"Adoption Tax Credit" News

Adoption Tax Credit has been extended and increased.
•The current adoption tax credit has been extended until the end of 2011;
•The value of the adoption tax credit has been increased from $12,170 to $13,170.
•The increase is “retroactive,” meaning that any adoption occurring after January 1, 2010 is eligible for this higher credit.
•The credit is now refundable. This means that even families that owe zero taxes can receive the full tax credit in the form of a tax refund to help with their adoption-related expenses.

Go here to find out more:
http://chrisitianallianceblog.org/?p=563

More "fun" than I bargained for!

After we picked up the charcoal gray shirts this afternoon, I wanted to get a few pics of the boys wearing them to show off on the blog.  That's all I was asking for... a few "nice" pictures of the shirts.  Below are some examples of what I got: 

"Ha! Ha! Very funny, boys!"

"C'mon..."

"Seriously, boys, quit!"

"Cut it out, boys! I mean it!"

"Well, almost..."

"Close enough!"

Actually, it turned out to be a lot of fun.  We spent about 20 minutes laughing, and I actually got a few pics after all!  I love those rotten kids!

And Mattea had fun, too, watching the chaos from a "safe" distance!

The "Southern Belle" T-shirts Have Arrived...

           and will be shipping out tomorrow!

Aren't they CUTE?

(We ordered a few extras this time, so get yours before they are gone.  Next order scheduled to be placed in April.)

Update on "Fingerprint processing update"

So, a friend of ours who is with the FBI asked around to find out some answers for us.  This is what we were told:
Until recently, states had their own state office to handle fingerprint processing.  With the downturn in the economy, however, many states (including ours) have closed that state office and are now requiring that all fingerprints be sent to the federal level for processing.  That has led to an enormous backlog which affects everyone.  We also learned that adoption is third on the priority list for processing, meaning that any chance of getting a rush put on things is pretty much out of the question. Time for some more praying - and leaving it in God's hands.  Even though we tend to think "faster is better", we realize His timing is perfect.  So, it looks like yet another lesson in patience and trust is in the works...  ;)

Fingerprint processing update...

We received notification that our fingerprint info arrived for processing by the FBI in Alexandria, VA on March 5th.  Since that time, we have heard nothing at all about it from anyone.  So Michael called around today to see what he could find out.  His first call resulted in being told that they literally receive 100,000 requests a day and that our fingerprints will be in "security" for 6 weeks before they move on to the next step.  Overall, it would take at least 13 weeks for them to be processed, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. 

Since that was not a satisfactory answer, he called around some more and finally spoke with the person whose job it is to enter the data into the computer.  Yes, that's right, the ONE person who has that job.  She said that they are trying to get her more help, but she's it for now.  (Doesn't seem like they would have to look that hard with 10%+ unemployment - just sayin'.)  The good news is that when he told her the date they should have arrived there, she was able to actually find our fingerprints and documents in a stack in her office.  So, we know they are there.  And she said she hoped to get to them by the end of this week.  (Bureaucracy is grand, isn't it?)

After our fingerprints are processed there, they still have to go to DHR in our state.  So, we definitely want them to hurry up and pass through the federal channels so they can get to the state for approvals. 

One thing I have realized is that I need to start praying more consistently for every single person who is handling our documents of any kind in any place.  God sees all our documents as they travel through their little paper paths from one place to another, and He never loses sight of them, so it only makes sense to ask for His guidance for both the documents and the people handling them.  (We are not, however, giving up trying to contact anyone who can help us; we're just adding the main ingredient necessary for a quick and favorable outcome.) 

Just one tiny aspect in the "adventure" of adoption, I suppose!  

P.S. I post these crazy little updates so that anyone considering adoption can see a little of what they may expect, so those going through it at this time can see they're not alone, and so that those who have gone through it already can see that nothing's really changed!   :)

Been thinkin'...

Last Wednesday's announcement about the additional trip to Ethiopia was disconcerting at first, but as we've had time to digest it and think things through, I personally have actually begun to get really excited about the change.  Yes, it still will be difficult to meet our children and then leave them, but it will allow us to prepare better for them.  And all of us - them included - will have time to really think about the transition that is going to take place in our lives and to take a few steps back to get some perspective on it all.  I can't imagine how difficult it would be for a child to meet their new parents AND go home with them to America within a few short days.  Leaving everyone they know behind and moving to a strange new place with total strangers.... what a shock that would be! I know this will be better for all of us, and I am glad for the change.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Changes in Ethiopia process...

