Next Step - i800a

Since we got registered with CARA a couple of weeks ago - the next step we do, simultaneously while we wait for CARA approval, is our i800a.

The i800a is done through USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services).  It is basically us asking permission to bring an immigrant orphan in to the United States.

The first step was us picking up our i800a paperwork from Children of the World.  Mrs. Terri (who is amazing) had it all done for us.  All we had to do was sign a few pages and stick it in the mail headed off to Texas.  I, of course, wanted it done ASAP so it was overnighted and received the day after I got the paperwork.

This application included:  a cover page, the "official" i800a application, copies of both mine and John's birth certificates, copy of our marriage license, a copy of our home study, our social worker's license, our agency's DHR certificate, our agency's Hauge Accreditation certificate, and our agency's Authorization Certificate from CARA.  It all came out to be a total of 32 pages!  We are definitely going through some trees with all this paperwork.

Here is our timeline so far with this process.  From what I am hearing - this is going to be a lengthy one!  Please pray that we don't have any hiccups and our paperwork moves smoothly and swiftly.

4/26/16 - application mailed to USCIS
4/27/16 - application received by USCIS in Texas

5/2/16 - text to confirm receipt of application on 4/27/16

5/5/16 - letter for receipt of application (Form 797C)

5/9/16 - letter telling us when to appear for our fingerprinting appointment!  

5/19/16 - fingerprinting appointment with USCIS in New Orleans

5/23/16 - verbal approval of i800a!

6/6/16 - letter of approval arrives in the mail.

From here - we wait for them to set us an appointment for biometric fingerprinting in New Orleans!  I will update this post as we move through this process.

Thank you so much for all of the kind words of encouragement, well wishes, and prayers.  We appreciate ALL of the love, support, and prayers.

The long awaited announcement - CARA registered!

Today is an exciting day we have been waiting for 8 long weeks!

We had an unexpected bump in the road with our home study.  If you've been following along you know..as soon as our's was completed India changed the format of how they would accept them. Our social had the daunting task of reworking all the home studies she had open (including our's).

But all is well today and we are so excited that we've officially been registered with CARA!   CARA is the Central Adoption Resource Authority for the country of India.  It is the government entity that oversees adoptions in the country.

So what does that mean?  All of the paperwork gathering and more we've been doing - India now has it.

Where do we go from here?  India will review everything we've prepared and gathered for them. They will then approve us to adopt from their country.  Once we are approved - we can get matched with a child!

Thank you SO much to everyone who has been on this journey with us thus far. Now, we need prayer that our approval process will move quickly!

Tomorrow is our big yard sale to benefit our adoption.  While running a million errands today and baking cookies - I threw on this tee from my sweet friend Caitlin (who's also adopting from India).  I like to think it brought us some luck today!

Namaste Comfort Colors T-Shirt Fundraiser

***1st batch of shirt orders will be taken until April 22, 2016*** 

HOW DOES IT WORK? Shirts are $20 a piece with $5 flat shipping - even if you order more than one.  Please select how many of these cute and comfy tees you'd like to order using the form from the link.  The last question will be your payment.  I will tally up all of the orders, send them to Fund the Nations, they print the shirts, send them to me, and I will deliver them to you!

The MORE shirts we sell the MORE profit we make towards our adoption from India!

Share this link ----> http://goo.gl/forms/nLUoHfPz0u <---- on your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Pin It to help us spread the word!  Everyone needs a good t-shirt, and this one helps make one less orphan in India.

You will be notified by email when the shirts arrive.  If you've selected pickup for delivery that will be arranged, or if you've selected "mail me my shirt" it will be packaged to mail.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR ORDER! JOHN, JACKSON, GREYSON AND I APPRECIATE YOU MORE THAN YOU KNOW!

Order here -----> http://goo.gl/forms/nLUoHfPz0u

A little homestudy delay...and start on the dossier!

Hi friends!

Not too much to report at the moment.  We finished our 2nd and last home study visit a few weeks ago.  Our wonderful social worker got it written up and turned in to our agency - only to find out India had changed the format of how they want the home studies to appear!

