My dearest Ellianna,
I can't BELIEVE that in just a few more days I will get to hold you!!! I can't even tell you how excited I am. We are scurrying around like crazy trying to get "all ready" for you :) I'm not exactly sure WHAT that means - or even what it looks like - but it is keeping Mommy busy & helping her make the time go QUICKLY!
I am so excited to get to see your country. I have been praying that God will help me to remember EVERYTHING! I want to be able to tell you all about it. How beautiful & loving the people were, how well you were cared for & how much you were loved! I don't want to forget a THING!
My heart is so full right now! God keeps pouring big, GREAT big, buckets of peace over me. I don't think I've ever prayed so much in my life! This has been an amazing year for your mommy - God has really used this experience to stretch & grow me. It's been hard. I think I've cried more tears this year than any other year in my life. Tears of longing for YOU! Tears of sadness for how hard your life was to start with. Tears for your birth mom. She loved you so much! I KNOW it! She wanted a better life for you than she could give you. God made a promise to her that you would be loved & cared for....and I can't believe he picked ME! I am so honored.
I love you so much. I can't even describe it. I love you like I've carried you for 9 months. I know my cells didn't knit together to form you....but my heart has been knitting you together for 14 months!!! The first time I saw your picture was like staring at the first ultrasound of your brothers.....but I could see your features MUCH better! Maybe that's why this process has been so long - so we could truly come to understand the depth of our love for you. I love you as if I birthed you myself. I am almost overwhelmed by the intensity of my feelings for you!
I know all this change is going to be hard for you. I am so sorry. If I could make it any different I would. I have been praying, praying, praying, that God will help you through this transition. That God will help you know that we're your forever family. That God will show me how to calm your fears & care for your needs. That God will help you to ease right into our family like you've always been there!!
Oh Ellie!!! I can't EVEN WAIT!!!! Please be patient with me and the whole hair thing - I've been watching videos on all kinds of cute hairstyles for you!!! Please don't hate me if I want to change your outfit every 15 minutes :) You're just so cute! and all the hugging & kissing & snuggling & holding - I have to catch up on 16 months worth! Also - that black thing that keeps going "click click" that's mommy's camera. Daddy just bought her a disk that will hold 5000+ pictures. Her goal is to fill it up before we leave Ethiopia!
I LOVE YOU!!!!
Mommy
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My new Motto!
I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the
something I can do.
Helen Keller
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something;
and because I cannot do everything,
I will not refuse to do the
something I can do.
Helen Keller
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REQUIRED READING! Amazima is run by a 19 year old girl - her story is MORE than worth reading!
Why Ethiopia???
• One in six children die before their fifth birthday
• One in ten children die before their first birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
•There are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia and the country is twice the size of Texas
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
• One in ten children die before their first birthday
• 44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
• 60% of children in Ethiopia are stunted because of malnutrition
• The median age in Ethiopia is 17.8 years
• 1.5 million people are infected with AIDS (6th highest in the world)
• 720,000 children have been orphaned by AIDS alone
•There are 4.6 million orphans in Ethiopia and the country is twice the size of Texas
• Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa
• Drought struck the country from 2000-2002 (first year no crops, second year no seeds, third year no animals)
• Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school. 88% will never attend secondary school
• Coffee prices (Ethiopia’s only major export) fell 40-60% from 1998-2002
• Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000
Round 2!!!
Nov 3, 2010 - Decide to adopt through CCI
Nov 9 - Contact Home Study Agency
Nov 16 - Decide to adopt B & B
Nov 18 - 1st meeting for Home Study - $1700
Nov 22 - send in application to CCI with $250 application fee
Dec 11 - we've been approved to adopt through CCI!
Dec 13 - sent in contract & $5800 - $5200 agency fee, $100 home study review fee, $500 humanitarian aid fee
Jan 24, 2011 - realized we need NEW birth certificates and marriage certificates - $122.50 to have them overnighted!!!
