Adventures with Apostilles

Some of my readers who follow me on Facebook have a pretty good idea as to what our life is really like. Yeah, it's pretty wild around here. With four strong-willed children, life is never dull. But some days, it is downright chaotic. A week ago, I ventured out with all of our kids to get the apostilles on our dossier so it could be mailed to Carolina's country. Well, one of the documents was a background check, which had to be county certified in the county where it was notarized. So, off to the first city. After about an hour's drive in torrential rain, we arrived in the quaint little town. The court house was easy to find and was a standing memorial to days gone by, with its stately stone architecture, huge staircases, and dark wood galore. Of course, in buildings such as this, everything echoes. I brought four kids. Yeah. Everyone knew we were there. Luckily, the trip was short, even with stopping for bathroom breaks, we were in and out within 20 minutes. But oh the story gets better. This quaint little town has these stone slabs along the sidewalks, presumably to preserve the old fashioned heritage, but they make the sidewalk flood. Most of my kids avoided the water or were wearing boots, but my two year old ran right through it, soaking her shoes. Well...we can't have wet feet now can we? So, she took off the shoes when we got into the van. No big deal. We are on our way to the state capital to get those apostilles.

We arrive in the city. By this time, it is about 3:30pm on a Friday. We find the building and swing around for a place to park on the right side of the street. We pull up to a meter. Said meter has a warning on it that at 4pm, this entire area becomes a tow away zone. Oh dear. We can make it! We begin briskly walking to the building we need. It is still raining. The sidewalk is closed. Yes, really. They closed the sidewalk. I can't figure out why. Some kind of construction but whatever it was, it was not at a stage where the sidewalk really needed to be closed. So our options are to try and go around through a building, or we can cross a six lane road, walk down that sidewalk past our building, cross at the next light and back track to where we need to be. We chose the building. We get to the building we need, and have to sign in....including little stickers on the kids. Alrighty then...off we go. We get to the counter at the Secretary of State's office and begin pulling out the papers for apostilles. There were a lot of them. And then I saw it. One document...the employment letter. The notary who signed that was not commissioned in the county where she works, but up here in the capital city. Oh no. We need this dossier to be mailed. The last thing I want to do is repeat this trip.
"Where is the county court house for this county? It has to be close."  
"Here are the directions, Ma'am." 
"Alright, I am going to go get this authenticated and I will be back for all these documents."  ( As I hand them over 30 documents which need apostilled.)

Back out of the building we go, dropping my visitor's pass with the desk clerk on my way. Back down the sidewalk....ugh, that dumb closed spot! Come on kids, we're just going through it! Great. The van is in sight. Let's get in and buckle up and head to the court house. But little E had other plans as she sat herself down on the wet sidewalk, refusing to go another step. I manage to haul her to the van and put her in on the passenger side. I then went over and opened the door by her seat so I could buckle her in the seat....only to find her bouncing around the back of the van. E was bored and done. I was standing with my rear out in traffic in what was now becoming a tow away zone. I was not amused by this point and I regret to say I was less than patient. With some help from A, we got her in the seat and buckled. Then we headed over to the court house. It wasn't really all that far, but by now, all meters were tow away zones and we needed to find a lot or garage. Finally, we found one, circled back to park in it and began unloading from the van. E at this point refused to wear her wet shoes again and so A offered to piggy-back her. This was a great novelty for her, and so she pleasantly went along. The kids have learned a lot of things in all of this, one being proper use of cross-walks. They were champs. M held onto my hand and R waited for the signals and ran along side me. Into the court house we walked. As with all court houses these days, we had to go through a metal detector. My kids are pros at this by now and ran on through (E in bare feet) while I put my purse on the belt to be x-rayed. The office we needed was 20 feet in front of us...we can make it. And then, the officer says to R,
"What do you have there?"
"A spy toy."
"Wow! That is neat. Do you want to see your toy on the xray?"
"Sure!"
"O.k. put it in one of the bowls and send it through. Now, look. It's just a plastic toy. But here's your mom's purse." 
"Oh cool!"
"Can you tell what all this is?"
A few things are pointed out, and we thank the young officer, who by the way, looked just like McNab from the show, "Psych"

Now, into the office we scurry...right up to the counter. The authentication takes about a minute. While we are there though, I ask for directions to a garage near the Secretary of State building so we don't waste valuable time looking. It's now 4:30pm. She gives an address, which I type into my phone's GPS and we are off again. Back to the garage, back to the van, load up, seat belts (no one fights this time, they are engrossed in our race against the clock). We make it to the garage without issues and it is now about a block and a half walk to the building we need. A does the piggy back thing again and M holds my hand while R again runs along side. We make it to the building. It is 4:45pm.  We now get the stack of apostilled documents back and I go through them while they get me the one for the newly authenticated document and write out my receipt. My kids were sitting in chairs behind me and I was quite focused on these papers, but then I hear it...SQEAK! SQUEAKY SQUEAK! SQUEEEEEEEEK! Yes, my son, R is squeaking his wet shoes on the floor. Now, in all reality this is not a big deal considering our rainy day adventure, but the man behind the desk was just in shock. How dare kids make noise! I'm tellin' ya. I tell him to stop now. He does it one last time to annoy me. I inform him his Nintendo DS is MINE....no more squeaking. Finally, we head out again, saying goodbye to the security guard who was at this door, and head back into the rain. Through crowds of people getting off work, clutching my daughter in one hand, and my dossier in the other, we make our way back to the garage. We load up once more, and pull out into 5pm rush hour traffic.

