Welcome to my blog. The purpose of this blog is to document the experiences of my family and myself so that in the future our children will be able to see our thoughts and preparations as we waited and traveled our adoption journey. Also, I hope to document what I am learning so that I can share it with my family and friends so that they can be prepared, and help us prepare, for the exciting transition that is to come.
Status of the adoption:
Oct 6 - We are home and heading into our daily routine.
Sept 19 - 5 days until we are on a the plane to Ethiopia. Currenlty, we are packed, bags are zipped (over weight though :-( we are working on it) and we are ready to go. 7 days... count 'em, 7 days until we hold Tamene!!! Aug 22 - 9:00pm - Travel date is now changed officially to Sept 25. We will be in Ethiopia on Sept 25!! This date will not change - well, unless the call me an ask me to leave a week or two earlier, because I would! Aug 22 - We have a birth certificate. We are working out a travel date, either 9/25 or 10/2 (as of 12:30 am today) August 1 - Nothing new, 14 days and counting for the Birth Certificate July 18 - We made it through court today - next is about a 4 week wait for the birth certificate, and then another 4-8 week wait to travel. July 11 - One week until our court date. Please send us good vibes, best wishes, prayers, cross your fingers and your toes!! July 1 - Our current guess for travel to Ethiopia is the last week in August or first week in September. We will be notified of our travel date late July or early August, we have to get past the July 18 court date first. June 27 - Court date assigned (July 18) June 20 - We are waiting to get scheduled for court. Once we are scheduled for court and "through court" we will have a better idea about when we will travel to Ethiopia. We recieved a video of Tamene this week. June 6 - We are waiting to find out what's next. We are hoping to have our son home before the end of July. June 4- Please read the June 4 blog for an update(It's a boy) May 22 -The agency has been very busy getting referrals out to new families! When we got on the "unofficial waiting list" we were number 101... as of this evening we are #87 (the unofficial list represent about 1/3-1/2 of the acutual list), the number doesn't mean a lot because we are not waiting for an infant, those are the longest waits. Courts close in Ethiopia during August and September. So there is little or no movement in people bringing home children during that time. The referrals that came in today ranged from 3 weeks old to 17 months. As a reminder we are open to one or two children under age 4.
April 22 - Our home study is complete! Our dossier was submitted today - "dossier" is the stack of paperwork required by Ethiopia. As of today we are officially in waiting status - "waiting status" means that we are just waiting for Ethiopia, our agency, and God to connect us with our child.THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG!
Important Milestones
July 8, 2009 - COC is issued
February 13, 2009 - Tamene is documented as a US citizen.
October 11, 2008 - Tamene celebrates his 3rd birthday
October 3, 2008 - The Peterson Family is United!
October 3, 2008 - Arrive back in the United States of America
October 2, 2008- Depart Ethiopia
Edit: Sept 30 (previous September 28), 2008 - Travel to Hosanna to meet Tamene's birth family
Edit: Sept 28 (previous September 30), 2008 - We take Tamene into our care permanently
September 26, 2008 - Meet Tamene for the first time
September 25, 2008 - Land in Ethiopia
September 24, 2008 - Getting on plane to Ethiopia
September 12, 2008 - Class Reunion and plan to meet with other adopting families in Wisconsin
August 22, 2008 - (9:00pm) A roller coaster of a day. Travel again moved to 9/25. Travel boooked, tickets purchased
August 22, 2008 - (12:30 am) Sent e-mail to Travel Agent requesting travel date change to 10/2
August 21, 2008 - (9:43 pm) - Notified that possibility of travel 9/25
August 21, 2008 - (6:00 pm) - Airline tickets purchesed for travel on 10/2
August 20, 2008 - Friends of the Maple Grove project throw a shower for me!
