We have a social worker and understanding things a little more!

WOW! This week has been AMAZING! I had called Cedarville to find an alumni that might do homestudies... They pointed me to Patty Belliveau who recommended Ellen Rice from Cherub International Adoption . Patty also told me to call Jill Kinney who has adopted internationally and could recommend an international homestudy agency.

Tuesday: I realized that I had three stacks of papers for our three girls all on the table at the same time! I was calling about the adoption while filling out all the school papers for Kylie and Ari! It was such a cool thing that I had to take a picture! :)



Wednesday: Today, was Kylie's first day of 3rd grade, and it went well! :) She has the same teacher that I taught 3rd grade with! Hard to believe my girl is that old! When Ari and I got home, I got a call from Jill who has adopted 5 times and was very encouraging! She recommended Ellen Rice as well! After I picked Kylie up, I got a call back from Ellen. I was so excited to talk to her! She explained all the paper work was like having 3 buckets (and I literally was drawing them on a paper as she talked)... There is the Ohio part, the US Government Immigration Part, and the Moldova Government part... We have to satisfy all 3 to bring our little girl home...

#1 Bucket = homestudy done by Cherub International Adoption Agency
#2 Bucket= homestudy approved by US Immigration
#3 Bucket= documents from CAS (Carolina Adoption Services Agency), dossier, and homestudy

Our application fee for Cherub is $1,150, and $300 for Application to CAS... YIKES!

Ellen told me that she thought that Sandy would be a good fit for us! So, we have a social worker!!!! This means that we can finish the application to CAS and after we get the packet for Cherub, we can apply there too... and we are on our way up the mountain of paperwork!!!

***I felt like I had just gotten a positive pregnancy test after I got off the phone with Ellen!!! I was on cloud 9!!!!! ***

Then, just like when I found out I was pregnant with Kylie, Jas and I followed the good news up with a big old fight! This time it was about money instead of telling our parents! So, no matter whether they grow in your heart or your belly, I guess there are a lot of emotions that come with each child!!

P.S. I got an email that my shirt that we are going to use to tell our parents is being shipped! :)

Phone Calls

I forgot that I had an appointment to talk to Tania from CAS this morning (good job, angela, way to look responsible, right?!) So, I called her this afternoon, and I feel like I understand a bit better what I need to do with the homestudy. Two days ago, I called Cedarville University to ask if there were any graduates near us that could do our homestudy. Today, Renna called me and sent me an email to let me know a name and number of a girl that works at an agency in Yellow Springs... Trusting that God is leading us to the right place because I don't know what I'm doing. :) She also asked me to send in a family picture when we add our new little girl! Exciting to think about that day which seems SO far off right now!
Oh, and the other night, Cyndi texted me to say that Solana had prayed for our little girl at supper time! It's so neat that now they are praying for our girl like we prayed for Chloe!

Talking to Julie

Got an email tonight to set up a time to talk to Julie Glandt, the Moldova Program Coordinator. I'm excited to learn more from her! Maybe we will talk on Thursday morning?

A good number

I filled out as much of the application to Carolina Adoption Services as I could tonight! When I wrote the date, I realized it was the 13th! Everything important in our family happens on or around the 13th (engagement, kylie's b-day, ari was born on the 14th, and now our adoption application)! I still need to figure out where to get the homestudy done. I'm kinda confused on that.

Back Again...

It's less than two weeks until both of my girls go to school... I'm so sad that Ari will be leaving this year, but I'm excited to get down to buisness with our adoption! I'm also TERRIFIED! It looks so expensive, and I despise going all over the place trying to find important papers... so, adoption is perfect for me, right?! lol!! Anyway, I emailed the head of the Moldova program tonight to see what my first step should be... here we go! :) Also spent probably 2 hours looking online for adoption tee shirts today... lol!