Tell me it isn't so...

It is so here!! Yes! After 36 days our I-171H has arrived!! I was having a lousy day, but now I forgot all about it because we are approved, we are approved dooo-ing the happy dance, dooo-ing the happy dance!!

Earlier today I spoke with Meredith at CCAI, and she said that we had been approved, and that we should receive the *beautiful* approval today or tomorrow, but I was not going to believe anything until I had it in my hot little hands, and now I have it!! YEAH!!

Tomorrow I have my route all mapped out. First I will go to Marietta Square to the Cobb Notary Office, where one person will notarize all the documents, and then another person, in the same office, will certify that the notary is really a notary. Then I will head to downtown Atlanta to the Secretary of State's office and get everything certified. This step will certify that the person, who I paid a fee to, who said the notary is really a notary, is really the person, who is allowed to say the notary is a notary...and for this, I get to pay another fee. Confused yet? Next I will stop in at the bank to get a money order for the Chinese Consulate, and finally, I will get everything photocopied and mailed off to the Chinese Consulate in Houston, to have the Secretary of State's signature authenticated, to say that the Secretary of State, is really the Secretary of State and allowed to sign off on my paperwork. And yes, in case you were wondering, I doooo, get to pay a fee for this too.

Still doing the happy dance...hoping to be DTC sometime in July!!!

Breaking news...not what I wanted to hear

I received this earlier today:

Hi Lisa,
Just wanted you to know that I contacted Immigration Services on
your behalf and they stated that they were currently working on/reading your home study. You should receive it shortly (next week). They have had a lot of volume this month, but you are in good hands!

Thanks,
M.H.
Case Manager
CCAI GA

Maybe the phone call will set them in motion, and I will actually receive the approval next week.

FYI: The unopened box of chocolates has been frozen. Let's see if I can continue exhibiting superhuman self control by not opening and polishing off the whole box before my *stinking* form gets here!

A package for *ME*

No, it is not our stinking I-171H (can you feel my frustration?)

But, it is something that in the short run, will help me drown my frustration and anxiety. It's not my birthday, my anniversary, nor any other special day, but my parents decided to send *ME* a box of chocolates. Now I am not talking about your normal, everyday, pedestrian chocolates like Godiva, which I could get anytime, but don't consider to be worth eating or as anything special. What I am talking about, are my favorite, taaangy, darrrk, rrrich, smooooth (bet you want some) Legendary Lemon Satin Cremes from Ethel M. These chocolates are gorgeous, even orgasmic... And guess what, the entire pound and a quarter box is *MINE*. What a pity, Eammon neither likes lemon with chocolate, nor dark chocolate...Thus, they are mine, mine, mine!!

Now it is even more important that I make six times twice hourly trips to the mailbox, I will need to work off all the calories!

No Joy in Georgia!

Nothing, Nil, Zippo, Zilch...That is what my mailbox produced! Today was 4 weeks since our application for our I-171H was received at USCIS in Atlanta. I spoke with the Meredith at our local CCAI office, and she told me that none of the 6 families whose applications were submitted on the same day as ours, have received their approvals. I am so stressed... Meredith said that if the approvals are not received by this Friday, that she would call her super secret number and talk to her special contact at USCIS. Let's hope, that the phone call is unnecessary and that my mailbox produces something better than bills and junk mail!

Meeting other CCAI parents to be

Last night we met Heather and Billy (on the right) for a Ruby (Indian food) at Raja in Buckhead. Heather had found my blog and left a message for me a couple of posts back, and little did she realize what she was getting herself into! After back and forth email messages, we decided to meet. We had great food and we sat and chatted for a couple of hours. We are both at about the same stage in our paper chase, so who knows we may end up traveling together. It was fun getting together with another couple who is stressing just like we are. Heather & Billy, thanks for a fun night!

I-171H Update: Tuesday will be 4 weeks since our home study and I-171H application were received by USCIS in Atlanta. I'm diligently stalking the postman and am still being told that we should have the approval within the supposed 4 week wait...but, I am antsy, I want it here!!

The never ending kitchen remodel has ended!

