Dossier Submitted!!! Officially "Waiting"

When I came home late Monday night, I was elated to find our immigrations approval in the mail! This is what we have been waiting for since we first applied for it in April! The missing key for us to turn in our dossier.
Many of you have asked us what exactly is a "dossier?" Basically, it is a big stack of paperwork that tells everything about your life!

Here is a sample for you! Each one of those papers has a stack of papers under it! And almost every one of them had to be notarized or certified! Bank records, birth & marriage certificates, physicals, recommendations, etc. On top of that we needed 3 copies of EVERYTHING!

On Tuesday, Emory and I headed to the Copy, Pack, and Mail with our stack of paperwork and a huge smile!

Ok-I may have been slightly more excited than Em!
Unfortunately, Jonathon was out of town on business. As soon as I told him Monday night, after a few squeals of joy, he said "Text me when you actually put it in the mail, I want to take of picture exactly where I am at that moment." Here is the result of that-

On the road with his buddy Landon and the biggest thing of Mountain Dew I have ever seen!

We overnighted our blood, sweat, and tears to our adoption agency, Holt. They received it and reviewed it Wed. and Thurs., and gave us the thumbs up today! We are now officially on the "wait list."

Although we still have a long wait before us, this was a huge step in our process! We are super pumped! Things are out of our hands now (although we know they have been this whole time!) The next step will be the referral of our sweet baby!

Fingerprinting Complete!

Wohoo! We have officially been fingerprinted! The FBI now has our prints on file-so no major crimes in our near future! I was really hoping for at least a little ink residue for our pics, but that's too old-school I guess-everything is digital now!

On Monday morning we headed to the office of Homeland Security here in Nashville. On a side note, it is so helpful that we live in our state capital. If not, we would have already had to do a lot of travelling to get various papers signed, fingerprints, etc. Let me just say, Jonathon and I were the only ones that were excited to be at this office. Apparently no one else was there for the same purpose! Not many people there were enjoying their day. This is also not a great place for Jonathon to be as he takes great pleasure in trying to get people to smile and laugh. Note to self-Homeland Security employees aren't hired for their sense of humor :)

It took Jonathon about 8 attempts to actually get his prints! His little pinkie just wouldn't cooperate.  Even with all paperwork and that pinkie struggle, this whole process took 12 minutes!!! Over 3 months to get things worked out with immigrations, but only 12 min to complete!

Next step-we are anxiously awaiting the approval notice from immigrations. Then we will finally be able to turn in our completed dossier, so our official time on the "wait list" will begin!

Thank you all for your continuous support and encouragement- can't tell you how much we appreciate it!

Should've painted my nails for the occasion!

Fingerprinting Date!!!

Remember way back here when I first told you about checking the mail like a little school girl? You may have thought I was just kidding, but I was not. Since then, I have been running to the mailbox (usually right as the mail-lady drives to the neighbors house) in anticipation of the next step in our process. Each time disappointed when our immigration papers weren't there-every now and then there would be a package or birthday card that would soften the blow. But TODAY it arrived! Wohoo! Our fingerprinting has been scheduled!
Not only is this a praise that is got here, but the date we were given is perfectly planned as well. We are going to be out of town much of the next three weeks, and we knew the odds of us being here when our appointment was, was slim to none. Then we would have had to request a change of date and add to the process. BUT-that was not the case. We are getting fingerprinted July 11- the day after we return from NYC! Wohoo!!!!
Of course this is just a small step in what is a very lengthy process, but we can celebrate the little steps especially when the road hasn't been easy! If I am this pumped about making it through the US Immigration process, can you imagine the excitement when we get paired with our sweet child?! No post will probably be necessary because you will be able to hear my enthusiasm from states away!

A Mother's Heart

Although I am exhausted right now from being at teen camp all week, I have been awake for the past few hours dreaming and praying for my baby. Not the sweet precious little girl that I can see through the monitor soundly sleeping in her crib, but the one that is on the other side of the globe. This might sound crazy to you, because the truth is, that baby might not even be born yet. We don't know really know anything about this baby-whether it is a boy or girl, how old they are, what their features look like, how their voice sounds when they cry or when they laugh, but that doesn't matter to this mother's heart.

