WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO HHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Our Fed Ex package arrived in Samara TODAY!!!!! Two days earlier than required!!!! So, the translators are off and running............about 1 week for them and then about 2 weeks for the officials to send us back a letter inviting us to come and see her.
Yesterday I got updated medical information (measurements)........I took them to the dr. today and hope to hear GOOD NEWS quickly!!!! :):):) I can tell by the measurements that I definitely think I won't have to worry about the "possible" hydrochephalous diagnosis...........I didn't think I did with how cute her picture is!! :):):)
Terri for the Casebier's
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Update on paperwork to Russia
Hi everyone.........in case you've been following the Fed Ex paper route with me, I wanted to let you know that it's in Russia and I found out today that the Fed Ex site will have it listed as "in transit" from now until it reaches it's destination (by THIS Friday!!!! 6/29/07).
At that point, it has to be translated (about 1 week) and then it goes to the officials and they have to decide to send us an "invitation" to come and meet our daughter...............we've been told that it's roughly 2 weeks for them to send out that invitation...........
SOOOOO, that means that we should be hearing from them within the next 3 1/2 weeks and then travel within 1/2 to 1 week after that.
Just wanted to let you know........keep us in prayers for 1. Donations for the orphanage, 2. Gifts for the orphanage workers and all those involved in our adoption, 3. Finances for plane, food, and hotel, 4. Finances for paying the remainder of the adoption costs (traveling money needs--not hotel, food, & plane related), 5. Traveling mercies.
Thank you everyone!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
At that point, it has to be translated (about 1 week) and then it goes to the officials and they have to decide to send us an "invitation" to come and meet our daughter...............we've been told that it's roughly 2 weeks for them to send out that invitation...........
SOOOOO, that means that we should be hearing from them within the next 3 1/2 weeks and then travel within 1/2 to 1 week after that.
Just wanted to let you know........keep us in prayers for 1. Donations for the orphanage, 2. Gifts for the orphanage workers and all those involved in our adoption, 3. Finances for plane, food, and hotel, 4. Finances for paying the remainder of the adoption costs (traveling money needs--not hotel, food, & plane related), 5. Traveling mercies.
Thank you everyone!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
Friday, June 22, 2007
Paperwork Update
Ok.....as of yesterday, I received my receipt from the USCIS for the 171 application.....they got my homestudy WITH the application, but for some reason didn't send us a fingerprint sheet..........so we are waiting on that response for now.
Today, we received the FBI fingerprint cards back. Now they will be overnighted (received by Monday a.m.) to our agency so that they can priority mail them to the West Virginia Secretary of State for apostilles. I'm hoping that all of this travel for them will have them back in the agency's hands by July 6th.
The only other paperwork that we have to get done is our medical paperwork. We can't get that done until we're really close to going because it expires too quickly.
None of this paperwork is required for our 1st trip...........and I found out that the "word" comes back to our agency via email..........so now the 1st trip timeline COULD be 10 days to get there (IT'S IN RUSSIA AS OF TODAY!!!!), 7 or so days to get translated, then another week or so for the government to issue the invitation and give us a date for travel. Considering that the 10 day wait to get to Russia is already well under way, that means we could be hearing something and traveling for the 1st trip as soon as the middle of July!!!! :):):)
That really puts me more at ease because we need to be totally back here before August 13th, when Gary will HOPEFULLY be starting a new job.......plus we'd like a couple days to rest before going back to work!! :):):)..........AND, I think we can get the doctor stuff done as soon as we back from our 1st trip.......so we need a day or so to get that done (the dr. office doesn't have a notary IN it, so we have to go when the notary for the dr. office is in -- they're across the street in an actual office type position).
As you can see, this is going pretty fast........Please pray for us to be fully ready and for our finances. The 2 people that were trying to get tickets for us will not be able to..........so we need to figure that out as well (besides the orphanage donations and gifts for those that help us out while we are there).
This is definitely not the same as our China adoption........lol :):):)
Terri for the Casebier's
Today, we received the FBI fingerprint cards back. Now they will be overnighted (received by Monday a.m.) to our agency so that they can priority mail them to the West Virginia Secretary of State for apostilles. I'm hoping that all of this travel for them will have them back in the agency's hands by July 6th.
The only other paperwork that we have to get done is our medical paperwork. We can't get that done until we're really close to going because it expires too quickly.
None of this paperwork is required for our 1st trip...........and I found out that the "word" comes back to our agency via email..........so now the 1st trip timeline COULD be 10 days to get there (IT'S IN RUSSIA AS OF TODAY!!!!), 7 or so days to get translated, then another week or so for the government to issue the invitation and give us a date for travel. Considering that the 10 day wait to get to Russia is already well under way, that means we could be hearing something and traveling for the 1st trip as soon as the middle of July!!!! :):):)
That really puts me more at ease because we need to be totally back here before August 13th, when Gary will HOPEFULLY be starting a new job.......plus we'd like a couple days to rest before going back to work!! :):):)..........AND, I think we can get the doctor stuff done as soon as we back from our 1st trip.......so we need a day or so to get that done (the dr. office doesn't have a notary IN it, so we have to go when the notary for the dr. office is in -- they're across the street in an actual office type position).
As you can see, this is going pretty fast........Please pray for us to be fully ready and for our finances. The 2 people that were trying to get tickets for us will not be able to..........so we need to figure that out as well (besides the orphanage donations and gifts for those that help us out while we are there).
This is definitely not the same as our China adoption........lol :):):)
Terri for the Casebier's
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
IT'S ON IT'S WAY!!!!!