Kitchen Before, day of home inspection
When we purchased our home, we knew that the kitchen was going to be a MAJOR project, especially on a tight budget. I mean, look at the before picture...how 80's can you get? (What the pictures don't show, is that not only was there a yellowish, pillow tile floor, green and off-white tile counters, almond cooktop, black appliances, but originally there was pink...yes pink wallpaper! And lucky for us, the previous homeowner painted one coat of cheap white, flat, builders grade paint over the lovely pink paper!) The appliances were top of the line...if you didn't want to cook! I remember the inspector saying that it would be quicker to heat water on the cooktop than in the microwave. Why you may ask? Well, on the electric cooktop, every setting produced high heat, and the microwave, only, took 8 minutes to heat a cup of water to boiling! But now, I am pleased to announce, that the kitchen is complete, done, finished, fini. And here are some after pictures.


Kitchen, June 2005

Now I get to start decorating little baby Shanahan's room!

I-171H Update: Two weeks ago today, our home study and I-171H application were received by USCIS in Atlanta; at 7:04 a.m. We are still within the supposed 4 week wait...but just in case, I check the mailbox often!

It's hip to be square.

Would you like to help with our daughter's 100 Good Wishes Quilt?


100 Good Wishes Quilt
made by Original Quilts

Sample wishes
What is the 100 Good Wished Quilt all about?
To welcome and celebrate a new life, a tradition exists, in the northern part of China, to make a Bai Jia Bei (a.k.a. 100 Good Wishes Quilt). The family invites friends and family to contribute a square of cloth along with their wish for the baby. Part of the square goes into the quilt and the other part, goes into a scrapbook with the wish for the child. The quilt is said to contain the luck, energy, and good wishes from everyone who contributed a piece of fabric.

But Lisa failed HomeEc and can't sew on a button to save her life!
Well, I am going to take some quilting classes and see if maybe I can learn a thing or two. (If there are any family or friends out there that love to sew, and want to take on a project, I wouldn't turn down an offer!) But, if necessary, there are some wonderfully talented quilters who specialize in assembling these quilts, whom I could hire.

Would you like to be hip too? Here's what you do:
Choose a machine washable, 100% cotton fabric that you like. The fabric can be new or "used and meaningful." Before you cut your fabric, please pre-wash it so that it has done all the shrinking that it is going to do, and then, cut one 7"x7" square. (The finished size of the squares in the quilt will be 5”x5”, so if you are adding anything to your square, please keep this in mind.)

Please then add a note with your good wish for our daughter. Your wish can be simple or elaborate: of your own words and thoughts, a favorite poem or quote, or whatever. One of the fabric squares will help make up the quilt, and the other square will be matched with your wish and go into a memory book for little Baby Shanahan. When she is older, she will be able to match up the wish and the fabric, to her quilt. The quilt will be a way to give her some sort of history, as she will someday know that while she was in a Chinese orphanage; so many people thought of her and loved her. Please remember to sign your wish and include your city, state and country. Pictures of yourselves would be good too, if you would like to include them!

Where do we send the squares?
Since I don't want to post our address to the internet, please send us an email to let us know you want to contribute. Also, if you too are building a quilt for your child and would like to trade, let me know that too! I have plenty of fabric and good wishes to go around and would love to help.

Thank you for helping us make this quilt for our daughter. We appreciate your kindness and please know that the quilt will hold a special place in our hearts. Through this quilt, our daughter will know just how much she was loved before she ever set foot in our home.

So, what got me started on this quilting adventure? Some of my favorite bloggers are making quilts: Do They Have Salsa in China?, Gwenblog and The Teague Family Adoption, so check out their sites too!

Hannah

For almost 20 years I've heard Donna talk of wanting to be married and of wanting to be a Mother. Now she is not only married, but also a Mom!!! Congrats to Donna, Eric and Hannah!

Look how big we're getting!

Since nothing major is happening on the adoption front, I thought I would show a new picture of the goslings. They are getting so big and are just starting to get their feathers. Their biggest talent thus far...pooping, pooping and pooping!

