Continuing to move forward

About a week ago, our caseworker sent us an email saying that now that our first set of paperwork is there, registered with the Russian government, we should start preparing the paperwork that will be needed to arrange the 2nd trip. The idea is that we will bring that paperwork with us on the first trip, so that we can submit it in person to the court system as soon as we accept a child, hopefully shortening the gap between trips. The reason we didn't prepare it earlier is that some of this paperwork expires within 3 months of the signature - which means she thinks we are likely to be completely done within 3 months. That would be glorious!

So let me tell you a bit about the last week to give you the picture of what we've been up to, and to explain why we haven't had time to blog:

1) contacted county property appraiser's office to get a form listing characteristics of our home - needed to be signed and notarized. Received it on Thursday but the notary stamp was not strong enough (couldn't quite read the name). Asked for a new one and got it on Saturday!

2) contacted our doctors to get appointments (earliest available were this coming Monday for Rob and Wednesday for me) - they'll need to do bloodwork (HIV test, etc) and then we will have them sign our forms ASAP

3) got proof of employment forms from our employers - signed and notarized

4) got fingerprints done at the University Police Department to send to the FBI for a new background check - sent on Wednesday

5) sent an order form to MN for new certified copies of our marriage license on Monday, received them back on Friday (amazing!), sent them back to MN Secretary of State for Apostilles (approval notices that the copies are truly certified)

6) sent a request to our home study agency (the old one) for 4 forms on Monday - received them on Saturday and ALL OF THEM WERE PERFECT!! Praise God.

7) got a few other forms notarized by my office manager (thanks Laura!)

8) sent request to FL Department of Health for a letter verifying that licensed doctors in the state of Florida are qualified to do adoption-related physicals (!)

9) made an appointment with a psychiatrist to get a letter attesting to our mental health (our two exams by psychologists are not good enough, since they don't have MD degrees and our region of Siberia requires this) - that will be Monday the 31st.

We have experienced so much help and cooperation from so many people this week! Please pray for the last few particulars to be taken care of in a timely manner: letter from Secretary of State, letter from Dep't of Health, Apostilled marriage certificates from MN, and doctor/psychiatrist letters. It's a lot to ask, but God is powerful. We hope to bring all of these with us on our first trip to Russia.

There is another family with our agency who became registered in the region just before us (within a week) while we were waiting for the one additional document we had to send. They received a call 2 days after their application was submitted with a referral and travel date; they were asked to show up in Russia 9 days later (they arrived there yesterday!). Our application is only a few days behind theirs, so it looks like big news might be right around the corner. It's tricky to balance the excitement and nerves, and yet have the appropriate caution and reasonable expectations.

We are hanging in there and will update you with whatever we hear!