So, she had to go back and rework some corrections.  Not a HUGE deal, but a small delay for time's sake.  BUT, everything happens for a reason right?!  It's not anything at all we've stressed over.

We are currently waiting for her to finish the new home study and get it turned in to our agency. In the mean time - we have started working on our dossier!  This is another daunting pile of paperwork we are working on collecting.  Some of it is the same from our final application, so it really hasn't been too bad to gather!  We have ONE more item to collect and it is finished.

Here is what is needed for the dossier:

1. A registration form
2. Our motivation to adopt
3. Identifying information (driver's licenses, passports, etc)
4. Marriage Certificate
5. Photos of different rooms in our house, front of house, backyard, us, and us with our children
6. New medical exams
7. Proof of health insurance
8. Employment verification letters
9. A letter from our bank with current balances + 6 months worth of statements
10. (3) years worth of tax returns
11. Proof of home ownership
12. Police clearance
13. (3) new letters of recommendation
14. Children's consent - our oldest had to sign saying he OK'd us to adopt
15. USCIS I-797 pre-approval
16. Our homestudy
17. Undertaking of the agency

As always, PLEASE keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue on this amazing journey!

All That Studying - DONE!

Yesterday, 2/23/16, was our 2nd and final homestudy visit!

Our first visit consisted of our social worker talking to us as a family about our life, why we want to adopt, and just general things to get to know us.  She then did a walk through of our house. looked for safety items/issues (like fire extinguishers, etc), and wanted to see our plan for a bed(room) for the child.  This visit was very informal and relaxed.  In all it took about an hour and a half.

Our second visit was with the same social worker.  This time, she spoke with John and me separately. She went in to more detail about the things we'd shared on our autobiographies.  She spoke with me, then him, and then our oldest son.  This one, too, took about an hour and half.

Where do we go from here?  Now, she writes up our homestudy report.  It then goes to our agency to be approved.  Once it is approved in office - we officially get registered with CARA.  This is a huge milestone for us!  We are so excited to keep pushing forward.

What is CARA?  Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003. CARA primarily deals with adoption of orphan, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies (taken from their website).

Fundraising update - we are currently at about $500 raised!  We are so thankful to everyone who has been a piece of our puzzle.  We do have some ways to help still open.  Our two main ones are our shoe drive and puzzle drive.  Check out the "GIVE" tab at the top for more information on these!

I will update again once we have more news.  Keep us in your prayers friends!

Homestudy: Coming Soon

January 27, 2016 we turned in our final application!  The boys and I were so excited to take it and drop it off to Mrs. Terri at Children of the World.

February 10, 2016 was scheduled to be our first homestudy visit.  Unfortunately, John's grandfather passed away that week and we had to be out of town.

Our first homestudy visit in now scheduled for this Monday, February 15, 2016!  We are so excited to meet our social worker, Bonnie, and move one step forward towards meeting our girl.

Fundraising update:  We have also had 92 pieces of our puzzle donated!  My mother did a Trades of Hope fundraiser for us that raised a $40 donation for us, AND we currently have 215 pairs of shoes towards our 10,000 goal.  We have a ways to go - but slow and steady wins the race!

Keep us in your prayers, and I will update again soon once our homestudy is complete!

Final App - Almost Done

Things are excitedly moving along!  We are in the home stretch of turning in ALL of our final application paperwork.  Along with it - we have finished our 10 course hours of Adoption Education classes, signed our India contract with our agency, and are saving away.

We got word that all of our clearances have come back as well as all of our references!  As soon as I turn in our last pieces of paper (which I plan to in 2 days)...we should be set to start our homestudy. This is the next step as we move forward in our timeline.

We have started working on some fundraisers, too.  We've been busy making, crafting, and setting up all kinds of things.  It is SO hard for us to ask to help - and I am constantly afraid that I am bugging people to death - but we are feeling our way through the process.

I'll update again soon as we move to our next phase!

My sweet boy said he wanted to help make something to sell!  He got some paint and made this beautiful picture below.  I love his heart and sweet spirit.

Several nights of Adoption Education classes DONE getting us one step closer.