Here's the email I just received from my agency!!!!
Hi Terri,
I wanted to let you know that I received your home study today. A copy is attached. Your dossier will go out today to the region. I am sending it Fed Ex and the tracking number is 8597 4559 2378.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
XXXXX
I'll be tracking it each step of the way..........but she said it should take about 10 days just to get to the region (so much for next day delivery........lol).
I figure 10 days in, 10 days out, and about 7-14 days for their paperwork process........so it should be about 27-34 days before we hear anything.
Until then, the blogging will mostly consist of my feelings, packing, and of our fund raising efforts.
Until then.............
Terri for the Casebier's
Hi Terri,
I wanted to let you know that I received your home study today. A copy is attached. Your dossier will go out today to the region. I am sending it Fed Ex and the tracking number is 8597 4559 2378.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Kind regards,
XXXXX
I'll be tracking it each step of the way..........but she said it should take about 10 days just to get to the region (so much for next day delivery........lol).
I figure 10 days in, 10 days out, and about 7-14 days for their paperwork process........so it should be about 27-34 days before we hear anything.
Until then, the blogging will mostly consist of my feelings, packing, and of our fund raising efforts.
Until then.............
Terri for the Casebier's
Confusion?...........or a blessing?
Well,
Here it is................yesterday I contacted my agency........they told me that the Moscow clinics had closed, but we were still doing medicals "in region"..........so we shouldn't be delayed at all.
AND, after talking with this same person on Friday about the medical information we have on Isabelle and her telling me how "accurate" it is.......she told me yesterday that sometimes it IS better than what is listed..............which is what I asked about in the first place.
Now, the real kicker, the person online that told me about the doctor closings, etc..........she's with MY agency and MY agent is who told her about the closings and started this whole mess...................clarity is apparently not a strong point for her............. :(
This just teaches me that I have to make sure I ask LOTS of probing questions to get to all the details and ask things MANY different ways so that she understands what I am looking for.
However, it's also WONDERFUL to be able to still hope that Isabelle will be ours and that time will come soon...............we still hope to travel by the beginning of August...........
Our last document will arrive in the Oregon office today from the Secretary of State!!! It will go to Russia today as well!!!!..............the countdown starts to getting our letter of invitation..................I REALLY hope that we are told to make the entire 1st trip before the 13th of August (when Gary starts his new job, new school, new career) so that Gary can go with me and not have it interfere with his job..............
Thanks again for all the prayers!!! Our "Hope" is renewed!!!!!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
Great is YOUR faithfulness oh Lord............YOUR mercies are NEW EVERY morning!!!! Your STEADFAST LOVE NEVER ceases!!!!
Here it is................yesterday I contacted my agency........they told me that the Moscow clinics had closed, but we were still doing medicals "in region"..........so we shouldn't be delayed at all.
AND, after talking with this same person on Friday about the medical information we have on Isabelle and her telling me how "accurate" it is.......she told me yesterday that sometimes it IS better than what is listed..............which is what I asked about in the first place.
Now, the real kicker, the person online that told me about the doctor closings, etc..........she's with MY agency and MY agent is who told her about the closings and started this whole mess...................clarity is apparently not a strong point for her............. :(
This just teaches me that I have to make sure I ask LOTS of probing questions to get to all the details and ask things MANY different ways so that she understands what I am looking for.
However, it's also WONDERFUL to be able to still hope that Isabelle will be ours and that time will come soon...............we still hope to travel by the beginning of August...........
Our last document will arrive in the Oregon office today from the Secretary of State!!! It will go to Russia today as well!!!!..............the countdown starts to getting our letter of invitation..................I REALLY hope that we are told to make the entire 1st trip before the 13th of August (when Gary starts his new job, new school, new career) so that Gary can go with me and not have it interfere with his job..............
Thanks again for all the prayers!!! Our "Hope" is renewed!!!!!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
Great is YOUR faithfulness oh Lord............YOUR mercies are NEW EVERY morning!!!! Your STEADFAST LOVE NEVER ceases!!!!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The end???? or just a new direction........AGAIN???
The Saga continues...............it's amazing what happens when we all start
saying how things are going really fast and God is so obviously in
it.................
Tonight I received an email from a NEW member (introduction) in the Russian
group............she's waiting for her court date (already made 1st visit)
and has to have the "8 doctors" give her baby the check up. Apparently
there are 2 sets of offices you can go to..............1 shut down a month
ago and the 2nd shut down on the 15th............................the reason
according to her agency..............to slow down adoptions.
We haven't sent our paperwork (or money) to Russia (though we have to the
agency) because of the glitch with the 1 other
paper........................now I don't know exactly what to think. I'm
sorely depressed.
We can change to another country, but we can't afford to switch to another
country (we couldn't really afford Russia, but the fees were reduced for
her) and even then, they all seem pretty shaky to me right now. The agency
won't return fees............only allow us to change countries or keep with
this one.
So, that means we're 0 for 3 now..............applied to Ukraine,
closed.......applied to China, slow down happened (lucky if we'll get her
within the next 3 years).............applied to Russia, closed.
And now we don't have Hannah's money AND we don't have the money to do a
domestic adoption.
I've emailed my agency to ask them questions and should hear back tomorrow.
If it doesn't go well, I probably won't be online for a pretty long time.
This is too depressing for me right now.
Here's the email's that I received.........
"My agency just told me last week that the 2 clinics that complete the '8 dr. medicals' have been shut down for 30 days apparently to intentionally delay the completion of adoptions. One was closed earlier in the month and the other was closing on the 15th of June. They are trying to get more information and see if there are any alternatives. I'm hoping something can be worked out!"
