Sorry its been so long

We've been waiting on the outcome of an investigation regarding abandonment cases in Ethiopia which begain 04 May. The investigation is complete but the results have not been released yet. We will not know for sure for another couple of weeks. The investigation was spurred by an increase in abandonment cases in Ethiopia. The government wanted to be sure that all papework and procedures regarding these cases were being handled appropriately. This investigation was affecting adoptions in America and Europe. The courts are not hearing any adoption cases until the investigation is complete. Needless to say, this has created a huge backlog. We still aren't sure how this will affect our travel time. In addition, we haven't been able to officially accept our match yet but hopefully soon. For awhile, we weren't sure if the little girl we were matched with would in fact stay our match. Until we hear the results of the investigation, we still will not know for sure, but its looking more and more like she will stay with us. Rumors from other blogs state that the investigation found that all cases were handled correctly and no issues or problems were found, but like I said, we will not hear the results until maybe the end of next week.

Our contact from the adoption agency in Atlanta is traveling to Ethiopia next week. We have sent some gifts to her in hopes that she can bring them to our little girl. We also hope that she is able to get pictures of our little girl with her new toys.

This last month and a half have been difficult. But we hope to hear some good news soon. See below for pictures of the toys sent to Chloe.

Its a match!

Hello Everyone:

We actually got a match last week and she is adorable. There are still some particulars to sort through so I will not post her pictures just yet. There is a little bit of red tape we are currently having to negotiate through before our family is finalized.

She is adorable though and we can't wait for everyone to see how beautiful she is. We probably will not travel to pick her up until later this fall. In celebration of her referral to us, we registered at Babies R Us. Hopefully she likes the stuff we picked out.

Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

Love, Us

approval

Hello Everyone:

Today we received our I-600A approval. This is the petition we filled out for adopting an orphan and for which we had to get our biometrics taken. We received our approval letter today which stated we are suitable and appropriate parents to adopt and care for an orphan.

Very exciting and a tiny bit of progression.

That's all for now,
Us

Hello Everyone:

Our paperwork was sent to Ethiopia today! Things are getting closer!

We got our biometrics done. It took all of 10 minutes and it just consists of fingerprinting. They had my name misspelled on my appointment sheet but hopefully the adoption agency we are working with will be able to clear that up with a contact they have at the division of homeland security.

With all of the fingerprinting and background checks we've had performed, there is no way someone wouldn't be able to track us down now.

Here are some more updates.

The agency in Atlanta, who serves as a liason between the agency in Utah and Ethiopia, is sending our documents to Washington D.C. for authentication. This will take about a week. The documents then get sent back to Atlanta. Atlanta will then send them to Ethiopia.

We're making progress!

We've received our appointment from The Division of Homeland Security to get our biometrics done. They gave us 17 Apr at 8am. Its kind of annoying that its in the morning during a workday but as long as we can get it done.

That's all for now,
Us

Hello Everyone:

Still nothing new. The form that we sent in to the Division of Homeland Security was returned to us. Looks as though they do not take personal checks and we should have sent in a cashier's check or money order. We got the cashier's check and sent it back in. Hopefully no more hiccups.

We haven't heard anything more about our other paperwork.

We wanted to thank everyone for what they have done for us so far. Kristen and Travis for the crib and rocker, my Mom for the stroller and car seat, Shanty and Jason for the gift card which bought a pak n' play, Laura for help, advice, toys, baby monitor, etc., Gina, Hosho and the dogs for the little tent and the chair that attaches to a dining table. We know there will be others helping in the future but we wanted to let everyone know how much we appreciate what they have given us. We also appreciate all those who give us support daily and are there when we need them. You all have made this process easy.

Hi Everyone:

Just wanted to let you know that as far as we know, our paperwork is still in Atlanta. We did get our other paperwork into the Department of Homeland Security and are waiting to hear back from them about getting our biometrics done.

We've received our stroller in the mail and registered on a website, babyage. We've now entered the long waiting period. Hoepfully we'll know hold old she will be soon and can add clothes to the registry.

That's all for now,
Julee

Getting exciting!

It seems as though all of our paperwork, so far, looks good. It now has to go to D.C. We will see what they think of our paperwork. If they like it, they send it to Ethiopia, hopefully they'll like it too. Apparently, they put us on a referral list when we sent in our application back in November. This way, once our paperwork is in and finalized they can immediately begin working on a match. Our contact at the adoption agency thinks that once Ethiopia receives our paperwork, this could possibly happen in 60 days. We'll see, there still could be hiccups along the way but if all went smoothly, we could be traveling to Africa at the end of the summer.