We're Movin' and Groovin'

I am so excited to say that our pre-application was approved yesterday, 1/7/16.  This was just a form, with basic information, to pre-screen us for acceptance to adopt.  With this - we officially announced to the world our plans to add on to our family!

Upon approval of this form - our great paperwork chase has also begun.  Being the Type A personality I am - we are moving quickly through this phase already.  We will slow down soon as some of the paperwork is submitted to the proper offices for processing.  Knowing that we are facing waits out of our control - this momma is working hard to get the things we can control done.

What this phase consists of:

DHR Checks for Child Abuse/Neglect (done)
ABI/FBI Fingerprinting and background checks (done)
Statement of states we have lived in (done)
Provide contact info for (6) references (done)
Complete Educational Needs Assessment (done)
Final Application Form (done)
Sign Acknowledgement Document (done)
Statement of Motivation (done)
Mother's Autobiography (done)
Father's Autobiography (done)
Financial Statement (done)
Medical Exams for each family member (done)
Complete Medical Care Agreement (done)
Police Clearances (done)
Consent to Release Information Form (done)
Gather birth certificates, marriage certificate, copy of property deed, letters of employment, statement of finances from our bank, and complete conviction statements (done)
Medical Insurance Verification (done)
Sign Adoption Home Study Contract (done)
Sign Complaint Resolution Procedure (done)
Sign Fee Schedule (done)
Take and submit a family photo (done)

....all in all...we will have plenty to keep us busy the next few weeks.  As always, please keep us in your prayers!  And, don't forget to check out the GIVE tab at the top to see how we can use your help.

Lastly, a picture to remember our fingerprinting day!

Are You The Missing Piece?

Are you the missing piece?!

We can not wait to bring our daughter home.  We can not wait to count her fingers and toes in person.  We can not wait to introduce her to all of you.  We can not wait for her to meet her two big brothers - and we hope she likes dogs!

Things are moving along as planned with this adoption, but each step has many hurdles and red tape we must get past.  Along with this are fees to both our agency, the state of Alabama, the United States, and India. Check out THIS tab for more details on these fees.  

EVERY penny is and will be worth it. We are eager to continue saving and fundraising to get our girl home as quickly as possible.  We certainly do not want lack of funds, on our part, to keep her sitting in an Indian orphanage any longer than necessary.

So now...what can WE do? What can YOU do? Can you help us raise the first amount we need to go towards our final application fee and homestudy fee? Both of these are what we need completed and approved to get matched with our child.

The puzzle you see above we have purchased as our first gift to our little girl.  

We are asking for donors for 1000 puzzle pieces at $5 each. If your family would like to donate a piece (or more!) we will write your name on the back of the piece(s). Once the puzzle is put together we will frame it for our daughter to see. We want her to know everyone that helped bring her home, and left a lasting mark on her forever future. WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Donations can be sent via Pay Pal HERE, or you can email me at amnapiontek@gmail.com to request our mailing address.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your love and support!

We Need Help

Typing just that title...that was the beginning of this not being an easy post.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us that we can not lean on our own understanding and we are having to believe just that - that this is possible.  

Asking for help is not something we do often or like to do, period.  But, we find ourselves in a situation where we are taking a step in faith and opening a door that God has been knocking at for some time.  We know if he's placed this journey before us - he will see us through it.

We will be honest, adoption is not cheap (regardless where it is done).  We are facing an uphill journey to meet financial deadlines - and they start rolling in immediately.  You are welcome to click HERE to see a detailed breakdown of exact costs/descriptions.  John and I have a little nest egg in savings, but it is just the tip of the iceberg when looking at total costs.

We are humbling ourselves, stepping out in faith, and asking for our village's help.  

Throughout our journey you will see fundraisers here, on social media (and if we know you - I'm sure we will tell you in person).  If you feel called to help - thank you!  If you don't feel called at the moment to help financially (we still love you) - please pray for us!  You can find our specific prayer HERE.

Check out the tab at the top labeled "Give".  This will be continuously updated with ways you can support our family of 5.

We appreciate you all from the very bottom of our hearts.  This would not be possible without your prayers, love and support!