I went to the local USCIS this morning at 8 AM (yes, I was on time) and Mom and I were fingerprinted. Our prints are now at the FBI getting checked out. It was so cool...They do all of the prints electronically. Your fingers need to be wet and they put them on this glass and rotate your fingers to get the entire print. The prints are only good for 1 year, so hopefully Magdalena will come home within a year from today....so I don't need to get them done again! I am trying to schedule my next home study visit and encouraging those writing referrals to get them done soon. I wrote my autobiography, answered all of the questionnaires, filled out a bunch of forms and compiled tons of information. I hope to have everything on my end ready by tomorrow night.
More to come...
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
My Adoption Education
I have now read a 500 page book, Adoption Parenting, and took a 78 question test on it...Which I got a 100 on! I also finished my 8 hour on-line Hague Training this weekend. It was supposed to be 8 hours, but it was more like 12 hours! Waiting on those videos to load was very frustrating. I now have more information about international adoption and more questions. The training has forced me to think about things I may not have considered, as well as explained things that I was unsure about.
I had to write a 2-3 page autobiography about myself and it is SIX pages. They wanted information about each of my siblings... and there are a lot of us!! I also am in the process of answering questionnaires about my decision to adopt, how I view birth parents, what I plan on telling my child about adoption, etc. Some of the answers to the questions may change over time, but I am answering them how I feel right now.
I received the certified copies of Mom's & my birth certificates this past week. I also finally filed my taxes. I am having much of the work finished on my house, so I can be fully prepared for my child. The deck is being redone, since it was practically falling apart and there was no railing. I am having it extended with a new 10' x 15' section and real stairs added! I am also having my bedroom and office flooring installed, the kitchen back splash installed and a closet changed into a built in TV unit.
More to come soon...
:)
I had to write a 2-3 page autobiography about myself and it is SIX pages. They wanted information about each of my siblings... and there are a lot of us!! I also am in the process of answering questionnaires about my decision to adopt, how I view birth parents, what I plan on telling my child about adoption, etc. Some of the answers to the questions may change over time, but I am answering them how I feel right now.
I received the certified copies of Mom's & my birth certificates this past week. I also finally filed my taxes. I am having much of the work finished on my house, so I can be fully prepared for my child. The deck is being redone, since it was practically falling apart and there was no railing. I am having it extended with a new 10' x 15' section and real stairs added! I am also having my bedroom and office flooring installed, the kitchen back splash installed and a closet changed into a built in TV unit.
More to come soon...
:)
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Home study started and I-600A filed
On Thursday morning I had my first meeting with Catholic Charities! Julie Bolles, my case worker, is awesome! We met for about an hour and she went through the entire process of the home study with me...and then handed me more paperwork! I am starting to think this is not the most eco-friendly process!
On Friday I sent my I-600A to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration services) office in Memphis. The USCIS is going to start the ball rolling for me to bring a foreign child into the country!! I have to wait about 3 weeks and then they will send me notification that I have an appointment to get fingerprinted for the FBI background check. My Mom has to get fingerprinted too. I also went to the Nashville police department on Friday to get the police background checks on mom and me. Thank goodness neither of us have been arrested!! A few days ago, I actually asked mom if she had ever been arrested... needless to say, I got a resounding NO and she was a bit shocked that I would think that! How am I supposed to know what she did before I was around!?!?!
Doesn't this paperwork process sound like fun?
This morning I attended a singles adoption support group. I was the newbie of the group. 2 ladies brought their adopted children (from Russia & Guatemala), one is waiting for her referral (from Ethiopia) and another has been waiting 6 years and is finally getting her child in June (from the Philippines). It was the first meeting of this group ever, so we just introduced ourselves today and discussed where we are in the process. Everyone was so nice and supportive. I am looking forward to the next time we meet.
I am having to get everything together for my home study... which includes a medical exam (a physical and tests for TB, hepatitis A, B & C, HIV, and a drug screening), financial report (how much stuff I have versus how much I owe!), write an autobiography about myself (I am fabulous!!), fill in questionnaires about my views on parenting & adoption, and a few other things. It is overwhelming to say the least! Oh, and I am supposed to be working on my dossier now as well. I guess they are trying to prepare me for motherhood by having me be really busy and multi-task like crazy!!!!!!
On Friday I sent my I-600A to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration services) office in Memphis. The USCIS is going to start the ball rolling for me to bring a foreign child into the country!! I have to wait about 3 weeks and then they will send me notification that I have an appointment to get fingerprinted for the FBI background check. My Mom has to get fingerprinted too. I also went to the Nashville police department on Friday to get the police background checks on mom and me. Thank goodness neither of us have been arrested!! A few days ago, I actually asked mom if she had ever been arrested... needless to say, I got a resounding NO and she was a bit shocked that I would think that! How am I supposed to know what she did before I was around!?!?!
Doesn't this paperwork process sound like fun?
This morning I attended a singles adoption support group. I was the newbie of the group. 2 ladies brought their adopted children (from Russia & Guatemala), one is waiting for her referral (from Ethiopia) and another has been waiting 6 years and is finally getting her child in June (from the Philippines). It was the first meeting of this group ever, so we just introduced ourselves today and discussed where we are in the process. Everyone was so nice and supportive. I am looking forward to the next time we meet.
I am having to get everything together for my home study... which includes a medical exam (a physical and tests for TB, hepatitis A, B & C, HIV, and a drug screening), financial report (how much stuff I have versus how much I owe!), write an autobiography about myself (I am fabulous!!), fill in questionnaires about my views on parenting & adoption, and a few other things. It is overwhelming to say the least! Oh, and I am supposed to be working on my dossier now as well. I guess they are trying to prepare me for motherhood by having me be really busy and multi-task like crazy!!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
