost there!!!
February 28: February wait list STILL #3
January 28: January wait list #3
December 28: December wait list #3
November 28: November wait list #3
October 28: October wait list #4
TOTALLY MISSED DOCUMENTING 6 MONTHS- SORRY!
April 30: April wait list number #12!
March 30: March wait list number #14!
March: Started working on updating our home study
February 29: February wait list number #15!!!
January 31: January wait list number #18!
December 22: December wait list number #19!
November 22: November wait list number #22- ugh! We went UP one spot!
October 18: October wait list number #21!
September 13: September wait list number #23!!!
August 19: August wait list number #26!!!
July 13: July wait list number #30!!!
June 10: June wait list number #36!!!
May 12: May wait list number #38!!!
April 14: April wait list number #40!!!
March 8: March wait list number #47!!! Wahoo!
February 6: February wait list number #55 (no movement, ugh)
February 7: Already met and exceeded our Matching Grant of $3000!
January 21: Mailed out Lifesong Matching Grant letters to 100 people
January 18: Heard from Lifesong that we were APPROVED for a Matching Grant of $3000!!!
January 11: Phone call from Lifesong approving us for setting up a fundraising account with them to receive donations tax-deductible!
January 10: Mailed in Favorable Determination letter to AGCI (last piece of paper work required until referral! Wahoo!)
January 7: Received Letter of Favorable Determination from USCIS
January 6: January wait list number #55!!!!
December 22: Mailed off Lifesong for Orphans Matching grant application
December 10: December wait list number #58 (only ONE spot movement, boo)
December 8: Received our USCIS biometrics appointment in the mail for Dec. 22nd 9am
November 12: Mailed off I-600A form application with $830 fee
November 8: Documents submitted by mail to Show Hope for grant application
November 5: New November wait list number boy 0-12 months old #59!!!
October 28: Online portion of the Show Hope grant submitted & online application for Room for One more Child submitted
October 25: We made the wait list! Boy 0-12 months old #71!!!
October 23: Made dossier change and overnighted to AGCI
October 22: ONE change to be made on dossier. One notary date was set to expire too soon.
October 21: Mailed off Dossier/HS to AGCI for review
October 20: Home Study approved and finalized with AGCI
October 15: Received Passports in the mail
October 14: "B" sent our home study report to AGCI for review
October 13: "B" sent our home study to us for review
October 12: AGCI said our required education was approved and complete! Just waiting on our passports to come back in and our home study report to be completed!
October 9th: Mailed off Eyes Wide Open workbook to AGCI
October 8th: Received FBI check back! Met with "B" (social worker) and had her sign off on our Eyes Wide Open workbook. She said home study report was coming along!
October 4th: Completed required online education courses
October 2nd: Joshua's bloodwork
September 28: Almost done collecting every document for our dossier! Just waiting on our FBI prints to come in! Should be here in a couple weeks!
September 26: In-Home Meeting with "B" for our home study- she's working on writing up the report this week, cost $1050.
September 20: Mailed off Power of Attorney to get state certified. Mailed off application for passports, cost $220 for passports & $50 for state certified power of attorney.
September 17: Notarized our Power of Attorney
September 16: Notarized copies of our birth cert's for HS. Met with "B" our home study social worker and handed over all the important doc's she needed to start our home study! LOVED her!
September 13: Dossier Walk-thru webinar
September 12: Passport pictures taken
September 10: Hilary's doctor appointment needed for dossier, notarized
September 9: Bright Dreams International home study agency finally was approved as a cooperating agency with AGCI, we can move forward!
September 8: Ordered Birth Certificates
September 7: Ordered marriage license
August 31: Purchased the required online education courses, cost: $172
August 30: Heard from AGCI, still working on getting Bright Dreams International approved as a cooperating agency. Can't do our dossier run-through call until that is taken care of. Praying.
August 29: Began our required education "Eyes Wide Open" workbook... it's gonna take awhile!
August 27: Received Adoption Planner (aka The Big Hefty): Includes everything we need to gather for our dossier and allows us to begin the paper chase!
August 25: AGCI Received our Orientation Packet/Contract and it's all good!
August 23: Mailed in all our notarized Orientation Packet/Contract to AGCI with our $7390 check
August 21: Got all Orientation Paperwork notarized
August 20: Had our AGCI Orientation call
August 16: Orientation Packet Arrived!
August 11: Found out we needed to change home study agencies. Hoping for Bright Dreams International- the two agencies are getting the paperwork together to see if they can make Bright Dreams a cooperating agency.
August 5: Officially Approved with AGCI
August 4: Mailed in FBI fingerprints
August 3: Joshua and I got our FBI fingerprints taken
July 30: Mailed in our Official Application with AGCI with $300 application fee
July 29: Met our goal of having $6000 in savings in order to start the process!
May 10: Sent out update letters letting other's know what God was doing in our lives
April 14: Asked AGCI how much we should have saved up before turning in official application. Recommended over $6k. Start thinking creatively on how to come up with that kind of money!
April 8: AGCI approval for the pre-application
March 25: Joshua and I both felt like God laid Adoption on our hearts at the same time on this night.
