Monday, April 26, 2010

Easy, Breezy, Biometreezy!


Our appointments were on Friday, at 9am & 10am. We both showed up at 9, not knowing what to expect at all. We were the first and only people there besides the workers, so they took us back at the same time! It was PAINLESS! We each got fingerprinted again – this is for the FBI Database – and we were done from start to finish, within 20 minutes!

Jeff got to check in with the nice lady at the counter, where he got instructions and a smile. I got a grunt from the Security Guard who forgot to tell me which parts to fill out (she said the white part, but the entire sheet was white!) but she did make sure to look at my hands…It was interesting to say the least.

So, what’s our next step? We wait for the approval.

According to the USCIS, we have about a 5-month wait for our approval letter. This was slightly discouraging, as our Home Study will need to be updated if we have to wait that long. During my research, I found a new mom who has just adopted from Rwanda. She was able to go directly to the Los Angeles Field Office and pick up her approval letter roughly 2 weeks after being fingerprinted. I was ecstatic when I saw her timeline and sent her an email. I wasn’t really expecting a reply since she probably gets a ton of emails a day (it’s like striking gold when you find someone who has gone through this process already), but I nearly jumped out of my seat when I saw that she had replied. She lives nearby and said that she would be willing to meet and/or talk on the phone. I can hardly wait to meet her son and pick her brain as to what worked & what didn’t, and things that she wished she would’ve known. She is an amazing woman and I am so glad that she emailed me back!

Our new prayer is that we will be able to go down and pick up our approval letter by the end of the month and have a dossier ready to go roughly one week after the approval. Please continue to pray for our baby or babies in Rwanda. We are so excited to see how God is going to work through this adoption and in our family!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Biometrics


Maddie and I received our appointment notices to have our biometrics taken. Not sure if this is simple fingerprinting or not, but I'm hoping it doesn't involve turning my head and coughing. Either way, it's progress and we're excited.


The best part about this whole adoption process is watching Maddie. She's so excited. This week she said she was restrained, having only purchased four pieces of baby clothes. These were the ones she "couldn't live without." These four will join the hundreds of others organized in color-coordinated totes.

Happy Easter Everybody!