HALLELUJIAH!!!!!!!!!
Of course, I have to stay somewhat close to reality here and not be in the clouds :) It still has to pass Vera's watchful eye, then get to Haiti safely!!! Still...........it's out of my kitchen. My poor printer gets a break! (And me too--ha).
~L
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
DOSSIER about to cross finish line..but not quite yet.
Each day, I think....today I get to send off the dossier. And each day, I find a new problem. It's actually comical now. It wasn't so comical last week :)
I thought I'd be able to send it today, but learned last night that the Home Study was to go to the Consulate with the other 10 documents. Didn't know that. So, that got sent out today. Also, learned we were missing some lab tests from the doctor, so I had those faxed to Nathan at the shop. He proceeded to send those to the Consulate as well (they were supposed to come home), so now I have to call the Consulate and tell them they need to disregard our lab tests. Doc. had to fax over results again...hopefully Nathan remembers to bring them home.
Also learned that all copies I made of notary signatures had to be re-done because they had to include the Consulate stamp too.
So, Mon. night I was up until 12am and last night until 1:30am--worked 8 hours straight last night.
I've got it ready now. The Consulate authenticated home study will bypass me and go straight to Vera in California and I will get the faxed lab reports tonight, make more copies and add them to the dossier. I have one original and 6 copies. Each set has 100 pages. My poor copier. I didn't know such a cheap copier could do so well!!!! (HP F4180)
Now, Vera will look it over and if it passes her scrutiny, it will be sent to Haiti. I pray nothing needs re-done. I feel confident that I've found some good errors before this has been sent off. Hopefully I've found them all!
~L
I thought I'd be able to send it today, but learned last night that the Home Study was to go to the Consulate with the other 10 documents. Didn't know that. So, that got sent out today. Also, learned we were missing some lab tests from the doctor, so I had those faxed to Nathan at the shop. He proceeded to send those to the Consulate as well (they were supposed to come home), so now I have to call the Consulate and tell them they need to disregard our lab tests. Doc. had to fax over results again...hopefully Nathan remembers to bring them home.
Also learned that all copies I made of notary signatures had to be re-done because they had to include the Consulate stamp too.
So, Mon. night I was up until 12am and last night until 1:30am--worked 8 hours straight last night.
I've got it ready now. The Consulate authenticated home study will bypass me and go straight to Vera in California and I will get the faxed lab reports tonight, make more copies and add them to the dossier. I have one original and 6 copies. Each set has 100 pages. My poor copier. I didn't know such a cheap copier could do so well!!!! (HP F4180)
Now, Vera will look it over and if it passes her scrutiny, it will be sent to Haiti. I pray nothing needs re-done. I feel confident that I've found some good errors before this has been sent off. Hopefully I've found them all!
~L
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
WORD FROM HAITI
Well, Jackie (from the agency who's been in Haiti for a few days and got to spend time with Charlene) called today!
I have pages and pages of notes. She explained orphanage life, and what Charlene does and what her foster mom is like (a retired gal from Indiana).
She told about visiting there, what to expect, where to stay, what to send, what to bring, when to travel.
She took lots of pictures and notes from talking to Charlene's foster Mom and hopefully will send them yet today. I can't wait.
I need to sit down and organize all my notes so I can tell Nathan and get it all clear in my head.
They are definitely waiting on our paperwork, but are also waiting on Charlene's birth certificate as well. Her mom had to go back to her village and get a birth certificate made for her so she can get a birth certificate made for Charlene, then she has to travel back to the orphanage, which, as I understand it, is quite a ways away. But it has been almost 2 weeks and she could return at any time. That's why I am doing everything I can to get this paperwork down there ASAP.
Jackie did say that FEdEx is pretty reliable in getting paperwork there, so that seems to be the plan for now.
I just got the translations (YES!) and he said he could translate the new Psych. letters fairly quickly, so that's good news too!!
I feel like I'm in a "hurry up and wait" mode. I was doing okay until I talked to Jackie and now I'm all worked up. I'm excited to learn some new information, but that combined with 1/2 cup of coffee this morning, I feel like I'm moving 90 miles an hour--or at least my brain is. (I know that sounds wierd, but my body (brain) is not used to coffee at all.)
This is where prayer comes in...I need to go back to God and trust Him to take care of everything in His timing. And rely on Him to calm me down!
