So - yesterday was REALLY busy....
I'm sorry I didn't update - it was a really crazy day - but with GREAT new!
We have no idea way - but apparently our dossier was sent to our local post office from Sacramento and for some reason our local PO sent it directly back to Sacramento. The delay was because they actually sent it to us twice! UGH! While it is frustrating that we lost about 3 days with all that silliness - we are really just happy we got it!
We got it at about 11am on Thursday and it was in a Fed Ex envelope and on it's way to Eastern Europe right after lunch. It should be there by next Thursday (as always - praying for earlier is appreciated). We were told our dossier could be accepted as early as the next week - with the change of the adoption laws looming - the earlier the better.
Please continue to keep our adoption process and this precious little girl in your prayers.
Kate
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Nobody knows where our papers are.....
Our dossier made it to the State Capital for Apostille last week. Included was a self adressed prepaid flat rate mailer for it to come back to us in.
Harry called and asked if we could please get ours expedited b/c of our time crunch - they were happy to help.
They let us know it was mailed out (Priority) on Thursday afternoon.
2-3 days 'guaranteed' return.
Friday, Saturday, (no mail Sunday) - should be here Monday or Tuesday
nope
Not in Wednesday's mail either.
We called to double check that it had indeed been sent. Yes it was - about 2:30pm on Thursday.
Do you have record of that or a tracking number.
No, but a postal employee comes to pick up at 2:30pm and your package was in the load on Thursday.
We called our Post Office. The employee basically told us that there was no protocol for what to do when a package without tracking (we were not able to put tracking on it - only the person sending it could and they just don't do that apparently) gets lost - you just have to wait for it.
And if it doesn't show up?
Oh I am sure it will....
And if it doesn't???
Oh, well then you'll just have to do it again, it isn't guaranteed unless you go Certified mail - that was your mistake.
#BadChoiceOfWords
I proceeded to let her know that I was gonna need a little more customer service from her - that we had literally spent THOUSANDS of dollars making that paperwork and that it is not something we can duplicate. I also explained to her there is a deadline that they had already pushed us back with. They advertise 2-3 days NATIONALLY - we are in the same State and on day FIVE.
Something is wrong. I mail stuff for Ebay all the time via priority mail for years - NEVER had a problem. Harry addressed it himself so we know we have the right address. It was prepaid flat rate - no reason it would be sent back for lack of postage. My experience is that it really should have been there on Saturday - and there is just no good reason that 5 business days later a priority package only being sent within the State should still be in waiting.
Anyway - that is where we are - we've called everyone between us and that paperwork and we can't find it. Our ENTIRE Dossier is in that package - dozens of notarized and apostilled doctors appointments, court documents, our home study, proof of employment, housing info, everything - months of paperwork & a lot of money....not to mention enough personal information to pretty much buy anything you want in our name.....
I get that stuff gets lost in the mail - but this is crazy. I honestly don't know how we would get everything redone again with the clock ticking like it is - we would do it - but it would be insane & I don't know if it would matter......I am really hoping I am getting ahead of myself and it really will show up tomorrow.
Not to sound trite - but please pray - that is all we have got right now. Pray that it gets here and also pray for our nerves.....
Kate
Harry called and asked if we could please get ours expedited b/c of our time crunch - they were happy to help.
They let us know it was mailed out (Priority) on Thursday afternoon.
2-3 days 'guaranteed' return.
Friday, Saturday, (no mail Sunday) - should be here Monday or Tuesday
nope
Not in Wednesday's mail either.
We called to double check that it had indeed been sent. Yes it was - about 2:30pm on Thursday.
Do you have record of that or a tracking number.
No, but a postal employee comes to pick up at 2:30pm and your package was in the load on Thursday.
We called our Post Office. The employee basically told us that there was no protocol for what to do when a package without tracking (we were not able to put tracking on it - only the person sending it could and they just don't do that apparently) gets lost - you just have to wait for it.
And if it doesn't show up?
Oh I am sure it will....
And if it doesn't???
Oh, well then you'll just have to do it again, it isn't guaranteed unless you go Certified mail - that was your mistake.
#BadChoiceOfWords
I proceeded to let her know that I was gonna need a little more customer service from her - that we had literally spent THOUSANDS of dollars making that paperwork and that it is not something we can duplicate. I also explained to her there is a deadline that they had already pushed us back with. They advertise 2-3 days NATIONALLY - we are in the same State and on day FIVE.
Something is wrong. I mail stuff for Ebay all the time via priority mail for years - NEVER had a problem. Harry addressed it himself so we know we have the right address. It was prepaid flat rate - no reason it would be sent back for lack of postage. My experience is that it really should have been there on Saturday - and there is just no good reason that 5 business days later a priority package only being sent within the State should still be in waiting.
