I have thought about this blog a lot since I first created it WAY back in June! What was it that prevented me from writing things down? I think it was fear, fear that this story would never have a happy ending. Their have been a lot of twists and turns along the way. And i have had doubts here and there. One thing that has really been tested throughout this has been my faith. Some days it felt much easier to listen to those nagging voices in my head, the ones who tell you to give up, its to hard, what were you thinking? But, at the end of the day I always knew that there is a Father in heaven who loves and cares about me, and all He wants me to do is put my trust in Him! God is good!
So, here we are today. A very good day. We received news about our court hearing today! It is scheduled for January 8th 2009! I am thrilled. I feel like things are really happening. It is hard to believe that after all this waiting we may have our daughter home in a few months!
Although this has been the goal all along, and I knew that eventually we would travel to Taiwan, I am feeling like I am not ever going to be ready for this trip. It is overwhelming to think about all the little details involved in getting ready to bring our child home. One of the first items on my agenda was to write in this blog, so Check one off the list. Next is to get a care package/Christmas present sent to Kaydee.
I do not even want to attempt to fill everything in from June 21st until now, so I will give a brief timeline to record some of the highlights. Here goes:
August 2006- made the decision to adopt a child.
October 2006- we sent in our application for our home study to Summit adoption home studies inc.
November 2006- made the sad decision to put adoption plans on hold.
August 2007- After a lot of soul searching and prayer, we decided to proceed with adoption.
September 2007- After doing some research we found an adoption program for Ukraine. We have decided to adopt a little girl from 0-3 years old from Ukraine!
November 2007- Notified home study agency that we are ready to proceed! Also, mailed I-600 a application to USCIS.
December 2007- completed the 2 home visits for our home study.
January 2008- FBI fingerprints taken for USCIS. Medical exams and blood work done ( required for Ukraine)
February 2008- Home study sent to USCIS.
March 12th 2008- after deliberating about waiting for a trip to Ukraine for a referral, we found the photo of our sweet little Kaydee from Taiwan on a photolisitng. We received her information the next day, and committed to adopt her!
April 2008- we have a revised home study for Taiwan. The orphanage in Taiwan is reviewing our application and home study!
May 2008- Our agency calls to let us know that we are approved to adopt Kaydee!
June 2008- contracts arrive from Taiwan! no USCIS approval yet though :(
July 2008- Still no USCIS approval!
August 2008- Our agency closes! Not to worry, they are transferring our case to another agency!
And of course one week later... our USCIS approval comes!
September 2008- finally get our case transferred to the new agency and finish compiling dossier.
October 1st 2008- Dossier on its way to New York, then Taiwan! Yeah!!!
November 2008- We get our very first update and photos of Kaydee since her photolisting photo, and a full medical report!!
December 12th 2008- ( exactly 10 months later) we recieve a court hearing date for January 8th , 2009!! Also, we get a Skype meeting scheduled for January!
More to come!!
Hopefully it wont take me 6 months to update this blog again!
I will add more as I get it. No matter what twists and turns this story may take, it is sure to be an exciting adventure! I know it is one I will never forget.
Blessings,
Angie
Friday, December 12, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
let the paper chase begin
Welcome! Please join me as I create the story of our journey to a little princess who is waiting for our family in Taiwan.
We are a family of 6, soon to be 7! We have 4 bio kids ages 11, 9, 7 year old twins, and our princess waiting in Taiwan who is 4.
We started this story awhile ago, July of 2006. God had moved my heart and I felt that adopting a child from another country was His plan for our family. At first I wanted to adopt an infant from China, but we did not meet some of the requirements. We looked at Guatemala, Russia, and Taiwan, and decided that Taiwan was the program for us. In October we had gathered enough information to feel comfortable starting the home study process, so we filed our application. In November, we had some unexpected financial downfalls and decided that we would not be able to move forward with our adoption. I was heartbroken, but I trusted that God would do what was right for our family. I knew that He was watching over our family, and that He knew the plan for us. As hard as it was I kept on going, and tried not to feel discouraged; there was an empty spot in my heart where a little child belonged.
I refocused my energy on raising my four amazing kids, and homeschooling them. One thing that researching adoption did for me was give me a heart for orphans and needy children around the world. I helped my kids to learn more about helping the poor and needy, and helped them understand what it means to be an orphan. Looking back, I am sure that God's plans are perfect and that international adoption has left a permanent burden in our family's hearts to help those in need.
