The Binder

As you may or may not know, there are approximately 10,000 documents and papers required for an adoption! Ok that might be a slight exaggeration. Really its not hard, there's just a ton of it. Last week when I got all the packets for the dossier and home study, I felt like I needed a bag to breath into. It was all swimming around in my head, waking me up at night as I thought about what I should be doing, what I might be forgetting, etc. Loose ends stress me out and it all felt like one giant loose end! Thankfully my social worker (who has been fantastic) suggested a 3 ring binder. I'm not sure why my mind had gone to using hanging files, when a 3 ring binder is much easier to flip through and portable! Friday I went to Target and came home with this:

I put his sweet picture on the front, so when I am out gathering stuff people can see who they are helping. Also I love the reminder when I feel bogged down with what needs to be done.

Inside I put tons of clear sleeves, for all the documents that shouldn't be hole punched, which really is most of them, a clear zipper pouch with sticky notes, a black pen, and a blue pen, because some things have to be signed in specific colors. I also put some envelopes in the front for easy mailing of said documents. For now I have both my home study docs and dossier docs organized in one folder, but if it grows too much I may need two.

The last week has been a little crazy, with my sweet grandma's passing, filling out and gathering as much paperwork as possible, home schooling, and more. But things are moving forward, one document at a time, and each day is one day closer to meeting Tavin!

Steve and I both need to get tested for HIV and STD's, as well as TB for our medical exams. I have read on other blogs that HIV alone can run over $150 for the test, so I called the Health Dept and found that they offer a free STD clinic every week. So off I went and it was an interesting experience. But I got all the tests I needed for $8 so totally worth the 1 1/2 hour's spent there! And everyone was super nice and happy for our adoption, which was sweet. Then I headed down town to get 3 certified copies of our marriage license, because, well that's how many I needed. $9.50 for the 3.

I also filled out the Parent History form this week for the home study, full of questions about life growing up, parents, siblings, our marriage, our kids, adoption, why we feel we are ready, strengths and weaknesses as parents, etc. My social worker will know us well by the time we are done!

We pray for Tavin every day, and Tucker is so sweet and accepting that this is how he will have another brother. Maddox doesn't get it, and when I tried to talk about it with him this morning, he just said "no". I think it will be the biggest adjustment for him.

Yesterday someone made the first donation to our family sponsorship fund! Would you consider donating as well? Even if its just a few dollars it is exciting to see it grow and know each dollar gets us that much closer. We won't be able to do this on our own! Here is the link to our sponsorship page on Reece's Rainbow.

 Thanks for all the prayers, kind words and encouragement! Its been amazing to have support from so many, even from people we've never met.

-Chrystal