Received an e-mail today containing updates from our adoption agency.  Here is part of what it said:

"...the Ethiopian Federal Court announced a change in the court policies today. This change requires both prospective adoptive parents to appear at court in person to testify to their desire and commitment to adopt their referred child(ren).  Beginning today, families need to be prepared to travel to Ethiopia approximately 4 - 8 weeks after receiving a referral in order to be present in Ethiopia for their appointed court date. Families will remain in Ethiopia for roughly 5 -7 days and will then return to the US. After officially passing court, families will then travel back to Ethiopia approximately 10 -12 weeks later to pick up their adopted child(ren)."

This is a change from the original single trip lasting 8-10 days that we were expecting. 

We were surprised by this announcement today.  God was not.

Yes, it will take more of our time and at least a few thousand more dollars to bring our children home, but that isn't really what bothers me.  What I can't bear the thought of is meeting my children and then leaving them halfway around the world for 3 more months.  They are mine in my heart even now, and I haven't yet met them.  How in the world will I leave them for 3 long months?

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"  Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)

Whew! Why am I so tired when I've just been "sitting" all day?

Today we worked on documents that are required solely for our "final application" for the agency that is handling our home study. (We decided to go with the first agency we met with, after all. These are not required for our dossier or for our adoption agency, just for the agency doing the home study.) 

Overall, Michael is taking care of the general organization, the budget, and the information and document gathering portion of the adoption process, and I am taking care of the fundraising and "writing" side of things, along with the blog. 

Here is what was completed and "checked off" today! 

1) A one-page "Statement of Motivation" about why we want to adopt a child, about how we arrived at this decision, and about how our family and friends feel about our decision and how we handle it. 

2) A one-page report on "Our Children" describing the children we would like to adopt, including nationality, gender and age range, and why we prefer those characteristics.

3) We EACH had to write an autobiography of at least 4 pages including answers to 2 full pages of questions about:
*our family dynamics as a child
*quality of our family relationships
*our childhood hobbies, interests, and problems
*our dating habits
*our courtship and marriage
*our current children
*people and events that influenced our lives
*medical history
*employment history
*religion and its influence in our lives
*decision to adopt
(Michael's ended up being 6 pages and mine was 7 pages.)

I have been sitting at the dining room table literally ALL day, but at least they are done!

My next writing assignment will be the application letter that is for the dossier and goes to the Ministry of Women and Children in Ethiopia and the non-employment letter explaining why I don't work outside the home.

Also, next week we will be completing our on-line adoption course that is required.  We have done a lot of work over the last few weeks, and the list is getting smaller!  ~YAY~! 

Update: Today we received our official copies of our marriage license from the state of MS.  We just mailed the request on Monday of this week.  That was surprisingly fast!  :)  Amazing what makes us smile these days...

Fingerprinting!

We went today down to MPD to be fingerprinted.  The lady who took our fingerprints was very sweet, and we had a good time talking with her.  She said we didn't act like we were married; we acted like we were good friends.  (I'm going to take that as a compliment!)  One more step toward our kids!

Update...

Michael spent about 6 hours "organizing" and filling out forms last night. And I can't even tell you how many times we had to sign our names! LOL   More today, plus I'm going to be starting on all of our essays, etc.

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

So, everyone knows that adopting costs a BUNCH!  And since we already have 4 kids, we have definitely learned how to live on a budget over the years.  But over the last 6 months or so, I have begun in earnest to do my best to save as much as possible on even the everyday necessities. 

I've learned that a "penny saved" really is a "penny earned".  (Ben Franklin certainly understood that keeping your hard-earned money is a lot like earning it all over again!) In order to truly save money, I have to have a plan and do some good old hard work. 

One of the things I have learned to do is to use coupons strategically by following some really great couponing blogs.  I didn't even know this whole "couponing world" existed before last fall.  I was just clipping a few coupons here and there and hoping for the best.  But by using the tips I've learned on blogs, I have started saving nearly 50% on our grocery bills, AND we have more food in the house than we've ever had!  More food for less money - that works for me! 

If you're interested in learning to use coupons strategically but just don't know where to start, many of the blogs have great "couponing 101" tutorials for beginners.  Try a few tips a week and soon you'll be saving like a pro.  It's addicting!

Here is a short list of some of the savings blogs I check on a regular basis:
http://www.faithfullyfrugal-and-free.com/ - give-aways, tips, "dollar deals" (things you can buy for less than $1!)
http://www.bargainbuggyblog.com/ - thorough "Couponing 101" tutorial, freebies, etc.
http://www.iheartpublix.com/ - devoted to Publix deal shopping
http://www.iheartsavingmoney.com/ - just what the name implies!
http://www.couponingtodisney.com/ - a mom who is using her coupon savings to take the fam to Disney, great tips for writing to companies to ask for coupons
http://www.bargainbriana.com/ - "Because bargains don't find themselves."
http://www.thefrugalgirls.com/ - recipes, saving tips, etc.