~L
I have pages and pages of notes. She explained orphanage life, and what Charlene does and what her foster mom is like (a retired gal from Indiana).
She told about visiting there, what to expect, where to stay, what to send, what to bring, when to travel.
She took lots of pictures and notes from talking to Charlene's foster Mom and hopefully will send them yet today. I can't wait.
I need to sit down and organize all my notes so I can tell Nathan and get it all clear in my head.
They are definitely waiting on our paperwork, but are also waiting on Charlene's birth certificate as well. Her mom had to go back to her village and get a birth certificate made for her so she can get a birth certificate made for Charlene, then she has to travel back to the orphanage, which, as I understand it, is quite a ways away. But it has been almost 2 weeks and she could return at any time. That's why I am doing everything I can to get this paperwork down there ASAP.
Jackie did say that FEdEx is pretty reliable in getting paperwork there, so that seems to be the plan for now.
I just got the translations (YES!) and he said he could translate the new Psych. letters fairly quickly, so that's good news too!!
I feel like I'm in a "hurry up and wait" mode. I was doing okay until I talked to Jackie and now I'm all worked up. I'm excited to learn some new information, but that combined with 1/2 cup of coffee this morning, I feel like I'm moving 90 miles an hour--or at least my brain is. (I know that sounds wierd, but my body (brain) is not used to coffee at all.)
This is where prayer comes in...I need to go back to God and trust Him to take care of everything in His timing. And rely on Him to calm me down!
~L
PSYCHOLOGY LETTER
I thought trip #5 to the Sec. of State yesterday was the last, but I was wrong. After driving to Strafford (30miles from our home) to have a notary fix her mistake.
Trip #4 was early Tue. morning to be told the notary didn't notarize the Psych. letter properly.
Trip #5 was after the cross-country trip to another town to have the notary fix her mistake. This time the Sec. of State approved the notary.
We then tried our best to get out to the shop before the UPS man to overnight these documents to the Consulate in Chicago, but we didn't make it. We prayed we'd make it to the shop before he did, but we didn't. Taylor was disappointed God didn't answer our prayer, but He knew exactly what needed to be done. We needed to miss the UPS man.
I Talked to Jackie today, who is back from Haiti, (more on that in a minute) and she siad there can be NO mention of the kids in the Psych. letter. Well, there is. I made sure there was no mention anywhere else (except a blip in the homestudy) but I failed to make it either known and/or clear it needs to be omitted from the Psych. letter. So, once again, we have to have the Psych. letter re-done.
So, this morning, not knowing yet, the Psych. letter wasn't right, I sent it with Nathan to the shop to overnight to the Consulate in Chicago. I get the call that we can't mention the kids, call Nathan right away and he is just handing it to the UPS man, so thankfully he was able to keep itl
Luckily we chose a Psychologist who is willing to keep re-doing and keep re-notarizing these re-dos. Hopefully this is the last re-do. I think we're all getting tired of it. So, tomorrow, I will get the re-done, notarized copy and go back to the Sec. of State to have them sign off AGAIN, then we'll be ready to overnight these to the Consulate.
I pray for this all to be done in God's timing. That was made clear to me today about yesterday. So cool.
~L
Trip #4 was early Tue. morning to be told the notary didn't notarize the Psych. letter properly.
Trip #5 was after the cross-country trip to another town to have the notary fix her mistake. This time the Sec. of State approved the notary.
We then tried our best to get out to the shop before the UPS man to overnight these documents to the Consulate in Chicago, but we didn't make it. We prayed we'd make it to the shop before he did, but we didn't. Taylor was disappointed God didn't answer our prayer, but He knew exactly what needed to be done. We needed to miss the UPS man.
I Talked to Jackie today, who is back from Haiti, (more on that in a minute) and she siad there can be NO mention of the kids in the Psych. letter. Well, there is. I made sure there was no mention anywhere else (except a blip in the homestudy) but I failed to make it either known and/or clear it needs to be omitted from the Psych. letter. So, once again, we have to have the Psych. letter re-done.
So, this morning, not knowing yet, the Psych. letter wasn't right, I sent it with Nathan to the shop to overnight to the Consulate in Chicago. I get the call that we can't mention the kids, call Nathan right away and he is just handing it to the UPS man, so thankfully he was able to keep itl
Luckily we chose a Psychologist who is willing to keep re-doing and keep re-notarizing these re-dos. Hopefully this is the last re-do. I think we're all getting tired of it. So, tomorrow, I will get the re-done, notarized copy and go back to the Sec. of State to have them sign off AGAIN, then we'll be ready to overnight these to the Consulate.
