Monday, August 31, 2009

Update

We got the first email from our social worker today, along with the timeline of what happens when and how. It's nice to see it all listed out front to back, makes the process easier to understand. We have narrowed our homestudy agencies down to two and should decide tomorrow on which one we'll use. More to come!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Mailed our Application today

We mailed our application and first check to our agency today. The application was 34 pages long, but surprisingly enough it was easy to understand.

Jenny has talked about staying behind after the three to four weeks is up and the adoption is final. There is a lot of paperwork that needs to be done in-country, and the child can't leave with you even though the adoption is final. From what we understand, that process could take up to a month. I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with her staying behind by herself. I may stay too, depending on how long the wait turns out being. If we stay behind, he's actually with us in our hotel/apartment. If we left, he'd go back to the orphanage and wait for the escort home to the states. Jenny doesn't really want to leave, but that will be a decision we make once we get there and understand the process better.

We told Rylee and Scarlett today. They were VERY excited, even going as far as asking when we were going to paint the room and what color it will be. I didn't doubt that it'd go well, but they really took to the idea of having a little brother.

Our next step should be the home study, but will wait for the agency or social worker to contact us.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

August 18, 2009

August 18, the day we filled out the application with our agency. Jenny had pretty much decided this was the route for us. I was still hesistant. It all seemed so overwhelming. The travel, the money, the paperwork. The next day, I decided it was the right move, and told her over a very non-romantic dinner at Applebees. So now here we sit two days later, filling out our agency contract and looking at others blogs about their journey to Kazakhstan.

I can only hope that other couples read this and get some help. I know that the blogs we've read over the past fews days really helped us.