WOW! I can't believe it's been a month since I have updated this. Time is just flying by now that I am back to work. I swear, every night I come home and think I will update this thing and I don't. So here I sit at work, not working, and typing away. So much i feel has happened since the last post! So here it goes!
Once we got the home study back, we also got some contracts to sign. Well, we signed those and had them back in the mail in no time flat. We then got a HUGE packet of paperwork called our Dossier. The gal we are working with now told me not to panic. I got the packet in the mail, of course after stalking the mailman, and what did i do....PANIC. I was quickly going through all the paperwork thinking, oh my god, oh my god, this is a ton of info we have to gather. Well, once i actually sat down and read through it, I noticed that a lot of the things we had to do, the agency was actually going to do. Yah for me! Needless to say, I got the packet of info on Tuesday afternoon, got to work on Wednesday and worked on it all day. Steve asked me if I gave the school district any time that day, like he's one to talk, and I said a little. I finished the paperwork on Friday afternoon and we drove to San Diego on Monday. I guess to let you know about the paperwork that was included in that packet...a little bit of everything. There were 39 things listed out that I had to compile. Luckily, once I stopped panicing, I only had to do 1-26 and the agency had to do the rest since they also did our home study. I had to copy our passport pages 1 & 2 onto a specific page they included and I had to make 7 copies of each passport. I also had to make copies of the deed to the house on their document, fill out other odd and end stuff pertaining to power of attorney, placement stuff, russian registration, etc. All of these documents had to be notarized, then taken to the county and then sent off to the state. I took a total of 44 documents to San Diego to be notarized. Most notaries charge $10/document. Heloo! Luckily, I called the agency and was sort of complaining that the county of San Bernardino charges $10/document to authenticate the notary. This was adding up rather quickly. Michelle, our coordinator told me that if I came to San Diego, she could do them for us for FREE! Needless to say, we were in the car driving down there. The second reason we went down there is because the county of San Diego only charges $2/document to then authenticate the notary. So basically by driving down there, we saved over $700. Michelle has an assistant who then took the documents (for the bargain price of $75) to be authenticated and then on to the state level where all of those documents will then get apostilled. The state will put their stamp of approval on it and Russian will recognize it. If anyone has heard of the Hague convention, that is when this seal came about. I guess now that you are reading this, you know all of the flaming hoops of fire we are jumping through to get these kids home to us and why we don't want to go through this again, hence adopting TWO children at once.
OK, I'm sure the last paragraph was sort of all jumbled up. Sorry. I am at work and trying to multi-task. So basically, I still have some other things to finish up with the dossier. They are time sensitive though and some are only good for 3 months. We do however have the necessary documents in to recieve a referral, 2 in our case. The other documents we have to get are, good conduct letters from the police department, a letter from a psychologist, a letter from our doctor, medical certificates and letters from our employers. All of these are time sensitive documents that are only good from 3-6 months. We'll get them a bit later. Again, we will have to have all of these documents notarized, authenticated and then apostilled. In some of the cases, we will have to bring a notary with us so they can watch the doctors sign their name. More flaming hoops of fire!
You may be asking where we are at right now. I asked the director and he said that we are number 5 in line. This means that in just our agency, we are 5th in line for a referral. Our coordinator told me that she thinks I set a record in getting all of those documents back to her so quickly. She said some people take 3-4 months to get them back. With that being said, if the people who are number 3 or 4 don't have the necessary documents back to the agency, they will have to get passed up and they will come to us with the referral. So we're just in the waiting game right now. I told the director that I have a couple of books to read and also 2 rooms to decorate. I think the referrals will be here before we know it and I won't be ready. Needless to say, whatever happens, I know I will be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Most of you reading this know me and you already know this!
Well, I guess I will get back to work. I will have to post some pictures of the cute rocking chairs that Steve and I bought for the kids. I have been trying to be really good but it is hard. I just want to shop like crazy! Especially the very cute VRROOW coat that mom and I both saw at Costco. Too cute! For now, I will remain calm. I am trying to only buy things that will go in their rooms to decorate. Once we know the ages though, look out! Janet and Leslie keep telling me to quit shopping because there won't be anything left for a shower! Oh please ladies! There will be TONS!
Best wishes to all reading this!
