Gaining Gabby: February 2011

Saturday, February 5, 2011

~Happy Birthday Gabby~

Today is Gabby's 2nd birthday! This is such a special day for our little angel! Today, although being her 2nd birthday....is actually her 1st celebrated birthday! On the day of her birth she was sadly abandoned by her birth mother because she was simply born with an extra chromosome. Last year on this day she was just another sad little face in a Ukrainian orphanage. Today is going to be much different though! Today, we celebrate the birth of one of the sweetest angels God ever placed on this earth! Today her life means something! Today she is a princess! Today she is part of a family on her birthday! Today she is our 2 year old daughter!

Pictures coming soon!

~Adoption Timeline~

Friday November 12, 2010: WE ARE HOME!

Thursday November 11, 2010: Packed and ready to go!

Wednesday November 10, 2010: Recieved Gabby's visa!!

Tuesday November 9, 2010: Medical Appointment and first Visa appointment.

Monday November 8, 2010: Day off just to be together at the apartment in Kiev.

Sunday November 7, 2010: Traveled via CAR this time...not train, thank GOD..back to Kiev Ukraine to finish up our last week in Ukraine.

Saturday November 6, 2010: GOTCHA DAY!!!! Took Gabby out of the orphanage, brought her back to the apartment to stay with us her last night in Kherson Ukraine.

Friday November 5, 2010: Traveled to her birth region, Nova Kakhovka Ukraine to get her new birth certificate.

Thursday November 4, 2010: 10 day wait period is over!

Tuesday October 26, 2010: Day one of the 10 day wait for the court decree.

Monday October 25, 2010: COURT DAY! Officially became Gabby's mommy & daddy! Gabby's name is officially Gabriana Jaycee Zina Middeton. Now we start our mandatory 10 day wait period before we can get the cout decree. We can't do anything (visas, medical visits, or go home) without the court decree.

Friday October 15, 2010-Sunday October 24, 2010: Visits with Gabby (twice per day) and paperwork.

Thursday October 14, 2010: THE BIG DAY! (1.) We met Gabby!!!! (2.) Went to the notary's office to get paperwork notarized.

Wednesday October 13, 2010: Took the overnight train from Kiev to Kherson (the region Gabby's orphanage is in...13 hours from Kiev). By the way..this was worse than the plane for us! The train felt like it was around 90 degrees and stunk like gas! Not to mention it was kind scary...

Tuesday October 12, 2010: SDA appointment. We officially accepted the referral!

Monday October 11, 2010: Rest!

Sunday October 10, 2010: Arrived in Ukraine!

Saturday October 9, 2010: Left the states....destination Ukraine!

***Spent time preparing for travel.

Monday September 20, 2010: We have a travel date! Our SDA appt. will be October 12th in Ukraine. We are set to fly out on October 9th.

*Again, there is a time span in between September 2 and 20. If you would like to know how we spent our time during this time...it was with nothing but anticipation! It seemed like the longest 18 days of my life!

Thursday September 2, 2010: WE WERE SUBMITTED TO THE SDA!!!!!!! *Note: The FIRST to be submitted on this day!Next step....a travel date!!! Hope they come soon!

*Note: You probably noticed there is quite a gap here inbetween August 11 and September 2. This is because wehad to redo a couple of forms and had to deal with our county clerk being away on sick leave with nobody to certify the documents we had to redo. This took longer than expected but in the end we worked like crazy to get everything in to be submitted soon!

Wednesday August 11, 2010: Recieved the new I-171H!!!! Finally!!!! We have the real thing! We notarized it, certified it, and sent it out to be apostilled so that it could be sent to Ukraine a.s.a.p

Thursday August 5, 2010: Could it be? Yes! We recieved the I-171H/GOLDEN TICKET, and only 8 days after fingerprinting! This is it, this is what we have been waiting on! Oh but wait....what? The USCIS messed up big time. They put Jason's fingerprinting as expiring in 2010 instead of 2011. Bitter-sweet day and very upsetting. At least we new the good one was coming very soon though.

Wednesday August 4, 2010: Dossier (with the exception of the I-171H) to Ukraine to be translated (it cannot be submitted without the I-171H).

Thursday July 29, 2010: Recieved an email from the National Benefits Center/USCIS stating our homestudy was reviewed and deficiencies were found. After I reviewed it for myself a second time, I realized the areas the USCIS said were missing in the homestudy WERE NOT missing. I emailed the USCIS back and told them and they replied by saying "sorry for no doing a more complete review of your homestudy." Yeah no problem...you only almost gave me a heart attack and almost caused us to have to go get a new homestudy, notary, certified document, and apostille.

