One Month Post Referral Status Update

So, you may wonder what post-referral activities look like. Well, for some it looks like this: rising at the crack of dawn to work on grant applications, baby room decorating, shopping, filling out necessary paperwork, fundraising, deep cleaning the house, making baby food, preparing to start packing, getting necessary prescriptions for travel, etc. 

For me it looks like this. Wake up late feeling half rested due to restless sleep. Walk around in a morning fog. Then the fog lasts all day. Walk in circles audibly saying “What should I be doing right now?” Go get a snack because I forgot to eat lunch. Fill out a few more blanks on the seeming endless paperwork. Make a few more phone calls to pediatricians/specialists/therapists/ insurance/adoption agency /dentists (that one is an entirely separate topic). Get distracted thinking about flying for hours upon hours and brown skin babies and court dates. Feed Dave some sorry excuse for dinner because I didn’t think ahead and prepare anything. Sit on the couch and tell Dave how my head feels like it’s going to explode. Whether from allergies or more thoughts than it has the capacity to hold or increased heart rate sustained for too many days…I’m not sure.  Paint watch Dave paint in the girls’ room. Get distracted thinking about baby beds and pink curtains and bed time prayers. Stare at photos of two adorable faces with big brown eyes and smiles that have burrowed their way deep into my heart.   Go to bed and repeat the next day.  

Postal Services, state seals, notary stamps, Columbus skyline

Needless to say, I haven’t had an overly high productivity rate the last month. But we are making slow progress on both the girls’ room and paperwork front. Paperwork that included approximately 380 some miles and nearly 7 hours worth of driving. (It’s a long story that includes crazy phrases like updated homestudy and I-171H from the USCIS needing notarized, notary authentications by local clerk of courts and state certified by Secretary of State.)

In other news, we were notified by our agency last week of the official dates of ET court closures.  “The Federal First Instance Court of Ethiopia announced their official closure dates today. The court is scheduled to close for the rainy season from August 22^nd-October 1^st. This date of closure is two weeks later than into August than anticipated, for which we rejoice.”

Rejoicing indeed! This is a shorter than usual and later than usual closure!! In another email received today, our agency said “Your court file is open, and you are currently in line waiting for a court date. The court has not asked for any additional documentation at this point, so I anticipate we will hear of a court date soon for your family.”  

Now tell me, how am I supposed to calmly prepare for such a possibility without getting too excited?? Well  here are some of the preparations I am trying to calmly complete. 

Fund-raise. This is a breakdown from our agency of our remaining costs.

  Trip 1 - Airfare (2 adults; prices will vary by season and location)  $2,400 - $4,000                             

Trip 1 - In-Country Travel Package (2 adults) ••••                   $1,400 - $2,500                                  Trip 1 - Visas (2 adults)                                                                             $40

Trip 2 - Airfare                                                                              $2,400 - $4,000

Trip 2 – Airfare (1 child)                                                                 $250 - $1,000

Trip 2 - In-Country Travel Package (2 adults) •••                         $1,000 - $2,000

Trip 2 - Visas (2 adults)                                                                                   $40

Visa/Embassy Fee (1 child) •••••                                                                    $230

POST ADOPTION

Post Adoption Visits (varies by state)••                                              $600 - $1,300

Post Adoption Visit Travel Fees
(varies by state and location from social worker)                                    $0 - $300

Post Adoption Report Refund
(refunded in installments as, and only if, each report is returned on time) ($1,000)

So basically, we have paid for about two-thirds of the adoption so far. We have approximately $10,000-$12,000 left to go. I am looking into some grant applications, but we are finding that grants are hard to get in our season of life. We also plan to have another garage sale in September, although a lot could happen between now and then!

Next on my agenda: trying to start collecting donations to take to orphanages when we go. We will hopefully donate to both the transition home (where the girls are now) and other local orphanages (I hope at some point to visit the orphanage the girls originally came to, but I think it is quite a long drive, so I’m not sure yet if or when it will happen). 

I’m starting to shop for snacks/toys to take to the orphanages to give the kiddos that we will see and play with while we are there.

I’m trying to brainstorm ideas for simple yet cute ideas for the girls’ room. (Bleh. Craftiness and me get along like oil and water. The end.) 

I am looking for recommendations for a new family doctor, because we will need to take some prescriptions with us when we travel, and of course my lifelong family doctor just moved away. 

I am also in the search for a good, affordable dentist, because wouldn’t you know I just busted out with my first ever cavity. Clearly I needed something else to worry about. I mean, who doesn’t love a good needle in the gums and drill in the teeth to look forward to every now and then?? Oh and of course we need something to spend money on, it’s really piling up around here. 

So there you have it. One month post referral activities. The bottom line? It’s been happy and chaotic and pretty much frazzled around here. If you would like to lend a hand?? Here are a few ideas:

*First. Pray! Pray that if God sees it as best for our family, He would move on behalf of our case and provide us with a court date before August 22^nd.  Pray that I won’t freak out if this does happen. Pray that I would be free from the anxiety that constantly threatens my spirit. Pray for healing in our baby girls’ hearts and for them to be prepared for such a drastic transition. Pray for Dave and I’s marriage to be secure as we step into some deep water. 

*Donate items for us to take to orphanages. Here are some suggestions:

Antibacterial hand gel
Baby bottles and nipples
Unscented baby wipes ***please note, unscented/sensitive skin wipes are the only type
used**
Toothpaste/ toothbrushes/floss
Towels
Scrubs for nurses and nannies
Crocks for nurses and nannies
General firstaid items                                                                                                                             

lice treatment
A + D ointment
diaper rash ointment

infant and children's Tylenol
Vitamin D drops
Iron drops
chewable multi-vitamins
Benadryl

We of course will be limited with space/weight boundaries when we travel. We do hope to take funds to be able to buy diapers and such when we are there to take to the orphanages, so if you would like to donate that way let me know, and I will keep your financial donation to be used specifically for these supplies.

*While I would love to be able to plug in with a matching grant opportunity, we do not have anything lined up at the moment. We do however, have an account with Just Love Coffee, a great organization that helps growers, supports fair trade and adoptive families, and sells stellar coffee (it’s our favorite!). If you make a purchase through our account (click HERE to go to our account) a percentage of the cost will go towards our adoption. I’m also having a ThirtyOne Party, and a percentage of the purchases will go towards adoption costs. If you would like more information on any of this, please contact me! For those of you who have given to us financially, thank you so very much for being willing hands and feet of God. Please consider yourselves a very real part of this adoption story. It is so inspiring and humbling to watch God work through His people to complete this work. We absolutely could not do it on our own. 

I leave you with a verse I committed to memory last summer, and am repeating often to myself these days.

“O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high;

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.

But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother;

Like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.” Ps. 131