Our Dossier is Going to Guatemala

Our dossier is on its way to Guatemala! The Guatemalan Embassy legalized all of our documents and returned it to us this afternoon. We over-nighted it to Love Basket and they will be sending it to our attorney tomorrow. We have spent so much time getting these documents together that I just had to take a picture before I could send it.

How old is Cohen?

Happy Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for this year! We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and know how grateful we are to have you in our lives.

Knowing that months from now we will be on our way to Guatemala to bring Cohen home is such an incredible feeling! Love Basket told us that we can send him a small package. We are going to send books and tapes with us reading the stories. That way he will recognize our voices when we first meet him. We are also going to send blankets and a small stuffed animal that we will sleep with for a few nights so that he will know what "home" smells like.

Quick update on where we are in the adoption process: We over-nighted the dossier to the Guatemalan Embassy in D.C. on Tuesday. They must have been closed on Wed. because our tracking information said that they attempted to deliver it, but it was not received. Once the Guatemalan Embassy in D.C. receives it, they will legalize it and send it back to us. That should take about a week. We will then send it to our attorney in Guatemala and our dossier can officially begin moving through the courts.

It's a Boy!

Our baby boy was born! Let us introduce you to Cohen Isaac Wheeler. He was born on October 30, 2006 and weighs six pounds. We still have many months of waiting until the adoption will be finalized and we can travel to Guatemala, but he will definitely be worth the wait! He is out of the hospital and in foster care. We will post more information as we receive it. Please pray for his birthmother who has given us the most amazing gift and pray that he will be loved and cared for by his foster mom until we can bring him home!

Our Baby Names!

Last week we received an email from Laurie at Love Basket telling us that there is a possibility that we may be able to give our baby his or her original name that would go on the first birth certificate. This makes us hopeful that there is a possible birthmother who is getting ready to deliver! Laurie explained that if we had already agreed on baby names, to give her a boy and a girl name so that she could pass the names on to the attorney in Guatemala just in case the timing worked out. So, our baby names are: Cohen Isaac for a boy and Sadie Elise for a girl. You may post positive comments only about these names! :)

We also received our final paperwork packet explaining how to prepare the dossier. This is the paperwork that needs to be notarized, certified, authenticated, and legalized! It is extremely overwhelming, so we are trying to just break it up into manageable pieces. We are also waiting on our I-171 from Immigration. When we receive this, we will be able to accept a referral for a baby! Robby has a friend of a friend who works in the Immigration Office downtown, so we are hoping he can help pull some strings.

We are also checking our mail daily in hopes of hearing from one of the many grants we have applied for. Continue to check our sight -- we may have a picture soon!

The race was a success!

We want to thank everyone who braved the cold weather Saturday morning to participate in our first annual Dash for Adoption. We had a great turn out, with fifty participants, and raised $1791.00! Georgetown College nearly swept the race, with Karen Bonura stopping them. Georgetown's coaches are eager to contact her regarding recruitment.

A quick update on where we are in the adoption process -- Our homestudy report has been sent to Love Basket and reviewed. Our homestudy agency will make the necessary changes and submit it to USCIS. We will then wait for approval and will receive our I-171H. While this is happening, we will be able to receive a referral for a child. This week we are hoping to receive more information about the necessary paperwork for our dossier, which is the paperwork that is translated and sent to Guatemala. Although we have prepared parts of our dossier already, there are still many things that need to be notarized, certified, and authenticated. That means many trips to the county clerk's office and secretary of the state's office.

Thanks again for all your support. Please continue to keep us in your prayers so that the adoption continues to progress without delays.

Dash for Adoption

Mark you calendars for the morning of October 28th! We will be holding the first annual Dash for Adoption at Tom Sawyer Park. This will be a 5k run/walk to benefit our adoption fund. Yes, we are crazy for pulling all this together in just three weeks, but based on availability of the state park, this was our only option. The entry fee is $25 per person and includes a race t-shirt. Email Lori at lori_beth27@yahoo.com for flyers and registration forms. Please spread the word to anyone you know who might be interested.

Picture of Guatemala

As I will be holding our new baby, guess where Robby will be climbing...

Our Second Yard Sale

Today we had our second yard sale. We had a great crowd since it was a city-wide yard sale. Robby grilled some hot dogs and that was a huge success. Even at 9:30 in the morning, people were ready for hot dogs! Our grand total for today's yard sale was $966.00!!! Thank you all so much for your generosity. We can see how God is working to help build our family.

Yard Sale!

On September 9th, we had our first yard sale. Thank you for all of your donations. Because of your help, we were able to raise over $700 that day! It turned out to be a fun time. As you can see, the kids enjoyed shopping and playing dress-ups!

Our neighborhood-wide yard sale was rescheduled for September 30th from 8:00-3:00. Since we still have plenty of items, we will be having a second yard sale on this day.

This past week we both had our individual interviews for the homestudy. All of our paperwork has been completed and turned in, so we will be scheduling our final home interview soon. Our homestudy report will take about a month to complete. Our social worker will submit a rough draft to our adoption agency and they will be sure that all information is correct. The report will then be submitted to the U.S. Citizen & Immigration Services. Upon approval from USCIS, we will actively begin preparing our dossier, the paperwork that will be sent to Guatemala.

How we got started...

We learned about Love Basket at a meeting at Southeast Christian Church. We really liked the fact that Love Basket is focused on mission work and not just adoption. They work in several different countries around the world, and we decided to adopt from Guatemala. We both agreed that Love Basket is the best agency for us. To visit their website, click on the link below.

http://www.lovebasket.org

We are currently working on paperwork for our homestudy and adoption agency. Almost all of our necessary paperwork is complete for our homestudy. We will soon begin the interview process. We will each be interviewed individually and the final interview will be together in our home.

We pray that the adoption will go through as smoothly and quickly as possible!

We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.
But those who make their journey home across time and miles
growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried
on the wings of destiny and placed among us
by God's very own hands

Just beginning...

We are so excited about starting the adoption process! To keep everyone informed on what is going on, we thought a blog would be perfect. Throughout the journey we will periodically post updates. Feel free to post comments or questions.

Our friends, the Clarks, gave us the idea to create this blog. You can see pictures of their three daughters and read their adoption journal by clicking on the link below.

http://www.clarksadopt.com