So what is new with us?  I think I have mentioned that we are headed down the road of adoption again.  I must say that things have really changed since we did all the paperwork in 2005!  Side note, if Danielle and I would not have switched to special needs we would still be waiting for an adoption.  God truly has a larger plan for all of us, we cannot imagine life with out Jessica.  According to all records China has only placed children that have familiies that logged in thru January 25th 2006.  We logged in March 13th 2006.  So by all calculations we would be waiting through probably September of this year before we would have received a placement for a "healthy child".  Which would have been 2 1/2 years, then of course we would have been waiting for travel approval which would probably put us a total wait of 3 years.

 

Now current update, some have asked us about what adoption agency we are using this go round.  We have chosen a smaller adoption agency that is Hague accredited.  Bay Area Adoption Services (BAAS) is located in San Fransico and traditionally dedicated to Bay Area Families and specifically families that are Chinese Heritage.  When Danielle spoke with the Chinese coordinator she has mentioned that she is getting a lot more inquires from all over the US, and as Danielle said, the woman basically interviewed us and our intentions.  For me, I thought that was a good move, that she was really interested in our goals.

 

So to date, for paper work, we have completed our birth certificates, marriage certificate.  Homestudy interviews, together and individual, now we have our home visit on Thursday, also our letters of reference.  We have our physicals completed.  Our Idaho fingerprints, and local police reports.  One of the challenges that we have now with China being a member of The Hague adoption world ( whole new set of challenges) we have to receive police clearances from each State that we have lived in as well as every country.  So since I grew up in Washington State I ordered, and received, my clear police record.  Danielle and have both lived in Oregon and we have fingerprints appointments for Oregon clearance (Washington does not require finger prints, Oregon does).  Also, I lived in Australia for 7 months on an exchange in College.  So now we have contacted the Austrailian Federal Police (AFP) and will have to get my clearance from there (by the way the AFP does not take credit/debit cards for payments, so I have to find a bank that will issue funds in Australian currency in order to pay for my background check).  Keep in mind all of these records have to be notarized.

 

I have to say that Danielle is awesome with the paperwork.  I am so out of it this go round that she just tells me where I have to be, what I have to sign and what documents I need to request (on certain documents I am the only one that can make the request).

 

So what do we have left to do, well I am not really sure.  We are awaiting our homestudy which all of the background checks have to be completed before the social worker can complete her job.  Financial statement and verification is another one....I am sure I am forgeting other documents.  That is the final document before we submit all documents to the various Secretary of States for authentification.  From there we sent it back to Condi Rice to complete her signatures then the the Chinese consulate.  Our goal is to have all paperwork done before November 1st, so we will see. 

 

The other major challenge will be the new immigration paperwork.  I won't get into all the details (because I just don't know), but with Jessica we received our I600 in only a couple of months.  Now due to The Hague rules (thanks to the World Court) we will get some sort of different immigration paperwork called an I800, which from what we have been reading takes any where from four weeks to several months.  Who knows when we will get that done. 

 

I think my goal is to have our homestudy and all documents gathered and verified the various States by the end of July.  So as you can see we have been busy and swamped with paperwork.  It is definately more of a challenge this time, but we know there is an end, and I can already see an end in sight.

 

Here is a quick update on Jessica, she is Awesome!  She is doing great and continues to be a happy girl.  Not much of an update, but no news is good news right?  I am putting additional pictures up and a new slideshow on the left.