> Are you saying that they are intentionally shutting down the dr.'s so that
> adoptions can't be finished?
"Yes, that's what my agency told me (on Wednesday of last week)... I don't
have any more information than that. I'm hoping that it is a
misunderstanding and that adoptions are continuing. But it has me nervous
since I'm waiting on my court date."
Thanks, I really do appreciate all of your previous and new
prayers.................
Terri for the Casebier's
saying how things are going really fast and God is so obviously in
it.................
Tonight I received an email from a NEW member (introduction) in the Russian
group............she's waiting for her court date (already made 1st visit)
and has to have the "8 doctors" give her baby the check up. Apparently
there are 2 sets of offices you can go to..............1 shut down a month
ago and the 2nd shut down on the 15th............................the reason
according to her agency..............to slow down adoptions.
We haven't sent our paperwork (or money) to Russia (though we have to the
agency) because of the glitch with the 1 other
paper........................now I don't know exactly what to think. I'm
sorely depressed.
We can change to another country, but we can't afford to switch to another
country (we couldn't really afford Russia, but the fees were reduced for
her) and even then, they all seem pretty shaky to me right now. The agency
won't return fees............only allow us to change countries or keep with
this one.
So, that means we're 0 for 3 now..............applied to Ukraine,
closed.......applied to China, slow down happened (lucky if we'll get her
within the next 3 years).............applied to Russia, closed.
And now we don't have Hannah's money AND we don't have the money to do a
domestic adoption.
I've emailed my agency to ask them questions and should hear back tomorrow.
If it doesn't go well, I probably won't be online for a pretty long time.
This is too depressing for me right now.
Here's the email's that I received.........
"My agency just told me last week that the 2 clinics that complete the '8 dr. medicals' have been shut down for 30 days apparently to intentionally delay the completion of adoptions. One was closed earlier in the month and the other was closing on the 15th of June. They are trying to get more information and see if there are any alternatives. I'm hoping something can be worked out!"
> Are you saying that they are intentionally shutting down the dr.'s so that
> adoptions can't be finished?
"Yes, that's what my agency told me (on Wednesday of last week)... I don't
have any more information than that. I'm hoping that it is a
misunderstanding and that adoptions are continuing. But it has me nervous
since I'm waiting on my court date."
Thanks, I really do appreciate all of your previous and new
prayers.................
Terri for the Casebier's
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Our Hiccup begins..............
This last few days has been kind of a downer for me. First, our agency,
being small, had a person out for family issues and so she didn't take care
of our home study update like she was supposed to. Then, when she got to
it, it was dated incorrectly (because we'd already taken her other papers to
be apostilled) so we had to get it reapostilled. As of tonight it's still
sitting in the Secretary of State's office (has been there 2 days now with a
Fed Ex envelope attached). Who knows when and or where it is in the office
building (handed to the mail room) and if they've even touched it yet. The
agency was "HOPING" that Oregon would have it by Monday, but now there's no
chance of that. It's all that I'm missing for my documents to go to Russia.
I've not only done those currently necessary, but those that aren't due
yet................and my agency is dropping the ball!!!
Then, we finally got word from a doctor today about Isabelle's medical file
(actually both doctors finally got back to us today). The prognosis really
wasn't that great. She "COULD" have hydrochephalous.................and
possibly cerebral palsy according to what was written. I know that some
countries put the "worst case scenario" down to help the child get out
sooner, but this is ridiculous. It may not be what she has. Her head,
according to both doctors, looks fine..............she was premature
though............probably 2 months because of a problem her mother had (not
because of anything she had going on). So, we've requested updates on her
numbers, her current developmental abilities, and a video...............the
video is a long shot. They basically quit doing them in Russia a little
over 2 years ago. I'm all about the cleft palate stuff, but I don't think I
can handle the other stuff if it's real. If we get there and it's true, we
can choose to not accept her and they'll match us with another
child...............but I don't want to do that. However, I don't want to
not accept her and not fully know that she has it..............I don't know
what to do. I am torn. I've already seen her face and started falling in
love with her. Dh has already started planning for her. Dh has some
classes in occupational therapy, so developemental delays (not Cerebral
Palsy) are really right up his alley..................that doesn't bother
me. Cleft lip/palate/nose is totally correctable so that doesn't bother me
either...................and then there's the whole issue (for me) about how
can I not accept a child just because of a birth defect..........I mean, the
child still deserves a mom & dad..........that's just horrible to not accept
her because of it. If I birthed her, I wouldn't turn away.....................and possible defects are always a possibility with your own births (though we can do things to try and prevent them, we can't always prevent them).
So, please pray with me that I can be at peace and that God is able to give
us some information for the doctors that leads them to believe that she is
ok.
Thanks,
Terri for the Casebier's
being small, had a person out for family issues and so she didn't take care
of our home study update like she was supposed to. Then, when she got to
it, it was dated incorrectly (because we'd already taken her other papers to
be apostilled) so we had to get it reapostilled. As of tonight it's still
sitting in the Secretary of State's office (has been there 2 days now with a
Fed Ex envelope attached). Who knows when and or where it is in the office
building (handed to the mail room) and if they've even touched it yet. The
agency was "HOPING" that Oregon would have it by Monday, but now there's no
chance of that. It's all that I'm missing for my documents to go to Russia.
I've not only done those currently necessary, but those that aren't due
yet................and my agency is dropping the ball!!!
