Saturday, December 20, 2008

So Much

Well So much can change in a day. On Thursday of this week our main man T was laid off from his job that he has had for 15 years. We are heartbroken but not without hope. For we know that God will continue to provide for us as he always has.

We are still going to attend the meeting in January but are uncertain if we can continue with the foster program since he is out of work.

So we will keep you updated. Pray that God will provide a new job quickly for my wonderful husband.

All our love,
TnT

Sunday, December 14, 2008

In January

Well, we have another meeting with social workers and trainers to determine if this program is right for us, this meeting will take place in Winchester, VA on January 12Th. If this program is the one then we begin training on the following Saturdays. The training will be complete on February 14Th! What a perfect Valentine gift. What they tell us is that while we are completing the training the Home Study will be completed at the same time. Now, this being the government we are expecting many delays and lags in communication.

So that is what we have going on. The kids are so excited, before each meeting they ask if this is the meeting we are going to bring home a brother or sister! They are too cute.

I am still nervous but they tell us that is normal. That they would be concerned if we were not at the thought of having a child come into the home and have to give them back. We have learned a lot and in some ways I am feeling a little more comfortable after having time to review and read more about the process.

Well, we pray everyone has a very happy and Merry Christmas.

Love
T n T

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The Meeting

We attended the meeting last night. I have some mixed feelings about the meeting. In some ways I feel as though I am grieving the loss of my dream to adopt from Russia, and having a hard time with the whole foster process. Trav really likes the idea of the adoption through foster program. The chance to get to know the child and their personality, the opportunity to bond with them.

The adoption program does not have a child 0 to 5 available for adoption. So we will have to do a high risk adoption which is through the foster to adopt program. We will be with the foster program with the goal of Reunification of mother and child. So we will be taking the child to visits with the parent weekly. A Social worker will be coming out monthly to check on the child as well.

To begin we will have to take 27 hours of training, a home interview and home study that consists of everyone getting a background check. The dog will have to be cleared by the vet that she is safe and is up to date on her vaccinations. Everyone in the home as well will have to have a letter from the Doctor as well that all are healthy.

The training will begin in February so we have some time before this ride begins. I am most nervous about having a child in my arms and having to return them to their Mother or Father. Am I strong enough? No but praying that God will give me the strength to handle this heartache.

Terri

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Informational meeting

Well, a lot has changed in our thinking as you can tell from our blog title. We are now pursuing becoming a licenced foster to adopt foster parents. After much prayer and many different discussions, tons of research we have found that adoption is possible in the US. So we are going to stay in-country and try to adopt locally first.

We researched doing a straight adoption and found it to be just as expensive as an international adoption. This is just not something that is possible for us at this time. We may come back to it at a later time (when the economy is booming again! :)

But in the mean time, we begin training to become foster parents this month! So exciting to say the least. We are going to our first informational meeting in one week. We are counting down the days and are so anxious to get started.

We will do much better to keep you updated now that things are on a roll.

T n T and Family!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Narrowing down the long list

So we started with a list of about 15 agencies. Travis and I had a list of questions as well and then we sent them off to each agency. From there we began researching the agencies and their reputations. So far we have it narrowed down to three agencies. Hopefully soon we will have an idea of who God is going to use to bring home our Princess!

Blessings.
Terri and Crew

Update:
We have spoken to all three agencies. After many discussions we believe that the international adoption is just not an option at this time. We are researching domestic adoption and also the foster programs. We will keep you updated.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

This week we began

This week we began researching the international adoption agencies. So far we have limited our selection between two different agencies. We have learned a lot about the process.

Home study 1 to 3 months
I 600A paperwork depends upon state
Agency choice
Russian program fees
Average wait time
Travel costs
Total estimated adoption costs


With that we are going to work on saving up the money so our plan is to begin our home study by April or May of 2009. So we will not have to much to report until that time. In the mean time I will be collecting websites and information about adoption and attachment.

T n T :)

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Our Story Begins

We are a family of five working on becoming a family of six. We have 3 boys and are looking at adopting a little girl or boy possibly from Russia.