The Sounds of the Adoption Process.

Do you hear it?

My fingers tapping.

The tick tocking of the clock.

That's called the sound of waiting.

That is currently where we are at in our adoption process of our Burkinabe princess or "Mia" as we call her.  Will Mia be her name? Only God knows, but until then it was much easier to give her a name so our "Mia" it is. 

At the end of October we completed our home-study process. This process took much longer then our non-hague home-study but we are thankful that it only took 3 months, some states have a much longer process. We mailed off our immigration approval paperwork the first of November and received the approval the first of January.  We had a few issues with the approval in which the officer put the wrong year on the approval and it kept arriving in the mail smeared with ink. We were finally successful in getting a clean, correct copy after 2 tries and a 2 week delay.  

Our dossier in now in the hands of the Burkina Faso government.  It has been since January 24th. 

Some people have asked where we are at in the process.  Here is the 6 step process to adopt from Burkina Faso.

1. Choose an Accredited Adoption Service Provider
2. Apply to USCIS to be found eligible to adopt
3. Be matched with a child by authorities in Burkina Faso
4. Apply to USCIS for the child to be found eligible for immigration to the United States and receive U.S. agreement to proceed with the adoption
5. Adopt (or Obtain Legal Custody) of child in Burkina Faso
6. Obtain a U.S. immigrant visa for your child and bring your child home

We are currently on step #3.  The Central Authority has our Dossier and is working on matching us with a child that based on that.  I have no idea how long this process usually takes. I can not tell you if our file has even been looked at yet.

This journey is more like searching in the dark for a light switch.  You know the switch is there, you know it's general location but you have no idea when your fingers are going to touch it. 

In the meantime, we are still raising money so when the time comes we have it on hand.  Abbey recently committed to raising her portion of her plane ticket to bring Mia home. She raised over $900 in a little over 2 weeks selling her peppermint patties, chocolate drizzled pretzels, and chocolate chip cookies. WOW!! She was stunned and overwhelmed but so grateful for this blessing.  She has approximately $600 more to raise but I'd say she's made a huge dent, wouldn't you! 

Soon we need to get started on the renovations of our 3rd floor attic.  We will be putting 2 bedrooms, one 3/4 bath and a play area for the kids on the 3rd floor which is currently an attic.  Each child is excited to have their own room and space.  There is A LOT to be done, including subfloor, wiring, plumbing, insulation, new window, heating, cooling...and the list goes on and on. I can't wait to get all of this completed so that we can start preparing Mia's bedroom.  I have it pictured in my mind and it's beautiful.

So soon, besides the sounds of fingers tapping, you'll hear hammers pounding and saws spinning.

and hopefully, sounds of glee as we see a picture of our daughter for the first time.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Grandma Apple]

the waiting is hard, but the reward will be well worth it. Grandma and Grandpa are here to help in any way we can.

[Rochelle Cannon]

So glad for the update! Praying for the whole process! Can't wait to meet your new daughter!