My weekend project

I spent a good chunk of this weekend sewing.    I really hadn't planned it that way, but once my creative juices got flowing (and the boys were busy playing with Daddy), it just kinda happened...
...or maybe it was my attempt at avoiding housework ???  Either way, it was fun and productive.

The project?  A quilt for our Little Dude.

The center block has his photo and the four corner blocks are of us.  Across the top it says "My Family" and the bottom says "Daddy, Mommy, brother _____, and brother _____ love you."

We'll take this to leave with our Little Dude until we're able to return for court and free him from orphanage life forever.



Hopefully our dossier was delivered to the MOES last week and we will receive news that it's been "registered" this week.  Once registered, it will be a few weeks until we receive our travel date and will head to EE a few weeks after that.  It's surreal to think that not only could we be half way around the world next month, we'll also be finally holding our Little Dude.  For the first time in his life he'll experience the love of a Daddy and Mommy.  God is a-maz-ing.  I am blessed.

Thank You

A great BIG thank you to those who have shown their support in prayer, blog comments, the purchase of Just Love Coffee, an Adoption Bug T-shirt, or a donation to our Reece's Rainbow Adoption Grant.  While we do receive an email when someone orders a t-shirt, we don't know who has ordered coffee and will not receive the list of donors to our grant until right before we travel.  Therefore, unless you've personally told us of your purchase or donation, we have no way to individually thank you at this time.

And so with greatful hearts, we offer you this big-- albeit generic-- blog THANK YOU.  You have and continue to make a difference.  Your journeying with us has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

Just keep knitting...knitting...knitting...

It's no big secret that I enjoy anything handmade-- and especially handknit.  I love the process of crafting gifts for those dear to me... from the moment an idea starts rolling around in my brain until it's presented to it's rightful owner. 

Now that my Christmas projects are done, I've started on some gifts we'll take when we travel.  It's a common (and expected) practice to take gifts for those who assist you along your journey... our interpreter... our driver... the orphanage director... you get the picture.  Because we'll be making at least 2 and probably 3 trips before actually bringing our little guy home, we'll need multiple gifts.  Something 'trinkety' during the first trip and more substantial gifts when we actually take custody of our Little Dude.  Our Social Worker told me that a handmade gift would be welcomed as they appreciate the thought and time put into it.  If it's something useful and warm-- like a hat, scarf, or mittens-- then bonus!

Let the knitting begin.

Currently I'm working on Infinity Scarves.  I have yarn designated for 5 of them and will accent each with a satin flower pin (also handmade).  I'm not completely sure who will be the recipients of these particular gifts, but right now in my mind at least two or three of them will be for our little guy's nannies.

While we're hoping and praying that our Little Dude is loved and well cared for within the orphanage walls, we have no way of knowing that right now.  Our little guy will be the first Ds adoption that our agency has had in his region.  There are no families who have gone before to tell what they saw.  I'm not going to receive photo another mom was able to snap while adopting her child.  Instead, it will be our first trip when we get these answers.

I really don't how I'll feel if I witness our little guy's nanny being less than kind and loving toward him.  I have a feeling that Momma Bear may need to be restrained.  Seriously though, I'm hoping that inspite of anything, I'll be able to show her (them) love and gratitude.  These caregivers are overextended and under resourced. 

Another project occupying my needles right now is a shawl.  I'm a total sucker for a handknit shawl.  I LOVE them all... lace, triangle, Faroese, rectangle, garter, stockinette, circular...
I received some natural/undyed worsted weight wool as a Christmas gift and have cast-on another modified Mara (knitting friends- check out my Ravelry page if you want the specifics).  This will be my traveling shawl.  It'll make the trip to EE with us.  The squishiness of garter stitch will not only provide warmth but serve as a nice pillow on the airplane.

I guess I'm not getting any closer to finishing either project by sitting here at the computer... gotta go knit!

Biometrics Appointment

Thursday we received notification of our biometrics (digital fingerprinting) appointment-- which is the end of January.  It's great timing because it allows us enough time to secure a babysitter for that morning, it does not  interfere with some major things happening at Dave's work over the next few weeks, and yet is close enough to not make it seem like we're waiting forever.

In actuality, things are rolling along quite quickly.  Our documents are in-country, may already be translated, and are scheduled to be delivered to the MOES this coming Monday.  If all goes as planned, we may be making our first trip sometime in February, which would be amazing on so many levels.  We may get to be there for our little guy's 4th birthday.  While what we'd be able to do to celebrate within the orphanage walls would not parallel what we do to celebrate our sons' birthdays at home, I'm pretty sure it will be the first time his birthday is acknowledged and his life is celebrated.