Today, we bought a pack n' play. We were pretty excited about it and it will match the stroller we want to get. The stroller was out of stock so we need to check back in a week or so. Justin particularly likes the stroller because the push handle can adjust upward for, what he refers to as, "normal sized people". In other words, people his height, not all of us shorties out there.

That's all for now.

Us

Waiting

Here we are, waiting. All of our paperwork is in. We still have some misc. forms to fill out, but those will go to the government and not the adoption agency. We are also waiting for our home study to be written.

We are both excited about going to Africa and getting Chloe, but we know we will probably be waiting for awhile. This is the hardest part.

That's all for now.

Update

Just to update everyone, not much new, but we should be submitting all of our paperwork this month.

We are also beginning to meet other couples around the Salt Lake Valley who have adopted from Ethiopia. At least this way our daughter will know other families like hers.

This weekend in Ikea, I bought a really cute, really long stuffed alligator. This way Chloe will like the gators from the very beginning.

Justin and I also tried an Ethiopian restaurant which was very delicious and we hope to make some recipes like this when Chloe gets older.

Love,
Us

Home study and parent manual

Yes, we've finished the parenting manual. We now have a reference for when our child suffers from things such as pollution residuals, ADHD, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and speech disorders. If these things come our way, we have an idea of who to consult. It was rough but we got through it. Hopefully, if our child does have one of these issues, we will make it through that as well.

Yesterday, we had our last Home Study visit. It went very well and the lady assigned to us was very nice. She said she should have our evaluation written up by the end of February. We also want to finish gathering our Dossier documents so Wasatch International can give that a preliminary review. Things are going fast right now, but I know they will slow down soon and then we'll play the waiting game.

Will blog again soon,
J and J

Family Education Manual

Hello Everyone:

We have been diligently working on a family education manual. This is a 207 page document we need to digest containing numerous "thought-provoking" questions we need to have answered by this Saturday. Its tiring, but we are learning a lot. Definitely worth reading, just wish we had started sooner.

Just wanted to let you know what we we're up to. We have our second home study visit this Saturday and need to have this completed by then.

Us

Baby Bedding and Home Study

Hello Everyone:

I first want to say how appreciative we are for all of the kind thoughts everyone sent us on the day of and after our home study. We truly feel fortunate to have all of this wonderful support.

Home study went smoothly. She asked a bunch of personal questions which we answered honestly. She was very nice and made us both feel very much at ease. Round two will actually be this Saturday. It seems that right now things will be going very fast but once all of the paperwork is in, it will all come to a screeching stop and the waiting game begins. Typically there are three home study visits but ours mentioned that this second visit should do it and she should have the home study paperwork completed in February. Her purpose is to tell the story of us to the Ethiopian government, this is her main goal. Its also to decipher whether or not we will make fit parents.

Also this week we are going to try and complete our electronic parenting class. Our home study would like us to try and finish it by her next visit this Saturday. This is a huge packet of very personal questions whose intent are to push Justin and I into discussing how we want to be as parents in every aspect of rearing a child. This will be good, hard but good.

We still do not know how old Chloe will be when we get her but we are anxious to get her some University of Florida national championship apparel. Maybe next year when we go back to back.

Below are the long awaited baby bedding pictures. Nothing too exciting but I think its cute.

Thank you all again, and I will be sure to update everyone after our second home study visit.

Love,
us

Testing

Hello:

Thought I would let you all know that Justin and I do not have HIV, hepatitis or syphilis. It appears the stint Justin spent in that Mexican prison had no ill affects on either of us.

All joking aside, I am still awaiting the crib set and accessories, they have not arrived as of yet. Home Study will hopefully begin in one week. We have gathered the majority of our paperwork, not much more to put together.

Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon of the decorated nursery.

Nursery Accessories

Hello All:

I am very excited because I ordered the crib bedding for Chloe's room. We now have a color and theme for the room. The bedding is purple and pale yellow with dragonflies embroidered on it. It seems kind of silly, but for some reason I can't wait to get it all set up in there.

I also wanted to add a special note to Aunt Julee and Uncle Dave. Thank you so much for the Christmas money, you didn't have to do that, but, we did buy a dragonfly lamp and mobile with the money for the nursery. We'll have a picture posted when we get it set up so you can see it.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,
Us

Still Plugging Away

We are still gathering paperwork. By the end of the week, we should have all of our reference letters. We had a little scare in that we thought the reference letters that were already completed and turned in had to be on special paper. Different paper than what they were typed on. Turned out this special paper, termed "bond" paper on the reference letter instructions, is actually just regular printer paper. We looked all over thinking it was resume paper and felt bad that our friends and family might have to buy this special paper. Oh well, all is well that ends well.