Anyway - that is where we are - we've called everyone between us and that paperwork and we can't find it. Our ENTIRE Dossier is in that package - dozens of notarized and apostilled doctors appointments, court documents, our home study, proof of employment, housing info, everything - months of paperwork & a lot of money....not to mention enough personal information to pretty much buy anything you want in our name.....
I get that stuff gets lost in the mail - but this is crazy. I honestly don't know how we would get everything redone again with the clock ticking like it is - we would do it - but it would be insane & I don't know if it would matter......I am really hoping I am getting ahead of myself and it really will show up tomorrow.
Not to sound trite - but please pray - that is all we have got right now. Pray that it gets here and also pray for our nerves.....
Kate
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
for those of you on the edge of your seat.....
....you can go about your business - nothing in the mail today.
Guaranteed tomorrow.
*crossing fingers*
Kate
Guaranteed tomorrow.
*crossing fingers*
Kate
Monday, April 25, 2011
UPS Guy stood me up
So I sat home all day patiently waiting for the UPS guy to show up.
He never did - hopefully tomorrow.....
He never did - hopefully tomorrow.....
Things to think about, numbers to crunch
So right now I am patiently (not patiently actually) waiting for the UPS man (or woman) to bring me my freshly apostilled Dossier.
It SHOULD be here today. We will Fed Ex it tomorrow to 'Claire's' country - once it is there we will wait for it to be acepted - we have been told this is typically a few days and court dates are assigned just a few weeks out. There of course are all kinds of new things going on in her country and we don't know if that will speed up or delay our process.
So we are (theoretically) getting very close *yay*
Right now we are just trying to get ducks in a row. We are fairly confident we are fully funded - but need a couple things to work out.
First - Tax Credits for adoptions are being given out manually (bummer) - which means the several thousand dollars we anticipated going into our 'adoption fund' has NOT made it in yet - as we near travel dates we are very nervous it won't be there in time for our first trip - it isn't like travel won't happen - but we will feel MUCH better having that money (that we already calculated for) sitting there waiting.
Second - please continue to pray for stability in her country - specifically pertaining to adoptions and those of us in the middle of this transition - we know that this change is in the best interest of children who wait - we are PRAYING it does not delay us any longer and also that it will not require paperwork to be redone or more paperwork to be done - new paperwork is not budgeted for - and we have already waited so long.
Third - please pray that when we do travel that we are able to move FAST - when we went to adopt Silas everything was planned out - we knew exactly how long we were to be in the country. In this case, it is not so cut & dry - we have two trips - they could each be a week - they could each be 3+ weeks - for MANY reasons we are hoping for the shortest trips possible - if the trips are shorter we hopefully get in and out before June 12th - also - every day we spend in country costs money (apartment, food, translator - it is NOT a fancy trip, but it is expensive), every day we are in country we are missing work - Harry has one week worth of paid vacation - anything more than that is protected, but unpaid. And of course we have two kids at home - we will miss them terribly and we will be relying on friends and family to care for them while we are gone - we know that everyone involved will be very happy if this can just be a short trip!
Quick praises
- Harry has had quite a bit of freelance work the last month - this is a tremendous blessing - this has helped us stay on track financially and if it keeps up we will hopefully have money saved to make up for that time off at the beginning of the trip (not something we will have to borrow from an emergency fund or CC).
- My little stay at home mommy hobby is really starting to turn into a 'job' - I'm not spending much extra time on it - but I am starting to make a little money. We pray that it continues to grow - every ad we sell and every commission check goes into our adoption fund (this was always the plan -but it didn't really come to consistent fruition until this last month or so) - we are hoping this will also help fill in the gaps while Harry is not working as much. Last week we got three commission checks and several emails about advertising (only one new advertiser actually signed on the dotted line so far - but we are hopeful!) - All in all - we are only talking a few hundred dollars - but it was very encouraging to have money to deposit into the adoption account - those of you who dont know about my blog you can check it out at http://sandiegodealsandsteals.com/ (just so you know what I am talking about =)) We are hoping this is just the little extra bonus our family needs to get us through debt free without extra weight on Harry's shoulders - we also hope it will help supplement his income once we have another member of the family and ultimately be an avenue to make more money to donate to help future RR families - anyway - please pray the momentum continues!
Thanks for caring & thanks for your prayers!
It SHOULD be here today. We will Fed Ex it tomorrow to 'Claire's' country - once it is there we will wait for it to be acepted - we have been told this is typically a few days and court dates are assigned just a few weeks out. There of course are all kinds of new things going on in her country and we don't know if that will speed up or delay our process.
So we are (theoretically) getting very close *yay*
Right now we are just trying to get ducks in a row. We are fairly confident we are fully funded - but need a couple things to work out.
