I171H Update... 2nd Posting

I heard back about the status of our I171H. Looks like it will be another 2 weeks until it's arrival. :( If nothing else, we will learn patience through this process!!! Today is exactly 2 years that we have lived in our new home in Texas. Those two years have flown by, so hopefully the next two weeks will breeze by also, but only to lead us to our next wait!

I171H Update...

I spoke with our social worker who did our home study and she is going to call the Oklahoma City CIS office this afternoon and find out what's going on as there are people who have been waiting 6+ weeks and they were given a 3-4 week time frame (as were we). I was really hoping to get our passports as well as our I171H back this month and be DTV (Dossier To Vietnam) in July. I guess it could still happen. All in God's time, I have to keep reminding myself of that. I just hope this wait doesn't turn out to be anything like the passport drama!!!

The Cutest Slippers!!!

Check out Sam's new feeties!!! I just couldn't resist, and clearanced for $6.00, what a deal! Does it get any cuter than this???

Still Waiting on the I-171H

We continue to wait (IMPATIENTLY) for that I-171H! Hoping & praying that it will be here by the end of this week. If it's not, our social worker who did our homestudy said she will check on it for us. This is the final document we need to be finished with all of our paperwork and complete our Dossier. I would start stalking the mailman if I thought it would do any good!

For all of you who do not know, we had an addendum written to our homestudy stating that we would accept a child 0-30 months. Originally we requested a child 0-12 months as we were told that toddlers would not be availible. Our agency is now working with a new orphanage that should have toddlers as well as infants. Currently, we are the only family with our agency requesting a toddler, so we could have our referral shortly after submitting our dossier. It is so exciting to think about who she might be, how old she will be and what type of personality she'll have. We just can't wait for her to be a part of our family!

A Great Book

This book was recommended to me by a friend who adopted from Vietnam. It is an excellent book to have for your child as they grow up and are able to learn about their adoption. It is filled with lots of great pictures and is written on a child's level of understanding. You can purchase this book at www.tapestrybooks.com

Favorite Blankets!

This special blanket was handmade with love for Samantha by her Granny (my mom). It is just beautiful. All of Granny's babies have had a special blanket made for them. This is something I will treasure forever and save for them when they get older.

Piggy Blanket

This is my other favorite blanket, so far! It is so unbelievably soft and cuddly and I just love little piggies! I think this one will travel with us when we go to Vietnam to bring her home!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there! A few thoughts I've had today: This time next year, Charley will be a Daddy for the 5th time! We have been blessed with four amazing children and Charley is such a wonderful Dad to them. I cannot wait to see him touch the life of our "soon to be" little girl from Vietnam. There is something so specail about a father/daughter relationship. I just cannot help but thing about my Dad. I was adopted and I thank God every day for the family He placed me in. Although I was adopted, they are my family, they are my parents and I love them and respect them for all they have been to me growing up, for all that they are to me now and for all that they are to my children. Adoption is such a beautiful thing and I feel so privelaged to be on this adoption journey. My prayer for our little Samantha is that she will feel as loved and wanted as I feel by my parents who welcomed me into their lives & hearts! I love you Mom & Dad!

The FedEx Man Gets a Hug!!!

WE HAVE PASSPORTS!!!!! I think the FedEx man was a little surprised by my enthusiasm, so I explained our situation & he replied, "I've had deliveries for several people doing international adoptions in my 7 years of doing this job, you guys are by far in your own league when it comes to excitement over an envelope!"

PASSPORTS HAVE BEEN MAILED!!!

Our passports have finally been mailed and we should have them today or tomorrow!!! Now we are just waiting on our I171H approval from CIS! We're getting so close!

High Hopes!

Well, I talked to a rep at the passport center and the expedite phone request was granted! Right now that means we will not have to go to New Orleans for the expedite appointment. But the rep did tell me that although the request was granted, that is still not a guarantee. It is scheduled to be delivered by Fedex overnight mail next Monday and we are hoping all will go as scheduled, but we're not cancelling our New Orleans appointment til those passports are in our hands!

CRAZY Passport Update!

Well, if this whole passport thing wasn't crazy enough, it has gotten crazier! The Houston office does NOT have any availible appointments, so I spent another 2 hours on the phone trying to schedule an appointment at a different regional office. Finally, we have an expidite appointment in New Orleans on June 20th @ 9:30 am, so it looks like we will be flying out of Dallas at 6:30 am! We are still keeping our fingers crossed that a miracle will happen on Monday and they will have taken care of it from the request we put in over the phone, but the chances of that happening are very slim. I will post the outcome of all this chaos on Monday evening.

Passport CRAZINESS!!!

The title of this post says it all! We applied for our passports on Friday, March 16th and were told we would have them in 6-10 weeks. Well, tomorrow will be exactly 12 weeks, so I decided to call the National Passport office and find out what was going on. After waiting on hold for over an hour, I have learned that it will still be at least another 10 weeks, if not longer. Although we need the passports to travel, we need them NOW as they are one of the required documents to be submitted as part of our dossier. Without our passports, we cannot recieve our referral. With the new laws, anyone traveling to Canada, Mexico or the Carribean via plane is now required to have a passport and they are extremely back-logged. We filed an expidite request and will find out on Monday if they granted it. If not, we have two options - #1, Go to the expidite office in Houston (which is a 5-6 hour drive from here) or #2, WAIT 10+ weeks. Option #2 is NOT an option for us. We are ready to move foward! So, please pray for Monday to hold good news, if not, we're off to Houston!

Fingerprinting Done / A Taste of Vietnam

Well, we got our fingerprints done today. Hopefully we will receive our I171H & passports SOON!!! Our friends Cheryl & Sylvester who are also adopting from Vietnam had their fingerprinting appointment with us this morning. When we were finished we went to "Green Bamboo" to check out authentic Vietnamese food. Being the picky eater that I am, I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was! Maybe I'll survive eating in Vietnam afterall, but I am bringing KETCHUP!

2nd Posting Today - GOOD NEWS!!!

We got our fingerprinting appointment letter in the mail today (10 minutes after I posted on the blog that we were hoping and praying for it to come soon!) OK, so who prayed, becasue that was FAST!!! We go tomorrow morning at 8:00am and we'll be eating breakfast somewhere fancy afterward to celebrate being one step closer to Samantha, YEAH!!!! ***PRAY FOR PASSPORTS!***

New Month - BIG Hopes!

Well, In May we accomplished our homestudy, in June we hope to get our passports in hand (which are now officially 2 weeks late) as well as get our fingerprinting appointment for CIS done and be waiting on our last document, THE I171H! Please pray for us that our journey continues to go smoothly. Also, please be praying for two of our "adoption friends" who are also in the big middle of this process - Cheryl & Sylvester, our friends from church who are almost ready to send their dossier to Vietnam, and my "blog buddy," Jenna & her husband Ed who have been waiting on their referral for quite some time now. Hoping and praying for June to be filled with happy news that will bring us steps closer to having our daughters in our arms!!!