Marking a frustrating anniversary

Well, we've officially been in the adoption process for over a year now. Not an anniversary I anticipated celebrating, given the original 6-7 month estimate our agency gave us last January.

But here we are. What's past is past, and we now hope to hear something about reaccreditation within the next 2 months. Meanwhile, we've discovered that we need to get new copies of several of our forms because they are soon expiring (one already did). This will mean more notaries, some more travels to Tallahassee for apostilles to certify the notaries, and new background checks in case either of us has become a criminal in the last year. On the bright side, it gives us something to actually DO to pursue the adoption, instead of waiting helplessly.

We'll definitely let you know if there is any news!

Sarah

Quick update

I confirmed today that our agency has submitted its accreditation paperwork to the Russian government! They turned it in before the holiday break, although our agency director was not sure if it was officially "processed" before the break or if it was just recently processed when workers returned from the break this week. In any case, we should hear back about their reaccreditation within 90 days, according to the new laws passed in Russia. This means that - as long as there are no errors in the paperwork - our agency should be reaccredited by sometime in March or April.

We are so happy to see things moving forward. Please pray that this deadline is honored!

Christmas for our little one

While we still don't have any news on our timeline, our child was not forgotten this Christmas!

The Kampfers (my family) got us an Advent Calendar that is a whole set of tiny books, each in a special slot, as well as a sweet little teddy bear! We also went shopping after Christmas, and Mom picked out a new stocking and stocking holder for our new addition for next year.


The Hamersmas got our little one a pair of Calvin College sweatpants and some sweet little slippers that look like Dutch wooden shoes! I am glad that the Russian descent of our child isn't stopping them from raiding the Dutch store :) Hopefully our kid will like Dubbel Zout candy (double-salty black licorice) more than I do!



Our agency still anticipates being reaccreditted "soon". At least one person I have talked to, who is with our agency but submitted a dossier just recently, was told that they expected she might travel in May. Of course, we take all of these predictions with a grain of salt, but I suppose it's better than if she were predicted to travel even later...

We'll keep you updated as usual!