By this time I look awful. My newly chopped short hair is wet as much from sweat as it is from rain and sticking up and out in all directions. My make up is basically gone, and I am tired. We made it out of the city with only one short delay for merging traffic. By this point E is sacked out in her car seat and the others are not far behind, so it is very quiet. And then dear hubby calls....
"Hey, I talked to our friends and we are going to see the 6:30pm showing of Iron Man 3!"
Oh, and the city we were going to? About 30 minutes from our house...in the opposite direction. And the other couple already has tickets. One of their teens will be babysitting our kids. This is very welcome, but there is NO way I can get home and then over to the theater by 6:30...no...way.
Thankfully, the next call I received said that we would instead see the 7:45 showing....in 3D.
Alright. That I can do. We got the kids home and fed and settled with the sitter, and back out we went...me still looking about the same as when we left the capital city. Oh well. I am not out to impress anyone. My dinner ended up being a coke and some not so great pre-packaged nachos (Why do theaters do that? The old style was much tastier.) Anyhow, I really enjoyed the movie and was very glad we went. It was a very long day, but we accomplished what needed done.

Our dossier was mailed and arrived yesterday in our sweet girl's country. And now, we wait....and fundraise like crazy because we were not anticipating the summer airfare. We should be headed to Eastern Europe in about six weeks to meet our girl and bring her home. Six weeks...it feels like forever on one hand, but considering the amount of prep work that needs done here, I know it will be here before we know it. We would appreciate any help with our upcoming auction and with sharing our cause. We know the need is great and so many people are traveling this summer. We are grateful for any and all help be it financial, logistical or prayers. We are humbled and awed by it all.

One celebration wasn't enough for today...

I had to come on here right now, because I just found out that Frank has a family!!!!! You can read about them HERE but they are also adopting another sweet boy who was about to age out. What an amazing family! I am so thankful that this young man will now be called, "son."  What a glorious end to the day!

Wahooo!

Hello everyone! First off, I must announce that sweet Vytas has a family coming for him! YAY!!! So thrilled for him and his future family!

I am still praying for Frank to find his family, but with a $12,000 grant, perhaps someone will see him and take the leap. He isn't in danger of aging out yet, but is far from a baby or toddler....this is one of the hardest age ranges to place. But I am confident that there is a family out there somewhere who is just right for this great young man.

And a little update on our progress....Yesterday, we received our letter from USCIS. We are APPROVED! That was our final document for our dossier, so we will be going down tomorrow morning for our county authentications and possibly heading over for apostilles.

We are having a garage sale this weekend at a friend's house. It is the first official "garage sale weekend" for one of the local towns, so we are hoping that the bargain hunters are out in full force. The kids are selling baked goods and possibly snow cones at the sale as well. They are very excited about that.

I have been humbled and completely amazed at all the donations people have brought by for the sale. We have something for everyone. I have no idea how much we will make, but I do know that we have amazing family and friends. Our church family has been extraordinary in all of this. We are blessed to have one other family with adopted special needs children and the entire congregation has fallen in love with them. They are sweet kids and they are absolutely thriving. Everyone is excited to meet our Carolina and watch her blossom and grow. For that, I am eternally grateful. I could not ask for kinder, more Christ-like people in our lives. We are blessed beyond measure.

Bittersweet...New Hope For The Ones Who Wait

Last week, it became clear that the ban on American adoptions from Russia would remain in place for the foreseeable future. So many families are hurting over this decision and even more children will never know the love of a family. It is a very hard time for the families who had committed to children, and in many cases met them, before being told they would never get to bring them home. My heart and prayers go out to these grieving families and children.

As many of you are aware, Reece's Rainbow provides grant funds for orphans with special needs. Many of the waiting children in Russia had sizable grants, but no committed family. This week, staff of Reece's Rainbow has started the tedious and time consuming process of reallocating the money from the Russian waiting children, to waiting children in other countries. Out of the ashes of a terrible loss, comes New Hope. Many children are now receiving significant grants that will hopefully help families to feel confident in stepping out to claim them as sons and daughters. 

Here is one of my very favorite New Hope recipients. Please allow me to introduce you to Frank.