Then, we finally got word from a doctor today about Isabelle's medical file
(actually both doctors finally got back to us today). The prognosis really
wasn't that great. She "COULD" have hydrochephalous.................and
possibly cerebral palsy according to what was written. I know that some
countries put the "worst case scenario" down to help the child get out
sooner, but this is ridiculous. It may not be what she has. Her head,
according to both doctors, looks fine..............she was premature
though............probably 2 months because of a problem her mother had (not
because of anything she had going on). So, we've requested updates on her
numbers, her current developmental abilities, and a video...............the
video is a long shot. They basically quit doing them in Russia a little
over 2 years ago. I'm all about the cleft palate stuff, but I don't think I
can handle the other stuff if it's real. If we get there and it's true, we
can choose to not accept her and they'll match us with another
child...............but I don't want to do that. However, I don't want to
not accept her and not fully know that she has it..............I don't know
what to do. I am torn. I've already seen her face and started falling in
love with her. Dh has already started planning for her. Dh has some
classes in occupational therapy, so developemental delays (not Cerebral
Palsy) are really right up his alley..................that doesn't bother
me. Cleft lip/palate/nose is totally correctable so that doesn't bother me
either...................and then there's the whole issue (for me) about how
can I not accept a child just because of a birth defect..........I mean, the
child still deserves a mom & dad..........that's just horrible to not accept
her because of it. If I birthed her, I wouldn't turn away.....................and possible defects are always a possibility with your own births (though we can do things to try and prevent them, we can't always prevent them).
So, please pray with me that I can be at peace and that God is able to give
us some information for the doctors that leads them to believe that she is
ok.
Thanks,
Terri for the Casebier's
Saturday, June 9, 2007
God is still Good ALL the Time..............
Well, this week has been full. We worked on Isabelle's paperwork and her room (clearing out the "storage" area....lol) until Friday. On Friday, we took the church van on "Adventure Friday" for the kids, to Plano. While there, I called Levahna and talked to her about costs, the possibility of not getting Isabelle when we got there, and a bunch of other stuff.
She said she'd send me the "rest" of the paperwork, but she forgot.............as far as "losing" Isabelle, it's only possible if a Russian family wants to adopt her. As soon as we've completed our 1st trip, even that won't stop us from getting her. There isn't any way for another international family to take her while we are doing this, so that's a relief.
Hiccup???? This week, I'd gotten most of the paperwork finished for the dossier, but I didn't have Gary's employment letter. I figured I'd wait until he got a job. But Levahna reminded me that the Home Study said he was a substitute teacher and gave an earning. Our employment letter needed to match that. So, when we got home at 4 pm, I told him about this and he rushed (I've never seen him have such an urgency about things) over to the administration building. Instead of making us wait, they helped him immediately. When he got home at 4:30, I called and barely caught Jaclyn (Texas office) because they were supposed to get the "final" copy of our homestudy update that day. She hadn't gotten the update yet, but was sure she'd get it on Monday. She knew that we wanted to take it with us to the USCIS appointment on Tuesday morning, so I told her that we'd head to Houston on Monday after finishing in Austin. She told me that she'd have to ask someone and get back to me. In the mean time, I called the social worker, Kim S. and left a message that I needed to change our numbers and if she'd get back to me asap. She has a bad habit of not calling back very quickly. Well, Jaclyn called me back and turned me over to Kim C...........apparently she's the one that works with the homestudies when they come in. While I was talking to Kim C., Kim S. CALLED ME BACK!!!!! So, I did a 3 way with them and we figured it all out. Kim S. had everything emailed to Kim C. before I got off the phone. Kim C. told me not to bother going to the Dallas USCIS on Tuesday, but rather to go on to the OKC office............so I'd have time to get the Home Study in the mail rather than travel to Houston on Monday.
All that and then I contacted the OKC office online and found out that they don't do "appointments" there. However, they have an email specifically for adoption related questions. This email person is supposed to contact us back within 2 working days........so I should still hear from them by Tuesday!!!! Then I'll Fed-Ex our 171 application and homestudy to them (all at once) and let them get on with things!!!!
At that point I'll be waiting on the USCIS to return my 171, the FBI to return my fingerprint info, and to return home from the 1st trip so I can get the dr. information done.............and there are others out there that have been working on this stuff since December..........I'm much farther than that!!! I want to be gone TOMORROW!!!!! :):):)
As if that wasn't enough, I worked at the food bank last month and met a woman that worked for an airline. She offered to let me use 2 of her 4 free roundtrip tickets on our adoption to China.........I thought it was wonderful, but kind of blew it off because our trip is so far away and I thought we'd probably raise enough money inbetween time to not really need it. Well, now that we are going to Russia so quickly, we REALLY need it. I went back to the food bank today and the same woman came in. She remembered what she had told me and we talked about it. I told her that I was now going to Russia, IMMEDIATELY, and she was all on board for trying to help us out with flights for 1 of our trips............I CAN'T believe this!!!! I'm still not sure it's going to happen. She has to go to work on Wednesday and figure it all out. She was kind of concerned that I may need the information sooner, but I told her that basically I was out of town until Wednesday anyway (Austin Monday, USCIS, Dr., and Waiting Families Meeting on Tuesday).......so Wednesday is the best for me anyway!!!! Coincidence???? I THINK NOT!!!!! Even if this doesn't end up working out, it's so encouraging to know that God is working out all the fine little details when I don't even know what's going on..........I couldn't have planned meeting this woman last month, before I was even thinking of Russia!!!!
