Aaahhhh Time Flies

Wow, I can't believe it's been nine months since I last posted in my blog.  Honestly I got lazy and didn't have the time or energy to write. February 21st 2013 was my last entry, and February 2014 is almost here again. So much has happened, I can't fit it all in, but since the purpose of this blog is to tell our adoption story, I will create an adoption timeline which is posted on the right.

During our home study process, our social worker was talking to us about the importance of having a Life Book or some type of scrapbook for our future Haitian child to look back on when they get older. I will definitely have a book with pictures, but I also think it would be really cool if my child could read this blog or even make it into a book for him to keep.  I realized then, that maybe I should get back to writing.

So it's final that we will go through the steps to adopt a Haitian boy between the ages of 0-2 years of age.  We are about four months into the adoption process through Carolina Adoption Services (CAS).

www.carolinaadoption.org

DOSSIER

So we have to get approximately 35 of our dossier documents translated into French.  The adoption agency gave us a list of 6-8 names of folks who are willing to translate our dossier for us.  

Oh, the DOSSIER!!  How I have forgotton to mention what a dossier is. It's pronounced so that the"er" sounds like "a".  The origination is French. It is bascially "A group of papers that contain detailed information about someone."

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dossier 

If you ever plan to go through with an international adoption, you will never forget the word Dossier.  Gathering the paperwork needed for this packet, has been one unforgettable experience lol.  It's not that it's hard, but many people are involved and it's oh so time consuming.  Every ounce of your personal life is put into this packet. From the day you were born to what you are doing at this very moment....how you live, eat, sleep, breathe...literally! I feel somewhat violated, but again, I hope it's all worth it in the end. 

So for right now our dossier is about 80% complete. The hard parts are done and now we are in a waiting game with the US government, Yay! We had to submit what is called a I-600A form along with our home study, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and a big fat check for $890.00 to the US Department of Homeland Security. This approval from the government says that we are allowed to bring a foreign child from another country to come and live with us.  This approval can take up to three months.  In the meantime we will translate our documents into French, send them to the Haitian Embassy in DC, and wait.  Nothing can be sent to Haiti until we have that I-600A approval.  When we get that, I will be one happy woman!!

I'm so ready to go to haiti. I have so many thoughts of what is to come of this.