We also have a baby bunny living in our back garden. Its talent is finding my tender young flowers and eating them, whilst skillfully avoiding tender young weeds...funny how that works.



I-171H Update:
According to USPS.com, our home study and I-171H application were received by USCIS in Atlanta at 7:04 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24. Now the supposed 4 week countdown begins. Look, not only do I stalk the postman, but I stalk online too!

At the mercy of USCIS...Again!

Our home study has been completed, approved, notarized, and mailed along with our I-171H* to the USCIS. So now, I join so many others, in the waiting game. I'll be gnawing my fingernails, stalking the mailman, complaining to everyone who will listen, and even those don't listen, about how long this step is taking. I have been told by the Atlanta CCAI office, that USCIS in Atlanta, generally takes 4 weeks for approval processing. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this is the case, as I read of so many people waiting much longer. In fact, today, one of the posters on my CCAI news group, said that they have been waiting 10 weeks for the approval of their I-171H. They are in Pennsylvania though, so, I am not going to let their long wait stress me out...Yeah right!!!

*The "I-171H," also known as the "Notice of Favorable Determination," is an approval from the U.S. Government (namely the FBI and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services – USCIS), for us to adopt internationally.

Having difficulty choosing a baby name?

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My Hippie Chick Name is: Morning

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My Porn Star Name is: Spanky Bottoms

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Leave me comment, and let me know what fun name you come out with!

Baby food for Funshine

One of the blogs that I enjoy reading is Do They Have Salsa in China? I enjoy reading about Rod's passion for Mexican food and his anticipated need to search it out during his weeks in China. That being the case, when my girlfriend Angela sent me some pictures to make me smile, I realized that I had the perfect baby food for Funshine. What else would the baby of a Texan need? Maybe Funshine will be a spicy Hunan baby and will put Rod's spice tolerance to the test!

Fingerprinting was a breeze!

Yes, this building is still labeled as an INS Service Center. I guess all those increased fees and big changes to upgrade the INS to BCIS and then to USCIS, didn't reach this lowly building, where fingerprinting is done in the basement "lower" level. Actually, I can't complain at all, as we arrived just after 7:00 a.m. and even though we were scheduled for 8:00 a.m., they allowed us in, and even took us right away! On top of that, Eammon had a fingerprinting appointment scheduled for next week, for his N-400, Application for Naturalization, and they allowed him to be fingerprinted for that too. There was one downside to getting fingerprinted so quickly, we finished well before any of the wonderful restaurants opened, so I didn't get to pick a restaurant for lunch.

Lopsidedness can be rewarding!

When we first purchased our home, just over a year and a half ago, Eammon and I both loved that we backed up to the water, and we were also attracted to the small lawn and the beautifully manicured shrubs and garden beds. I don't know why the smaller grassy area appealed to me, as mowing is a blue job, and not one that I would have to worry about...other than listening to Eammon complain that he either has to mow, or complaining that he had to mow. My outdoor responsibilities are the shrubs and the gardens, and trust me, I got screwed on this bargain as the shrubs and garden beds don't seem to end. I needed to trim the shrubs, and my old hedge trimmer, had bit the dust, so I purchased a new Hedge trimmer. Thus, I have been spending the past number of days butchering trimming all of the shrubs surrounding our home. I have 2 sides of the house finished thus far, because as I go along, I weed, and cleaning up all the trimmings, takes forever. I figure another 2 or 3 days and I will be finished with all the shrubs.

 
The previous owners loved working in the yard, they were retired, that's what they did, so all the shrubs were trimmed beautifully. The down side...I have to keep up the shrub trimming, or it looks like crap. I think that, if the former owners drove by, they would have heart failure, to see the state of the lopsided shrubs, but their eyes would bug out if they saw all the fantastic changes that have been made to the interior of the house. So, why am I on this little jaunt? Sunday, I was watching The CBS Sunday Morning Show and they showed a man, Pearl Fryar, who's yard was just amazing. He said that it takes 2 weeks to trim all the topiaries, and by that time, he has to start all over again. He does all the trimming with hedge trimmer and snippers...just like me! I on the other hand, do the shrubs once in the spring, and begrudgingly, and only what I have to do, in the fall. I do plant and pull weeds all the time, but the shrubs kill me.

