An update

Just to catch everyone up, on September 13th, we did not receive our referral for Ivelina as we had hoped.  Instead, we received word that somehow someone in Bulgaria had re-worded the labeling of Ivelina's special needs.  The new wording did not match the wording in our paperwork, so we were told that we must re-do our home study and NBC approval so that all the wording matches.  

This unexpected event has caused us to back-peddle a little bit and jump through a few extra hoops.  We have officially made it through Hoop #1:  on Friday, October 4th, we received copies of our updated home study, and we were able to get those sent off to NBC the same day.  Yay!  Just not quite as exciting as it was the first time.  

Now, we wait on NBC. I was concerned that the government shut-down would affect our NBC approval, but we were assured that our officer is still working.  That is good news.  The first time around with NBC, we were given approximate turn-around times, but this time, we just don't have any expectations of how long it will take.  I will definitely be a squeaky wheel to our NBC officer, though.  =)  We hope it won't take too many weeks to get through Hoop #2, but who knows!

We also received word this week that there are some new requirements for our second trip to Bulgaria, the pick-up trip.  Instead of 7 days, we will be in country for 11 days.  This was a definite shocker for us!  This change means 3-4 more days of hotel and food we must pay for, but it also may reduce our airfare a tiny bit because we will no longer be flying in and out on a weekend.  Still, I know from reading my other favorite blogs that after everything is official and you have your baby, couples just wanna get home!  I'm sure that will be us too, but now the reality is that we are looking at an 11 day stay in country.  

I am SO ready for some good, positive, definitive news to tell people!  I get asked the "how long" question at least 5 times a day, and believe me I want to have a better answer, I do.  Lately, I've just been saying, "Well, everything is just going slowly right now, but it's going."  I know people don't fully understand this comment, but just trust me, we are do everything humanly possible to get things done as quickly as possible.  Yes, it's unfair.  Yes, there are tons of children in the world needing families.  No, we don't love all this government and paper work mess.  Yes, it's all a bit crazy.  Yes, we are excited, we love our girl, and we want her now.  But, this whole thing is building patience, long-suffering and trust in Jeremy and myself.  We have good days and not-so-good days, but we know God is in control of this adoption.

Even though I don't have photos or updates about Ivelina, I do have an Ivelina's room update!  You can read more about our progress on her room here and here.  She now has the cutest step stool in the world to help her climb into her big girl bed!  Check it out:

Yeah, I went to visit my mom for her birthday and she gave me a present!  We just love it!  

Thanks for reading,

- Shelly

Approved!

Just a quick adoption update:  today we received our long-awaited NBC approval letter from USCIS!!  We were so thrilled!  We immediately got that thing notarized and sent off for an apostille.  Now we wait.... 

For the first time in our adoption process, we are not waiting on ourselves or for funds to come in or even for an American entity.  Now we are waiting on another country.  Adoption seems like 90% waiting, but I'm wondering if this type of waiting will be better or worse. Ha!  It's probably all the same....excruciating!

Our completed Dossier, except for this NBC approval letter, has been in Bulgaria for a few months now and has been translated.  Once this final puzzle piece is added, Bulgaria will have what they need to match us with Ivelina officially.  We know the earliest this will happen is September because the Bulgarian government takes holiday in the month of August.  Oh, what a sweet day it'll be to know that we have that official referral!

I am praying for no unforeseen hold ups and that this document arrives safely in Bulgaria this month.  I also pray that we can be matched as early as possible in September, but you never can tell how fast (or slow) these things will go.  I am just so happy to be over the NBC hump and onto a new phase of waiting!

Thanks for reading,

Shelly

mixed emotions

We truly had high hopes for this summer and our adoption plans.  In May when we received those finalized home studies, we felt so relieved, like a weight had been lifted off our shoulders.  We felt like the bulk of our paperwork was behind us!

We knew our next step was to submit our fees and application to the National Benefits Center, and we expected this to be the summer of immigration.  We applied in early June.  It took about a week to get our letter of receipt.  Yay, we thought!  They're moving quickly.  Our case worker even told us that NBC was moving quickly.  Then it took two weeks to receive our fingerprint appointment, which was another two weeks out on July 9th.  Well, we were successfully printed on the 9th, and now we continue to wait on that approval letter.  NBC has slowed down their speed in granting these approval letters, so all we can do is wait and check the mail expectantly each day.  When we receive it, it has to be appostilled in the capital.  We have to mail ours off, so getting an appostille for us takes about a week or so.  These little one and two and three week waits are adding up!  First emotion:  frustration and impatience.  We really thought this whole NBC thing would be a done deal by now! 