We're coming Isabelle!!!! I wish we could be there this week!!! I hope we're there at least by the middle of July, but for this to happen God is going to have to (and WILL) work some miracles financially!!!! This little one needs your prayers, as do our finances.........we thought we'd have a lot more time to raise money before the adoption, but we were wrong........lol Good thing that God is NEVER wrong!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
She said she'd send me the "rest" of the paperwork, but she forgot.............as far as "losing" Isabelle, it's only possible if a Russian family wants to adopt her. As soon as we've completed our 1st trip, even that won't stop us from getting her. There isn't any way for another international family to take her while we are doing this, so that's a relief.
Hiccup???? This week, I'd gotten most of the paperwork finished for the dossier, but I didn't have Gary's employment letter. I figured I'd wait until he got a job. But Levahna reminded me that the Home Study said he was a substitute teacher and gave an earning. Our employment letter needed to match that. So, when we got home at 4 pm, I told him about this and he rushed (I've never seen him have such an urgency about things) over to the administration building. Instead of making us wait, they helped him immediately. When he got home at 4:30, I called and barely caught Jaclyn (Texas office) because they were supposed to get the "final" copy of our homestudy update that day. She hadn't gotten the update yet, but was sure she'd get it on Monday. She knew that we wanted to take it with us to the USCIS appointment on Tuesday morning, so I told her that we'd head to Houston on Monday after finishing in Austin. She told me that she'd have to ask someone and get back to me. In the mean time, I called the social worker, Kim S. and left a message that I needed to change our numbers and if she'd get back to me asap. She has a bad habit of not calling back very quickly. Well, Jaclyn called me back and turned me over to Kim C...........apparently she's the one that works with the homestudies when they come in. While I was talking to Kim C., Kim S. CALLED ME BACK!!!!! So, I did a 3 way with them and we figured it all out. Kim S. had everything emailed to Kim C. before I got off the phone. Kim C. told me not to bother going to the Dallas USCIS on Tuesday, but rather to go on to the OKC office............so I'd have time to get the Home Study in the mail rather than travel to Houston on Monday.
All that and then I contacted the OKC office online and found out that they don't do "appointments" there. However, they have an email specifically for adoption related questions. This email person is supposed to contact us back within 2 working days........so I should still hear from them by Tuesday!!!! Then I'll Fed-Ex our 171 application and homestudy to them (all at once) and let them get on with things!!!!
At that point I'll be waiting on the USCIS to return my 171, the FBI to return my fingerprint info, and to return home from the 1st trip so I can get the dr. information done.............and there are others out there that have been working on this stuff since December..........I'm much farther than that!!! I want to be gone TOMORROW!!!!! :):):)
As if that wasn't enough, I worked at the food bank last month and met a woman that worked for an airline. She offered to let me use 2 of her 4 free roundtrip tickets on our adoption to China.........I thought it was wonderful, but kind of blew it off because our trip is so far away and I thought we'd probably raise enough money inbetween time to not really need it. Well, now that we are going to Russia so quickly, we REALLY need it. I went back to the food bank today and the same woman came in. She remembered what she had told me and we talked about it. I told her that I was now going to Russia, IMMEDIATELY, and she was all on board for trying to help us out with flights for 1 of our trips............I CAN'T believe this!!!! I'm still not sure it's going to happen. She has to go to work on Wednesday and figure it all out. She was kind of concerned that I may need the information sooner, but I told her that basically I was out of town until Wednesday anyway (Austin Monday, USCIS, Dr., and Waiting Families Meeting on Tuesday).......so Wednesday is the best for me anyway!!!! Coincidence???? I THINK NOT!!!!! Even if this doesn't end up working out, it's so encouraging to know that God is working out all the fine little details when I don't even know what's going on..........I couldn't have planned meeting this woman last month, before I was even thinking of Russia!!!!
We're coming Isabelle!!!! I wish we could be there this week!!! I hope we're there at least by the middle of July, but for this to happen God is going to have to (and WILL) work some miracles financially!!!! This little one needs your prayers, as do our finances.........we thought we'd have a lot more time to raise money before the adoption, but we were wrong........lol Good thing that God is NEVER wrong!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Paperwork update
Hi everyone............I just wanted to tell you that yesterday I requested a copy of the dossier paperwork. The agent had sent me a copy of the Set A paperwork for the 1st travel, but not the dossier for the 2nd travel.
As of tonight (11:27 cst).........I have all but 1 picture done for the Set A paperwork (Gary's working on cleaning up his paperwork....:) ).
For the dossier I lack
1. that same picture
2. A certified deed to our house (we'll pick it up tomorrow -- Thursday)
3. Notary trip AGAIN!!!!
4. A letter from a realtor about owning our house (we'll pick it up on Sunday)
5. 171 (waiting for an appointment to ask about if I need to be refingerprinted
since I just was last month) -- and then waiting for the 171 to actually be done
for me
6. FBI clearance papers were sent out today, now I await their return (hopefully
successful)
7. Doctors exam and paperwork (I can't do this until I know when my 2nd travel is,
because it expires too quickly)
8. Social worker home study and paperwork
9. And the most uncertain, but can't be stressed out about it because that won't do
any good, item..............Gary's employment verification form..............
Pray that he gets a job VERY quickly!!!!!
We will go back to the bank in the morning for another round of notaries.......and then meet/talk to our social worker in the afternoon. Hopefully she can get me something before we leave for Austin on Sunday.........to get the Apostilles done!!!!
5-9 should be all that's left for the dossier by Monday (hopefully #7 will be done by then too!!!).
