5 For Hope

Taking the Paper Chase Worldwide

I haven't updated lately because there has been no exciting movement.

As it stands, we were ready to submit our dossier to the Department of State and the Embassy when our caseworker noticed there was no information in our paperwork regarding my husband's Army income, etc.  In our home study time, the Army income was not used to 'qualify' for anything, so our primary employment was all we gathered information to verify.  I'm not sure how it slipped past me that I had not gathered information on the Army things.

I am in the process of securing an employment verification letter from rear detachment--those are the guys who stay  behind to run the show while others go overseas.  I also had to make out a new Affidavit of the Dossier--you know, one of the three things I took to Columbus a couple weeks ago?  Then, I had to write an explanation of the way the National Guard works, what activation of the unit means, how my husband is paid while he's deployed and why he isn't being paid by his civilian job while he is deployed.

I had some computer issues (AGAIN!) over the past week and a half, but was up and running today at least.  I e-mailed the drafts to my caseworker and she was very complimentary about the documents.  I e-mailed the verification letter information to Rear-D and e-mailed the remaining things to my husband.  He's located the JAG office and a printer, so I'm hoping it will be on its way to me via snail mail sometime this week.

The delay has been disappointing, but I'd rather find this out now than when our paperwork had already been sent overseas. 

It will be okay.

No one said this will be a quick process, so I just have to be patient.

We all know how good I am at that!

$5 from 4,000 Update

Since last report, we have had the equivalent of 6 people give us $5 for a total of $30.  That means that so far, we have had the equivalent of 237 people decide to give us 5.  Thank you!

M2 and I plan to drop the home study application paperwork into the mail in the morning along with our application fee.  Then, we will set about cleaning this house from top to bottom and bottom to top.  Nothing like having a social worker coming to your house to make you look at things with a microscope!

Amritas, a faithful friend and reader, posed a question in comments that may be interesting to you as well.  Amritas wondered what language Hope speaks now and how we plan to help her adapt to English.

Hope's native language is Amharic.  In reading and learning about language development in children as well as children adopted internationally, I know certain aspects of this process can be most frustrating.  I have thought about meeting these challenges in several ways.

First, I have made contact with a some students who are studying at our local university.  They are native Ethiopians and have been most gracious about offering me information prior to and after Hope arrives in the States.  I'm most interested in learning certain phrases from them and perhaps a song or two.  I'd also like to have their help in explaining a dentist visit or a doctor visit to Hope prior to taking her.

Second, I know that there will come a time when Hope will lose enough Amharic, but not know enough English to make herself understood verbally.  This language gap can last a short period or a long period and it can cause a great deal of frustration and anxiety for all involved.  This phenomenon reminded me a great deal of the reasoning behind teaching an infant sign language.  Infants and small children understand language long before they are physically able to make the sounds necessary to form words.

I taught M1 sign language when she was around 9 months old and M2 a bit earlier than that.  M1 picked up on it well, used it often and it did not seem to delay her use of language at all.  I would like to provide Hope with basic signs for things like hungry, thirsty, snack, bathroom, book, etc. so that she can make herself understood when she wants to.  Of course, at 4, she will have a strong enough will that she may not wish to a) learn or b) use any signs.  I'm going to try,though. 

We are also reviewing and looking into different language products that might be useful to her.  I don't want to overexpose her to media, however, but if something might be helpful, I'm all for it. 

This will just require lots of patience and understanding of what this entire move will be like for her.

Thanks for the questions!  Keep them coming!  We are always looking for new ideas and researching other families' experiences so we do not have to reinvent the wheel as we go along.

Seeing Hope Seeing Us

I received an e-mail today from the director of the NGO that oversees Hope's orphanage.  She is traveling to Ethiopia in early February and will be seeing our daughter while she is there!  She promises new photos and video. 

She also is allowing us to send a gift to our daughter and to her friends, if we wish.  She will film our daughter receiving these things from us.  It will be the first time Hope is told she has a family working hard to make a place for her.  We are permitted to send a photo album to her as well.  Here is what I have been planning to send since the moment I knew this trip and the gifts were a possibility.

For Hope: (this has to fit in a gallon-sized Ziploc!)
A Land's End dress that looks brand new, but has been lovingly been worn by both my girls. It isn't this color or pattern (it's a purple color with teeny wildflower bunches on it), but it's this shape and material. 

The girls love, love, LOVED this dress and I loved them in it!  M1 insisted on wearing dresses for almost an entire year (from her 4th birthday until she was almost 5).  This dress is great alone, with fun tights or even stretchy leggings underneath it.  I think Miss Hope will love it!  I may vacuum seal this in a Food Saver bag to make it teeny and flat.