Now, we are approaching the end of July and the start of summer holiday in Bulgaria.  Our case worker tells us that we will most likely get all of our NBC documents to Bulgaria while the government officials are off for holiday.  We should expect no adoption news in the month of August.  Our paperwork will be waiting for them when they return in September.  Second emotion: disappointment at yet another month delay.

BUT, our case worker also tells us that the Minister of Justice should get right on our case as soon as they return to office in early September.  I hate to even type this for fear that it might now come true, but .... "it is reasonable to expect our official match in early September, and it is reasonable to expect to travel in mid to late September.  Third emotion:  surprise, shock, excitement, disbelief, fear, worry. 

WHAAA??  That's like two months away!  Are you kidding me?  We could need to travel in like 2-3 months!!  We could meet Ivelina in September?  This is all a BIG IF, but if paperwork and government stuff continues to progress at this same rate, that is our timeline.  There are then 3 months between our two trips, which would put us traveling for our pick up trip in mid-to-late December. 

It's funny.  During this entire adoption process, we knew this was the goal: to have that little one home.  But, y'all it's so long, and so stressful, and so complicated, and so expensive that when we're in the thick of it, we actually forgot that when this is all completed, we will have a little Bulgarian beauty running around our house.  It's getting real now.  I suddenly feel intense curiosity about her.  We suddenly talk about her like every hour.  EVERY conversation between me and Jeremy lately includes talk of Ivelina.  I also suddenly feel intense worry.  We have like $0 for plane tickets.  We're just not to that point yet.  How in the world will we be able to travel half way around the world in like two months?  We will be in the middle of our fall semester at seminary at that time, and I also worry and wonder how missing a week or two of class is going to affect us.   

All that being said, this is good.  Yes, NBC is taking a bit longer than we thought, but God knows the perfect timing, and His timing is good.  He sees ahead better than we can, and it is comforting to trust in His plan for us.  It is good to finally be talking about travel, to finally give ourselves permission to imagine that first day meeting her.  It's good to finally have a loose timeline to work with. 

Other exciting Ivelina news:  her bedroom furniture is on order thanks to my dad who wanted to provide that for us.  The bed is beautiful and practical.  My mom has finished the curtains and bedspread, and I just can't wait to see it all put together in her freshly painted bedroom.  Don't worry, I will fill a post with photos once it is all set up!

Thanks for reading!

-Shelly

Important adoption errands today!

After work I went here:

and made deposits, so I could write a big check to:

 so that we could finally mail in our I800 forms to the National Benefits Center. Yippee!  

Doesn't sound so exciting, I know, but it gets us through one more hoop in this process. I hadn't ever heard of NBC (except the TV network) before we got into this adoption process.  The NBC has to approve our immigrating Ivelina into the country as a U.S. citizen before we actually go get her. 

This is the summer of immigration for us!  Here's what we can expect:

1. In a couple of weeks, we should receive a letter of receipt from the NBC.
2. Then, a couple of weeks after that, NBC will assign us a biometric appointment.  Sounds fancy, but it's just electronic fingerprints.  (Yes, MORE fingerprints!)  The bad part is that we anticipate having to drive a couple of hours to get to our "local" NBC fingerprinting location.  Bleh... but we do hope and pray that these are our last fingerprints.
3. A couple of weeks after we get fingerprinted, we should receive the golden, coveted, *expensive* NBC approval letter.  Bulgaria has to have this letter of approval before they can officially match us with Miss Ivelina. 
4. Then, the letter must be translated and we wait on our official match and first travel dates.

Our case worker suggested that the NBC had been moving quite quickly lately with her cases, so we pray they will continue moving as quickly as possible for us too.

Everyone asks about our timeline: "When do you think you will get to bring her home?"  We do not know exactly, but it is possible that we could travel once in early-mid fall and for the second time toward the end of this year.  Wouldn't it be a dream to have our daughter home for Christmas?  So, yeah, forms, fingerprints, and approval letters don't sound nearly as exciting as painting her room or buying children's furniture, but these mundane things must happen in order to reach the finish line of this adoption.

Hope you enjoyed the update!  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below!

Thanks for reading,

~Shelly