CLEARER MINDS PREVAIL!!!

Finally out of the medication haze and the I800, I864 and I864A plus all supporting documentation is done, copied, put into appropriate FedEx mailers and Mike will take into FedEx in the a.m. Little did I realize going into this (I defy anyone to think of all the possibilities at the beginning)that by adopting 2 we effectively doubled the amount of paperwork. Hardly anything is combined. Kristine and the rest of Holt have been very good about not duplicating if possible but no one has control of the paper hungry machine of governments. I am in awe of the parents adopting a larger sibling group! Now we wait for approval again....

Make a Smilebox photobook

Virus, Allergic Reaction and Filing I800

It's been an eventful week. I (Lori) came down with a virus on Monday that caused inflammation between my sternum and ribs. What? I don't know-just know that it put me out of commission a few days when I needed to be working on the I-800. Then I get a call saying that Sydney's had an allergic reaction to some unknown thing-she'd not be happy if I posted a picture of her lips let's just say "Angelina Jolie plus some". Anyway that was a trip to the emergency room and now she carries an epipen and will undergo allergy testing. Then we get the wonderful news that the I800A is approved and the boys legals have arrived and yes we can file the I800 now.....Great except I have to make final revisions, make copies and triple check all my work. Unfortunately I can even tell I'm not rowing with all oars in the water from the medication they've put me on. Think it best if I just wait for 2 days until I'm med free and functioning. No one should fill out the immigration paperwork without all brain pathways firing.....or maybe they should?

I800A Approval & Legals Too!

What a very busy day. We got a call that the boys' legals have arrived from the Philippines (2 weeks). We need those so we can file the I800. Then Mike went out to pick up the mail and surprise! we recieved the I800A approval just 9 days after our biometric fingerprints were completed. Now we move onto the I800. Seems like everytime I talk with Kristine at Holt we both end up saying wow a whole lot during the conversation. The last 6 weeks have been sooooo crammed with approvals I have to admit we are having trouble keeping up with the next step. We're definately not complaining as it will hopefully bring the boys home that much quicker. We could definately use some extra prayers that the last major hurdles are met and our family can be together. Stress is a major factor in our lives right now.

Blip -

Heard from Holt Thursday that USCIS is requesting an addendum to the I800A. They just want a "canned" paragraph in there on Rachel that hadn't been included. Not a big deal and Holt in Omaha is handling it and should send it to USCIS on Monday. I guess if this is the only paperwork glitch we will be lucky. It hopefully will clear the way for I800A approval and we can move on the I800 as soon as the boys' legals arrive.

Touchdown in Manila

We have word today from Holt in Oregon that the boys arrived in Manila at the KBF office to meet Eva on 7/16. Right on schedule. Lucas got airsick and Eli had a blast on the flight. I'd say Lucas is going to have a miserable 15+ hour trip home. He won't be alone, he and I will just have to stake out the restroom on the plane...bonding the hard way!
They will start school on Tuesday of this next week. They're new foster mother will start calling them by their new names. The boys were asked how they felt about the new names Lucas smiled and said he liked them. Eli didn't express his view either way (bet he let's us know down the road).
When looking at the photos we sent over they are very enamored with the big screen t.v. in the livingroom (sorry boys no satellite or cable) and also with Mike's aunt Teddie's horse (Aunt Teddie was in the picture too but the horse won). Don't know how we break the news that she lives 900 miles from us and so does her horse.

Our Handsome Sons

Our handsome boys, Lucas Alan Lowie and Eli Stephen Towie. These were taken on their way to school the first week of June 2009. The boys will be moving to the Manila foster home on July 16. We hear they are very excited - we are too!

I Have How Many Kids?

Ha! Here's an epiphany for you I just figured out I'm the mother of 5 - I'm a little surprised that I've defined myself (in my own head) as a mother of 3 that it's a little hard to think that I've got 5 kids now! Ya I know it's late as I write this and should now go to bed. Thanks for humoring me :)

ICAB APPROVAL!

We recieved a call late Thursday afternoon, July 2 from Holt. Kristine said she had good news for us - we had officially been approved by ICAB. Seems like we've waited a long time to hear those words. What's even more surprising was that Kristine estimates we're looking at 6-12 weeks until we bring them home. That made me take a seat. We've been working on a time frame of months and then to have it reduced to week format was great, scary, amazing, surprising and did I mention great! We will give them our verbal acceptance on Monday, they are closed for the holiday, then they will send for the boys' legals usually these are taking 3 weeks and then they will be able to go in with the I800 which she says is taking 3 weeks to process. 3weeks for legals, 3weeks for I800 then however long it takes to get the medicals and visa processed. Lucas and Eli have also been told that they have a dad and mom. Lucas said "God answered my prayers - when do we get to fly on the airplane?" Got to love that!

I800A Fingerprints Scheduled

Stopped and picked up the mail on my way home tonight. Usually someone has done that before I get home. We recieved 4 letters from USCIS. One to tell us they recieved our application and one for each of us (Mike, Lori and Rachel) with our appointments for the biometric scans. We will go into the Omaha USCIS office on July 13.

Moving to Manilla?