So, I spent the day doing yard work, and by the time I finished, my arms, my hands and my back were all screaming in pain. I asked Eammon, what he would like for dinner, thinking maybe, he would want to take me out, but NOOOOO, he says that he would LOVE for me to make sushi. So, after a long day in the yard, I compromised and made what I call lazy sushi...all nigiri. I had grilled eel at home, so I went to the store, for tuna and salmon. I could only find sushi grade salmon, so we ended up having a full plate of saki (salmon) and unagi (eel) nigiri. Isn't it lovely!!

Sometimes it pays to stalk the postman

After dinner last night, I checked the mailbox again, and was happy to find a package, (for me!!) but even better and more important, was a letter from Homeland Security. Our I-600A fingerprint appointment letters had arrived!! In less than a week, we will be going down to lovely Buford Highway to get our fingerprints taken...hmm, so many wonderful restaurants down there, where shall we have lunch?

Anticipation...

OK, OK... I realize, that playing the Carly Simon song in my mind while waiting for the Heinz ketchup to come out is not the same anticipation, now that I have a giant sized squeeze bottle of the red stuff. Also now that I think about it, I don't really look forward to the Boca Burger, ketchup or no ketchup but this is what I do in my ongoing attempt to try and help Eammon lower his cholesterol. Of course though I taunt him, by continually telling him that in my attempt to to help him lower his cholesterol, mine dropped to 112 mg/dL (2.9 mmol/L for my U.K. family and friends) and yes, I am bragging. Though my numbers have never been high, I am still pleased that they are lower.

So what got me on this little rant? A few things contributed to this; First, I realized that I'm suffering from a new disease. Thanks to Mary-Mia, for discovering this new disease, EMS and for informing me and it seems many, soon to be adoptive parents that we suffer together from the same symptoms. When I first read about EMS I tried to deny it as I said to myself, "even though I know that the mail does not arrive before 5PM, it might just be there" or "it's good cardio exercise walking to the mail box and opening that little door numerous times a day, must count as strength training" or better yet, "it smells so gorgeous outside with the jasmine and honeysuckle all in bloom, I just want to breathe in the fresh air". But in the end, truth be told, I'm addicted to checking my mailbox and I continue to be disappointed as nothing has arrived yet from USCIS. Help Mary-Mia, is there a 12 step program for this or do you think we should start an EMS support group?

OK, second on my list of why I am on this anticipation rant. When I was going out of the subdivision this morning, I saw all the pool furniture neatly arranged around the recently cleaned pool all in preparation for the pool opening on May 21st, the day after school lets out. Yes, schools in Cobb County finish their year on May 20th! But what it got me thinking about was, I have NEVER gone to our pool. When open, it is filled with children and their parents, it's loud and busy, so I have preferred to sit on my dock at waters edge, reading my book, listening instead to ducks, geese and bird songs. But then I realized, next year at this time, I will be looking forward to the pool opening, so that I can bring little baby Shanahan. How cool is that??

Well, my anticipation rant is over as I need to go do some weeding and yard work. I think I'll check the weeds near the mailbox first...just in case.

Eammon's new passport arrived!

I am very pleased to say, that both the U.S. Department of State Passport Office and the British Embassy Passport Office are doing a great job getting passports processed and returned in a timely manner. Now I hope that all our other paperwork goes as smoothly.

It's babies galore!

I love this time of year, when all the ducklings and goslings are born. We have so many new ones this year. There are the geese, Jo and JoJo who are always here, with their 4 goslings and then we have two other pairs of nesting geese, one with 3 and the other with 5 goslings. Then there are the ducks. We have seen one duck with 9 ducklings, one with 6, one with 5, another with 4 and lastly, one with 2. It is so fun to sit and watch them all. Daily, Jo and JoJo with their goslings and a duck with her ducklings peck at the french doors wanting to be fed. I am not good at ignoring them so we have been running through all the bread and saltine crackers in the house. There is one downside to all the new families, our backyard is a minefield of poo, you must be wary of where you step!

