OK. So I was so sure that good news was on its way, that I was not going to write any new posts until I could announce our Gladney Approval, but that's starting to seem like it may take a while and I hate to disappoint my faithful readers (all 4 or 5 of you!).
(Actually, I first had this brilliant idea about not posting about two weeks ago, when Gladney told us they had our homestudy report and gave me the impression that it would be just a few days before we got that famous approval email I've seen shared on many blogs, but that was clearly not to be.... Oh well. I've certainly rambled on enough about that.)
Interestingly, Gladney sent an email today to families in the Ethiopia program acknowledging that they have been a bit overwhelmed as the program has grown substantially recently, and they apologized for delays in process that families have been experiencing. They are in the process of increasing staff, etc. and are trying to get back on track. I've seen some numbers posted on other people's blogs and it really is amazing how quickly the Ethiopian program has grown - I think there are currently more than three times as many families in this program as one year ago!
As we have shared, we have certainly been disappointed in the way things have been going lately, but it is hard to be too upset when you stop and think about the reason - that is, that so many more people are adopting from Ethiopia, meaning so many more children will find homes soon. Not to say I won't be having at least a few more breakdowns as we continue along this road, but we are trying to focus more on the positive, and to let things play out however they may (wish this control freak some luck!).
So.... on to the positive. We've got our travel visas!! I can't believe we forgot about getting visas, but I guess we've been so consumed by adoption and work and holidays and everything else, that, well, our upcoming vacation was the last thing on our minds. I have been treating it as though it's months away, but it's almost here!! Woo hoo!!! Let the countdown begin....
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
a little perspective
Thanks to family and friends (here and in the blog world) for all the kind words and reassurances. It is so nice to know we are not alone in all of this.
Sometimes this process can be sooooo frustrating, and we can't help but find ourselves ranting about it all, but we do know that it will all be very worth it in the end. I know that many others are going through the same things that we are, and have also had their own setbacks. This was a rough week for several families going through court in Ethiopia and my heart goes out to all of them. I think this post by Jana and this one from Renee's dad definitely help put things in perspective.
So no more complaining... (at least for today!).
Besides, we realized yesterday that we have slightly more pressing issues to focus on. We're gearing up for a vacation in a couple of weeks and realized yesterday that we never got travel visas for one of our destinations. Ooops!! (We should be able to resolve this tomorrow, but it's fair to say I was feeling very anxious and stressed yesterday and, for the first time in a while, it had absolutely nothing to do with adoption!!).
In other news, we're getting ready for a visit from our Aussie friend (who I met in SE Asia - go figure). He's due to arrive here this afternoon... somewhere in between his travels to Japan, Vegas, and Mexico (to name a few of his stops). Now that's a good life!
Sometimes this process can be sooooo frustrating, and we can't help but find ourselves ranting about it all, but we do know that it will all be very worth it in the end. I know that many others are going through the same things that we are, and have also had their own setbacks. This was a rough week for several families going through court in Ethiopia and my heart goes out to all of them. I think this post by Jana and this one from Renee's dad definitely help put things in perspective.
So no more complaining... (at least for today!).
Besides, we realized yesterday that we have slightly more pressing issues to focus on. We're gearing up for a vacation in a couple of weeks and realized yesterday that we never got travel visas for one of our destinations. Ooops!! (We should be able to resolve this tomorrow, but it's fair to say I was feeling very anxious and stressed yesterday and, for the first time in a while, it had absolutely nothing to do with adoption!!).
In other news, we're getting ready for a visit from our Aussie friend (who I met in SE Asia - go figure). He's due to arrive here this afternoon... somewhere in between his travels to Japan, Vegas, and Mexico (to name a few of his stops). Now that's a good life!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
so close... and yet so far away
I feel like we've been doing quite a lot of ranting here recently and I apologize for that. I would love this blog to have only happy, positive posts, but sometimes this process makes that hard.
In the last few days, here's what we've learned -
My birth certificate is not the right form for the dossier. Kate from KBS says this seems to happen often in NY and suggests that you need to call and speak to a live person to resolve it. I thought this was not a big deal, but try getting a person from the NY State Dept. of Health on the phone.
I need to obtain a separate, notarized letter confirming my health and life insurance coverage for our dossier. We initially needed proof of our insurance for our agency application. I was having trouble getting a notarized letter from my provider, but Ryan's employer was able to confirm his coverage (and the adopted child's eligibility to receive coverage immediately). Gladney was fine with this, and I understood from my discussions with them that his letter would suffice for us both and I didn't need to obtain a separate letter. Kate says I do. My insurance administrator says they would be happy to send me a confirmation of all my coverage on company letterhead, but no way they'll be getting that notarized. Desperate, I went back to my HR Dept. and asked if they could help. (If you've been reading this for a while, you'll know that I had to go through several rounds with my HR Dept. to get my employment verification letter in the right format and I could not imagine having to go back again for another letter). Fortunately, they are a very patient and understanding group and I hope to have another letter from them soon (of course, your guess is as good as mine as to whether the letter will actually state what it needs to!).
Then there's the infamous bank letter. Kate actually said it looked okay (I'm amazed). But... (you knew a "but" was coming) she wanted to know why the bank only stated that we had a checking account. Well, the answer is because we only maintain a joint checking account; our savings accounts are separate and at different banks. And wouldn't you know it, we need to have a bank letter stating that we have a savings account. Kate says we should be okay if just one of us gets this, and Ryan has nominated me. I think he's had enough of banks - or at least bank reps.