The word coming from Manilla is that as soon as they have ICAB approval of our dossier they will move the boys to Manilla. They will not allow us to go to Zamboanga City due to the travel advisories against foreign travel. We knew this was likely. They are tentatively making plans to take them into a KBF foster home in Manilla. It will be hard for Lucas & Eli to leave the orphanage after having lived there the past 5 years but it will hopefully help them to understand living within a family setting and possibly to begin learning English. Even a few words will help us poor non-Tagalog speaking parents - although we are getting a few words learned! They plan to have them moved in July.

ICAB Meeting Soon!

ICAB (Inter Country Adoption Board) has our dossier and should be acting on it either this week or next. Eva says that they want to review it before one of the ICAB workers leaves for the U.S. for the summer program. Once ICAB approves us then we need to complete all the U.S. hurtles and we'll be able to bring our boys home. I've broke the whole adoption into segments in my head.

1. Holt's Initial Process/Homestudy
2. ICAB Approval
3. U.S. Documentation/Approval
4. Visa/Physicals for Lucas and Eli
5. Travel Plans
6. Gotcha Day!

This way it's a piece at a time - totally a mind game for me - but this whole time ICAB has been a big hurdle as they are in control from the Philippines.

Pictures & Emails

We received an email late Thursday that Holt had heard from Eva (works for KBF in Philippines - affiliate to Holt). Long story short (6 emails back and forth) Eva has been to see Lucas and Eli in Zamboanga. She said she has more pictures of the boys on their way to school in their school uniforms. Whoopee!!! - why you ask? Well the last update was in February. Then it was reported that they were not in school. A positive change as far as we're concerned. (I'm sure 8 & 9 year old boys would prefer that they were allowed to play instead of going to school). We are now not so patiently waiting the updated pictures. Can't wait to see their faces!

Dossier & I800- A Out the Door

We FedExed our remaining dossier items to Oregon where they will be sent out to the Philippines on Monday. Yippee!!!
We've completed and will FedEx the I-800A form to the US government on Monday a.m. It's great when another load of paperwork goes out the door. Makes it feel like Lucas and Eli are that much closer to home.
Eli celebrated his 8th birthday on Thursday. If all goes well maybe it will be the last time either of our boys celebrates a birthday with just each other.
Watching the world news, the Philippines is experiencing problems in the areas near the boys' orphanage. There's a possiblity that if we recieve ICAB (Inter Country Adoption Board) approval from our dossier that Lucas & Eli will be moved into a foster home closer to Manilla. As much as we'd love to see and experience the area where they've lived for the last 5 years we're not sure how it would affect our travel plans. Sydney our 16 year old will be traveling with us and taking her into an area with a terrorist threat is not a viable idea. Holt says they never send anyone into this particular region so we will wait and see.

March - May 2009

It is really easy to procrastinate and I'm great at it! I'm posting these after the fact, cause between all the information gathering, meetings and document procurement, not to mention Rachel's graduation I did not start out posting like I wanted to.

We were in a holding pattern for most of April waiting for clearance from the Iowa FBI field office. We finally got the clearance at the end of April. That meant Holt could assign our social worker. Her name is Bonnie and a very easy person to talk with. We had met Bonnie earlier as she was a teacher at our Parents in Process class earlier in April.

We compiled our dossier for the Philippines to receive their official ok - still waiting on that. Dossiers consist of pictures of the family, home, boys' room, outside photos; birth and marriage certificates, letters of reference from our church, employers, friends, guardianship papers, physicals for Mike and I as well as Rachel and Sydney - Alison missed this pleasure as she moved to her own apartment the first of April. Again she says being the oldest still has it's advantages.

Our home study visits were May 18 & 20th. Bonnie and Robyn (intern) came to the house. I have to say the stress of getting ready for graduation and home-study at the same time (Rachel graduated May 17 - Home Study May 18 & 20th) about did me in. I had to laugh when they asked how I felt I handled stress - you've go to be kidding me - I wasn't blubbering in a corner - everything is good!

Had our psychological evaluations that Friday, May 22 in Omaha. The psychologist we found put us at ease and we forwarded as much of our dossier as we had to Holt's Oregon office. Right now we are waiting on the final Home Study to arrive in the mail and the appointment to pick up the psych eval - should be anytime. Then everything is off to the Philippines! On to the U.S. paperwork!!!!

5+2=7

This is the photo we took about a billion times. Managed to not break the camera! We'll have to rethink the composition for family pictures of seven instead of five. Who knew you have to have pictures of EVERYTHING! Outside of house, inside of house, family members. Surprised we didn't include the dogs - Murray probably wouldn't show up on film.

Holt Committee Approval

On Thursday, February 26, 2009 we finally got our approval call from Holt at 4:05 p.m. Yes I really do know the time. The intake social worker said the committee met and that we recieved their approval for the brother sibling group we'd requested. What's that mean? As far as I can figure out it means that hurdle #1 is completed. Now we move onto the home study and parenting classes. No 23+ years doesn't count in the adoption world. Always remembering that at any point along this journey a denial can pop up from any number of places. (Paranoid? YES!)

Welcome To Our Adoption Journey

As many of our friends and family are aware, Mike and I have decided to adopt from the Philippines. We'd like those of you interested to follow along on the journey. Just be warned adoptions have a lot of ups and downs. Never an uncomplicated moment!