A photo book we will make on the Walmart.com photo center website.  These are thin and yet, have beautiful, full-color shots and the ability to apply captions.  I'm going to include two, identical books in the hope that one of them could be given to Hope's biological family.  It is my understanding that can happend sometimes.  Just in case we don't meet in person when I go to bring her home, they will be able to see us, Hope's room, etc.

A soft cuddly.  I will let the girls pick out something special for their sister.  I'll post a photo of whatever they decide!

Hair do-dads...fun!

A small notebook and colored pencils or crayons.

For Hope's friends:
Sidewalk chalk!
Stickers!
Character band-aids!

We have known about her for awhile now.  It is exciting to think about her finally learning about us.  It also increases the urgency with which I approach every single thing I do regarding her adoption. 

Sometimes, it is overpowering.  The thoughts come quickly and wash over me in waves.  All the paperwork, all the organizing and cleaning, all the money, all the what if's and unknowns.  The doubts and fears build like big, angry swells in the ocean.  They threaten to wash right over me sometimes. 

But, just like I used to focus on the friendly face of my swimming instructor when I was a kid (her name was Holly Wood, no lie), I keep Hope's face in my mind at times like that.  How could I run scared from a challenge when that sweet little girl is waiting on me to come find her?  It is an obligation of a mother to do that for a child who needs it.  I truly believe that.  It's simply a matter of geography that this daughter of mine happens to be living in Ethiopia at the moment and not down the block.  The mother who gave birth to her cannot care for her.  It would be an honor to pick up the heart of this mother and little girl and tuck it into my own.

I'm blessed beyond measure to have a family and a supportive group of friends (some of whom were strangers a week or two ago!) who have stepped up to offer us a hand.  We have enough for our home study and our references are all working on writing their letters.  In fact, we had another $5 come in this week!

This is happening.

You're a part of it!

 

Big Week Ahead

If my calculations are correct, this week will be the week our paperwork will be submitted to the homestudy agency.  At that point, our paper chase will officially begin!  Yikes! 

All we are waiting on is for the bank to remove its customary hold on the PayPal transfer of funds and I will be able to write a check for our entire homestudy when I send in our application paperwork.  Thank you for making that possible!

Our next benchmark goal is to file our official application with the agency.  We're looking for 120 people willing to give us 5.  I did a freelance writing job a couple months back and unless something unforeseen happens in the next few days, I will be able to shave the equivalent of 40 people off that 120 mark leaving us needing 5 from only 80 people.  That's great news!

We have located a few grant and adoption loan programs that look applicable to our circumstances.  We are beginning to fill out those applications so that when our homestudy is complete, we can send them in immediately.

Our sitemeter has been registering lots of visitors arriving at 5 for Hope via various referrals from you.  For those who have shared our website with family and friends via e-mail, Facebook, personal blogs, or face-to-face conversations, we are thankful for your gift of gab!  We LOVE that more and more people are becoming a part of Hope's story.  People from all over the country have stopped by to read about Hope and some have given us $5. 

We couldn't have done all this so quickly without you!

New Year's Boost

Today, we returned to our hometown to celebrate Christmas with my husband's dad, stepmom, sister and her new husband.  It was a fun day and we were able to share good food, many laughs and updates regarding our progress toward becoming paper ready.

My sister-in-law and her husband gave us a wonderful Christmas gift.  Their exceedingly generous donation to 5 for Hope will boost our funds to the point that we have met our second benchmark goal of being able to pay for the balance of our homestudy.  Once that homestudy is complete, we will be eligible to apply for adoption grants and even some loan programs not open to potential adoptive parents who have not completed such a study. 

As special as Aunt H and Uncle J are to M1 and M2, it is no surprise that they have jumped into the fray to become special to M3 before she even knows their names.

We only need the equivalent of 3771 people to reach our goal of $5 from 4,000.  It's amazing to me that since we went live December 22 we find ourselves in the company of the equivalent of 229 people who were willing to give us 5. 

Thanks again.  We appreciate you spreading the word about us, our site and our mission to bring M3 home from Ethiopia.  We can't wait to share with her how lucky she is to have such a huge team pulling for her!

Writer's Cramp!

I've completed all the forms necessary for the application to the homestudy agency.  Once I double check with the five people we'd like to offer references for us, I will complete that additional section, write our check for $600 and put this packet in the mail! 

