Blog Slacker

Yeah, I know I haven't updated in the last week but there hasn't been a lot to talk about. On the adoption front, we've just been waiting for them to process our official application so we can move forward with everything. We received our dossier workbook today so now things can start moving again. Luckily, we don't have to change many things so we should still be on track. I'm hoping to fax in our dossier for review sometime early next week. Once that is finished and reviewed and our homestudy is matching up with our dossier, our homestudy will be submitted to CIS for approval. Once that is finished we submit everything to the secretary of state for certification. From there it is sent off to the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC for authentication and then off to Ethiopia. Right now, FTIA has an average wait time of 1-3 months for referral and then 2-3 months from referral to travel. So, right now I'm thinking summertime. I'm so hopeful that it will be then but we'll see what happens.
Nothing else happening around here. Our crazy schedule has settled down and we are all bracing ourselves for another fun Indiana winter. This weekend we are having a Halloween party with some friends. Other than that, no big plans. And for your viewing enjoyment here are some new pics of Cameron just being Cameron.

Halloween costume 2008. The least scary shark I've ever seen.


All of my kids.



I mean, who doesn't clean the shower in their underwear?

Waiting again...

Yep, we're once again in a holding pattern. At this point, our homestudy is complete and is being reviewed by FTIA. We are now waiting for our official application to arrive in Evansville so they can process it and give us all the information we're going to need to compile our dossier. From looking at their website, it doesn't look like we're going to need to change a lot. We have all the important documents collected and we'll probably just need to make a few minor changes to some of our others. We also have to send in to get our CIS application amended to our new agency. That is kind of a pain but it will get done in due time. I am waiting for a phone call from CIS so they can instruct me on how to go about getting that done. Our hope is still to be on the waiting list by Christmas. It all depends upon how quickly we get our CIS approval. Now, I am unsure of what the wait time is for this agency. Their Ethiopia program is fairly new (only a couple of months old) so my gut is telling me it won't be a long wait. Keep your fingers crossed.
In other news, Cameron's soccer is officially over. They tied their last game 4-4 on Saturday. Of course, I blame it on the coaching since we were in absentia but at least it wasn't a loss!! Stuart and I are playing our last soccer game tonight. At least we're assuming it's our last soccer game. It's the playoffs and since we're 0-7 on the season, I'm not expecting us to be pulling off any miracles tonight. Especially since we're without our fearless goalkeeper Erika who was the victim of mile 25 at the Hilly this weekend.
Cameron is on fall break for the next two days. Stuart had his first scheduled conference with Cameron's teacher on Tuesday. She informed Stuart that Cameron tends to talk a lot. I know that you can't imagine that, and it was hard for us to come to grips with that statement but it's true. Other than that he's doing very well with all of his "kindergarten" skills. Apparently they do a couple of letter and number recognition tests where the passing score is 8. Cameron scored 32 on one and 37 on the other. Hate to brag but my kid is smart. Thank goodness he got his father's brains. Heading into this weekend, we don't have a lot of plans. I'm looking forward to spending time as a family.

Answered Prayers

Well, a lot has happened since our last post on Sunday. On Monday, we received word that CHI would not allow us to pursue the adoption through them. After conversing with our in-state social worker, it was decided we would try another agency. Stuart contacted Families Through International Adoption (FTIA) out of Evansville. They agreed to review our application and let us know if they would agree to let us continue. By yesterday evening they had contacted me to let me know that they didn't see any reason why we couldn't. So, we are now in the process of switching agencies. The good news is that once they receive our application, it should be all go. We know we will have to change a few things in our dossier and get our CIS application amended to our new agency. We're still on track. We should have everything in and be waiting by the new year. Hooray!!!

This sounded like a good idea on Friday night...

All 4 of us saw the start line, but only 2 of us were at the finish

Well, the trip started off great. Our friends Erika and Ashley met us at our house on Fri. night and we journeyed down to Ellettsville, IN for our weekend of camping and cycling. Everything went smoothly. We dropped off our bikes at the storage area and picked up our fannie flags and wrist bands (yes, we laughed at the words fannie flags also). We set up camp, grabbed a bite to eat, and got a good nights sleep in preparation for the first 50 miles of our journey. The morning went great. We set off on the first 50 at about 9 a.m. We tackled some amazing hills and everyone was in good spirits.

