answers to some questions

First off I want to say we are overwhelmed with the positive comments and love we have received since announcing our intent to adopt Danny.  When you tell someone you are CHOOSING to adopt a child with special needs you never know what the reaction will be.  In fact I fully (and I mean fully) expected people to treat us like we are crazy. What I am trying to say is thank you!  Thank you for being positive.  Thank you for asking questions.  Thank you for offering to help!

I am going to try to answer some of those questions here.  Feel free to ask away if you want to know something, I will do my best to keep you all in the loop, however please understand there are some things we may not be able to answer at certain points.

1. How long will the adoption take?  at this point we aren't totally sure.  originally we thought around 6 months but we are now hearing it might be 12 to 14 months.  we are still holding out hope that we will have danny home before his 4th birthday.
2. Have we/when will we get to meet Danny? we have only met danny through his Reece's Rainbow's website and photo so far.  we will get to meet Danny before bringing him home, but don't have dates yet.  this is up to us and getting the mountains of paperwork turned in as quickly as we can and the governments in two countries cooperating.
3. What does this cost? this question is a doozie!  ultimately I don't know, but the estimate is quite overwhelming...this is part of the reason we are fundraising.  (we are also blessed to have employers who will reimburse us part of the costs once the adoption is complete, but we have to front the money.)
4. What can I do to help?  we will be fundraising as soon as I am rescued from the mountain of paperwork I am under so you can absolutely help then.  UNTIL then you can pray, tell your family & friends about Danny and Reece's Rainbow, and send us ideas for fundraising that you would participate in if you heard about it...read: fun stuff!




A final note, Reece's Rainbow has respectfully asked us to not include the country where Danny currently resides as public info on our blog, facebook, etc.  I can tell you (whisper in your ear!) if you want to know, but you will notice that I've removed as many references of the country from the blog as I can find.

Thank you all again for following along and being loving and supportive!  We have the best family and friends we could ask for.

I know what Apostilled means!

Well not exactly because Merriam-Webster doesn't recognize it as a word.  Which also explains why the notary I was talking to last week looked at me like I had a third eye.  ;)  Reece's Rainbow says this:

"Apostilled is a fancy term for your state government to certify everything which has already been certified."

Basically it's a re-notarization of a notarization I guess.  But it also means a road trip to Austin is in order...and I love Austin!  Thank goodness for USAA and the free notary, as the apostille costs $10 per document and this is only the first round of things that will have to be done.

Next steps are as follows:

1. Get all of yesterday's documents notarized
2. Then get them Apostilled
3. FedEx to "country where he is"....does FedEx even deliver there I wonder?
4. Home Study


But look at this face....

Isn't it all going to be worth it?

Step 2: Submit Another Application!

Not as bad as it sounds.  Our agency in the US is ready to go, but we also have to get an agency in the country where he is.  Today I filled out more forms, many fewer pages this time though and we have to get them notarized and sent off to be apostilled.  Whatever that means, I'm not sure!

Other things you should know:

1. We have now told our families and even with a little hesitation everyone is excited!
2. I've also told a few friends to get the prayers going and they have all been thrilled!
3. We have moved our home study back a bit due to the cost of airfare.  A little disappointing, but I know it's for a reason.

Thanks for praying for us and for Danny to come home soon!

Step 1: Submit Application

Great News!  We have submitted our application to an adoption agency!  And it seems it's been processed.  Tomorrow I have to call the agency and go through about a 10 minute introduction where they will ask me a bunch of questions, and I get to do the same.  Then we find out what the initial fee will be and we get to set up our home study.  Wow! That's a lot of progress in a small amount of time.

In other Great News everyone we have told so far that we are planning an adoption of a DS child has been super supportive.  I can't begin to explain how much better that makes me feel.  There is something about having crazy ideas validated by family and friends that makes it seem like it's not a big deal at all! We are planning on telling the rest of the family next weekend, because this is something we want to do in person. Stinks we couldn't do it all at once, but geography gets in the way sometimes.

So, please keep us in your prayers, we are beginning what is sure to be a long and emotional process.

Here Goes...

We just got home from a fantastic vacation in Costa Rica! I wish we could have taken you all with us...or just stayed forever so you could come visit. :) While we were gone we both did some serious thinking and praying about our decision to adopt. At one point it looked like it was going to be off the table for now. Seems like God has other plans! {Whoever said the thing about telling God your plans and making Him laugh sure got it right.} We have decided to move forward! This means a few things:

1. Wow, we have a lot of money to come up with! But we know that God will show us the way.

2. Yesterday I filled out the application for the agency, and spoke with a social worker about setting up a home study. Have to get approval from the agency before we do the study.

3. Prayers are needed!

4. Thinking this might be our guy, but really not sure yet. God, what do you think?

http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=danny&x=0&y=0

So in essence...Here Goes!