No more disposable organs for my man!

It has been a long day already and it is just past noontime. Eammon and I were up at 4:30 this morning so that I could get him to the hospital for his gall bladder surgery. The surgery went well...Eammon slept right through it. Here is the really sad part of my day though. The staffer in the surgery waiting area recognized me. Luckily not by name, but she recognized me by my frequent visits to the hospital, this being Eammon's fourth surgery in 11 months. I told Eammon that this is it, no more, he has run out of disposable organs, this is his last surgery ever!! The one good thing about this surgery is that unlike his emergency appendectomy, 2 days after it ruptured, this was scheduled and he seems to have breezed through it and doesn't need to spend a week in the hospital. I spent my time in the waiting area, sitting on another uncomfortable hospital chair, watching people eat Italian cream cake at 7:30 in the morning. Hey, free cake in the waiting area, guess they figure why not!

USPS is smiling on me

I am very pleased and surprised, the packages mailed on Thursday, our I-600A to the USCIS in Atlanta and documents to be authenticated, to the NYC Consulate General of the Peoples Republic of China, have already been delivered. Hopefully both agencies will process the paperwork in a timely manner. I am most concerned with the application sent to USCIS as the sooner we can have that approved, the sooner we can have our fingerprints taken and then submit our I-171H which is the next step we need to complete.

At least one person in the Shanahan home will be fashionably dressed

Now I am not a clothes person, I'm very happy in my tee shirts and Birkenstocks. Poor Eammon, he is a victim of my fashion choices as he hasn't been into a clothing store in over 6 years, but maybe things will be different for our little girl.

This morning, the Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul held their 2nd annual Sweet P's Arts Festival. Since I was was walking by I decided to take a look. Well I hit upon a booth that was wonderful, and I couldn't resist buying some outfits for baby Shanahan. The children's clothing in this booth was just awesome. Almost all of the clothing was made by Lurlyne Williams and was designed by her daughter, Stephanie. Now here was my dilemma, since we're adopting I have a vague idea of when we'll be traveling to pick up Baby S, but even with that I have no real idea how old she'll be. Sure, we asked for AYAP (as young as possible) but that could be 6 months or it could be 12 months of age at referral. So this is what I did, the outfit in the top picture on the right, I bought size 18 months, the outfit that Lurlyne is holding is size 24 months and the outfit with the hat is a size 3. I figure this way I have baby S covered. Honestly if I could have, I would have bought one of each outfit as they were all so well made and adorable. I was looking at their website and down the road, I am sure I will be purchasing additional outfits for Baby S.

No, you may not date until you are thirty-five!

Today I found a fantastic website, Audio Tutorial of Survival Chinese . My favorite phrase thus far, is under the parenting section. No, you may not date until you are thirty-five!

Hip Hip Hurray!!!

Today is going to be a busy day. Eammon's birth certificate arrived in last nights mail...YEAH!! It has been fully authenticated by the Chinese Embassy in London and is now the very first completed document for our dossier. Much thanks to Eammon's brothers: Michael, for getting the birth certificate and to Tim, for running it all over getting it properly stamped, documented and authenticated.

Well now that I have this, as soon as the photocopy place, the bank and the post office open, I'm going to get all of the necessary documents copied and get bank cheques so that I can mail out our I-600A application to USCIS. YEAH... I am so excited!! I'll also call the social worker and drop off the documents to her. Also today I have a package of documents ready to send to the Chinese Embassy in NYC, so that too will be sent out. After all this is completed this morning, I will go and have a nice lunch with my girlfriend Teresa at Atlanta Bread Company, and enjoy my afternoon!

Boys and their toys

Eammon's new love


Eammon being Vanna White


Eammon's side table
Eammon has been deciding for the past year, which t.v. he was going to get and now that he has made his purchase he is a very happy boy. Look at all of the remotes and still, I'm not allowed to hold one! Do you think that maybe while he is clutching all his remotes and watching t.v. with his eyes closed and his snoring going full force, if I exchanged just the t.v. remote for a calculator...do you think he would notice?