(Some of these are primarily for certain geographical areas, but you can use the tips they share and apply them to any store you want.) 

My personal top 4 tips would be:
1) to check with your local store managers to find out their coupon policies.  (Sometimes the details change from location to location - even in the same city.)
2) use on-line printable coupons
3) write to companies to get coupons
4) ask friends/neighbors to give you any coupon inserts they do not use

Many people use the argument, "Using coupons takes too much time!"  Well, it does take time, but if you learn the tricks, it IS worth it.  I just think of it as a part time job, because I may spend 4-8 hours a week on couponing.  BUT a great benefit to this part time job is that I don't have to pay taxes on what I earn!  (I average about $15-$20 in savings per hour of work, which works out to about $500 per month savings!)

***Some people in our area even make money by teaching couponing workshops. So, if you become a coupon maven, you could not only save money, you could "make" money.

The Home Study … oh, boy. – pt. 2

Okay, we’re learning a lot!

As we have been going through all the stacks of papers that are in our “inbox” waiting on us to read, fill out, copy, and mail in order to get our home study underway, we have noticed how the fees keep multiplying. Every in-state agency we checked into about doing our home study requires an additional application approval and, of course, additional application fees!
To be honest, that just did not sit well with us. We have already applied and been approved by our adoption agency and we’ve already paid application fees to them. And having to be approved by an agency who we just want to use to complete our home study seemed an unnecessary expenditure of money and time. We checked with a few in-state agencies and, apparently, it is standard procedure. We also noticed that those agencies all have several requirements that are not necessarily required by our adoption agency.
Since we’d rather not spend that extra money we don’t have to and would rather not spend extra hours filling out unnecessary papers, we called our agency this morning to ask some questions. (I must compliment them – they are the best.) I spoke with a social worker who very patiently answered all my questions and quieted my concerns. Then we spoke with one of the in-state agencies, and they explained some of the extra fees, legalities, etc. Bottom line is that we just have to do it...
We know God is leading us in this, and we’ll do whatever it takes to bring our children home. Besides, it’s not our money we’re spending – it’s HIS! And it’s not our time we’re using – it’s HIS! So we do what we have to do with JOY in our hearts waiting on the promise of blessings to come!

* * * * * * * *

Also, before dinner tonight we went across the street to our neighbors’ to have him witness our signatures on a form. Thanks, T!!

The Home Study ... oh, boy.

Since we live several states away from our adoption agency, we chose to have our home study done by an agency closer to where we live.  It seemed like an easy way to accomplish this part of the process, but it is turning out to be more complicated than we expected.

We haven't even actually begun our home study yet - we've just been talking to different agencies about their process (and learning that everything costs more than expected).  For instance, we didn't realize that in order to have another agency do the home study, we have to fill out an application with that agency and pay their application fee as if we were applying to adopt through them.  That's an extra $250-$300 on top of the stated home study fee.  Also, even though our agency gives a refund for the post placement study fees if they are turned in on time, we still have to pay the other agency those fees, so there won't actually be a refund.  It will likely turn out to cost us closer to $3,000 rather than the $1,600 or so we first anticipated. (But we do know that even though we are surprised by this, God is not.)

We met with an agency located nearby on February 12th, but for various reasons we're not sure we're going to use them for the home study.  So now we're looking into a couple of others. We're feeling pretty frustrated right now because it seems as if we are just spinning our wheels until we settle this matter and get the home study process going. 

We are so excited about what God is doing and will do in our family through the adoption process.  We know that our lives and the lives of ALL of our children will be changed forever.  So, whatever we have to do, we'll do....

"Southern Belle" t-shirts!

The wonderful folks at "Southern Belle" have created a design for an exclusive t-shirt for us to sell as a fundraiser for our adoption.  Below is the preliminary design.  Colors have not been chosen yet, but as soon as we have made a decision we will begin taking orders.  We will get to keep all profits for our adoption fund.  I am so excited about these shirts because this design is exclusively ours!  (If you would like to give a recommendation for a t-shirt color, you may do so below or on my fb page.)   

Updates...

Last Wednesday night when we got home from church we had a really great surprise on our answering machine.  We've been accepted into the Ethiopia adoption program! We're very excited to finally be on our way.  Our next step was to mail in some agreement forms, which we did today - along with $$, of course! (I think every step along the way requires some sort of payment with it, but I can't think of a single thing I'd rather spend money on!) 

Today I called and made our appointment for our first home study interview.  It will be next Friday, the 12th!  We're excited that we will be doing something that "feels" like action rather than filling out and mailing forms and sending e-mails back and forth.  Can't wait!