Not much else going on but thought I would send out an update.

Snow Day

Well, I cleaned relentlessly last night only to have the home study person cancel on us, although, I do understand why. It is snowing like crazy today and its projected to keep it up for the next three days.

You will all be happy to hear that we are both tuberculosis free! The results of HIV, hepatitis and syphilis are still pending.

Justin got his passport completed today. Luckily it wasn't snowing too bad at the point that we left for that appointment.

One last thing, and this is specifically for Gina, the other night I was looking at crib sets on the internet and they actually have an Our Lady of Guadalupe crib set. Let me know when you have kids because that sunbitch could be all yours.

Dreaming

Today, Justin told me that he had a dream that we had Chloe. She was one year old and had beautiful hair. He said in his dream, she had bonded to me and became completely attached. This made me smile all day long.

Tomorrow, we get our blood drawn to make sure we are disease free and this Saturday at 2 pm, we will have our first home study visit. Needless to say, I am very nervous and will be cleaning relentlessly Friday night. Luckily this didn't happen last Saturday as I was getting over food poisoning from an Iceberg hotdog which rendered me completely useless.

I want to let all of those know who have left comments on the blog or have even commented to me or Justin about it, that we really appreciate your support and for taking the time to share in this process with us. We love you all.

Home Study

Well, it looks like home study will begin next Saturday. I'm a little nervous but who wouldn't love the Barretts. Who wouldn't want us to be their parents.

Also next week, we get to undergo testing for T.B., Syphilis, HIV and Hepatitis. All in all it will be a big week. In the midst of it all, we are also refinancing our house in order to put extra money aside for later.

Lots to do, including Christmas cards. We will update you on how our first home study visit went and what will be to come.

Preparation

Hello Everyone:

We are in the midst of preparing every document known to man, in duplicate and notarized, for the country of Ethiopia. Its coming along, slowly but surely.

A couple of nights ago, the t.v. show, 20/20, aired a terrifying piece on foreign adoption that scared me senseless. It showed the dark side of adoption when the kids lash back in such a way that parents end up terminating the adoption for being at their wit's end. Apparently this process is very similar to a divorce. It did seem that these adopted children were older when adopted and most seemed to be from Russia. Justin has researched and purchased several books, not only on adoption, but trans-racial adoption as well. We are going to do the best we can to equip ourselves with the necessary tools to not only be good parents, but good adoption parents. It definitely will not be easy.

We are going to be honest from the very beginning and do our best to create a loving bond as well as a relationship with openness and clear boundries. We also want to help her become successful in life through support and self esteem. We will constantly tell her how smart she is, how beautiful she is and how much we love her. This will not be very hard because it will all be true.

decorating the room

Justin and I are still arguing on how to decorate the room. I still really want something aquatic and he wants anything but that. We haven't heard yet from the adoption agency what our next step is but it probably takes a little while to process our contracts and make sure our checks clear. Over the weekend we bought Chloe's first doll which also rattles. We also got a contoured changing mat to place on top of the used dresser we plan to buy second hand. I brought all of my childhood books up from the basement as well as some Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs figurines that my mom got from a McDonald's Happy Meal back in the 1980's.

Below are some pictures of Chloe's room before and after. We will continue to update the pictures of her room as we continue to decorate it.

Hello:

Today we mailed in our contracts and home study agreement. Things are moving right along. We're thinking about painting Chloe's room purple. It seems to be the only color we can agree on. Pretty soon we'll be starting our parenting classes and interviews. This weekend we are going to start looking into accessorizing Chloe's room. Hopefully we'll be able to agree on something.

Will talk soon.

Nervous

Hey Everyone:

We've started to rearrange Chloe's room, which used to be the guest room, as well as start to get rid of things around the house that we don't use anymore and can give those things to charity. To those of you who know Justin pretty well, it should come as no surprise that he has been reluctant to get rid of any clothes, even t-shirts that haven't been worn in years.

We are both beginning to get nervous, not about the process, but about how our lives will change once Chloe arrives. Even more so, we are nervous about how Chloe's life will change when she comes to live with us. Adopting an Ethiopian child, bringing her to Utah and then having her raised by white parents will not be easy. We just need to make sure that we keep her in contact with support groups and ties to her African culture.

That's all for now.