We also made a mistake with respect to Ryan's dossier physician's report (as opposed to the agency application physician report), but that one is my fault. There's a quick fix, but it will mean another trip to the doctor for Ryan.
I knew that the paperwork for adoption would be painful and I didn't expect everything to work out perfectly, but it's still frustrating. We might be making a few suggestions to our agency to improve their instructions when we finally get through this all. Don't get me wrong - they have been really great to work with overall, but they received and reviewed some (not all) of our dossier docs as part of the application process and I can't help but wonder why they didn't point out some of the potential issues then. Now it feels like we have wasted a lot of time waiting, when we could have been fixing these mistakes.
Oh... and we're still waiting for our agency's official approval. I really thought we would have it by now, since they've had our homestudy for a week and had indicated that it only takes a few days to review. With everything else that's gone wrong, I am getting worried!
Well, I cannot end this post on such a negative note, so to switch gears, here's another great site for holiday gifts that do good: UNICEF Inspired Gifts
Happy Shopping!
In the last few days, here's what we've learned -
My birth certificate is not the right form for the dossier. Kate from KBS says this seems to happen often in NY and suggests that you need to call and speak to a live person to resolve it. I thought this was not a big deal, but try getting a person from the NY State Dept. of Health on the phone.
I need to obtain a separate, notarized letter confirming my health and life insurance coverage for our dossier. We initially needed proof of our insurance for our agency application. I was having trouble getting a notarized letter from my provider, but Ryan's employer was able to confirm his coverage (and the adopted child's eligibility to receive coverage immediately). Gladney was fine with this, and I understood from my discussions with them that his letter would suffice for us both and I didn't need to obtain a separate letter. Kate says I do. My insurance administrator says they would be happy to send me a confirmation of all my coverage on company letterhead, but no way they'll be getting that notarized. Desperate, I went back to my HR Dept. and asked if they could help. (If you've been reading this for a while, you'll know that I had to go through several rounds with my HR Dept. to get my employment verification letter in the right format and I could not imagine having to go back again for another letter). Fortunately, they are a very patient and understanding group and I hope to have another letter from them soon (of course, your guess is as good as mine as to whether the letter will actually state what it needs to!).
Then there's the infamous bank letter. Kate actually said it looked okay (I'm amazed). But... (you knew a "but" was coming) she wanted to know why the bank only stated that we had a checking account. Well, the answer is because we only maintain a joint checking account; our savings accounts are separate and at different banks. And wouldn't you know it, we need to have a bank letter stating that we have a savings account. Kate says we should be okay if just one of us gets this, and Ryan has nominated me. I think he's had enough of banks - or at least bank reps.
We also made a mistake with respect to Ryan's dossier physician's report (as opposed to the agency application physician report), but that one is my fault. There's a quick fix, but it will mean another trip to the doctor for Ryan.
I knew that the paperwork for adoption would be painful and I didn't expect everything to work out perfectly, but it's still frustrating. We might be making a few suggestions to our agency to improve their instructions when we finally get through this all. Don't get me wrong - they have been really great to work with overall, but they received and reviewed some (not all) of our dossier docs as part of the application process and I can't help but wonder why they didn't point out some of the potential issues then. Now it feels like we have wasted a lot of time waiting, when we could have been fixing these mistakes.
Oh... and we're still waiting for our agency's official approval. I really thought we would have it by now, since they've had our homestudy for a week and had indicated that it only takes a few days to review. With everything else that's gone wrong, I am getting worried!
Well, I cannot end this post on such a negative note, so to switch gears, here's another great site for holiday gifts that do good: UNICEF Inspired Gifts
Happy Shopping!
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
happy chanukah!
can you guess who wrapped what?
(Only kidding around, of course. Despite the deceiving wrapping, Ryan is a very generous guy with fantastic taste and I am a lucky, lucky girl!)
(Only kidding around, of course. Despite the deceiving wrapping, Ryan is a very generous guy with fantastic taste and I am a lucky, lucky girl!)
Sunday, December 2, 2007
first snow
We woke up to a snow covered city this morning, which made for a mostly lazy day by the fire for us. Kind of nice if you ask me.
Tomorrow we'll be back to the daily grind, including trying to wrap up the last few pieces of paperwork for our dossier. As Ryan noted in his post below, we were finally able to get a bank letter, but it's no joke when he says it looks like a forgery. I suspect we will be looking to one of our other banks to provide another letter. I also got an email from Kate at KBS Dossier Services on Friday afternoon letting my know that the certified birth certificate I sent was not in the proper form for authentication, so I'll be on the phone with the State birth records department bright and early tomorrow trying to take care of that. Sometimes this process really does feel like the saying "one step forward, two steps back...." Ugh.
Tomorrow we'll be back to the daily grind, including trying to wrap up the last few pieces of paperwork for our dossier. As Ryan noted in his post below, we were finally able to get a bank letter, but it's no joke when he says it looks like a forgery. I suspect we will be looking to one of our other banks to provide another letter. I also got an email from Kate at KBS Dossier Services on Friday afternoon letting my know that the certified birth certificate I sent was not in the proper form for authentication, so I'll be on the phone with the State birth records department bright and early tomorrow trying to take care of that. Sometimes this process really does feel like the saying "one step forward, two steps back...." Ugh.
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