Next week we start visiting with doctors..............on Tuesday we have the 171 appointment, then immediately afterwards we head to a cleft palate clinic to look at before/after pictures of children they've helped. On Friday we'll head to a pediatrician's office to have what little medical information we have, interpreted into non-medical talk......... :)
This week is coming to a close VERY FAST!!!! I still have a lot to do like creating a packing list for Russia (instead of China).........raising money for both trips.......and Gary still has to finish the "Eye's Wide Open" lessons required before traveling the 2nd time.
Please pray that these "little" things get done quickly (like tomorrow) so that we can move on to the bigger things involved with this adoption.............like bringing her home and knowing how to best care for her!!! :):):)
Please also note that I temporarily removed her picture from the site. I didn't want to possibly hurt anyone else's feelings that might have been working to get her. But also, I wanted to slow down a little bit. Though my agency has said she's mine, I know that countries still have a right to let someone else take her first (and then try and give me another while I'm there)............so to keep myself in perspective, I'm going to try not to stare at her pretty little smile too much. I risk a broken heart!!!! As well as breaking someone else's heart........or worse, some countries do not allow the pictures to be posted until total confirmation........so I want to try and think of all those rules just in case I don't know everything (when do I ever?)...........lol
Well, as par for this week, it's been a really long day and night.........I need to get some rest so I can tackle #'s 1-3 tomorrow + the social worker call AND I still have to go back to school to finish 1 last document (I've been out a week as of today and can't seem to find time to get that 1 document done with my principal!!!).......guess it's all the focus I'm giving to Isabelle.........:):):)
Terri for the Casebier's
As of tonight (11:27 cst).........I have all but 1 picture done for the Set A paperwork (Gary's working on cleaning up his paperwork....:) ).
For the dossier I lack
1. that same picture
2. A certified deed to our house (we'll pick it up tomorrow -- Thursday)
3. Notary trip AGAIN!!!!
4. A letter from a realtor about owning our house (we'll pick it up on Sunday)
5. 171 (waiting for an appointment to ask about if I need to be refingerprinted
since I just was last month) -- and then waiting for the 171 to actually be done
for me
6. FBI clearance papers were sent out today, now I await their return (hopefully
successful)
7. Doctors exam and paperwork (I can't do this until I know when my 2nd travel is,
because it expires too quickly)
8. Social worker home study and paperwork
9. And the most uncertain, but can't be stressed out about it because that won't do
any good, item..............Gary's employment verification form..............
Pray that he gets a job VERY quickly!!!!!
We will go back to the bank in the morning for another round of notaries.......and then meet/talk to our social worker in the afternoon. Hopefully she can get me something before we leave for Austin on Sunday.........to get the Apostilles done!!!!
5-9 should be all that's left for the dossier by Monday (hopefully #7 will be done by then too!!!).
Next week we start visiting with doctors..............on Tuesday we have the 171 appointment, then immediately afterwards we head to a cleft palate clinic to look at before/after pictures of children they've helped. On Friday we'll head to a pediatrician's office to have what little medical information we have, interpreted into non-medical talk......... :)
This week is coming to a close VERY FAST!!!! I still have a lot to do like creating a packing list for Russia (instead of China).........raising money for both trips.......and Gary still has to finish the "Eye's Wide Open" lessons required before traveling the 2nd time.
Please pray that these "little" things get done quickly (like tomorrow) so that we can move on to the bigger things involved with this adoption.............like bringing her home and knowing how to best care for her!!! :):):)
Please also note that I temporarily removed her picture from the site. I didn't want to possibly hurt anyone else's feelings that might have been working to get her. But also, I wanted to slow down a little bit. Though my agency has said she's mine, I know that countries still have a right to let someone else take her first (and then try and give me another while I'm there)............so to keep myself in perspective, I'm going to try not to stare at her pretty little smile too much. I risk a broken heart!!!! As well as breaking someone else's heart........or worse, some countries do not allow the pictures to be posted until total confirmation........so I want to try and think of all those rules just in case I don't know everything (when do I ever?)...........lol
Well, as par for this week, it's been a really long day and night.........I need to get some rest so I can tackle #'s 1-3 tomorrow + the social worker call AND I still have to go back to school to finish 1 last document (I've been out a week as of today and can't seem to find time to get that 1 document done with my principal!!!).......guess it's all the focus I'm giving to Isabelle.........:):):)
Terri for the Casebier's
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Feelings today........and what prayer is needed
I wrote this to my ladybug friends, but I thought I'd post it here for everyone.........some of it was in the last post, but most of it isn't. Prayer requests are at the bottom............I'm trying to stay ahead of this adoption thing.
I gotta get going on house cleaning so I can get the pictures of the house taken for our SET A paperwork (they wouldn't give me the dossier paperwork yet.............. set A will get us to our 1st trip though)..............that's all we really have left except for the homestudy update and social worker information........hopefully she'll call me pretty quickly. I called her last night and left a message that we're trying to get it done this week................
As soon as we have the house pictures, we are traveling to Austin to get the Apostilles...............no waiting around...............and then overnight them to OR.....................my agent said that it'll take at least 10 days to get to the Region (Samara) and then who knows how long it'll take for them to decided to send me an invitation to the Region to check out the children..................then we'll go, meet, and choose Isabelle (probably during the summer, so we're thinking dh will be able to go at this point)..............then we have to come home for at least 2 months (she said it won't be any less than this)............and wait for the court date.................then we go back to court................then have to wait another 10 days to take her home (we don't even get to keep her after court until the 10 days are up) .........................we can't stay in the Region for those 10 days either..................so we'll probably travel around Russia or to Germany (where I graduated from) so that Gary can see many of the places I lived and grew up for the 3.5 years that I lived there.............I'm excited about that.