USCIS on a different front

On April 14, 2005, we filed form N-400, Application for Naturalization (Eammon's application for U.S. citizenship) with USCIS. Well, today we got a response, telling us that they received the application, the fee and the additional fingerprint fee. Wonderful, right? Not so fast. The letter then goes on to state, do not to expect to hear anything, for a period of, no less than 450 days...yes, you read that correctly, it is NOT a typo, four hundred and fifty days!!!! Gosh, I hope that when we file with all the adoption applications they are a lot quicker. Imagine if they didn't go through all the name changes, from INS to BCIS to USCIS, and then raise all their fees to be more efficient! If everything goes according to schedule, our daughter will be a U.S citizen before Eammon!

Our first authenticated document!

When I arrived home this afternoon there was a call from Eammon's brother Tim, letting me know that Eammon's fully authenticated birth certificate has been mailed to us!!! I can't wait to have it in my hot little hands as we will now be able to file our I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) with USCIS and get a copy to the social worker so that she can finish her report. We still need to get some pictures of us together and with other people so maybe this weekend we'll do that. We are so bad at taking pictures, especially if we have to be in them!

We did NOT have to have the final home study visit!

The social worker emailed, letting me know that we do not have to do another face to face meeting. She said that she really has all the information that she needs and as soon as I get a photocopy of Eammon's birth certificate to her she'll be able to finish up our reports. She let me know that if we have any further questions we can call her and she'll help us over the phone. I am so, so happy that we don't have to do another face to face as my patience for the process has worn thin.

Now if I leave the country, at least I can get back in!

I can't believe it, my new passport has arrived already! The U.S. Department of State Passport Office website states that normally it takes 6 weeks for a standard renewal and I received mine in only two weeks...glad that I didn't pay extra to expedite the passport process. I probably received it so quickly since I was in no rush...if I really was in a crunch and needed it, I would probably be waiting the full 6 weeks, if not longer! We are hoping that Eammon's passport arrives just as quickly as mine.

CT & MA Secretaries of State are on the ball!

I received my certified documents back from both the Connecticut Secretary of State and the Massachusetts Secretary of State. Both offices were very fast, in fact I received the documents before the checks were presented to my bank! See those pretty gold seals...that must be why I had to pay all those fees!

Slip sliding away............

Eammon has been sick, so this afternoon I took him to the doctor's surgery. He started filling out all the forms but was struggling with them, so he handed them off to me. I am sitting there filling out all the forms and he says to me, "Treacle, don't think I feel so well, not sure if I can sit here too much longer." Just as he finishes saying this, he slowly slips out of the chair and onto the waiting room floor as he quietly passes out. Me being the loving wife that I am, place his extra shirt under his head, then calmly go back to filling in the forms and forging his signature. Well, I figure he can't sign it laying sprawled out on the floor. Once I finished the forms I stepped over Eammon and took them to the receptionist and informed her that my husband was passed out on the floor and asked if there was a more suitable place for him to lay down. I then stepped over Eammon again as I returned to my seat to wait for the nurse and a wheelchair. Hey I figured, he was already on the floor, where was he going to go...it is not like he could fall and hurt himself. I think that the woman sitting across from us watching was ready to jump out of her skin, watching and not seeing me react like she was prepared to do. Once in with the doctor, Eammon was informed that he has the flu and he needs to stay in bed for a few days. Life in our home is never boring!

Privacy?? If you want to adopt...No such thing!!

On Tuesday, the social worker emailed asking to change my individual appointment from Thursday to Wednesday. So at 9 a.m. this morning I had my visit with her. It went OK, just over an hour long as she asked questions all about my childhood, schooling, friends, work history, religion, health, family, relationships, ethics, values, blaa, blaa, blaa.

She is very much into examining losses in our lives and how we coped with them. It seemed that she tried to make issues and traumas out of past events, even though they are in the past, done, finished and are neither an issue nor a trauma. In fact most of the things she harped on, hold little or no memory for me.