Erika, our most experienced rider (now known as the poster child for helmet safety.)



Ashley, our fearless engineer friend


Stuart is definitely questioning what his wife has gotten him into now.


And then, disaster. So, we had just left the lunch break area where we bravely used the port a potties that undoubtedly all 4000 riders had used before us. Ashley and Stuart were in front while Erika and myself were about 100 yards behind them. We were coming down a hill at about 25 mph and I was talking to Erika. Then she was gone. I look back to see a person in a blue shirt laying in the middle of the road. Luckily, several riders behind us had seen it happen and had already stopped to help. Stuart and Ashley didn't see it happen but figured something was wrong when they looked behind and didn't see us. At first, it appeared that she had a pretty bad concussion and maybe a broken arm. The Hilly Hundred is a well oiled machine when it comes to emergencies and they had a nurse there within 5 minutes and then called for an ambulance. Erika was alert and talking the whole time but we were still pretty worried. The decision was made that Stuart and myself would finish the ride while Ashley rode with Erika to the hospital. After the ride, Stuart and I would go back to camp, pack up, and then meet them at the hospital.


At least she was excited for her first ambulance ride.




So, Stuart and I went along and finished. Our morale was a bit lower as we were worried about our friend. However, we felt really good until about mile 40 and then sort of fell apart. We ended up walking up the last two hills. The course itself was challenging but totally doable. We had a great time with the exception of the drama at mile 25. The scenery was breathtaking as were the hills. We saw some really cool people too. This couple brought their doggy on the back of their bike and she even had her own helmet. Her name is Bitsy.


We loved Bitsy!!


Yep, that's me hunched over my bike regaining my breath after the first of the infamous "Three Sisters" hill.

After we finished, we went about collecting bikes, packing up camp, and heading to the hospital in Bloomington to pick up Ashley and Erika. Everything checked out fine. No broken bones and maybe just a mild concussion. She had some pretty good road rash though and the biggest casualty was her new blue shirt that had to be cut off. We drove back last night and decided that we wouldn't attempt the second day. We feel pretty confident that next year we will be able to complete the whole 100. As for today, we have yet to get out of our pajamas. We have accomplished absolutely nothing but going to the grocery for 2 liters and oreos (yep, still in our pjs and slippers). However, this is a day that we have needed for a long time. Just quality time being lazy together. Good stuff.

We'll keep you posted as to what we hear from CHI this week. Have a good one.

Ramblings

Well, no news on the adoption front yet. As the days go by, Stuart and I are more at peace than ever that God's plan for us is being put into place. We are so thankful for all of the prayers as my heart has not had this much peace since we started this process. I just know it's God working in us.
We are looking forward to getting away this weekend and participating in the Hilly Hundred. We will be camping down at McCormick's Creek for the weekend with a couple of friends of ours from our soccer team. We are going to attempt to ride both days (at 50 miles each day) but we'll see what happens. The important thing is that we're getting away from everything and just spending quality time without the business that weekends usually bring. We'll keep you posted as to how it goes.
Since there is nothing new and exciting to report from Greenwood, I'll give you an update on the Washington crew and their new addition. Mom and Dad are loving having Lish and Luke home again. They especially love that they get to spoil their grandbabies every single day. The Patton family is doing great and everyone is adjusting to the new addition. From what I hear, Hayden has been doing well with him so far and wants to hold him all the time. Here are a few pics that mom sent me to show off a little of what they've been up to.


I just want to squeeze those cheeks!!!


Hayden and Grandma decorated pumpkins.


What better place to take a nap than in Grandma and Grandpa's bed?



That's all I've got for now. Be prepared for a full update on the Hilly Hundred come Monday.