But, I'm not excited about the wait because it's during the school year and Gary will have a new job..................because of the timing, I may have to send dh home after the court..........and spend the rest of the time there by myself .....and bring her home by myself...................... :(
AND with all the cl/cp issues Isabelle is going to need surgery for and comfort she'll need...........I'm starting to worry about going back to work myself, because she'll need me!!!!
Pray that I fill out the paperwork right (according to what Samara is thinking)............for her cl/cp...........there's a question about accepting someone with a special need OR with a minor physical ailment...............I chose the physical impairment.........because it is physical and when I think of special need I think more of mental disability....................hopefully they'll characterize her as the same so there won't be any confusion later on.
Pray that Gary gets a job (we think he should be getting a call back on either of the 2 interviews he's had, but especially the one from yesterday..............(she said that she's not the final interviewer and that the principal would have to interview him as well). Thanks for the prayers so far.
Pray for me in this time that I'd not start to get too stressed out about the cl/cp thing. I can't be a sahm yet...................I have to wait until Gary's been working for at least a year..........or maybe 2 to quit all together. ...........................I was planning on working part-time at least until we brought Hannah home....................
Thanks,
Terri
I gotta get going on house cleaning so I can get the pictures of the house taken for our SET A paperwork (they wouldn't give me the dossier paperwork yet.............. set A will get us to our 1st trip though)..............that's all we really have left except for the homestudy update and social worker information........hopefully she'll call me pretty quickly. I called her last night and left a message that we're trying to get it done this week................
As soon as we have the house pictures, we are traveling to Austin to get the Apostilles...............no waiting around...............and then overnight them to OR.....................my agent said that it'll take at least 10 days to get to the Region (Samara) and then who knows how long it'll take for them to decided to send me an invitation to the Region to check out the children..................then we'll go, meet, and choose Isabelle (probably during the summer, so we're thinking dh will be able to go at this point)..............then we have to come home for at least 2 months (she said it won't be any less than this)............and wait for the court date.................then we go back to court................then have to wait another 10 days to take her home (we don't even get to keep her after court until the 10 days are up) .........................we can't stay in the Region for those 10 days either..................so we'll probably travel around Russia or to Germany (where I graduated from) so that Gary can see many of the places I lived and grew up for the 3.5 years that I lived there.............I'm excited about that.
But, I'm not excited about the wait because it's during the school year and Gary will have a new job..................because of the timing, I may have to send dh home after the court..........and spend the rest of the time there by myself .....and bring her home by myself...................... :(
AND with all the cl/cp issues Isabelle is going to need surgery for and comfort she'll need...........I'm starting to worry about going back to work myself, because she'll need me!!!!
Pray that I fill out the paperwork right (according to what Samara is thinking)............for her cl/cp...........there's a question about accepting someone with a special need OR with a minor physical ailment...............I chose the physical impairment.........because it is physical and when I think of special need I think more of mental disability....................hopefully they'll characterize her as the same so there won't be any confusion later on.
Pray that Gary gets a job (we think he should be getting a call back on either of the 2 interviews he's had, but especially the one from yesterday..............(she said that she's not the final interviewer and that the principal would have to interview him as well). Thanks for the prayers so far.
Pray for me in this time that I'd not start to get too stressed out about the cl/cp thing. I can't be a sahm yet...................I have to wait until Gary's been working for at least a year..........or maybe 2 to quit all together. ...........................I was planning on working part-time at least until we brought Hannah home....................
Thanks,
Terri
Paperchasing part 1
Hi everyone.............
Everything started out with cleaning around the house while we waited for the agency to open. I was going a little nuts as I had trouble sleeping the night before. It's like having Christmas morning at Grandma (Alice) Poland's house. We know it's all down stairs, we know it's ours.........but we aren't allowed to go there yet and we DEFINITELY can't wake anyone up!!!! It was difficult, but my ladybug friends helped me through it.
After the agency opened Levahna sent me the other files that I needed. Jaclyn had told me that we could have her by the end of the summer if we worked quickly and I asked if Levanha if this was correct. She said it was. Later in the day, however, I asked her about time between the two trips..........she said it was no less than 2 months and that it'd be at least 10 days for the documents to make it to the Region (Samara).........so I won't be traveling for the 1st trip until July at least........Thus there is really no way that I can have her home by the end of the summer. Once again, I feel that my agency has not been fully obvious and honest with me about travel times involved...........I don't think they feel that they're being dishonest..........rather just trying to get the children home quickly. However, if I ask when's the soonest I can get her home........or can I really get her home by the end of the summer, I would expect an honest answer of NO the 1st time............not........I'll tell her after she signs the acceptance letter..........Very dissappointing...........and I don't know how it's all going to work out unless we wait until Christmas time for the 2nd trip..........Gary is going into a new job...........so he really can't take off too much work to do this right now and MUST (and wants) to be there for the 2nd trip..........
Yesterday went well as we got copies of our marriage liscense, employment verification (for Terri at least), most of our notary papers signed, and the checks written (to be sent today) for the agency fees (a little more than 1/2 the total needed) and USCIS fees (we're waiting to see if they're going to make us get RE-FINGERPRINTED after just getting done a couple months ago).
Today we are focusing on getting those things mailed out, finishing the notary work (we missed a couple papers yesterday), and cleaning our house more to take pictures -- a paper also has to be notarized for the pictures!!!
I got some sleep last night..........so not as hyper as I was yesterday.