First - Tax Credits for adoptions are being given out manually (bummer) - which means the several thousand dollars we anticipated going into our 'adoption fund' has NOT made it in yet - as we near travel dates we are very nervous it won't be there in time for our first trip - it isn't like travel won't happen - but we will feel MUCH better having that money (that we already calculated for) sitting there waiting.
Second - please continue to pray for stability in her country - specifically pertaining to adoptions and those of us in the middle of this transition - we know that this change is in the best interest of children who wait - we are PRAYING it does not delay us any longer and also that it will not require paperwork to be redone or more paperwork to be done - new paperwork is not budgeted for - and we have already waited so long.
Third - please pray that when we do travel that we are able to move FAST - when we went to adopt Silas everything was planned out - we knew exactly how long we were to be in the country. In this case, it is not so cut & dry - we have two trips - they could each be a week - they could each be 3+ weeks - for MANY reasons we are hoping for the shortest trips possible - if the trips are shorter we hopefully get in and out before June 12th - also - every day we spend in country costs money (apartment, food, translator - it is NOT a fancy trip, but it is expensive), every day we are in country we are missing work - Harry has one week worth of paid vacation - anything more than that is protected, but unpaid. And of course we have two kids at home - we will miss them terribly and we will be relying on friends and family to care for them while we are gone - we know that everyone involved will be very happy if this can just be a short trip!
Quick praises
- Harry has had quite a bit of freelance work the last month - this is a tremendous blessing - this has helped us stay on track financially and if it keeps up we will hopefully have money saved to make up for that time off at the beginning of the trip (not something we will have to borrow from an emergency fund or CC).
- My little stay at home mommy hobby is really starting to turn into a 'job' - I'm not spending much extra time on it - but I am starting to make a little money. We pray that it continues to grow - every ad we sell and every commission check goes into our adoption fund (this was always the plan -but it didn't really come to consistent fruition until this last month or so) - we are hoping this will also help fill in the gaps while Harry is not working as much. Last week we got three commission checks and several emails about advertising (only one new advertiser actually signed on the dotted line so far - but we are hopeful!) - All in all - we are only talking a few hundred dollars - but it was very encouraging to have money to deposit into the adoption account - those of you who dont know about my blog you can check it out at http://sandiegodealsandsteals.com/ (just so you know what I am talking about =)) We are hoping this is just the little extra bonus our family needs to get us through debt free without extra weight on Harry's shoulders - we also hope it will help supplement his income once we have another member of the family and ultimately be an avenue to make more money to donate to help future RR families - anyway - please pray the momentum continues!
Thanks for caring & thanks for your prayers!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Focusing on the positive!
Still NO new news on what is going on (if anything) in Claire's country. So we are continuing on just hoping we can get through before anything (if anything) changes.
Today we have a cool thing to report - our freshly apostilled paperwork has already been mailed back to us. We should get it on Monday and we will Fed Ex it Tuesday to Claire's country.
This is awesome! We were told it would take 7-10 days to apostille and then they would mail it back - it looks like we will get it back a couple days earlier & that is a small victory *happy dance*
More info to come! Please keep the whole process in your prayers!
Kate
Today we have a cool thing to report - our freshly apostilled paperwork has already been mailed back to us. We should get it on Monday and we will Fed Ex it Tuesday to Claire's country.
This is awesome! We were told it would take 7-10 days to apostille and then they would mail it back - it looks like we will get it back a couple days earlier & that is a small victory *happy dance*
More info to come! Please keep the whole process in your prayers!
Kate
Monday, April 18, 2011
"Home"
No Claire adoption news.....
In place of what I would have liked to have been an adoption update I will share with you a sweet story.
This afternoon Silas woke up from nap and asked for hot cocoa. He was still kinda sleepy.
"Sure, Buddy, but it is gonna cost you a big hug."
"Ok Mommy." and he shuffled over to the coach and crawled up in my lap.
"You know, some day you are gonna be so big that you won't even fit in my lap."
"Will I someday be even bigger than Daddy?"
"I bet you will, Russians are bigger than Argentinians"
"Oh."
"Where is Daddy from Bubby?"
"Him's from Argentina."
"Where is Silas from?"
"I'm from Russia."
"Where are you now?"
"Home."
Takes my breathe away........
In place of what I would have liked to have been an adoption update I will share with you a sweet story.
This afternoon Silas woke up from nap and asked for hot cocoa. He was still kinda sleepy.
"Sure, Buddy, but it is gonna cost you a big hug."
"Ok Mommy." and he shuffled over to the coach and crawled up in my lap.
"You know, some day you are gonna be so big that you won't even fit in my lap."
"Will I someday be even bigger than Daddy?"
"I bet you will, Russians are bigger than Argentinians"
"Oh."
"Where is Daddy from Bubby?"
"Him's from Argentina."
"Where is Silas from?"
"I'm from Russia."
"Where are you now?"
"Home."
Takes my breathe away........
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