I pray for this all to be done in God's timing. That was made clear to me today about yesterday. So cool.
~L
Monday, March 30, 2009
Haitian Consulate
I just want to say a word about the paperwork...
Quick guide for the dossier process:
all documents notarized, then..
all notarized documents need State Certified by Sec. of State to authenticate the notaries, then..
some docs go to translation for Haiti to be able to read them (they read French), then...
some docs go to Haitian Consulate in Chicago so they can authenticate the State Certifications, then....
All docs (dossier) go to Haiti.
We completed all notarizations on Sat. the 21st for the Dossier. The normal process is to then have all papers State Certified by the Secretary of State, send them to our agency in AZ. They then find a translator, have them translated, the translator sends them back to the agency in AZ. The agency then sends the docs to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to get authenticated, then they are returned to AZ. The agency then sends this completed Dossier to Haiti.
We get a referral on the 22nd (the next day), with the dossier in our kitchen, not Haiti. The gal who I'm talking with and runs the orphanage but lives in CA, is at the orphanage now visiting and just had a little girl show up needing a family. She has talked her friend, who also runs the orphanage, into "holding" this little girl for us until our Dossier gets there. (She knew we were close to having it complete!)
So, fast forward....cut out all mailings completely. So, that night, the Dossier and homestudy are scanned/emailed to a translator in CA who will then email back the translations by April 1st. The Haitian Consulate in Chicago tells me on my first phone call that it will take a week for my documents to get authenticated. So I figure, 2 days to get there, a week to authenticate and 2 days back to me. We don't have that kind of time!! I call again today and offer to fly over to Chicago, hand deliver...can they get it done any quicker, like in 2 days? Her answer, same day! She even said if I overnighted the documents, they would work on them the same day and send them back overnight to us. That's a 3day turnaround! AND I don't even have to wait on the translations...she said I can email those when I get them. God is Good.
The only wait now, though, is that the Psychologist had to re-do our letter. He had made one letter for both of us, instead of a letter for each of us. He has the letters done, but hasn't contacted me yet as to when I can pick them up. Once I pick them up, I need to run over to the Secretary of State (trip #4), then add that doc. to my other docs to go the Consulate, then overnight them.
Now it's just a matter of how to get this Dossier safely to Haiti.......Anyone going to Haiti? :)
Quick guide for the dossier process:
all documents notarized, then..
all notarized documents need State Certified by Sec. of State to authenticate the notaries, then..
some docs go to translation for Haiti to be able to read them (they read French), then...
some docs go to Haitian Consulate in Chicago so they can authenticate the State Certifications, then....
All docs (dossier) go to Haiti.
We completed all notarizations on Sat. the 21st for the Dossier. The normal process is to then have all papers State Certified by the Secretary of State, send them to our agency in AZ. They then find a translator, have them translated, the translator sends them back to the agency in AZ. The agency then sends the docs to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to get authenticated, then they are returned to AZ. The agency then sends this completed Dossier to Haiti.
We get a referral on the 22nd (the next day), with the dossier in our kitchen, not Haiti. The gal who I'm talking with and runs the orphanage but lives in CA, is at the orphanage now visiting and just had a little girl show up needing a family. She has talked her friend, who also runs the orphanage, into "holding" this little girl for us until our Dossier gets there. (She knew we were close to having it complete!)
So, fast forward....cut out all mailings completely. So, that night, the Dossier and homestudy are scanned/emailed to a translator in CA who will then email back the translations by April 1st. The Haitian Consulate in Chicago tells me on my first phone call that it will take a week for my documents to get authenticated. So I figure, 2 days to get there, a week to authenticate and 2 days back to me. We don't have that kind of time!! I call again today and offer to fly over to Chicago, hand deliver...can they get it done any quicker, like in 2 days? Her answer, same day! She even said if I overnighted the documents, they would work on them the same day and send them back overnight to us. That's a 3day turnaround! AND I don't even have to wait on the translations...she said I can email those when I get them. God is Good.
The only wait now, though, is that the Psychologist had to re-do our letter. He had made one letter for both of us, instead of a letter for each of us. He has the letters done, but hasn't contacted me yet as to when I can pick them up. Once I pick them up, I need to run over to the Secretary of State (trip #4), then add that doc. to my other docs to go the Consulate, then overnight them.
