The Real Blair Family » Dossier

Eight Month Mark – Keeping Busy Through the Wait

April — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 05:54:13 +0000

We are at the 8 month mark on the list!!! When we first got on the list we were told the wait would be 8-10 months, so we’re getting closer. We are #17 on the boy list and #15 on the sibling list. It feels good to be in the teens. We know that a lot of families have traveled to pick up their kiddos lately, meaning there is more room at Hannah’s Hope (our agency’s transition home). I don’t think we’ll be in the next wave of referrals, but I’m predicting we’ll get a referral in May.

Nate and I have been keeping busy. Here’s some of our excitement:

Last month we celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary!!! I made Nate dinner that night. I am a very lucky girl to have married Nate. He still treats me like a princess. I look forward to our relationship once we have kids. Our lives are pretty relaxed and quiet now but I know we are in for some serious changes!

We’ve met some great people who are also adopting from Ethiopia. Danielle is on the AGCI wait list. She is in the low teens for a girl but could get a referral at any time because her age parameters are 0-30 months. Kylie is about to submit her dossier and go on a wait list. It looks like her agency’s wait is not as long. We could be bringing home boys at around the same time!
We went to an orphanage fundraiser last weekend which was organized by a family who is adopting a girl from Ethiopia (Kristina and Brian). They traveled in January to appear in court and met her (she is beautiful). They are waiting to pass court and for an embassy date. Then they’ll get to travel again – this time to pick up their sweet girl. We are so glad to meet people in our same situation. It’s amazing how close I feel to them. There is such a strong bond among adoptive parents. Nate and I want our kid(s) to be exposed to Ethiopian culture and other adopted kids. We’re glad to be building a network now.
Nate got Lasik a few weeks ago. He is so happy to be free of glasses and contacts. His right eye is red still, but his vision is great.
Nate got a promotion today! He is now an SEO Manager. Congrats Mister! We celebrated tonight by going out for sushi. MMMM.

Numbers!

April — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 04:05:33 +0000

After many long months, and piles of paperwork, we finally have a number! We received the news just a few hours ago, and here it is! Our number for a baby boy is…

Our number for a sibling group is…

We are so happy to finally be at this point. There will be a lot more waiting, for sure, but having numbers makes it seem a little more bearable. Now here’s to hoping that we move up the list quickly!

Image credits to tillwe and Jorge Franganillo

Dossier

April — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:53:18 +0000

The past few months have consisted of the “great paper chase.” We heard from our case worker on Friday and she said everything was approved except for one of the letters of recommendation. Our friend needs to make minor revisions to the letter and resend it. After that point our case worker will contact us and we will get our NUMBERS. Even though I was really hoping for numbers on Friday, I am relieved to know we don’t have to make a lot of other revisions. Our case worker said that we are very lucky because most families have to make many revisions. The required documents included:

Letter of commitment
Birth certificates
Marriage certificate
Passport photos
Federal background check results
Local background check results
Employer verification letters
Physicals
Financial statement
Letters of recommendation
Power of attorney
Homestudy
Photos of us and our apartment

We hope to announce our numbers very soon. . .

Slowly but surely

April — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:31:37 +0000

You know those dreams where you are trying to run as fast as you can but are moving in slow motion? That’s how I have felt the last few months. We are slowly progressing though. Yesterday Nate and I had a conference call with a representative from AGCI. She reviewed the contracts we need to sign and talked about the process from now on. The call took about 45 minutes. Today Nate and I took the documents (over 100 pages total) to be notarized. It took longer than we expected but the notary was very patient and excited for us to be adopting.

So what now? I will mail out the documents tomorrow. AGCI will then send us a binder with pre-adoption information and the DOSSIER. I have been anxious to get my hands on that for a long time. The average amount of time for people to complete the dossier is 2-3 months. After the dossier is submitted to Ethiopia, we will go on the wait list and should expect to wait 3-6 months until we receive a referral (where we are matched with a child). It will then take another 2-4 months for the government to ensure that the child is an orphan and to process the adoption. After that, we will travel to Ethiopia to pick up our baby. If you haven’t done the math, we have 7 – 13 months to go. Hopefully it will feel like I’m moving faster soon!