I have actually been thinking, dreaming, and praying for this child for over a decade. It hasn't always been an everyday thing. At first, when I returned from Uganda it was heavy on my heart. I would often think back to the children I had met and pray for their life there. Then the Lord made my burden heavier and heavier. I would tell those I was very close to about this passion in my heart for a people whose life is so different from mine, yet created by the same Master. Finally, when we moved to Kenya, I could truly share this experience with the one I am honored to share my life with. Now, he too could understand.

Words can't accurately describe this connection and love I have. I only know that it has to be from my Heavenly Father. When we came back to the states, everything fell into place in our lives and we felt confidence that we were living in the center of the Lord's will, what an awesome place to be! But my heart has always longed for my baby. I was very fortunate that I had a fantastic pregnancy. I really felt great, and I loved having Emory inside of me. During that time I would dream about what she would look like and be like, and as weird as this may sound to you, even then I would think about and dream about my other child on the opposite side of the world.

God has placed this love in my heart for such a long time, and I cannot wait to see His plans unfold. Right now, this process feels like it is slow and never-ending, but the truth is I am closer now than ever before. I firmly believe God already has our child chosen for us, and it will be in His timing that we are finally joined as a family. Until then, I wake up in the early morning hours crying, praying, and trusting our baby is in the Lord's hands until I can hold them in my arms.

Update on Immigration

Hope you are all doing well! Thank you so much to all of you that have been asking us about how things are going. I am sorry that once again it has been a little while in between posts-I have now identified why I take so stinkin long-2 reasons. Reason #1- we have a lack of info, so it is hard to write when there aren't a lot of answers. Reason #2- I have realized I tend to be a more private/internal person.  This is also why I am terrible at fb-I am not really comfortable having my thoughts published for everyone to see. You may be saying, why did you start a blog then? Great question-I really want to use this to keep people involved in our adoption process and to share in this journey. So I am going to work to eliminate Reason #2 and I am praying Reason #1 takes care of itself:)

Where we are right now-before you can adopt internationally, you have to have permission from the US government. Once again this is something that requires a good amount of paperwork, a chunk of money, and about 60 days. We have an awesome social worker who got our home study completed crazy fast, so we were able to overnight everything required in the very beginning of April. About halfway through the process we were supposed to be scheduled for fingerprinting. Then shortly after get our approval. I would run to the mailbox everyday like some giddy little schoolgirl anxiously awaiting our fingerprinting info, but it just wasn't coming. After numerous phonecalls for about 2 1/2 weeks someone finally told us that our homestudy was not with our paperwork and needed to be resent. We were very frustrated, but were relieved to at least have some answers.

We overnighted our homestudy to them again 3 weeks ago. We were told we would have our fingerprinting in 5-10 days. Frustration and disappointment. I called once again yesterday to check on things, and I was told everything was there and we should be assigned an officer anytime as well as receive our fingerprinting notification. Officer White was the name of the person that was so helpful to us 3 weeks ago and finally got us some answers, and she is also the person I was put in contact with yesterday. We have talked to many different people, but she has been the nicest and most helpful. Thankfully, she said she should be the one to receive our case and promised she would make sure we were taken care of. We are disappointed that things have taken this long and still aren't resolved but I do feel better knowing this kind woman is willing to help us with this piece of the process.

Our timeline had us sending in our dossier the beginning of June. Now we are hoping to send it by the first of July. We know it is only a month delay, but that is one month longer til we get to hold our sweet baby. Jonathon and I both can get overwhelmed by the weight of the process. Thankfully, it usually hits us at different times, so we can balance the other one out. We KNOW this is all in the Lord's hands. Our "timeline" is just feeble anyway. He has our son/daughter chosen and we will be joined together in His perfect timing. Most days, we stand firm on this and have an incredible peace. But some days are harder than others.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. We truly cherish it.

Sneak peek for next post:

FAQ's

WOW! It has been way too long! Sorry about the absence-we have been crazy, busy around here!
So many things going on!

I thought I would answer some questions that we get asked a lot.

Why Ethiopia?
As you read our story about what brought us to adopt here in the long version,  you can tell that we have a heart for East Africa. I (Jess) feel in love with it over 10 years ago! When people say East Africa they are typically speaking of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia.  Ethiopia is actually the only one of those countries that I have not been to, yet. The reason we are adopting from there and not one of the other 3 countries is simply because of the international adoption process. The other countries are not really open to US adoptions. Technically they say that they are, but really you must go and live there for the entire process-which is usually 2 years! We really prayed about it and actually tried while we were living in Kenya, but obviously the timing wasn't right and things did not work out. Uganda has recently started opening the doors some to US adoption, but it is a very new program that is still being worked out, and they are predominantly adopting out older children at this point.