Frank wants a family. He is very tiny, but he is almost 13 years old. He has a mild mental delay and was living in a boarding house when, for reasons unknown, he was transferred to a level IV adult mental institution. This boy is smart, kind, has very good language skills and just needs out of there. Frank received a New Hope grant from Reece's Rainbow and now has nearly $12,000 in his adoption grant. Please, if you are considering a son...or maybe adding one...please consider Frank. There are many photos and videos of him available and I can even put you in touch with someone who saw him for 7 weeks last year while adopting their boy. Please share Frank far and wide so his family can find him.

http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=frank

If a family is already headed to his country for an adoption, Frank's grant would more than cover the fees for adding him. If a family is starting from scratch, his adoption is around 2/3 covered and he as several advocates (myself included) who will happily help out with the remaining funds. Please help us find a family for Frank.

Next we have sweet little Vytas

Vytas is a darling boy who turned 5 this month. He is very small due to having Down Syndrome and being in an orphanage, but he would thrive in a family where he can get therapies and interventions. Vytas also has a couple great advocates pulling for him over at Hope for Vytas

Vytas' grant currently has over $10,600! What a blessing to his future family!

http://reecesrainbow.org/40627/vytas

And Brandi

Look at that happy smile and sweet pigtails! Brandi is 5 years old and has Cerebral Palsy and microcephaly (smaller head size). She is described as "physically active" and her profile even has a picture of her enjoying time on the piano. Such a gorgeous little girl!

Brandi should be getting ready for kindergarten, not a mental institution. 

Brandi received New Hope funds and her adoption grant now has over $10,600! 

There are more to come later, but for now, I would love it if my followers would consider praying for these children to find families. Please share them on your own blogs and social media sites. It was through a Reece's Rainbow posting on Facebook that I first started scrolling through pictures of orphans. It was there that I saw our sweet Carolina's face. It was reading the blogs of other adoptive parents and advocates that my heart was completely broken and changed for these kids. It was people sharing their experiences and their fundraising ideas that we finally gained the confidence to step out and BE one of those families. 

Our little one will soon know that she has a Mama and Daddy who love her. 2 years ago, I never would have thought we would be doing this now. You just never know who will see one of your advocacy posts and realize they are seeing their child. So many people loved Carolina before I ever saw her. Take it from me, there is a special place in a Mama's heart for those who helped advocate for her child. 

Behind The Scenes

Many things are going on behind the scenes in our adoption. USCIS is processing our fingerprints. The state of Ohio is *very slowly* processing our request for notarized copies of our background checks. We have a few documents to get redone, but that should happen by next week. All of these updates are pretty boring, but something else happened this week that has touched me deeply.
As everyone by now knows, I am having a Facebook auction to help raise the rest of our funds.

https://www.facebook.com/Carolinasfamily

A wonderful woman in my life bid $100 for a hairbow! Why? Because she wants Carolina home where she is already loved. Talk about unexpected..and deeply humbling.

And as if that weren't amazing enough, I was also given several items to auction from a woman at church. What is so fantastic about that? Well, I'll tell you. This woman is a widow living on a very modest income. Twice now, she has gone through her small home and rounded up items to add to my auctions. When I told her she really did not have to do that, she simply replied,"But I want to help you and I don't have any money."
I don't know how to explain how humbled and grateful I am. I don't know the stories behind all the donations we receive, but I am thankful beyond words. I am truly reminded of the "Widow's mite." I am witnessing people give out of the love in their hearts for us and Carolina, but most importantly, these wonderful people are giving out of a desire to be like the Savior. To help raise the ransom for one of His precious children. I am completely overcome with love and gratitude. Completely overcome...

Guess What?

I didn't have many blog readers when I wrote This Post about sweet Kurt. I fell in love with this sweet boy's face and I was certain he'd be the one that God directed us to adopt...but the call came for Carolina. I have spent the last several months trying to figure out if there was any way we could add him to our adoption, but there just is not. He is not near our daughter. And so, I have prayed and hoped and shared his face in hopes that he would find his family. Well....Kurt HAS BEEN FOUND!  His Mama saw his face during the Forty to Forever campaign and realized she was seeing her son. You can read about them and help them along in their journey by clicking HERE

KURT....FOUND!!!!

My heart is lightened and I am rejoicing with the Biggs Family and MANY others that sweet Kurt will be going HOME instead of an internat or an institution. The possibilities for Kurt are endless. This will not be the last you hear of Kurt and his family on here...I hope to have something put together soon to help them out...stay tuned! 

We are getting so close...Auction time again!

Hello loyal blog readers! It is April and we hope to travel in June to bring Carolina home forever! We are so close to being funded, but airfare is higher in the summer. We have an auction over at Caring for Carolina that will run for the next 8 days. We are still accepting donations for the auction as well. Please check out our thermometer over on the right hand margin of this page to see how close we are! Thank you all for being part of our journey!