Jan 26 - spent $16.15 to express mail Dossier cover sheet & Power of Attorney to Olympia for AUTHENTICATION with $30 for processing
Jan 27 - received new birth & marriage certificates!!!
Jan 29 - received notarized copy of home study
Jan 31 - spent $16.15 to express mail I600a application to USCIS with $890 to process our application to bring an orphan into the US
Feb 2 - spent $16.15 to overnight our DOSSIER to The Assistant Stork in VA who will courier it through the State Dept & The Ethiopian Embassy - sent checks for $80 to Stork, $16 to State Dept, and $$189.60 to Embassy
Feb 2 - priority mailed 2 copies of our Dossier to CCI with a check for the first half of our country fee - $8500
Mar 1 - our case is submitted to the Ethiopian court
Mar 18 - FINGERPRINTED for our USCIS clearance
Mar 24 - received court date of May 20th!!!!
Mar 30 - 171h arrived!
Apr 12 - plane tickets purchased! $1372 each - what a BARGAIN!
May 14 - receive news our court date has been canceled....we travel anyway
May 26 - able to give our consent to the ET courts
Jun 1 - travel home
Jul 25 - passed court in ET - they're OURS!!!
Jul 26 - paid the 2nd half of the in-country fee - $8,500
Aug 11 - submitted to Embassy
Sept 12 - Embassy requests interview with birthmom
Oct 11 - Reschedule interview to Oct 25 due to car trouble
Oct 25 - We're CLEARED!
Oct 26 - Given Embassy interview date of Nov 2nd
Oct 27 - Tickets purchased, 1 adult & 2 children - $2800
Oct 31 - leave for ETHIOPIA!
Nov 4 - check out of hotel - $280
Nov 5 - return HOME!
Total so far: $31,878 and worth EVERY penny!
Nov 9 - Contact Home Study Agency
Nov 16 - Decide to adopt B & B
Nov 18 - 1st meeting for Home Study - $1700
Nov 22 - send in application to CCI with $250 application fee
Dec 11 - we've been approved to adopt through CCI!
Dec 13 - sent in contract & $5800 - $5200 agency fee, $100 home study review fee, $500 humanitarian aid fee
Jan 24, 2011 - realized we need NEW birth certificates and marriage certificates - $122.50 to have them overnighted!!!
Jan 26 - spent $16.15 to express mail Dossier cover sheet & Power of Attorney to Olympia for AUTHENTICATION with $30 for processing
Jan 27 - received new birth & marriage certificates!!!
Jan 29 - received notarized copy of home study
Jan 31 - spent $16.15 to express mail I600a application to USCIS with $890 to process our application to bring an orphan into the US
Feb 2 - spent $16.15 to overnight our DOSSIER to The Assistant Stork in VA who will courier it through the State Dept & The Ethiopian Embassy - sent checks for $80 to Stork, $16 to State Dept, and $$189.60 to Embassy
Feb 2 - priority mailed 2 copies of our Dossier to CCI with a check for the first half of our country fee - $8500
Mar 1 - our case is submitted to the Ethiopian court
Mar 18 - FINGERPRINTED for our USCIS clearance
Mar 24 - received court date of May 20th!!!!
Mar 30 - 171h arrived!
Apr 12 - plane tickets purchased! $1372 each - what a BARGAIN!
May 14 - receive news our court date has been canceled....we travel anyway
May 26 - able to give our consent to the ET courts
Jun 1 - travel home
Jul 25 - passed court in ET - they're OURS!!!
Jul 26 - paid the 2nd half of the in-country fee - $8,500
Aug 11 - submitted to Embassy
Sept 12 - Embassy requests interview with birthmom
Oct 11 - Reschedule interview to Oct 25 due to car trouble
Oct 25 - We're CLEARED!
Oct 26 - Given Embassy interview date of Nov 2nd
Oct 27 - Tickets purchased, 1 adult & 2 children - $2800
Oct 31 - leave for ETHIOPIA!
Nov 4 - check out of hotel - $280
Nov 5 - return HOME!