Will it be a boy or girl?
Great question. Not sure the answer though. You can specify gender, but we chose not to. The odds are in favor of a boy, simply because more people request girls. But that is not definite, so we aren't buying blue yet!

How old will they be?
In the applications and paperwork you fill out, you specify age ranges that you feel comfortable with. Our agency strongly encourages not to disrupt the birth order-so they recommend your adopted child not be any older then your youngest child.  We trusted them and followed their counsel. We requested younger than 1 year. Because the process is so lengthy they may be a little older when they get home with us. Our US immigration paperwork states that the child should be 18 months or younger.

How long is the process and where are you at in it?
You can see most of the steps here. And we have actually hit a little snag with our immigration application right now. There has been a slight delay for some reason. Our paperwork is currently in the "file room," while we should have received a fingerprint request. Truth be told, we don't know what that reason is right now. We know and understand the difficulties of working with foreign gov't, but this is the first time we have been witness to difficulties working with US gov't. It is hard to find the right person who can give us the answers we need, but we are still trying.

How much does this cost? Is it expensive?
Yes, it is expensive. It is sad how much it costs, and I think more people would be open to adoption if it didn't cost as much. There are a lot of people involved, a mountain of paperwork, gov't expenses, and travel. But the truth is, you cannot put a price on the life of a child. They are worth it. I recently saw a quote from the founder of one of my fav places to eat-Chikfila:) Dan Cathy said " If it's God-inspired dreams the He's given you, they will never fit in your checkbook or calendar."
I serve the Lord that owns it all! God is providing the money we need for our child, and if you are interested in adoption, I fully believe He will provide for you too.

How can we help?
There are a few different ways we could use your help. In the next week or so, I will let you know how you can help support our adoption effort not only financially but through something that will hopefully get the word out about this orphan crisis.
Truly, the most important thing you can do to support us is PRAY.
I don't say that casually either. Prayer is what has brought us to this point, and honestly, prayer is the only thing that is going to get us through this.
This process is challenging-emotionally, financially, and spiritually.

-Pray for our baby(which may or may not have even been born yet) I am overwhelmed when I even think of our precious innocent baby so far away from us and not knowing what situation, circumstances, or surroundings they are in
-Please pray for the process in general-that everything will be handled ethically, smoothly, and quickly as possible-Specifically right now please pray that our application will go through immigrations and not be held up any longer
-Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom, guidance, and peace

You've Got Mail

Remember how exciting it was when you were a little kid to run to the mailbox and see if there was anything in there for you. There very rarely was, except of course around your birthday. And, maybe your parents were like mine and let you open the stuff labeled "resident." At only 15 months Emory is already tickled when I ask her if she wants to go with momma to check the mailbox. She doesn't care who the letters are for, she is just pumped she gets to take them out of the box.

When I was in college, the thrill was back again. We would run down to the Hub where our mailboxes were and hope there was something in there. On a really good day, there would be a little slip of paper that said you had a package!

After college, mail was not so fun anymore. Except for the occasional magazine or catalog, most everything was junkmail or BILLS! It's actually a good day when there isn't anything waiting.

Until NOW! Right now, we are in the process of applying with US Immigration to grant us permission to bring a child into the US. From what we understand the average approval time is about 8 weeks. About halfway through that time our social worker told us to expect to get a letter in the mail requesting us to get fingerprinted. We can't move forward until this happens. A few days ago, I was almost giddy as I opened our mailbox to find a letter from US immigration! Then, just a few microseconds later a little disappointed when it wasn't our fingerprinting appointment-instead it was a receipt letting us know that they received our application and money.

Two days later, I was in a hurry to get somewhere but checked the mail on my way out. A letter from Holt-our adoption agency-was waiting! I wasn't expecting anything from them-they almost always email us-was this something good, bad?! Instead another receipt!

All of sudden I am brought back to being a child again. Looking outside for the mailman-hoping he leaves me something! Each day has to bring us closer! Maybe there will be something inside for me today!