Then, it will be the flight of the bumblebees around here to become organized in a hurry and recover from our holiday "hangover."  You know the condition, don't you?  Gifts still looking for a home, food and sweets in the cupboards and on the counters waiting to be eaten (you know, just so you can wash that bowl/plate/dish), laundry from all the traveling, Christmas decorations waiting to be stored...the works!  All just hanging around...sheesh!  And, whose home can't use a good, deep cleaning at this time of year?  Why wait until spring?!

Once that packet is sent, we can update our categories here at 5 for Hope to include "Paper Chase Time."  That will be a super exciting time!  We'll be gathering certified documents, writing our biographies, developing our daughter's heritage statement...lots to do.  Even with all the things waiting to be checked off our list, I'm still so excited!  I'm especially excited that you're here and pulling for us as we make the move to complete our family.

Thanks again for joining us on our journey.  Remember, if you're on Facebook, you can type 5 for Hope in the search box and become a member of our Facebook group.  As always, we're open to new fundraising ideas so we can add more individuals to our 4,000.

Hitting the Ground Running

2009 is here and we are excited!

Our paperwork is being completed bit by bit and organized as we go.

My husband has starting drafting plans to reorganize and spruce up M2's room to make ready for an extra sister.  M2 is excited, but reminds me daily that although she is sure M3 will like "girly things" and that she can have "all the girly things she wants", M2 is sticking with her slot car track and sports things, thank you very much.  I reminded her that M3 probably has not had a chance to figure out what she likes or what she is interested in and we'll let her pick once she arrives home. 

We've been looking into bunk beds too as that will provide as much floor space for playing, daydreaming, pretending, and imagining that the room can offer.  We're also thinking that if we can employ the closet space and bunk bed drawers/underbed storage in the most functional way, we may be able to avoid adding another dresser or removing M2's dresser altogether. 

At the start of the week, the girls return to school and I start making those initial, important phone calls.  Home study needs to be scheduled, references need to be contacted, our credit union needs to be called.  Busy, busy busy!

You can count on us to keep you updated right here.  We'll keep sharing our story and, if you do the same, more people may decide to become one of the 4,000 responsible for helping bring Hope to her forever home.

Thanks for helping us close out 2008 in an amazing way.  We know 2009 will be even more so.

Sharing Our Story...

Once 5 for Hope website went live and we opened a 5 for Hope group on Facebook, friends and family alike started finding their way to us and deciding to give us 5.

In the next week, we will be broadening our base and letting even more people know how they can join us on our adoption journey.

First, I AM going to finish printing off our 2008 update letters to include in our Christmas (New Year's?) cards.  We have lots of friends and family who aren't regular readers of my blog, aren't on Facebook, and who rarely use a computer.  It will be their way of finding out what we are up to and perhaps deciding to come along for this wild ride!

Second, we will be reaching out to some local websites and media outlets to see if they are interested in carrying a blurb about our campaign which may even expand to discuss adoption issues in general, including financing such an objective.

Third, we will be contacting the educational institutions that have played such a huge role in our family's life to see if any service projects may want to donate to Hope's orphanage or help us organize a 5 for Hope event in the coming months.

My sister-in-law has made a written offer to 'sling spaghetti' if we do a spaghetti dinner so you have been forewarned to wear protective gear should you come through the food line.

We'd love to hear from you if you have any ideas, suggestions or insight into how to best direct our efforts.  Shoot us an e-mail or leave us a comment!  We appreciate any and all input.

Welcome, Facebook Friends!

So many of you have already stood tall as one (or many!) of our 4,000 that I want to remind you how thankful we are for you, your friendship, and your continued interest in our adoption journey.  This is quite a trip!

Visit often for updates!  

Biding Our Time

As our domains knit themselves together, I've been reassessing some of our goals and re-prioritizing them in relation to our fundraising.  Knowing we are going to launch a full-scale campaign and hoping we will garner some support from friends and family who may not know about our adoption plans and why raising the funds quickly is important, we have put our goals on different levels and time frames.

Our #1 goal at this time is securing the $1150 necessary to effectuate our homestudy.  The homestudy is the one step that FOR CERTAIN Hubs has to be home to complete, it is the one thing required by organizations giving grants and/or loans to prospective adoptive parents and it is a threshold issue to adopting anyway.  I've been in contact with our homestudy agency of choice, explained our particular situation and asked for her advice.  She thought my idea of moving the homestudy to the tippity top of the list was a good one and could open doors to more fundraising opportunities once successfully completed.

Given the participation so far in our fundraising drive, we need only to gather up $800 for the homestudy. That seems like a do-able, incremental goal.  

We're going for it.

We're glad you're along for the ride.