I've started a notebook of "the essentials" of our day-to-day life... doctors' names and phone numbers, Medical Power of Attorney, etc. for family members who will be caring for our boys while we travel.  As our departure draws near, I'm not sure I'll be thinking straight and hope this aleviates some of the last minute rush.

I'm also rallying our Army of Knitters to create hats to donate to our Little Dude's orphanage.  It hasn't taken much arm-twisting... we had a GREAT time doing it for my friend Robyn's trip and many have already responded to the plea I sent out this morning.  I'm not sure if it's their love of knitting or me saying I'll make Buffalo Chicken Dip again that caused a few of them to commit so quickly  :o)

Finally, we have also started the process of gathering our court documents.  Because many of these are time-sensitive (ie. have to be valid within 3 months of our court date), we can only gather 6 of them now.  The other 21 will have to wait until after our first trip.  The process is much the same... gather the documents, have them notarized then apostilled before sending them to our little guy's country for translation and delivery.  The main difference with court documents is that they will be scrutinized to the Nth degree.  Every detail and figure must agree.

So that's where we are in our Journey to EE... With a toddler and pre-schooler underfoot, our wait is anything but dull.  I am truly blessed.

Wooo Hooo!

Our documents were sent to our Little Dude's country on Wednesday.  Friday morning I received a text that USCIS has received our application.  Now begins the wait for things to be processed.  This will take time and perhaps a little longer due to the holidays both stateside and in EE.

Hang on little buddy, it looks like this will be your last institutional Christmas !

Same Day Service... Are you kidding me?!?

The past 24 hours have been pretty amazing.  Thanks to the wonders of FedEx and online tracking, I had a front seat for it all.

As I said previously, our documents were sent on Friday.  They went to Madison via Memphis and were delivered to the Apostille's office bright and early Monday morning.  We chose to have them processed at the standard fee of $10 per document-- which can take up to 10 business days.  (There is the option of having them expedited for an additional  $25 per document.)  While we want to get our paperwork processed quickly and on it's way to EE, the fee difference on 42 documents just wasn't worth it.

[ Enter God ]

Not only were our documents delivered yesterday morning, they were processed and sent out  in the same day!  They arrived at our placing agency this morning.  If all goes as planned, they will be winging their way to EE tomorrow.

There's a lot more to the behind-the-scenes part of the past 24 hours.  Sometime I'll try to sit down and post about that.  Let's just suffice it to say that this whole thing is God's doing.  He's pulling everything together and stretching me in ways I never expected.

Madison and Dallas bound

As of 5pm Friday, our first set of documents is out of our hands.  Friday morning I was able to mail our form to USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services).  This form heads to the lockbox in Dallas and then into the hands of Immigration officials who will review our Home Study, determine if we can indeed care for a child we've adopted internationally, and (hopefully) approve our request.  They will then assign us our date for digital fingerprinting.

Our packet that needs to be apostilled is sitting in a Madison FedEx facility right now (I know this because I've checked the tracking several times this weekend) and is scheduled to be delivered before 10:30 am tomorrow.

I've had to telephone the Certification Desk at our Secretary of State several times over the past few weeks to clarify things about the apostille process.  The people who've answered the phone-- yes, believe it or not you get an actual person  answering the phone, not an automated system-- have been wonderful.  They've gone beyond my expectations in answering my questions.  Now I'm hoping that these same wonderful people are having a particularly slow week and just waiting for our documents to arrive tomorrow so they can process them right away.  Hey, I can hope can't I???

On an entirely different note, our Adoption Bug t-shirt fundraiser page is up.  Adoption Bug allows us to raise funds toward our little guy's homecoming while letting you publically make a statement about Orphan Care.  I have my last minute Christmas gifts in my Adoption Bug shopping bag right now.

Speaking of Christmas, the business of collecting documents and completing paperwork has allowed less time for planning and crafting than I'd like.  Now that our documents are sent, I'm working at a fast and furious pace to complete all of the knitting and sewing projects I have queued.  I'm blessed to have a family who appreciates handmade gifts.  I really enjoy taking the time to make things for those I love.   Okay, time to get back to work.  I have 2 sewing projects that need completed before bedtime.