August 19, 2008 - Another update of height and weight (same numbers different format)
August 18, 2008 - Height and weight update on Tamene received
August 17, 2008 - Height and weight update on Tamene received
August 13, 2008 - Recieved tentative travel date for September 25
August 11, 2008 - Temporary ban from blogging implemented
August 2, 2008 - Update recieved
August 1, 2008 - SS Passport arrives
July 18, 2008 - Notified that we made it through court
July 18, 2008 - Scheduled court date
July 16, 2008 - Received new stats on Tamene, he has gained 5 lbs since coming into care!
July 15, 2008 - Doctor appointment for review of Tamene's records and prep for travel and return home
July 12, 2008 - Boys' room is painted and decorated- Thanks Soul Sister!!!!!
July 6, 2008 - Trent and I celebrate 12 wonderful years of marriage
June 27, 2008 - Notified of court date (July 18), recieved developmental checklists
June 19, 2008 - Took care package to agency
June 18, 2008 - Received video
June 16, 2008 - USCIS Petition (I-171H) forwarded to Embassy
June 13, 2008 - I-171H received
June 12, 2008 - Agency sent information to Registrar
June 11, 2008 - Recieved written update and photos from care center
June 4, 2008 - Referral accepted - It's a boy!
June 3,2008 - Referral received
May 14, 2008 - Official home study recieved
April 23, 2008 - Dossier sent to country
April 26, 2008 - Finger printing appointment
April 22, 2008 - Dossier Accepted, Officially Waiting
April 21, 2008 - Adoption Study approved
April 21, 2008 - Second/Final meeting with our social worker for our home study
April 18, 2008 - All dossier paperwork is complete
April 14 & 17, 2008 - Passports received
April 16, 2008 - Appointment received for finger printing
April 8 - Received checklist for Dossier, Mailed I-600A to request fingerprinting
April 7, 2008 - First meeting with social worker to start Home Study
April 1 & 2, 2008 - Passports applied for
April 1, 2008 - Self Study recieved by agency, contacted by social worker
March 30, 2008 - Completed Self-Study Packet
March 20-21, 2008 - We attend the Pre Adoption Class (PAC)
February 19, 2008 - Application Completed
January 25, 2008 - Our application is recieved by the agency
January 20, 2008 - We have finally completed the paperwork for our application
Early January, 2008 - Start filling out application paperwork
December, 2007 - Choose adoption agency
Late November, 2007 - Announce plan to adopt to family and friends
November 11, 2007 - Decision to investigate options for expanding family
To-Do list (the life of a project manager)
(not intended to make sense to readers ;-)
To-do Electronics set up Rocks & Wood Set pediatrician appointment at IAC and GP, Dent, Opt buy postcards work on thank you cards Journal instructions complete and additions Plan for layover mats solo gift binoculars invoice travel guide flat iron post cards thank you cards
Quotes
“Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.” -Henry Ward Beecher
"Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail." -Charles F. Kettering
"If happiness is in your destiny, you need not be in a hurry." - Chinese Proverb
"Hope is grief's best friend"- unkown
"Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them. Have great dreams and dare to live them. Have tremendous expectations and believe in them."- Norman Vincent Peale
"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him." -1 Samuel 1:27
"Like cold water to a weary soul, is good news from a distant land." - Proverbs 25:25
"It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear... It's like being beween trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to." - Marilyn Ferguson, American, futurist.
"Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey." - Alex Noble
"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." - Greg Anderson
Books
Adoption is a Family Affair: What Relatives and Friends Must Know - Patricia Irwin Johnston
Daughter from Afar - Sarah Lynn Woodard
Ethiopia 4th ed. - Phillip Bradt
Ethiopian Amharic Phrasebook - Tilahun Kebede
I Wished for You: An adoption story - Marianne Richmond
Inside Transracial Adoption - Gail Steinberg & Beth Hall
Interracial Intimacies - Randall Kennedy
Outsdiers Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption - ed. Jane Jeong Trenka, Julia Chinyere Oparah & Sun Yung Shin
The Post-Adoption Blues: Overcoming the unforeseen challendges of adoption - Karen J. Foli & John R. Thompson
Toddler Adoption: The Weaver's Craft - Mary Hopkins-Best
Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew - Sherrie Eldridge
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