Wednesday July 28, 2010: Traveled to WV to the USCIS (as they process faster than the one in KY) and fingerprinted.

Thursday July 15, 2010: Found out we have to have our medical certificates redone because the notary portion printed on a second page and apparently that is a "no no."

Tuesday July 13, 2010: Recieved our fingerprinting appointment (you have to be fingerprinted through the USCIS as well) for July 28, 2010. This is HUGE because you can't recieve your I-171H/Golden Ticket until you have fingerprinted and been approved.

Monday July 12, 2010: Traveled the capitol with our dossier (with the exception of the I-171 H) in hand to appostille. There was no way we were trusting this to be done by mail!

Thursday July 1, 2010: (1.) Recieved the final draft of the homestudy (or so we thought). We ended up having to make a couple of revisions and we recieved a new copy within a few days (2.) Confirmed that the national benefits center/USCIS process our application and we recieved a reciept number...this means it is being reviewed!

Wednesday June 23, 2010: Received our FBI clearances! wooooo hooooo!

Tuesday June 22, 2010: Found out that we have to have a couple of documents for our dossier redone because the notary wording needed changed.

Friday June 18, 2010: Recieved the first draft of our homestudy approval.

Tuesday June 15, 2010: Mailed our USCIS I-600A application to the USCIS!!! BIG STEP.

Sunday June 13, 2010: Began doing some shopping for bedroom furniture for our new little one. Ordered bed and mattress. (This was fun and a nice way to forget about the stressful part of the adoption and allowed me to start thinking about the outcome).

Thursday June 10, 2010: Redone fingerprints and overnighted them to the FBI.

Tuesday June 8, 2010: Found out our fingerprints were not clearly readable and they needed redone. Not good news.

Wednesday June 2, 2010: Final homestudy visit! (By the way...don't stress about this...the requirments are simple)

Friday May 28, 2010: Vet appointments for the animals.

Wednesday May 26, 2010: Second homestudy appt. at homestudy agency! Only one more to go..the actual HOMEstudy at home.

Monday May 24, 2010: (1.) Doctor's appiontments!

(2.) Recieved our state police clearances and child abuse checks back. (Had to resend for new state police clearances because the notary that signed the originals had an expiration date that was less than 6 months left. It only took a few days to get new ones with a new notary....thank you KSP)

Thursday May 20, 2010: Took photos for passports, mailed passport application, and fees for passports. (Expedited this)

Wednesday May 19, 2010: Ordered a few copies of our birth certificates (fees required).

Tuesday May 18, 2010: Recieved a VERY IMPORTANT email containing the list of documents we would need for our DOSSIER (pronounced doss-ee-ey or you might say doss-ee-a). The dossier is the group of many, many, many, hard-to-get, time-consuming, headache forming, make you want to cry and scream documents that are mandatory through the country you are adopting from. Documents required for Ukraine at this time are listed below.

(1.) Petition for adoption

(2.) Two letters of obligation

(3.) Power of attorney

(4.) Two certified copies of marriage certificate

(5.) Homestudy (remember all the paperwork this required from earlier) The homestudy (final draft) is basically a report that describes everything about you personally, as a couple, your home, your past, present, education, career, ability and appropriateness to parent, and how many children and the ages of children you are approved for.

(6.) Copy of homestudy agency license

(7.) Copy of social worker at homestudy license

(8.) Medical certificate reports (which by the way, you have to be examed physically and psychologically, as well as a substance abuse assessment/drug test). This is not easy to accomplish being that there are appointments, complications with trying to work with doctors, and fees for the appointments (which we have insurance). The medical certificates have to be very precise because we are dealing with a very picky country regarding paperwork!

(9.) Verification of employment letters

(10.) State police clearance letters

(11.) Copy of I 171-H clearance form (Notice of Favorable Determination Concerning Application For Advance Processing of Orphan Petition) (a.k.a. "The Golden Ticket).

*Note: This is the form that basically gives you permission to adopt internationally from an orphange and is often the last form needed before being able to have your dossier submitted in Ukraine).VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT. This document comes from the I600 A application you have to complete, gather paperwork for, and send to the USCIS (immigration), along with a large fee. Not an easy form to get, needless to say.

