Court date

WE FINALLY GOT OUR COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just got a call from CAFAC, informing us that we have a court date for February 13th. I am soooooooo excited. I cannot wait. I have been looking forward to some good news for quiet some time.

We had Neil's birthday party yesterday. It was storming in Saskatoon, so there were a lot of people that couldn't make it. Saskatoon got about 20 cms of snow. We were looking forward to seeing everybody but we understand that they couldn't make it and they were not recommending travel. We had veggies and fruit and cold cuts and chips and crackers and cake. It was yummy. We have lots left over, but we can freeze most of it, so that's ok.

We finally got our counter tops installed on Friday. They are beautiful. We waited 6 weeks for them.



Chances of us hearing any news about court this months isn't looking good. Come on already, on February 8th it will be 5 months waiting for court. That's just about 1/2 a year. That is ridiculously WAY to long... I am at my wits end. I cannot take any more set backs. I JUST WANT SOME REASSURANCE THAT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH OUR ADOPTION. I WANT A COURT DATE PRONTO....

We are sending a care package to our kids, through another adoptive mother we got in contact with, which I am extremely grateful for. So we are sending an out fit, coloring book and crayons, small stuffed animal, balloons, candy, a necklace for K and cars for A and clips for K and some pictures.

Adopting Haitian Earthquake Orphans

I find it frustrating when people think that you can just go to Haiti and pick a child to adopt and bring him/her home. If only is was that simple. You just cannot skip certain steps in the adoption process because of a earthquake, it just doesn't work that way. Yes if you are the process of adopting and our close to being complete they could help to bring the children to their parents. Adoption is a complex an time consuming process. So it really ticks me off when people who have no clue what goes on in the adoption process assume that it would be so easy to adopt from Haiti, because of the devastating earthquake.


The adopting process has to have completed the following:
Choose and agency for both in province and child's country
register and complete workbook
Fill out and return provincial application forms and agency form/fee/contract
send agency fee for social worker
medical reports
provide references
Home study - complete meetings with social worker/adoption practitioner
criminal records
child abuse registry check
financial statement/letter of employment/summary of income tax
Letter of application to the country
birth certificate
marriage certificates
physician reports
immigration(apply for sponsorship kit for a family class member
send away application and receive child's application package
dossier which include: notarization of documents, provincial certification,embassy authentication, translation done in the Country, passport, visa application, and immunizations for travel.
Referral( sign forms accepting the child and sent back to the child's country, send fees)
Final adoption arrangements(receive news to travel, confirm flight plans, purchase tickets, send for travel visas,
While in the country we need (The child's birth certificate, passport, immunization record, transit visas for the trip home to Canada, adoption decree and translated official copy, and Canadian landed immigrant visa to enter Canada.
Once we arrive home we need to:
Get medical testing/doctors appointment, apply to provincial medical plan, apply for family tax credit, vital stats for name change, if needed, apply for Canadian citizenship, arrange for development assessment, notify agency of safe return an arrange for post placement visits at our own cost.
These all have to be done to complete and adoption and I know that I forgot some.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEIL!!!!!!!!!!!!
My hubby turns 40 today. Neil has requested that I make him a cake. So this year I am going to attempt to make a birthday cake. Usually we buy the birthday cake from our store in town. Hopefully it will not be a total disaster, fingers crossed.

I have been searching my house, tearing it apart trying to look for Neil's passport. I know that I used it for immigration as they needed a photo copy of it. I talked to our agency and asked them to e-mail the photo copy of Neil's passport, as we were going to issue a new one. So I am going crazy in my head trying to think where it could be, this is an important document. I searched all through my house, so if I cannot find it I will have to issue a new one. We really didn't want to do this. We found it last night in the bottom of a box of papers we had in the basement that we were going to through away. Luckily nobody threw the box away.

I am feeling very frustrated because every time I talk to our agency they will not give me a definite answer.
Has court been applied for?
Is all our paperwork in order?
I mean clear straight forward yes or no answers. I feel like punching something. I need a punching bag to get rid of my frustration. I cannot believe that 4 and a half months and we still don't know if court has been applied for. That is just way to long. This week has been the longest that I have struggled with since a very long time. Before referral was hard but nothing compared to this. I really really want a court date.


I am preparing a party for Neil's 40th birthday. He is struggling with turning 40. He keeps saying that he is getting old. His birthday is actually on January 18th but we are having a party on the 23rd. I am super excited about this party. There is going to be quite a few people that we haven't seen in a long time. We usually don't get very much company so I am excited.

Last night Gracie was awake, she had a bad dream. She was up most of the night. Then finally she crawled in bed with us. We are all tired today, not much going on.

Yesterday Neil's brother came over with their kids( all teenagers) and Holly and Gracie were very shy. Holly hid under the couch and cried the whole time they were here, how embarrassing. She would not come out. Gracie wasn't as shy, she at least wasn't under the couch crying. She would at least talk to them.

It has been really nice outside all week, which is a change to the normal -30 to -40 degree weather we usually get in January. We have been loving it and have been outside every day.

Not much in the adoption world lately. I was hoping to hear of a court date this week, but it doesn't look like we will have one. I really hope we get a court date soon, I really hate waiting.

Yesterday was Christmas in Ethiopia which is called (Melkam Genna). We did not celebrate the Ethiopian Christmas this year. Next year we plan on it. We plan on making a traditional Ethiopian meal. I have yet to try cooking any Ethiopian food, so hopefully I will not screw it up too bad.

Our kids will be old enough so they can help prepare and decorate how they remember Melkam Genna to be. It's a day to celebrate their heritage, which is important. To remember their birth country and where they came from.

Today marks 4 months since we got our referral of our beautiful children. It just makes me wish even more that they were here with their family, where they belong. I cannot wait to meet them.

We were told by our agency that court will be SOON. I am really starting to hate the word SOON. Every time I ask about court they tell me SOON.

We finally got our update on our kids today. Our last one was 2 months ago and the one before was 2 months ago as well so they are averaging about every 2 months.

Some time this summer all of the stress and agony of this adoption will be done and we can focus on living as a family of 6.

Once we get home with our children we are required to do updates on the kids. For the first three we have to get a social worker to come to our home and complete it
which will cost at least 250 dollars each, depending on mileage. After that we have to do the updates ourselves yearly until the children are 18 years old.

Today my heart goes out to the adoptions that fell through within the last couple of days. I cannot imagine the pain that they are feeling right now. I don't know what I would do if this happened to us. Just imagine. You get the phone call you have been dreaming about, finally get your referral. Got a couple of court dates and then you get the dreaded phone call that your kids you have been dreaming and planning for isn't going to happen because the birth mother changed her mind..

This whole adoption process is so hard, and wonderful and scary and you really don't know from one day to the next what is going to happen...

We picked up our stove today and we set up the island. It sure shrinks our kitchen. Before it seemed so huge. The girls had fun running from wall to wall. Now that we put the island in they cannot do that so easily.

Just wanted to let everybody know that we have not heard anything (adoption related, like we were promised). We were hoping to get a court date before the new year. That didn't happen. I am very hopeful that a court date will be issued in January.

It is very hard not being able to tell people anything. Everybody asks if we heard anything and we have to reply NO.... I am stressed because I don't know anything. I am a planner. I want to know everything. I had to know with the girls what sex they were so we could plan the bedrooms, the names, and even a c-section date was planned. This is so much harder than being pregnant. Emotionally I am exhausted.


So to take my mind off of the adoption we have been busy with our house. Our stove is in and we can put the finishing touches to our kitchen/dining room renovation. Monday we are picking up our stove and putting up the island. All that's left is the counter tops.