Update

Just a brief update on "the situation." A letter was faxed from my Dr. this morning. After that we got a letter from CHI asking for permission to actually contact my Dr. so that they can speak with him in person. I don't know what other information they might need and I don't know whether or not I should be optimistic. So, there is no telling when they will be able to get a hold of the Dr. Anyone that works in the medical field should know that doctors don't tend to be in their office a lot and when they are, the last thing they want to do is have to deal with an issue like this. So, we wait. In the meantime, Stuart and I went this morning to get our CIS fingerprints done. The whole time I was praying that it was not in vain. That there was actually a reason why we got fingerprinted. So, we wait. It seems we may be in limbo for a while. I am ready to know where we are getting this baby from.

Happy Birthday Hayden!!!

Happy birthday to my awesome nephew Hayden. I can't believe he's three. He brings so much joy to all of our lives. He got the best ever birthday present this weekend too.



Yep, a baby brother. Brody Patrick Patton was born Saturday afternoon weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 9 oz. He was exactly the same size as Hayden was when he was born. Both Lish and baby Brody are doing great. So, after celebrating FC homecoming this weekend with our great friends, we made an unexpected trip to Washington to visit our new nephew. I'll post more pics when I get them downloaded.

Overall, it was a good weekend. Friday night we distracted ourselves from all the recent stress by making cookies. We must have cut out 40 cookies and no two were the same. We did everything from trains to giraffes to letters and question marks. It was a good time. Saturday morning the mighty Impact continued their winning streak with a 5-1 victory over the Strikers. The last game of the season is this weekend but Stuart and I will not be there due to the Hilly Hundred. Saturday afternoon was spent at Franklin College at the homecoming festivities and then it was down to Washington to see the newest member of the family. Needless to say, we are pretty tired today. I think this was the distracting weekend we needed to keep our minds off of the latest adoption developments. The plan is to fax in a letter from my doctor tomorrow afternoon and we will hopefully know something by weeks end. Stuart and I want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. I've said it a thousand times before but I'll say it again, our friends and family are awesome and we are truly blessed to have each and every one of you in our lives.

The first dip

In this roller coaster ride, that is. We had been moving along at record speed with no bumps when all of a sudden we hit a major red light. We heard from CHI yesterday who had received our homestudy from ASC. Apparently because of a medical issue, we have to get more documentation from the doctor. We thought that this could cause a problem, however, we were under the impression that as long as the Dr. wrote us letters stating that we were in "good physical and mental health and free of contagious diseases", it wasn't going to be an issue. Well, we were wrong. So, right now we are faced with the prospect of losing this whole thing. We will hopefully know by the end of next week as to what direction we will take. We may be switching to a domestic adoption but will wait to make a decision on that until after CHI reviews the dr.'s documentation. Both Stuart and I are terrified and angry at this whole situation. However, we are reminded constantly that God is in control. We have faith that we are going to get the child we are meant to have.
So, in the meantime, we are going to have a good weekend. Tonight, Cameron and I are going to make cookies. Tomorrow, we are going to Franklin College homecoming with some of our dearest friends and on Sunday we are going to watch football like its our job.
Oh, and congratulate Stuart as he scored his first career goal in soccer last night at our indoor soccer game. Imagine everyone's excitement when husband and wife met at half field for a mighty chest bump in celebration.

Movin' right along

So, imagine my surprise when I'm sitting at my desk yesterday and open up my email to find that the first draft of our homestudy is finished. That definitely sent me into panic/frantic/omg what am I gonna do mode. It just made me so excited that they got that done so quickly. Stuart and I both looked over the draft and have faxed in our changes this morning. I am so hoping that things continue to move smoothly for us. Another super exciting thing that I found out is that the state of Indiana is one of the few states in the country that does not charge for state certification. Finally, we are getting something for free!!! Also, instead of sending it to the Secretary of State for certification, we can drop it off and pick it up the next business day.
Amazingly enough, I am calm as can be today. Last night, the most important lesson I've had in a while, hit me square in the face. God's timing is perfect. I can't control how fast or slow or how many ups and downs we're going to have from here on out. He is completely in control. Therefore, I sit here today with a peaceful, non frantic heart. I am so thankful for that. Especially since I was 30 minutes late for work today because I apparently only paused at a stop sign and Mr. Policeman was sitting there watching me. Whatever, no ticket, just a warning. Seriously, do these people not know that I've got enough going on in my life?