(12.) 3 color copies of each of our passports

(13.)Written consent for adoption

(14.) Confirmation of the property right or residence statement

(15.) 2 statement authorizing the SDAPRC and the Ministry of Internal Affiars of Ukraine to request the clearances for them through the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and Interpol.

(16.) Pictures of each of us and our home

*Note: Each form listed above (as if they are not hard enough to get in the first place) must all be notarized, certified (at the county the notary is certified in, by the county clerk), and apostilled (a document certifing the documentation that is notarized and certified is true and original and the officials that signed them are approved to do so, a seal goes on each document). This is very time consuming and expensive. Not for the impatient (funny enough...I say this being one of the most impatient people I know....not anymore though, haha).

*For us, collecting the information above meant visiting doctors, the bank, CPA/accountant, notaries, county clerks, going to the capitol many times, countless emails, telephone calls, mailing documents, and traveling.

Monday May 17, 2010: (1.) Confirmed the FBI received our fingerprints (however no word at this point on if they were readable). (2.) Emailed our adoption consultant pictures of our home and us. (3.) Spoke with our adoption consultant for the first time via telephone (I never knew we would use email and internet so much throughout this process, haha)

Friday May 14, 2010: (1.) The adoption agency confirmed via email they recieved our retainer and application. We were officially assigned an adoption consultant (little did I know, this would be the person I would be speaking with everyday throughout this entire journey and one of the people who would help keep me sane!) (2.) Mailed our fingerprints to the FBI. (3.) Mailed our child abuse/neglect checks.

Note to those considering adoption: *When budgeting for an adoption please keep all of the "little things/fees" in mind (i.e. fees for fingerprinting, state police checks, child abuse checks, mailing (most times has to be certified at least but mostly overnighted), medical exams (big cost of you don't have insurance...which we did), USCIS I600A fee (not cheap), etc. These fees really ADD UP and are not part of the fees you pay to the adoption agency or homestudy agency. They are fees required by the agencies whom you have to request the information from. This also does not count mistakes made on your behalf or the agencies you request information from. Often times the fees when you have to re-request this information, new fees will need to be paid for them.

Thursday May 13, 2010: (1.) First homestudy appointment at the agency! Paid half of the homestudy fee. (2.) Had our first fingerprints completed (fee required).

Wednesday May 12, 2010: Started on gathering or figuring out how to gather some of the paperwork for the homestudy listed below.

Tuesday May 11, 2010: Recieved a "Checklist for Paperchase" from the homestudy agency.

List included:

1. Copy of marrige certificate

2. Copy of both of our birth certificates

3. Two credit references

4. Three personal references

5. State police background checks

6. FBI background checks (with fingerprints)

7. Child abuse/neglect clearances

8. Completed medical forms for the both of us

9. Copies of our driver's licenses

10. Copy of proof of vehicle insurance on each vehicle

11. Certificate of vaccinations for all pets and animal safety statements

12. Copy of W2 forms

13. Copy of income tax returns

14. Financial status form

15. Employment statements

16. Application

17. Adoption services agreement

18. Self-studies for each of us (this took a lonnnggg time and was very lengthy)

19. Recent photograph of each of us or us together

20. USCIS reciept

Needless to say, we began to feel overwhelmed!

Monday May 10, 2010: Mailed the application, application fee, retainer agreement, and retainer fee to our adoption agency! We have officially committed to adopting!

Saturday May 8, 2010-Sunday May 9, 2010: Completed the application and retainer agreement for the adoption agency.

Friday May 7, 2010: (1.) Mailed the homestudy application and application fee to the homestudy agency! Officially became paper-pregnant ;)

Thursday May 6, 2010: (1.) Recieved an email from the adoption agency containing the retainer agreement and more information regarding how to proceed with the adoption. (2.) Recieved more information from homestudy agency.

Wednesday May 5, 2010: (1.) Recieved an email from the adoption agency with the application and Ukraine introduction packet. (2.) Located a homestudy agency (within our state being that our adoption agency is out-of -state) and recieved and email from the homestudy agency containing basic information.

Tuesday May 4, 2010: Recieved an email from the adoption agency with the basic information we requested. Decided we wanted to seriously pursue adoption in Eastern Europe (Ukraine).

Monday May 3, 2010: Began searching adoption websites online, found an agency, and inquire for information.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

~Happy Birthday Gabby~

Click this link to learn more about our adoption agency! They are the absolute BEST!