Now it's just a matter of how to get this Dossier safely to Haiti.......Anyone going to Haiti? :)
REFERRAL
This may be a bit premature and I still wonder if I should post, but I am going ahead so I can ask for continued prayer.
We got a 'referral' last week which means, they have found a child for us. It is a baby girl, her name is Charlene and she will be 4 mo. old on April 4th.
She appears very healthy and seems to be doing well in the orphanage, but it is an orphanage. It is a well run, well staffed orphanage (from what I'm told) but still.....
I ask for continued prayer for her, that she remain to be healthy.
I ask for prayer for the staff at the orphanage who take care of her to give her as much love and attention as they possibly can. That they are able to meet her needs in a timely manner.
And we needs lots of prayer for the paperwork, for the gov'ts to move this along quickly, or at least as quickly as they can. I suspect this will take upwards of 18 months, which is so heartbreaking for us. But, it's all in how fast the gov't moves the paperwork along.
And since I'm asking :), I'd like to ask for prayer for us...for patience and understanding. Now that there's a face for this mound of paperwork, it's hard to be here and she be there.
Anyway, thank you for sharing in our good news. And I am constantly reminded that anything can change with an international adoption, so we are praying that this all goes well and the gov't cooperates.
~L
We got a 'referral' last week which means, they have found a child for us. It is a baby girl, her name is Charlene and she will be 4 mo. old on April 4th.
She appears very healthy and seems to be doing well in the orphanage, but it is an orphanage. It is a well run, well staffed orphanage (from what I'm told) but still.....
I ask for continued prayer for her, that she remain to be healthy.
I ask for prayer for the staff at the orphanage who take care of her to give her as much love and attention as they possibly can. That they are able to meet her needs in a timely manner.
And we needs lots of prayer for the paperwork, for the gov'ts to move this along quickly, or at least as quickly as they can. I suspect this will take upwards of 18 months, which is so heartbreaking for us. But, it's all in how fast the gov't moves the paperwork along.
And since I'm asking :), I'd like to ask for prayer for us...for patience and understanding. Now that there's a face for this mound of paperwork, it's hard to be here and she be there.
Anyway, thank you for sharing in our good news. And I am constantly reminded that anything can change with an international adoption, so we are praying that this all goes well and the gov't cooperates.
~L
Monday, March 23, 2009
DOSSIER IS COMPLETE
The DOSSIER is a bunch of papers that Haiti needs such as passport photos, copies of our passports, Drivers Licences, social security cards, birth certificates, and marriage certificate. Letters from the bank, the employer, the police, the doctor and a psychologist as well as several reference letters. And of course there all kinds of legal documents and documents for the child. So, with that in mind....the dossier is finally complete.
What took the longest was waiting for Nathan's social security card...that was about a month, but we got it on Wed. and had the last of the dossier documents notarized on Saturday. Our homestudy and a 18 pages of the dossier are now in translation. They will be translated into French because that's the language in Haiti. The language is actually Haitian Creole, but it's a form of French.
I will go today to the Secretary of State's office here in Springfield and have all of the notary signatures notarized by them.
After translation, which should be complete April 1st, those translated documents will go the Haiti Consulate in Chicago to have their seal of approval, then all documents go to Haiti. Yeah!
That is all I can write for now, I'll write more later. I"m glad this phase of paperwork is complete.
I just continue to pray for the paperwork and that everything goes smoothly. I pray for all documents to be complete with nothing missing or wrong. Such problems could cause unnecessary delays.
~L
What took the longest was waiting for Nathan's social security card...that was about a month, but we got it on Wed. and had the last of the dossier documents notarized on Saturday. Our homestudy and a 18 pages of the dossier are now in translation. They will be translated into French because that's the language in Haiti. The language is actually Haitian Creole, but it's a form of French.
I will go today to the Secretary of State's office here in Springfield and have all of the notary signatures notarized by them.
After translation, which should be complete April 1st, those translated documents will go the Haiti Consulate in Chicago to have their seal of approval, then all documents go to Haiti. Yeah!
That is all I can write for now, I'll write more later. I"m glad this phase of paperwork is complete.
I just continue to pray for the paperwork and that everything goes smoothly. I pray for all documents to be complete with nothing missing or wrong. Such problems could cause unnecessary delays.
~L
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