In January we had our home study. So the social worker came to our home and interviewed us and our family. We passed and she approved us to bring our sweet little guy home ! It was supposed to take her about 2 weeks to complete the paper work but then we had snow days (which by the way never happen in NC ! ) Then her littles were sick, then she was sick. So it actuality it took 5.5 weeks to get our home study back. Which I know doesn't sound like a long time , but for a mamas heart it feels like an eternity.
We finally got our home study in the mail at the beginning of March. We sent our application to USCIS (which is basically our government) on March 6. The same day we were offered a matching grant of $900 ! Which is huge because we need $1,800 more to send off our dossier. The dossier is what essentially starts the adoption process in Little Mans country. Once this is submitted it will give us the best guess as to the remaining timeline to forever <3
Today we got confirmation that USCIS has received our application so it will be processed and we will need to have our biometrics appointment (fingerprinting done). It could still be several weeks before we have approval but in the meantime we have a grant to meet !
Really BIG NEWS : Our family finally has an FSP . Which is a family sponsorship program through Reeces Rainbow which happens to be the site that we found our little guy on. The benefit of this FSP is that all donations made to it are tax deductible. These funds will help with travel and adoption expenses ( not including dossier submission). We are so excited to have finally set one up !
We have SEVERAL fundraisers going on to help meet this grant:
Do-Terra essential oils. This is a Facebook party and anyone is able to join the event. She is generously giving us her entire commission ! This party will run through March 31.
https://www.facebook.com/events/794749957256878/
The "Lets Get Our Dossier Sent" Auction. This is a Facebook auction that ends March 30, if you see anything you like you can bid on it. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1547073152234604.1073741836.1445711035704150&type=3
Haitian Bracelets: These bracelets are crafted in Haiti. The families use the funds for things like sending their kids to school, building a home, and providing food to their children. It is the goal of APPARENT Project to help keep families together and less children going to orphanages due to poverty. Each bracelet is $10, The families receive $5 and $5 goes to our adoption. Each bracelet comes with a bio of the family you are helping. I truly love this fundraiser because while it is helping us get one step closer to our little guy who we plan to name Owen, I feel like it is also so wonderful that in this way Owen finding a family and coming home to forever also gives the same rewards to those family in Haiti.
Last but certainly not least, We have Teething Necklaces ! These necklaces are great distractions for the nursing babies or toddlers. It keeps babies attention focused on the task at hand , and not the distractions going on around while its lunch time. or snack time. or dinner time. or any time :) They are Mommy-Made and Baby approved ;) Necklaces are $16 plus $3 for shipping. I will have more color choices soon !