As 2007 kept marching on, the feeling that I was supposed to adopt a child kept tugging at my heart. I made the decision n October to tell my husband that I felt that it was time to try again. At first he was surprised and a little resistant. I think he had made peace with the decision not to adopt, but when I explained to him that this was something I had felt very strongly about all along, he agreed to move forward. We decided to try an independent adoption in Ukraine. We also decided that we would be open to adopting a child from 0-6years old, and we would consider some minor special needs. In November we started our home study and filed our I 600 A.
We finished the home study in December right after Christmas. I was so excited to be moving forward with everything that I bought a stocking for our new daughter, and hung it on the fireplace! We also decorated a bedroom just for her.
In February of 2008 I was starting to get restless waiting for the I 171 H to come because in Ukraine you have to send your dossier over and get logged in before you can travel, then you get a referral while you are in country. I was thinking this could be months and months, because Ukraine had some changes happening, and seemed to be moving slowly. I was feeling discouraged. I started looking at photo listings of waiting children both international and U.S. kids. I also contemplated doing foster care. One night I was feeling really down, I was doubting why I ever started this whole thing. I remembered how I had felt when I first heard God speaking to my heart about adopting. I prayed that night for His guidance,"Father, what should I do?" That night, I found a photo listing that had a photo of our little girl! I could hardly sleep all night, I knew I needed to call the agency that was representing her right away in the morning. That was March 12th 2008, and through a few twists and turns we are holding her contracts in our hands today! Praise God.
We would love to have you with us through this exciting journey. I have already been so encouraged and blessed by other blogs and adoption stories. I hope our story can be a blessing and encouragement to you!
We are a family of 6, soon to be 7! We have 4 bio kids ages 11, 9, 7 year old twins, and our princess waiting in Taiwan who is 4.
We started this story awhile ago, July of 2006. God had moved my heart and I felt that adopting a child from another country was His plan for our family. At first I wanted to adopt an infant from China, but we did not meet some of the requirements. We looked at Guatemala, Russia, and Taiwan, and decided that Taiwan was the program for us. In October we had gathered enough information to feel comfortable starting the home study process, so we filed our application. In November, we had some unexpected financial downfalls and decided that we would not be able to move forward with our adoption. I was heartbroken, but I trusted that God would do what was right for our family. I knew that He was watching over our family, and that He knew the plan for us. As hard as it was I kept on going, and tried not to feel discouraged; there was an empty spot in my heart where a little child belonged.
I refocused my energy on raising my four amazing kids, and homeschooling them. One thing that researching adoption did for me was give me a heart for orphans and needy children around the world. I helped my kids to learn more about helping the poor and needy, and helped them understand what it means to be an orphan. Looking back, I am sure that God's plans are perfect and that international adoption has left a permanent burden in our family's hearts to help those in need.
As 2007 kept marching on, the feeling that I was supposed to adopt a child kept tugging at my heart. I made the decision n October to tell my husband that I felt that it was time to try again. At first he was surprised and a little resistant. I think he had made peace with the decision not to adopt, but when I explained to him that this was something I had felt very strongly about all along, he agreed to move forward. We decided to try an independent adoption in Ukraine. We also decided that we would be open to adopting a child from 0-6years old, and we would consider some minor special needs. In November we started our home study and filed our I 600 A.
We finished the home study in December right after Christmas. I was so excited to be moving forward with everything that I bought a stocking for our new daughter, and hung it on the fireplace! We also decorated a bedroom just for her.
In February of 2008 I was starting to get restless waiting for the I 171 H to come because in Ukraine you have to send your dossier over and get logged in before you can travel, then you get a referral while you are in country. I was thinking this could be months and months, because Ukraine had some changes happening, and seemed to be moving slowly. I was feeling discouraged. I started looking at photo listings of waiting children both international and U.S. kids. I also contemplated doing foster care. One night I was feeling really down, I was doubting why I ever started this whole thing. I remembered how I had felt when I first heard God speaking to my heart about adopting. I prayed that night for His guidance,"Father, what should I do?" That night, I found a photo listing that had a photo of our little girl! I could hardly sleep all night, I knew I needed to call the agency that was representing her right away in the morning. That was March 12th 2008, and through a few twists and turns we are holding her contracts in our hands today! Praise God.
We would love to have you with us through this exciting journey. I have already been so encouraged and blessed by other blogs and adoption stories. I hope our story can be a blessing and encouragement to you!
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