Holt International - Our Agency and Updates

Let me catch everyone up to speed. We started researching adoption agencies in August/ September. This was a very confusing process for me and the more I asked around the more I got confused until Rhett said, “Just pick one!” So I decided on Holt International. They have been around for a long time and I had heard good things about them, and very little bad. The one negative thing that I did read was not something I would complain about. I completed a webinar with them about their program and felt comfortable moving forward. So on September 6th we submitted our application to Holt. We immediately started sending away for all of our documentation we would need to complete our Dossier: birth certificates, marriage, employment letters, references, budget worksheets, among many other ridiculous things. We soon got another packet of “work” to fill out for the home study agency. Our gazelle intensity was slowed down a bit due to family matters, but I am happy to say I mailed the requirements off to our homestudy agency last Friday, November 5^th.  So hopefully, they will receive it today and we will be assigned a social worker and get our home visits scheduled soon, since we are eager to move along the process.

Rhett goes on Thursday to get his medical form finished up. I thought I had mine done a few weeks ago, but surprise, surprise, my doctor marked my liver as abnormal since the numbers were ever so slightly elevated. I go tomorrow for my second blood draw and am praying they come within normal range. I have been really stressed out about this, but our bible verse for the month at church is: For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37. And I just need to keep telling myself this. If God wants us to do this, and I believe he does, then it will work out, maybe not within my timeline, but his.

This past weekend we completed our 10 hours of Hague required training in order for us to adopt from China. We enjoyed it and are so thankful that we had Dana here to watch Camden all weekend. It was informative. A little scary, but I have read scary all over the internet! I know we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. I saw a little 2 year old boy on someone’s blog; they are advocating finding a family for him. He looks so precious. He is on another agency’s list and I don’t think I want to commit to a child before our dossier is to China. The wait will just be too hard, but I saved his picture to my desktop because I can’t get him off mind! We will see where we are in a few months’ time, but I am sure he will have a family by then!

We will be having some fundraisers to help with the cost of the adoption, which unfortunately are very daunting. We are lucky to have so many wonderful, supportive people in our lives to help us with this. Like Dana, who babysat Camden all weekend without charging us. And Charlie who is selling his wooden Christmas ornaments at the Women’s Banquet at church and donating the proceeds towards the adoption.

I plan to do a puzzle fundraiser, so be looking out for that. How it is done goes something like this. I have bought a 1000 piece puzzle with a China theme. We plan on selling pieces for $5 a piece. When you buy a piece we write your name on the back of the piece. When the puzzle is complete we will glue it together and hang it on the new child’s wall as remembrance of all the people who helped to bring him/her home! I love the idea, I hope others do too J