Total so far: $31,878 and worth EVERY penny!
Our Adoption Timeline!
Nov 10, 08 - Sent application to America World & $250 application fee
Dec 10, 08 - Sent first program payment fee of $1350 to AWAA.
Dec 22, 08 - Accepted into the Ethiopia Program at AWAA.
Jan 7, 09 - Requested birth certificates & marriage certificate....sent $60 (? can't remember exact amt!) to State of Wa & Or for these documents.
Jan 15, 09 - paid $95 for the online Hague Compliance training
Jan 21, 09 - Matt & Jill physicals and fingerprinting...$20 for fingerprints....sent fingerprints with $30 to FBI for
background check.
Jan 21, 09 - TB test for everyone :) yeah! $16 each.
Feb 18, 09 - sent $1800 for homestudy & $1050 for post adoption reports.
Feb 19, 09 - first meeting with the social worker doing the homestudy
Feb 23, 09 - Jill's 1:1 interview with social worker for homestudy
Mar 1, 09 - Matt's 1:1 interview with social worker & home inspection for homestudy
Mar 2, 09 - sent $30 to California for the background check for the homestudy
April 16, 09 - final meeting with social worker for completion of homestudy
April 22, 09 - over-nighted I600A paperwork to social worker who included notarized copy of HOMESTUDY (it's DONE!!!) and over-nighted I600A & Homestudy to USCIS - with $870
Apr 30,09 - had all paperwork notarized - for FREE thanks SUSIE! Over-nighted certification paperwork to Olympia with $30.
May 1, 09 - received notification from USCIS that they'd rcvd our paperwork and would be sending us our fingerprinting appt in the next few days!!!!
May 3 - paid $70 for our home study social workers travel expenses.
May 4 - we have our fingerprinting appointment!!! It's set for May 27th....but I'm hoping to see if we can get in earlier - of course!
May 5 - no chance to get an earlier fingerprinting appt :(
May 7 - WOW! Our paperwork came back from Olympia already!!! Now we're just waiting on the I-171!
May 27 - Fingerprints DONE!!!
June 2 - Matt's fingerprints didn't go thru, he has to go back and have them redone :(
June 4 - Matt's fingerprints are redone - pray they go thru this time!!!
June 18 - spent $20 and 3o minutes making 3 copies of the Dossier
June 20 - received our I-171H
June 22 - overnighted Dossier to AWAA with $7500...of which $1000 will be refunded when we do our 3, 6, and 12 month post-placement visits
June 26 - DTE!!!
July 2 - Dossier arrives in Addis Ababa, ET
July 26 - 1 month DTE
Aug 24 - Amend request to include HIV+ child
Aug 26 - 2 months DTE
Sep 16 - Sent $450 to AWAA to update Home study to include HIV+
Sep 26 - 3 months DTE
Oct 6 - Referral Call
Oct 8- Sent in referral acceptance & $5435
Nov 11 - received first pics of Ellie since her referral!!! She is sooooo BEAUTIFUL!
Nov 12- received court date of Dec 3
Nov 25 - received first "official" update on Ellie from AWAA - she's smiling & healthy & drop dead GORGEOUS!!!
Dec 3 - WE PASS COURT!!!!
Dec 21- Concrete travel dates - Jan 15-23
Dec 22 - bought plane tickets - $3244 for Matt & Jill
Jan 13 - paid in country travel fees $3877 for 5 of us
Jan 15 - left Spokane for Addis Ababa, ET
Jan 18 - Metcha Day
Jan 19 - Gotcha Day
Jan 20 - Embassy Day. $400 for her visa.
Jan 23 - HOME!
Grand Total so far: $26,581
Dec 10, 08 - Sent first program payment fee of $1350 to AWAA.
Dec 22, 08 - Accepted into the Ethiopia Program at AWAA.
Jan 7, 09 - Requested birth certificates & marriage certificate....sent $60 (? can't remember exact amt!) to State of Wa & Or for these documents.
