I-800A Approval

We just found out, yes at 9:15pm on a Friday night that CIS approved our case!! There are lots of steps to do still but all happens in a few weeks...
1. Send in paper form of I-800A approval to CHSFS via scan/email
2. CHSFS sends it to orphanage
3. The orphanage has a committee meeting to officially refer her to us
4. We file an I-800 which classifies her as an immediate relative
5. Then they send it to Bogota so the form can be completed while in country
6. They tell us when we travel

A lot to do in a little time but we are remaining optimistic that it can all be done and we can travel this year still :)

RFE!!

We received our RFE in the mail today which stands for Request for Evidence from CIS. Just heard back from the waiting international child social worker and the 2 things that they are asking for are probably in the home study that was sent and that they just need a bit more information on it. It said that we had a prior home study so they just need to show the previous one and also they need to show that we are financially, willingly, have the right home environment and have training pertaining to adopting a child with special needs. They said easy enough, just need to add a small addendum to it! This means we finally got an officer and things are moving again. We also find out that once this is sent it, our approval can be very quick after!

Paper Chase is Over!!

We finally finished running around for all of our paperwork! This morning we drove to St. Paul and got our FBI clearance apostilled and then had our CIS biometrics appointment. We drove around forever (it felt like) trying to find the USCIS building only to find out that it is in a shopping area between a UPS store and LeeAnn Chin, who would of thought. We were told to be prepared to wait for about 2 hours for our appointment to be complete, but we were in, checked in, fingerprinted, survery filled out and out the door in 10 minutes.

Now we wait for our I-800 approval and official referral!

Why we fell in love with Kayella.

"This ray of sunshine was born 1/2011. She is a happy little baby with a bright smile! She can raise her head up on her own. She can hold objects in her hands. She babbles often. She loves to be held. This darling is a child with Down Syndrome."

It is amazing how a little blurb about a child makes you want to learn more about them. After we inquired about her, we got more info and a photo to look at. The process has been long and feels drawn out but we cannot wait to hold her in our arms very soon!

Just one of those days

Have you ever had one of those days that you just want to crawl back into bed and restart the day?

This morning I was going to go and get our FBI clearances apostille done which when I got there found out that they don't apostille the FBI's documents and that we have to have another form notarized and then they will apostille that. So, after sitting 40 minutes in traffic, I went home only to find out something was wrong with our printer and could not print the other document. Off to work I went. We are going to run to the DMV tomorrow to see if they will have a notary available to get the forms done so we can get them dropped off early next week.

The day started off with a bang though cause our cars were broken into during the night sometime. Luckily neither of us keep anything in there worth anything.

On the upside we do have our USCIS fingerprint appointment on Tuesday! One of the WIC social workers is going to call USCIS right after to see if we can potentially move things along faster!

We will try and keep everyone updated with what we are finding out about travel dates.

Starting to Feel a Bit More Organized!

As our crazy September is in full force we figured we should get the last small (but things) figured out. Here is what we have:
-Boni (guinea pig) and Bruce & Willis have a home while we are gone, thanks Mom and Sara!
-Bills are being paid, Thanks Jan
-House is being checked on, Thanks Jan, Mom and Ashli
-Nerves are being calmed, thanks to everyone who listens
-We found out that Ted has official word that he can telecommute from Colombia, thanks Sonya! We figured it is rainy season and we are just going to want to hold and cuddle our little one so it wont be so bad if her gets a few hours in everyday. Hopefully when he gets home then we can finish off our leave together!
-My Jetta is being taken care of, Thanks Danielle
-If we need lawn mowed or snow removed we have a few people willing to do that, Mom, Trent & Sean

I know I am missing stuff but feeling better about this whole travel thing. We do have our passports, just waiting on our official travel date so we can make our Visa appointment (1/2 hour long) and travel 12 hours (there and back) to Chicago :)

I am so ready to go and was hoping to be able to be back for the Polar Bear Plunge in February. Yes, I will be jumping in the frozen lake to raise money for Special Olympics. For those of you that are not aware, Kayella has Down Syndrome and we are and even more going to be advocates for DS and Special Olympics. We will be updating again soon.