Our first official baby purchase

Yep, we got a jogging stroller. Thanks to the heads up of my awesome sister-in-law. One of her co-workers was selling it at a great price so she jumped on it for us. Hooray!! Last night was one of those "ohmigosh this is really real" moments. It felt good for a short while then the realization of the wait set in again. I did manage to assemble most of our dossier last night. It's all done and notarized (thanks to my favorite notary). I'm waiting on our family pics to add some of those in and then a couple of letters from the social worker. I'm hoping to be able to fax in all of our documents by the end of the week. It's been almost 3 weeks since our last homestudy visit so I'm expecting the homestudy to be done by the end of October. Once that is done, we can finally assemble the rest of the dossier for certification. What a long process. I know I share this sentiment with a lot of people: Why in the world can anyone go out and have a baby but because I want to adopt a child who needs parents, I have to spend thousands of dollars, watch 10 hours of parenting education, and stress over a pile of paperwork?

Getting Closer!!!

Monday already. However, this Monday brings new excitement for the Rogers family. We are in final dossier preparations and hope to have everything done at the end of this month. On Friday we received our appointments for CIS fingerprinting. Our homestudy agency didn't think we'd get that until our homestudy had been forwarded to them. However, they surprised us and we get to go next week to be fingerprinted. Then, when our homestudy is done, that's the final piece of this crazy puzzle. At that point there will be a lot of frantic trips to the post office and lots of certified mail I'm sure but then it will be onto the wait. We are really hoping that our wait won't be that long. We know that our wait is going to be at least 6 months from the point that our dossier is officially added to the waiting pile. The good news is that the referrals have started coming in again and just in the past week there have been 5. Some as young as 1 week old.
Tonight I am meeting my friend Laura for dinner and a notary party. She is going to be notarizing all of the documents that Stuart and I have put together for our dossier. Our friends and family have really been very helpful on our journey. We are truly blessed to have the support system that we do and we know our child will be also. Later in the week we will be scanning in our dossier and emailing it to our CHI social worker for her to look over. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have to redo anything.
In other news, the mighty Impact improved to 4-0 on the season this past Sat. It was a hard fought game but we came out on top by about 3 goals. And last, but not least, here are a few pics from our family photo shoot this past weekend. I'll post the rest when we get them.




Seriously, could he be cuter?

Oh and one last pic.


Just wanted to show what it takes to be successful in the 6 and 7 year old league these days.

Midweek Madness

It's hump day, hooray!! I love it when the week is on its downward slope and we are heading toward the weekend. This weekend is going to be a doozy too. We've got several functions on Saturday including a soccer game, family pics, and a party that night. Then on Sunday we head down to Washington for my awesome nephew's birthday party.
I just had to share a few stories from our little entertainer. First of all, last night, he was meant to be upstairs brushing his teeth. We didn't hear anything for quite some time and finally Stuart yelled up and asked him if he had brushed his teeth yet. Standing at the top of the stairst Cameron yells down "That is in a excellent question Dad." Seriously, just when I thought I couldn't laugh anymore he keeps it coming. This morning while I was driving him to his mom's house, he serenaded me with a pretty accurate version of "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. Really, do six year olds really know that stuff?
On the adoption front, the courts in Ethiopia are open again!!! Hurrah. That means that the referrals should start coming in at a greater pace than what they have been coming in for the past two months. We have finished with all of our documentation and just need to get everything notarized. I spoke with our CHI social worker today and she said she'd review all the documents for us and make sure we have everything perfect. Once that is done, our homestudy is done and we get our I171H, we basically send everything into the State of IN for certification. From there it goes to the Ethiopian Embassy for certification and then to Ethiopia. It sounds like a lot, but really we've done all we can to expedite the process. Then we can just sit back and wait anxiously as we work our way down the waiting list. Patience is key. I'm going to need a lot of things to keep me busy.