Update

I'm sorry that I left everyone sort of hanging... We were also left hanging. The grandmother was ready to bring the girl to us the day after I posted that last message, then she was going to call, then she had second thoughts, then she was going to call (you get the picture). I guess she had a bad week with her (I heard she pulled her diaper off and pooped on the carpet). Her husband doesn't want to raise her and she does...so we are not sure if suddenly she will call us again. I sent her a nice e-mail basically saying we are ready and willing for her but that we are moving forward with our Polish adoption plans (I got no response so far). We decided we would adopt this 3 1/2 year-old if it is meant to be, but it is looking doubtful. Poor girl..hopefully they step up and care for her like she should be cared for.

So, we got a fancy letter from the Dept. of Homeland security saying that they received our I800a application and that we will receive an appointment notice in the mail. I am feeling guilty because this is a busy week for us at our Michigan campground and then we are going out of town for a week, so I am not getting my mail in IL until July 15th. I hope we don't miss the appointment to get our fingerprints done.

To answer one of my intials questions about this whole process----YES, you have to get fingerprinted twice for this process, once for the FBI and once for the Dept. of Homeland Securtiy...because of course they don't talk to each other.

Also, we sent our 2 copies of our homestudy to get apostilled in North Carolina and it took only about a week and a half to get it back. So, everything still has to be apstilled in IL, but we are waiting for the I800 approval.

Shocking development

We got a call tonight about a child that we had talked about adopting about a year and a half ago. At the time, the grandmother had decided to parent the girl. This girl is the biological sister of my sister's adopted daugther. The girl is now 3 and a half and has had a rough upbringing.

We are so shocked about this possible opportunity! We are wondering if she has so many issues that the grandmother (who is in her 40s) just can't handle her...can we? The grandmother is willing to bring her here next week for a visit.

I don't quite know what to say or do about this, but as adoptive parents or parents-to-be, if you have any thoughts, I would love to hear them.

Mailed CIS form..took some pics

I mailed the USCIS form today (I800a) with a check for $910 ($670 fee + $80 per person in our household). Thanks for the advice everyone, I ended up sending the application, our birth & marriage certificates, and the check.

Now I wait for a response, I wonder how long it takes??? I am waiting for the documents that our homestudy agency was supposed to send us (police clearances/ FBI, etc. ) Wish I had insisted they provide them to me sooner. They were supposed to make copies, then send me the originals.

We took a family picture with the self timer today for the dossier. My oldest son is sticking out his tonge, but the rest of us are looking forward. I took several, but someone is always looking silly. I am debating using the one of the 2 of us..my husband is making a crazy face!

SOOOO confused!

We received our 4 copies of the homestudy back from St. Mary's yesterday with instructions on how to fill out the I-800a form. Which I did sucessfully :-)
BUT, the instructions say to that a complete application includes "certified copies of dispositions regarding arrests" (FBI checks and child abuse clearances)
This did not come in the envelope from our homestudy agency nor St. Mary's. I e-mailed and got this response, "The home study’s supportive documents are not going together with the home study; the home study itself is the document you need."

I am soooo confused! I hate this feeling!

What goes with the I800a form other than the homestudy, birth/marriage certificates, and a check????

Then the other 3 copies of the homestudy... one is for us
the other 2 are part of the dossier...ok...but the police clearances and FBI clearance is supposed to be apstilled with the homestudy....

helpppppppppp

State of IL DCFS approval...finally!

I received this e-mail today...

Hi Wynter,
The mail just arrived with the DCFS approval letter! Horray! DCFS is saying that 8 weeks has just become the norm.
Now we will send to your agency your notarized home study - we send a number of copies and they distribute them to you. Let me know if you want them sent FED EX to St. Mary's.
Hope all is well,
Maggie


Well, what I was told takes 3 weeks, took 8 weeks. I have a few choice comments on this, but I will not rant. So now, I need to know the best way to get everything apstilled in IL...
I already got the 1 document from Michigan apstilled, it took 2 weeks (for them to print out a pretty certificate with a gold sticker attaching it to David's birth certificate).

We ducked under a rope this time...this time

Our au pair (nanny) was going to switch families for her 2nd year in the au pair program, because she wanted some new experiences (& possibly 4 children at some point scared her a bit), BUT at the last minute we jokingly offered her a raise and a ticket to visit Germany to see her best friend....AND she took the deal! Now we don't have to worry about delaying the adoption EVEN FURTHER by getting a whole new person into our homestudy fingerprints, & medical papers, etc.

We use Cultural Care as our au pair agency. We really like having an au pair in the house...soooo nice to not have to wrap the kids up and drag them to someone's house for daycare, etc. We also like the cultural experience it brings to our family. Our current au pair is from Panama and now she will be with is until July 19th of 2011.

After they added, like 2 sentences, our homestudy is STILL with DCFS...ughhh. Then the next step is getting everything apostilled.

Sent to DCFS again

The homestudy agency sent to homestudy to DCFS (a requirement in IL) on March 5th. On April 5th, they heard back, but then they wanted some wording added. So, the homestudy made these changes, but them the adoption agency had to approve it again. Of course, there was the Easter holiday in between all this so that added days as well.

I tried to be proactive and fill out the I800 form, but the I had a question about one section of it and when I asked, the adoption agency said "everything in its time" or something like that.

So, now as I wait for the final, final DCFS approval, I want to get my pictures together. I need 2 sets. Do I glue photos to a piece of paper or do a lay them out and scan them and make a color copy? Do I write captions under each photo? Do they need to be all on one page?