A little down, but a little better organized paper wise..........BUT, this is only STEP A paperwork...........Levahna didn't want to send it all to me at once........boy does she not know me yet!!!! I asked her in the afternoon to send the rest.......since I'm already working on a lot of it...........lol She agreed, but I haven't seen anything yet...........
Well, I gotta go work on the house........
Terri
Everything started out with cleaning around the house while we waited for the agency to open. I was going a little nuts as I had trouble sleeping the night before. It's like having Christmas morning at Grandma (Alice) Poland's house. We know it's all down stairs, we know it's ours.........but we aren't allowed to go there yet and we DEFINITELY can't wake anyone up!!!! It was difficult, but my ladybug friends helped me through it.
After the agency opened Levahna sent me the other files that I needed. Jaclyn had told me that we could have her by the end of the summer if we worked quickly and I asked if Levanha if this was correct. She said it was. Later in the day, however, I asked her about time between the two trips..........she said it was no less than 2 months and that it'd be at least 10 days for the documents to make it to the Region (Samara).........so I won't be traveling for the 1st trip until July at least........Thus there is really no way that I can have her home by the end of the summer. Once again, I feel that my agency has not been fully obvious and honest with me about travel times involved...........I don't think they feel that they're being dishonest..........rather just trying to get the children home quickly. However, if I ask when's the soonest I can get her home........or can I really get her home by the end of the summer, I would expect an honest answer of NO the 1st time............not........I'll tell her after she signs the acceptance letter..........Very dissappointing...........and I don't know how it's all going to work out unless we wait until Christmas time for the 2nd trip..........Gary is going into a new job...........so he really can't take off too much work to do this right now and MUST (and wants) to be there for the 2nd trip..........
Yesterday went well as we got copies of our marriage liscense, employment verification (for Terri at least), most of our notary papers signed, and the checks written (to be sent today) for the agency fees (a little more than 1/2 the total needed) and USCIS fees (we're waiting to see if they're going to make us get RE-FINGERPRINTED after just getting done a couple months ago).
Today we are focusing on getting those things mailed out, finishing the notary work (we missed a couple papers yesterday), and cleaning our house more to take pictures -- a paper also has to be notarized for the pictures!!!
I got some sleep last night..........so not as hyper as I was yesterday.
A little down, but a little better organized paper wise..........BUT, this is only STEP A paperwork...........Levahna didn't want to send it all to me at once........boy does she not know me yet!!!! I asked her in the afternoon to send the rest.......since I'm already working on a lot of it...........lol She agreed, but I haven't seen anything yet...........
Well, I gotta go work on the house........
Terri
Introducing Isabelle Hope
Hello everyone............as we neared the last few days before we had to return our domestic adoption contract on Thursday (6/7/07) we received a call yesterday (6/1/07) from our China adoption worker, Jaclyn. She called to tell us that, knowing we were open to a waiting child with special needs, there was a 10 month old girl in Russia that needed a family. Jaclyn said that she has cleft lip/cleft palate/cleft nose, but she wanted us to consider if she would fit in our family or not. Jaclyn emphasized that either way, it would not effect our chances to get Hannah from China. She also said that the costs were somewhat reduced and if we got all of our paperwork (dossier) together fast, we could bring her home by the end of the summer.................
We thought about it overnight.........I had some reservations, but Gary didn't. He felt that with the timing it was from God. Had Jaclyn called me the following Thursday I would have already turned in the contract and all of the money we saved for Hannah to the domestic adoption agency........non-refundable.
My reservations were based on
1. She's not a newborn -- though this is the case and my dreams are dying more, God could still send us a biological child if He so chose.
2. Fear of being able to raise enough money for Hannah after giving it up for Isabelle and then fixing Isabelle's cleft issues. God can and will handle that. (By the way, her fees were reduced and the cost -- except for travel -- was a little LESS than the domestic adoption)
3. Isabelle's cleft issues will be handled either by an organization called the Smile Train (for free), or by other doctors in the area from hospitals that help children regardless of ability to pay.
So, my reservations were fear based and totally unfounded..............so when I woke up this morning, we talked again and decided that she is to be our daughter. The 2nd adoption, but the 1st child..........and Hannah the 1st adoption, but the 2nd child.............
I will probably call her Hope because I like Hannah and Hope...........but Isabelle Hope means God's Promise Hope..................Hannah's is God is Gracious, Beautiful Grace
I will be opening a blog for her soon.........and this time I have PICTURES!!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
We thought about it overnight.........I had some reservations, but Gary didn't. He felt that with the timing it was from God. Had Jaclyn called me the following Thursday I would have already turned in the contract and all of the money we saved for Hannah to the domestic adoption agency........non-refundable.
My reservations were based on
1. She's not a newborn -- though this is the case and my dreams are dying more, God could still send us a biological child if He so chose.
2. Fear of being able to raise enough money for Hannah after giving it up for Isabelle and then fixing Isabelle's cleft issues. God can and will handle that. (By the way, her fees were reduced and the cost -- except for travel -- was a little LESS than the domestic adoption)
3. Isabelle's cleft issues will be handled either by an organization called the Smile Train (for free), or by other doctors in the area from hospitals that help children regardless of ability to pay.
So, my reservations were fear based and totally unfounded..............so when I woke up this morning, we talked again and decided that she is to be our daughter. The 2nd adoption, but the 1st child..........and Hannah the 1st adoption, but the 2nd child.............
I will probably call her Hope because I like Hannah and Hope...........but Isabelle Hope means God's Promise Hope..................Hannah's is God is Gracious, Beautiful Grace
I will be opening a blog for her soon.........and this time I have PICTURES!!!!!!
Terri for the Casebier's
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