She wants us to embrace the home study process. I wanted to ask her if she enjoyed her home study process for her child. (She did not adopt, thus no home study.) I have to wonder how anyone can embrace having someone come into your home and inspect it, interrogate your life history and how you were raised, delve into your finances, review your personal health information, critique your marriage and relationships, and then judge your morals, ethics and values. Then on top of it all, you get the privilege of paying this stranger, for doing all these wonderful things for you!

Well, we have one more visit with her next Wednesday, and then that should be it for pre-adoption. I am ready to get this show on the road...I want my little girl!

Signatures and changes

Eammon was able to get the necessary signatures on his passport photos and renewal form, so tomorrow we'll get all the passport information posted to the British Embassy in Washington, DC and hopefully get it back in a timely manner.

The social worker emailed and wanted to change my individual interview to this Thursday morning and to keep her wrap-up appointment for the following week. This works for me as I would rather do the appointment during the day instead of having it go long into the evening. I still have to get a lot of our paperwork photocopied for her, so I will get that going today or tomorrow so that she can have it all by our final visit. We are still waiting for a copy of Eammon's birth certificate to arrive and that will be the final piece paperwork that the she'll need. I am getting antsy as I want to file the I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) with USCIS, but we can't do that until we receive the birth certificate. I know, I know, it will happen...

Pollen count of 3,575...Gee, let's sit outside!

Today Eammon and I were scheduled for our individual visits with the social worker. We woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day and I suggested to Eammon that we do the visit outside so that we could sit and look at the lake and see the ducks and geese as we talked. I had planted my tomato plants, other veggies and herbs in some pots on Friday and though I had wiped off the table it really needed to be hosed off so Eammon did that and then I went out and toweled it dry, and made sure it was dirt and pollen free. Well, the social worker arrived 20 minutes later and she liked the idea of sitting outside so we went out, we sat down and you could have written your name in all the pollen that covered the table. In 20 minutes it looked like a table that hadn't been dusted in a month!

She arrived just before 10 a.m. and had planned to do our individual visits back to back, with approximately an hour for each of us. She said though, that she wanted to talk to us together for "just a couple of minutes", so we all sat down. Seventy five minutes later I was able to leave and Eammon started his individual visit. At just after 12:30 P.M., they came back inside and it was decided that she would do my visit on the date set to do her final wrap-up visit. So, I have a reprieve for a week and a half. Hopefully when she comes next time, she'll do my visit and her little wrap-up visit and we'll be done with all the pre-adoption visits. Then joy of joy, she'll come back post-adoption, for both a 6-month and a 12-month visit.

Eammon has found the visits interesting from the psychology angle, but I find them annoying and intrusive but, I have no choice. I don't mind the social worker, she seems nice enough. I just don't appreciate anyone probing into my life, my finances, my medical history, my morals, ethics and beliefs. Oh well, this too shall pass.

Eammon's birth certificate is on its way to the colonies

Eammon's brother, Michael, who was over visiting from Wales, the week before Easter, was kind enough on his return home, to obtain an original certificate of birth for Eammon. He is mailing it to another brother, Tim, who will take it through all the official channels in London, and then to the Chinese consulate in London, to have the document Authenticated. Much thanks to both Michael and Tim for getting these steps done for us :-)


Michael in our backyard feeding the ducks and geese

Michael is also mailing a copy of the birth certificate to us, and once it is received, we can file our I-600A (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) with USCIS.




Michael feeding Jo and JoJo...and getting nipped

The paperwork never ends!!

Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork! This week both Eammon and I went and had passport pictures taken, so that we can both renew our passports. I was able to send mine off for renewal this week, but Eammon has to get a special signature on the back of his photos and on his application, because he is living outside the U.K. Hopefully he will be able to get the signatures on Saturday, and then his can be posted.

I sent off my birth and marriage certificates to the appropriate secretaries of state in Massachusetts and Connecticut, to have them certified, and once I receive them back I will be able to send them to the Chinese Consulate in New York to have everything Authenticated. All of our other paperwork, since it will be notarized in Georgia, will first have to go to the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county, in which, the notary is registered. Then, we have to send it to the Secretary of State in Georgia and then finally, to the Chinese Consulate in Texas for Authentication. I think that this is one of the best rackets going, as everyone who looks at and signs these documents, gets paid a fee!