Jan 15, 09 - paid $95 for the online Hague Compliance training
Jan 21, 09 - Matt & Jill physicals and fingerprinting...$20 for fingerprints....sent fingerprints with $30 to FBI for
background check.
Jan 21, 09 - TB test for everyone :) yeah! $16 each.
Feb 18, 09 - sent $1800 for homestudy & $1050 for post adoption reports.
Feb 19, 09 - first meeting with the social worker doing the homestudy
Feb 23, 09 - Jill's 1:1 interview with social worker for homestudy
Mar 1, 09 - Matt's 1:1 interview with social worker & home inspection for homestudy
Mar 2, 09 - sent $30 to California for the background check for the homestudy
April 16, 09 - final meeting with social worker for completion of homestudy
April 22, 09 - over-nighted I600A paperwork to social worker who included notarized copy of HOMESTUDY (it's DONE!!!) and over-nighted I600A & Homestudy to USCIS - with $870
Apr 30,09 - had all paperwork notarized - for FREE thanks SUSIE! Over-nighted certification paperwork to Olympia with $30.
May 1, 09 - received notification from USCIS that they'd rcvd our paperwork and would be sending us our fingerprinting appt in the next few days!!!!
May 3 - paid $70 for our home study social workers travel expenses.
May 4 - we have our fingerprinting appointment!!! It's set for May 27th....but I'm hoping to see if we can get in earlier - of course!
May 5 - no chance to get an earlier fingerprinting appt :(
May 7 - WOW! Our paperwork came back from Olympia already!!! Now we're just waiting on the I-171!
May 27 - Fingerprints DONE!!!
June 2 - Matt's fingerprints didn't go thru, he has to go back and have them redone :(
June 4 - Matt's fingerprints are redone - pray they go thru this time!!!
June 18 - spent $20 and 3o minutes making 3 copies of the Dossier
June 20 - received our I-171H
June 22 - overnighted Dossier to AWAA with $7500...of which $1000 will be refunded when we do our 3, 6, and 12 month post-placement visits
June 26 - DTE!!!
July 2 - Dossier arrives in Addis Ababa, ET
July 26 - 1 month DTE
Aug 24 - Amend request to include HIV+ child
Aug 26 - 2 months DTE
Sep 16 - Sent $450 to AWAA to update Home study to include HIV+
Sep 26 - 3 months DTE
Oct 6 - Referral Call
Oct 8- Sent in referral acceptance & $5435
Nov 11 - received first pics of Ellie since her referral!!! She is sooooo BEAUTIFUL!
Nov 12- received court date of Dec 3
Nov 25 - received first "official" update on Ellie from AWAA - she's smiling & healthy & drop dead GORGEOUS!!!
Dec 3 - WE PASS COURT!!!!
Dec 21- Concrete travel dates - Jan 15-23
Dec 22 - bought plane tickets - $3244 for Matt & Jill
Jan 13 - paid in country travel fees $3877 for 5 of us
Jan 15 - left Spokane for Addis Ababa, ET
Jan 18 - Metcha Day
Jan 19 - Gotcha Day
Jan 20 - Embassy Day. $400 for her visa.
Jan 23 - HOME!
Grand Total so far: $26,581
About Me
- Jill
- Colfax, Washington Wife to Matt for 16 adventure filled years. Mom to 4 fantastic boys & one fabulous little girl! Owner of an amazing business that allows me lots of girl time & a chance to decide when that girl time is :) Lover of all things sparkly, fun, loud, and shouter from the mountain tops of the JOY OF ADOPTION!
2 comments:
She is gorgeous! I'll be following along as she comes home. So happy for your family.
Your video is beautiful!! We adopted through AW last year from China and are now praying about ET or Rwanda. I will be eagerly watching your journey to ET and hoping to glean as much from you as I can!! I know God will reveal His plan to us in His time!!
Those sweet boys are going to be so blessed!! My children absolutely adore our little Chinese Princess!
I will be praying for you and the other families traveling with you,
Naomi
www.lydiahope.blogspot.com
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