scrapbooking 101

I have finally gotten around to trying my hand at scrapbooking. My plan is to do as many pages as I can and then add the pictures when I get them. That way I have a better chance of actually completing the life book.

I have attached pictures of the 2 pages I have finished. I thought it would be good to see if I can figure out how to post pictures to this blog.


Title Page

Referral Page

Dilemma

I emailed our dossier documents to our agency coordinator today so she could check them over before I send them off to have them state certified. This was her response to me:

These documents are all in really good shape. I found a few minor,
knit-picky kind of issues that I would not actually require you
to correct but you can if you would like to be extra-cautious.

All of the documents are perfect except for both our medical exams. On both forms the doctors middle initial wasn't written and on my form I printed and wrote my name with my middle name but on the notary paragraph only has my first and last name. So here is my dilemma. I have the time to get them redone but as everyone knows anything that involves a doctor is a real pain. I don't even know if I have to make an appointment or if the front desk can just take it back to have the doctor sign. No matter what, my doctor is 2 hours away so it will be at least a half day if not a full day off work. If anyone has an opinion feel free to leave a comment. Since my agency said it was optional maybe I will take a poll.

I forwarded my home study to my coordinator today also. It needs to be approved by the agency then our social worker can finalize it and get it notarized. Then we can file our i-600. Yeah!

Oh Happy Day!

First of all our social worker emailed our home study rough draft this morning. I know it was a little later than he told me but I'm just so happy to get it that I don't care. In the scheme of home studies I think ours is happening at a pretty good pace. Of course not as fast as I want because I want it to be instant.

The other great news is we finished gathering all of our documents for our dossier this week. The next step is to send them to our coordinator at our agency so she can look them over to make sure we did everything right. Then we send them to the state where they were notarized to be state certified. All of Mike's documents go to Idaho because that is where he had them notarized since he works over there. The good news is it is 5 dollars cheaper per document to have them certified in Idaho than in Washington so that will save us a little bit of money.

Were 2 steps closer, Yeah!!!

Frustrated

I am beginning to get a little frustrated over my home study report. Last Tuesday I called and he told me I was next on the list and that he would call me either Wednesday or Thursday. Those days came and went and I let it slide. The scary thing is I called him yesterday (Tuesday) and he told me he had a stack of home studies he was going to work on that night, I was #1 or #2 on the pile and he would call me Wednesday or Thursday. Am I experiencing Da Ja Vou? Are they remaking the movie Groundhog Day and I am now playing the staring role? That would be a hoot as I'm not much of an actress.

I did feel as if I may have rushed into finding a social worker. So I went back tonight and did some more research. There isn't a lot of information about him on my yahoo groups but everything I did find is very positive. I would think if he wasn't legit there would be a least one negative post. I guess I just need to keep repeating "patience." I'm sure it is a word I will be saying a lot on this journey.

On a more positive note I went to Walmart tonight and bought several more dollars of scrapbooking supplies. I haven't made a single page but boy do I have some cool stuff. LOL

Lifebook

One thing that our agency requires is that we complete a workbook that deals with International Adoption. The chapter that I just completed was making a life book for our child. A life book is similar to a baby book but it includes things that are more specific to an adoption. Pages for journaling how excited we were when we sent our application, humorous stories about our home study, our first referral photos, etc.

I just recently got rid of all my crafting supplies to make room for our new baby. So the idea of being able to start a new hobby is very appealing to me. I have never done scrapbooking before because I didn't feel I took enough photos to warrant it. But now I have this great excuse. A few years ago my sister gave me an art supply storage crate so I have decided that I can't get any more supplies than what will fit in this crate.

SHOPPING TRIP! I went to Michael's today and wandered around their scrapbooking aisles. I was in heaven, they have just about everything you can imagine. An hour and several dollars later I walked out with what I hope will be enough supplies to get me started.

P.S. Still no home study rough draft.

Home Study Rough Draft???

Well I am disappointed to say that we did not get our rough draft for our home study. I must have refreshed my email every 20 minutes today looking for it. I'm still hoping that he will send it this weekend. I know he does a lot of his writing when he gets home. If not I will call on Monday, but it is a holiday so it is hard to say if he will be in the office.

Another problem: when I was checking my husband's medical report I noticed they put his height and weight in inches and pounds instead of meters and kilograms. I had him go back to have it redone and they told him they had no way to convert the figures. Maybe I am wrong but I would think that most doctors would know how to do this. Mine did it in his head when he filled out my report. So I plan to fill that part out myself then he can take it back to the doctor's office for the rest. Luckily we don't need this form for awhile so the delay won't affect anything.

Here's hoping I will have more positive news my next post.

Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day. My wonderful husband sent me surprise flowers today. He bought flowers this weekend so I didn't think I would be getting any today. But surprise a lovely bouquet was delivered to work today. I love my husband.

Adoption news: I called our social worker yesterday to check on our home study. He said he had one to finish writing then ours was next on his list. He said he would probably call today or tomorrow. I of course was hoping today, what a great extra Valentine's present, but alas no. No phone call, no email. Let's all hope for tomorrow.

To blog or not to blog

For those of you who know me your are probably thinking "What is she thinking?" She is going to blog? Well let me tell you the story behind the blog. Mike and I decided we wanted to adopt. Then we decided we wanted to adopt internationally, and finally we decided we wanted to adopt from Vietnam. Then it was time for me to start researching, and you know how I love to research. I found every adoption forum and yahoo group that was on the internet. I read as many old posts as I could trying to decide on an agency. Then it became obvious that I would have to post to some of these groups if I was going to get more answers. This is how I met "T" (I'll call her that until I find out if she wants her real name used) she emailed me asking me to share what I found out about an agency she was also interested in. From there we starting emailing back and forth sharing our experience so far.

Then one day she emailed me and asked are you going to start a blog? I replied that I enjoyed reading as many blogs as I could about Vietnam adoptions but I probably wouldn't write one myself. What would I write about during those endless months of waiting? She emailed me back and suggested that a blog would be a good way to connect with other adoptive parents. A way to get support and find out more information about the process. I decided that she was right. It wasn't fair for me to lurk at all the other blogs out there and not share my experiences as well. So that was how this blog got started.

I will do my best to stick with this, although I still worry about the day when I write "still waiting." And if your out there please comment let me know that I am connecting with other adoptive parents or people just curious about this wonderful, joyful, roller coaster ride called international adoption.