We have exciting news! I just got a new job as an RN in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Meriter! I start sometime around Mid-June or so, and will be working 4 shifts a week, and a mix of Evening and Night shifts. The NICU is where I started working as a HUC in 2002, so I know a lot of the staff, and that floor was what originally got me interested in nursing, so I am so happy to be able to work there now. They are located right above the floor I currently work on, so it won't be too much of a scenery change. :)
I am glad that this is happening now because it will give me time to focus on work and not think about waiting for our adoption to happen.
Well, I'm off to play with the dogs. Bye!
-Leah
Monday, April 28, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
WE ARE ON THE WAIT LIST AS OF 4/3/08!!!!!
We did it! We finished all our paperwork for the Dossier and just found out today that we are on the official waiting list for an infant!!! The wait is still 6-9 months, but we were told to expect more like 8-9 months. It may go up in the future due to an increase in the amount of applications, but we will just have to wait and see. After we get a referral, there is about a 10 week waiting period, and then we can travel to Ethiopia to get them. I am thinking that this time next year we will be either traveling or getting ready to travel.
There won't be too much to post from now on, but if anything new comes up, I will let everyone know.
Sigh.....no more paper shuffling. Now I can start catching up on my reading again. :)
I just started reading a really good book called "Notes from the Hyena's Belly". It was written by a man who grew up in Ethiopia, and it's all about his childhood and adolescence there. So far it is really interesting.
There won't be too much to post from now on, but if anything new comes up, I will let everyone know.
Sigh.....no more paper shuffling. Now I can start catching up on my reading again. :)
I just started reading a really good book called "Notes from the Hyena's Belly". It was written by a man who grew up in Ethiopia, and it's all about his childhood and adolescence there. So far it is really interesting.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
OUR HOME STUDY WAS APPROVED!!
Yay! We just found out yesterday that our home study has been approved by the international agency (Children's Home Society and Family Services). This means that we can now do our final paperwork for the dossier, and once that is turned in, we will be on the official waiting list for a child!
We had our fingerprinting appt. in Milwaukee yesterday at the dept. of homeland security office. Yes, it was during the big snowstorm. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get there! Once there, we parked down the block and arrived at their front door. Even though our appt. was scheduled for Noon, and we were there at 11:58 am, we were told they were closing because of the weather, but would let us be the last people they were going to let in. Thank God!! They were not shy about letting us know they did not want to be there and just wanted to get home to escape the bad roads. Eric's fingerprinting went fine, but mine may have to be re-done since my prints are not very good (they said it's from all the handwashing I have to do at the hospital). We'll just have to wait and see.
Today we went to our first required adoption class. We chose the all-day version, so after today we only have to attend one more all-day session two weeks from now. This is a state of Wisconsin requirement.
Our goal is to finish the dossier by mid-April, and that would mean that we could expect a referral for an infant 7-9 months from then.
We had our fingerprinting appt. in Milwaukee yesterday at the dept. of homeland security office. Yes, it was during the big snowstorm. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get there! Once there, we parked down the block and arrived at their front door. Even though our appt. was scheduled for Noon, and we were there at 11:58 am, we were told they were closing because of the weather, but would let us be the last people they were going to let in. Thank God!! They were not shy about letting us know they did not want to be there and just wanted to get home to escape the bad roads. Eric's fingerprinting went fine, but mine may have to be re-done since my prints are not very good (they said it's from all the handwashing I have to do at the hospital). We'll just have to wait and see.
Today we went to our first required adoption class. We chose the all-day version, so after today we only have to attend one more all-day session two weeks from now. This is a state of Wisconsin requirement.
Our goal is to finish the dossier by mid-April, and that would mean that we could expect a referral for an infant 7-9 months from then.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Getting Closer.....
It's almost March, and Eric and I are managing to get through our initial paperwork quicker than we thought! The hardest part so far was writing our individual autobiographies. They had to be 5-8 pages in length and cover several topics. We got through it, though, and are now onto our second phase which involves getting several things notarized and mailed to various places.
Our home visit will be happening on March 12th. This is where our social worker comes to our home and makes sure that we meet Wisconsin standards as far as saftey, space, fire codes, electrical and plumbing. While we organize our house and try to clean as we've never cleaned before, we will also be working on our cultural worksheets from our international adoption agency that we will be working with. They are the ones that help us complete the necessary govmnt. forms and coordinate our child referral and travel process. The worksheets involve thnking about ways that we will incorporate our child's culture into their lives. How we will teach them about where they came from, the kinds of places we will take them (such as meetings with other families who have adopted from Ethiopia), and books we will use to help them understand what adoption means.
Today, we mailed in our application for our child's temp. Visa. We also applied for fingerprinting (which must be done in Milwaukee). They will mail us a date and we must go on that date for our fingerprinting. We also have to recieve a clearance from our local sheriff's dept. and send in two passport photos of ourselves.
The exiting thing is, once our home visit is complete and as long as the international agency approves us, (the last big hurdle), then we are very close to being put on the waiting list for a child. The current wait time (it changes frequently) is about 7-9 months. After the referral, we wait another 10 weeks, and then are able to travel to Ethiopia.
Our home visit will be happening on March 12th. This is where our social worker comes to our home and makes sure that we meet Wisconsin standards as far as saftey, space, fire codes, electrical and plumbing. While we organize our house and try to clean as we've never cleaned before, we will also be working on our cultural worksheets from our international adoption agency that we will be working with. They are the ones that help us complete the necessary govmnt. forms and coordinate our child referral and travel process. The worksheets involve thnking about ways that we will incorporate our child's culture into their lives. How we will teach them about where they came from, the kinds of places we will take them (such as meetings with other families who have adopted from Ethiopia), and books we will use to help them understand what adoption means.
Today, we mailed in our application for our child's temp. Visa. We also applied for fingerprinting (which must be done in Milwaukee). They will mail us a date and we must go on that date for our fingerprinting. We also have to recieve a clearance from our local sheriff's dept. and send in two passport photos of ourselves.
The exiting thing is, once our home visit is complete and as long as the international agency approves us, (the last big hurdle), then we are very close to being put on the waiting list for a child. The current wait time (it changes frequently) is about 7-9 months. After the referral, we wait another 10 weeks, and then are able to travel to Ethiopia.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Dog Fun in the Snow
Hazel and Gracie could not be happier about all the snow we've been getting. Gracie likes to jump into snowbanks and bury herself up to her eyes. For some reason, they also really like playing with this blue deflated ball that was frozen to the ground from last summer. We are pretty excited because our first meeting with the adoption social worker is going to be tomorrow night!! She said it is ok to meet now instead of waiting for our tax return to be done. Yay!! No more waiting! :)
Friday, February 8, 2008
One Cause
Hi there! I recently realized that the one cause information letter did not state which organization to choose when setting up an account with them. For those of you who wish to sign up and get asked this question, it should be the "National Adoption Foundation".
Not much new here. We have our initial paperwork filled out, but need to wait until our tax return is done in order to complete the last section. So....a little more waiting and then we should be able to turn it in and start our initial meetings with the social worker.
Not much new here. We have our initial paperwork filled out, but need to wait until our tax return is done in order to complete the last section. So....a little more waiting and then we should be able to turn it in and start our initial meetings with the social worker.
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