No April fools here

Today was a good day! First, my birth certificate arrived, then both of us returned to the doctor and got the results from our physicals and the completed forms...Yeah, we passed all our tests and got the forms!!!! Then we had the truly unique experience, of going to the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Oh my gosh... The jail is centered between a county dump on one side and the county recycling plant on the other. The stench there was overwhelming! This was our first, and hopefully, very last time, having to go to the jail...did not like going there. I will tell you though, the officers at the records office were very nice. They asked us all about the baby we hoped to adopt and they were very excited and interested. This was of course, after they ran the criminal history background check on us and saw that we are not wanted criminals and that we have no record...another big yeah...We are NOT criminals! (just in case anyone reading this was concerned or had any doubts)

Are we criminals??

We don't know yet, but we get to find out later this week! Joy of joy, we get to go to the county jail to have background checks run on both of us ... Doesn't this sound like fun!

Blood!!

Both Eammon and I went for our required physicals and other than my passing out when my blood was drawn, it wasn't too bad. We found out that we both are doing well healthwise ... Yeah! We have to go back later in the week to get the results of our blood work and hopefully to pick up the completed medical reports and final doctor letters.

More paperwork

Now that I received our marriage certificate, I can mail off my passport to renew it and have the name changed to my married name. You would think I would have done it sometime during the past six years, but why rush things? Eammon has to have his renewed too, so we have to find out how to do that for a UK passport. Hopefully it will not be a long and involved process.

Mail

Yeah! Our marriage license arrived today and has already been certified by the Secretary of State, so it is ready to be sent in to the Chinese Consulate for authentication. We will hold it until we have all the other documents, and send it in one package.

Home visit with the social worker

Tonight we met with the social worker and had our home visit, which took almost 3 hours. The questions weren't too bad or probing and I feel that we did O.K. We each have to meet with her again individually and then one more time together as a couple. Hopefully we will complete this part of the process and have the home study report written up and submitted by the 2nd week in May. That of course depends on us receiving all the documentation in a timely manner.

Hannah Frank referral!

Our friends Donna & Eric, just received their referral, for their lovely daughter Hannah!! Check out that adorable face!!

Birth and marriage certificate requests

Today I mailed off requests for a copy of our marriage license and a copy of my birth certificate. Eammon has to have one of his brothers get a copy of his birth certificate, and then once it is received, his brother will have to take it, in person, to the Chinese Consulate in London. What a pain, the consulate does not accept items through the post, only in person!

Home Study Orientation meeting

I am so sick with bronchial pneumonia, I really should have spent the day in bed, not going near anyone. Had I done that though, we'd have had to wait an entire month before we could start our home study. Our agency CCAI, requires that all families attend a Home Study Orientation Meeting which thankfully counts as the first of the four required pre-adoption home study visits. So, this morning Eammon and I attended the meeting with a room full of hopeful adoptive families. In my drugged cough drop popping state, it seemed as though many of the families had not read a single page of the documentation that had been previously sent to them so there were lots and lots and lots of questions.

We didn't really have the opportunity to talk to any of the other people as I think they were avoiding us. Truth be told, I do sound like a hacking, boozing, chain smoking Barry White...Shoot I'd stay away from me if I could!

In the end though, we submitted our autobiographies, our home study service agreement, our home study payment, copies of our water and sewer bills and our safe home checklist. Reference letters have been sent and received by our listed references. Now that we have attended this meeting, our assigned social worker should be contacting us within the next week to start our visits.

Now finally, a piece of advice. If you're going to be popping lots and lots of cough drops, make sure to use the ones with sugar, not the sugarless as they cause other problems and when you're already sick you don't need these problems too! Take my word, lesson learned.

We can start our paperwork

The CCAI Service agreement and first agency fee were received and accepted in the Denver office. We received our Adoption Dossier Guide which is a 50 page document to help us in preparing our China Dossier. Our next step will be to attend a Home Study Orientation meeting, which is only held once a month. We have started working on our autobiographies and compiling some of the paperwork required by the social worker.