Progress and a bump in the road....

Well we sent off our second package to the agency in Indianapolis. It was quite sizable and had tons of stuff in it.

Here is what is left:

• FBI fingerprints
• Local police clearance
• Medical reports.
• Copy of the homestudy
• Letter to the government of Lesotho explaining why we would like to adopt.

Once all of this paperwork is received by AFAA then they can begin processing our dossier. A dossier is the collection of paperwork all assembled. I am expecting to have all of this in Indianapolis by August first at the latest. This dossier will travel to Lesotho, Africa to be approved by them. Once they have approved us, they will match us with a child. We have put in our requests: ages 30 months or younger at the time of placement, healthy, tested and a negative results for HIV, HEP A,B,C. We are not being selective on gender. This is the part that often takes the longest. Wait time! We also have to apply to immigration once all of our paperwork is done. This is a 6-8 week wait.

Len has his doctor appointment today and we will be going to the Hoffman Estates Police Department on Monday July 6th for fingerprints and police clearance.

Now what is the bump you say.... I went to the doctor today with all of my forms to be filled out. Long and short of it....she did not want to fill them out and told me to find a doctor closer to my home. Well, that was four hours on my only day off down the drain. UGH! I went to talk to my longtime Ob/gyn down the hall from her. He referred me to a new doctor in Lombard. Hopefully this works! His staff needed to talk to him to see if he wanted a new patient with paperwork. Good grief it is just a form, well two forms!

Good news! At church this past weekend, we met a multiracial family that has three children adopted. They are convinced that the twins are from Africa. How fun to have someone at our church that has their children home and are flourishing!

Have a safe Fourth of July. Enjoy your families.

Meeting #3

We are moving ever closer! Michelle and I are working hard to get all the paperwork completed. Here is a brief list of the latest items:

1. We have both been fingerprinted (yet we have to go do it again).
2. We complete paperwork confirming that we have not been arrested. Whew!
3. DCFS approved us. Stating that we have not done any bad stuff
4. Thanks to all of your work, our letters of recommendation are complete.
5. We are printing pictures and getting another package ready to mail to AFAA (Americans for African Adoption.

Today we met for a third time with our social worker Stacy. As usual the meetings went very well. Michelle and I both met with her individually. We discusses our relationships with our family and any potential concerns we have about adoption. Since Michelle and I continue to talk and be honest about the process, there are no suprises.

Yet, there are challenges. We are working with Glenkirk and each other to prepare ourselves with the challenges that go along with being a multi-racial family. We are excited about our future and thank you all for your continued support.

Upcoming Events:

1. Paperwork! Paperwork!
2. More Fingerprints!
3. Our Bridges meeting on being a multi-racial family
4. Online education courses.

Talk to you soon!

Round Two

Well, Stacy was here again from Glenkirk. The home study process is in full swing. Lots of paper work, but the meetings and education classes are all well under way.

Today, Michelle and I talked with Stacy about our marriage and relationship. As you can imagine, we both had a lot to say. It was a fun meeting because Michelle and I get to laugh about all the fun times and stressors in the last 10 years. It is crazy how we just know what the other person is going to say. We are lucky to have each other and days like today remind us of that. We further talked about how adoption will affect our marriage. We are not blind to the challenges ahead, but confident that we can work through them as we always have.

The girls were on stage. They were very excited to have "Ms Stacy" here today. They were putting quite the show. Coloring cute signs, doing work, and just giggling. They gave "Ms Stacy" the grand tour. Even opening a few doors we were hoping would stay shut. Hannah and Sarah enjoyed being on stage and in charge of the tour.

Overall, it was a great visit. Here are a couple of things coming up:

1. Paperwork, paper work, paper work
2. Bridges - an education class on being a multi-racial family
3. Individual interviews with Stacy
4. Lots of fingerprints
5. Doctor visits
6. And much more

Again thank you for all your love and support.

Len and Michelle

Slight Error

Our meeting is Thursday! I was just hoping the school year was over and miscounted days! Please continue to keep us in your thoughts.

Lenny

Keep Us in Your Thoughts!

Our next meeting with the social worker is tomorrow. We continue to put together all of our paper work! I will have an update for you tomorrow!

Len

Welcome Everyone!

We have created this blog spot so that we can update family and friends about our adoption process. We are excited and nervous about this next step in our lives. We are grateful for all the support you have given us. Our adoption and family growth would not be possible without your support.

Here is an update about today:

1. We had our first 4 hour education class today.
2. We have our second home visit on Thursday June 11th.
3. We have completed our 40 page family report.
4. We are beginning to get our finger prints and government paper work done.

Thanks for all support and please check back!