This week, Jesse and I had an appointment with the Department of Homeland Security for fingerprinting to proceed with our adoption. It was so nice to travel together and talk uninterrupted for an hour as we were waiting for our appointment time and to have the opportunity to reconnect. It was a rather painless process and the people there were very nice. Now, we await our I-797 (basically our approval from the government on our I 800-A application). Once we receive that, we send our Dossier to China!
Meanwhile, we are completing the last few documents and printing the pictures that are needed to send with our Dossier! (**A Dossier is a GIANT packet of official documents that have been collected over this process-- birth certificates, marriage license, financial info, home-study, references, etc).We will be mailing this off once we receive the last official document needed, which should be sometime this week. Then, we mail our Dossier to Lifeline (our agency) where they authenticate our documents and prep it to be sent out. All the meanwhile, we are waiting on pins and needles for that I-797 to arrive-- the very last thing needed to send off our Dossier to China!
Then, it's another long wait. A few months, has been the average we have been quoted. Maybe sooner. Then we get issued a letter of approval (if they agree) and we plan our trip to China from that point! How exciting is all of this?!?
In the waiting period, Jesse and I are completing grant paperwork for the adoption and our last adoption education hours. (All the meanwhile, I am feverishly completing the last 20 hrs of my professional education hours due by the end of June).
We are working hard to try and proceed with this adoption without going into more debt. Our fundraisers have gone well. We appreciate everything you all have done to help us in this process. Whether it is financial, prayers, helping with the kids so we could have time to get things done for the adoption, etc. It's been awesome, humbling, and amazing. I previously posted that a paper pregnancy seems to carry its own set of wild emotions. It has continued to do just that! We have been so touched by the generosity of people. To see how supportive people have been. We have been so fortunate not to encounter a lot of negativity. Mostly support and lots of encouragement!
I read this blog post recently and found it to be full of helpful information on how to minister to adoptive families: http://www.lifeway.com/kidsministry/2014/07/03/5-ways-to-minister-to-adoptive-families/
**Here is the link to our direct funding site:
https://www.adopttogether.org/bringkameronhome
--- Thank you for your support on this journey!
The Maddux Family
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