And the whining is over...at least for now anyway

Today was a good day - we received our CIS appointment letter and can now go and have our fingerprints taken. Once that occurs, the paperwork is then processed and CIS will send us an approval to adopt a child from Ethiopia. This approval can take some time, but it is the final step before we are officially added to the Gladney waitlist.

Our dossier is nearing completion and the last thing we have to confirm is our life insurance status. Then it will be authenticated and translated for use in Ethiopia.

I suppose now it's time for us to go to the health clinic and take care of all the vaccinations needed for travel. Oh how much I am looking forward to being poked and prodded!

My fingers are crossed that we'll recieve a picture of a little boy by Christmas. I can't think of a better gift to share during the holidays.

Wherefore art thou CIS letter?

We are still waiting for our CIS appointment letter. Everyday I go through this positive self-talk routine and I tell myself that "today will be the day". Then, it's a little depressing sifting through the junk mail to find that our fingerprint appointment has still not arrived. We are so anxious to have that behind us and to complete our dossier. Next step - the waitclub.

I suppose this is the point where the blogging slows down...I'm running out of news to share. We have almost completed the "airplane" themed bedroom. It's a pretty happening place - sometimes we all go in and sit on the bed trying to imagine what a 4-5 year old boy will think of his new set-up.

That's all the news we have in the Treat household. Our lives consist of waiting, waiting, and oh yeah - more waiting. I do believe that if I understand pregnancy correctly that we are officially (now 11 weeks) nearing our second trimester. Isn't that the time when things are most stable and a woman experiences less fatigue and anxiety? Although I'm not pregnant literally, I often feel as though we still go through some of the same adverse effects of pregnancy: stress, fatigue, anxiety, worry, fear, and let's not forget all the blood I seem to be giving people lately. So perhaps as they say, the second trimester of adoption will bring us some much needed peace. At least until we have to go for our pre-travel vacinations....

So here's hoping that the next post contains the headline, "We have an appointment". Then we'll be one step closer to joining the wait club.

This just in...

We received FBI clearance this morning via a fedex delivery. Good news - neither of us have been arrested. Yippee!

Gladney Approved

Today we received the following message:

Dear Todd and Renee,

Congratulations, you are now Gladney approved and ready to begin the dossier and ultimately the referral phase of your adoption process. I am mailing you both an approval packet with your approval certificate and quarterly training information for your “approved and waiting” period.

The Gladney certificate was waiting on our doorstep as we arrived home this evening. So, we're just waiting for a CIS fingerprint appointment and the FBI release to arrive. After that - it's the waitlist for us....

Things are moving along and with any luck, we'll have a referral by Christmas. So, please Santa, do be good to us this year!!!

No news on the Homefront....

Not much to report except that our Gladney paperwork has officially all been submitted. This means that we should receive our certificate of approval and after our CIS fingerprint appointment is scheduled and confirmed, we will be placed on a waiting list.

Current wait time is over 3 months for an infant. I'm not sure how that corresponds with the wait time for a toddler so I'm guessing it will December or January before we hear anything.

In the meantime we are still submitting papers for our dossier and I think all we have left at this point is to obtain life insurance, verify that Todd and I both have health insurance, submit our FBI and CIS clearance as they arrive. After that, Kate with KBS Dossier will have our documents authenticated and shipped off.

What an arduous process! The good news is that while I'm off of work for Thanksgiving and Christmas break I can just sit around and jump out of my skin when the phone rings wondering if it's ground breaking news.... What an exciting life I lead!!