The Story of Thunder and Lightning: Road Sign: Construction Zone

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Road Sign: Construction Zone

We began our journey on the Adoption Highway knowing full well that before we got too far down the road, we would encounter a construction zone. It was going to be an unavoidable inconvenience given that our home had four bedrooms and we were adopting TWO little boys from Honduras. Pitching a tent in the backyard for Thunder and rolling out a sleeping bag on the family room floor for Lightning while waiting for our oldest, Fair Maiden L.K, to graduate from high school and go onto college thereby freeing up a bedroom just wouldn't be a viable option for accomodating our boys, the newest members of our growing family.

With that said, let it be known that making appointments, organizing papers, filing receipts, studying dossier manuals, taking online classes, meeting deadlines, redoing documents, and traveling into big cities to get official seals on notarized documents DOES NOT float my boat! In my opinion, the paperwork process of international adoption is lackluster to say the least.

HOWEVER, hint to me about the possibility of designing a new room and I am bound to do a little "happy dance" because choosing paint colors, flooring, fixtures, lighting, bedding, accessories, window treatments, and frills DOES float my boat! Take it a step further and tell me that everyone in the house will be moving into a new bedroom (i.e., Thunder and Lightning will move in to True Princess's room, True Princess will move into Fair Maiden's room, Fair Maiden will move into Kind Hearted Warrior's room, Kind Hearted Warrior will move into our room, and Knight-in-Shining Armor is adding a master bedroom and bath suite to the existing house for us) and I am bound to do a big "happy dance"!

Not one room to decorate, but FIVE! That my friends is battle plan Dynamic Immersion at its finest.

Pictured above is Thunder and Lightning's room. I chose an alphabet theme highlighting the animal kingdom and the world of big machines. True Princess G.A. will move into a palace of pink; Kind Hearted Warrior S.T. will dwell in a den of warm browns and deep reds; Fair Maiden L.K. will work with a pallette of chocolate brown and light teen green; and Knight-in-Shining Armor and I will fashion a master suite using creams and golds and black with accents of deep red and mossy green.

"...and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts..." Exodus 31:3

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Major Roadsigns Along the Adoption Highway

June 25, 2012 I-800 sent to the National Benefits Center for processing and approval
June 21, 2012 I-800 received at the Texas Lock Box
June 20, 2012 I-800 submitted
June 12, 2012 So much to do, so little time! Ha!
June 11, 2012 Post-referral and Immigration paperwork packet (I-800, I-864W, DS230) completed and FEDEXed to Gladney. FBI Fingerprint Clearance letters on their to a courier in DC for an apostille.
June 9, 2012 Celebrating on the "mountaintop"! Humbled by the "valley" we have passed through...
June 8, 2012 Familia Worley's dossier is APPROVED and an official REFERRAL has been given!
June 7, 2012 The chiquitines Adoption Committee meets
June 6, 2012 Dossier is at Chiquitines
May 30, 2012 Dossier is being transferred to Chiquitines...the boys are still available!
May 29, 2012 Regrouping and asking "Where do we go from here?"
May 24, 2012 The boys were referred to another family...sad
May 22, 2012 Dossier APPROVED!
May 21,2012 Home study addendum received by Gladney, notarized, and sent for apostille
May 19, 2012 FBI Clearance letters received
May 17,2012 Addendum to home study requested by CMN
May 15, 2012 Dossier is submitted to CMN NOT Chiquitines for review and approval
May 9, 2012 Letter of Intent sent to Cali, Colombia, South America
May 4, 2012 A match made in heaven...we have been introduced to Thunder and Lightning
April 30, 2012 Fingerprint card sent to FBI for updating
April 20,2012 Dreaming about the possibilities!
April 17, 2012 Confirmation that translation of dossier is complete
April 6, 2012 Hope is on the horizon
March 16,2012 I800-A approval
March 13, 2012 Hague Adoption Officer from USCIS issues an RFE letter
March 9, 2012 Our I800A case has been assigned an Officer and is under review
March 5, 2012 Completed Colombian Dossier Documents Apostilled and mailed to Gladney
March 2, 2012 Biometric Fingerprints completed (Walk-In)
February 3, 2012 I-800A Application submitted to USCIS
January 17, 2012 FBI Clearance Letters sent to DC for Apostilles and I800-A Application mailed to Gladney Center for Adoption
January 5, 2012 Update Home Study
January 3, 2012 Rerouting to Colombia
September 12, 2011 Waiting for a number on the Honduran National Waitlist
September 9, 2011 Dossier Approved
August 16, 2011 Addendum to Psych Report notarized and apostilled and sent to Gladney Center for Adoption
August 8, 2011 Addendum to Psych Report requested from IHNFA
July 26, 2011 Dossier officially presented to IHNFA
June 29, 2011 Dossier READY to be presented to IHNFA
June 27, 2011 Completed registration with Ministry of Foreign Affairs
June 20, 2011 Translation complete and documents sent to Ministry of Foreign Affairs
June 8, 2011 Translation of dossier documents begins
June 8, 2011 Dossier received in Honduras
June 3, 2011 WAITING
June 2, 2011 Dossier packaged and mailed to Honduras!
June 2, 2011 Dossier received by Gladney Center for Adoption
June 1, 2011 Dossier express mailed to Gladney Center for Adoption
June 1, 2011 Dossier reviewed and letter from the Honduran Consulate in Atlanta, GA, received
May 31, 2011 Destination: Honduran Consulate in Atlanta, GA (403 miles)
May 31, 2011 Obtained notary and apostille for the FDL (I-171H) to be added to our dossier
May 28, 2011 FDL (I-171H) received in the mail from Department of Homeland Security
May 24, 2011 I-600A approval
May 5, 2011 Pitstop: National Day of Prayer
April 28, 2011 WAITING, again
April 27, 2011 final revisions to dossier documents apostilled and mailed to Gladney
April 26, 2011 Biometrics completed during walk-in hours at local field office
April 25, 2011 Biometrics appointment notice received in the mail
April 23, 2011 second I-797C Notice of Action letter received with a USCIS case number
April 15, 2011 WAITING
April 14, 2011 posted The Story of Thunder and Lightning
April 8, 2011 I-797C Notice of Action letter received with receipt number
April 6, 2011 Dossier completed and received by Gladney with the exception of the I-171H and the Consulate Letter
April 4, 2011 Apostilles done with the exception of I-171H and the Consulate Letter
March 31, 2011 I-600A submitted to USCIS
March 28, 2011 Agency Approval
March 8, 2011 Homestudy
February 22, 2011 Psych Evaluation and MMPI Report completed
February 2, 2011 Received Agency Application
January 31, 2011 Destination: HONDURAS

Thought Provoking

"What if the secret ingredient for changing the world is teamwork?"

-Max Lucado

"I am convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile."

-Tom Clark

"Remember! Remember! Although we are far apart, through silence and distance you still hold my heart."

-Carrie Jacobs Bond

"Life is a journey, not a destination. Its treasures are not found at the end, but all along the way."

-Anonymous

"Travelers, there is no path. Paths are made by walking."

-Antonio Machado

"The world is but a canvas to our imaginations."

-Henry David Thoreau

"Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart."

-Pablo Casals

"There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved."

-George Sand

"I am here to live out loud."

-Emile Zola

"A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendship, all the enjoyment of sense and reason, and, indeed, all the SWEETS of life."

-Addison

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.

"It takes a village..."

-Beth Whitacre, Gladney Caseworker