Lots of Updates!

We have so many updates... I'm not sure where to start! The Embassy issued our Article 5 on Thursday which means we are approved to travel. Problem is... Josh and I still need to obtain our visitor's visa from the Colombian Consulate in Chicago. We initially thought we'd be able to apply for the visas through the mail but were recently told that they require an interview in person so we made an appointment for next Friday, April 16 (with the assumption that the Article 5 would be approved next week). So when Raul, our travel coordinator/case worker told us it was approved a week early and we would need to travel to Colombia on April 17, we had to brainstorm a bit to come up with a way to get our visas and still get to Colombia on the 17th. So we decided we would fly to Chicago next Thursday, go to our visa appointment on Friday and fly to Colombia on Saturday. I spoke with the travel agent to line up our flights and just as we were about to book our tickets, Raul emailed saying the casa informed him that they now will only schedule "encuentro dates" on Wednesdays or Thursdays (something about an ICBF official needing to be present and those are the only days ICBF is available). Anyways, it's a good thing we hadn't purchased our tickets yet because we would've been sitting in Colombia for 3 days before meeting Sam... and that would've been a LONG 3 days!! So, obviously we are a little disappointed that our travel has been delayed but we've been waiting this long, what's an extra few days, right? That's what I try to keep telling myself...

As it turns out, I think this all happened for a reason. Josh spoke with his boss and he and Joey are now planning to stay the entire time in Colombia (rather than coming home after 2 weeks)... so needless to say, I am very happy and look forward to our time in Colombia as a family of four!! So now the plan is to travel to Chicago next Thursday, go to our visa appointment on Friday, travel back to Fargo on Saturday and leave for Colombia the following Monday. Hopefully we will all be home in time to watch Josh run his first marathon in the Fargo Marathon on May 22nd!!

Happy 1st Birthday!!

Today is Sam's 1st birthday and we really wish we could be in Colombia right now to help him celebrate his special day. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!! We love you so much and can't wait to meet you and give you lots of hugs and kisses!!

I-800 Approved!!

We found out that our I-800 was approved yesterday and the National Visa Center (NVC) will have our file by tomorrow. YAY!! Next the NVC will create an electronic file and notify the embassy in Bogota. The embassy will request a form (DS-230) from our representative in Colombia and then review our file to ensure the process was completed in accordance with the Hague Convention. Once everything has been reviewed, they will issue the Article 5. At that point the casa will set up our appointment to meet Sam and we will be able to make our travel arrangements. Travel dates are still tentative but we're thinking we will travel Saturday, April 24 and meet our little guy on Monday, April 26!! We are getting so close... and sooooo excited!! As the days go on, the waiting gets harder and harder. We are hoping to get new pictures soon and may even be able to do a video conference with Sam and the orphanage director. How cool would that be?

Week 3

This past week has been a little quieter but we did have some forward movement. I sent the last of the paperwork to Beth and found out that USCIS received our I-800 on March 10. Once USCIS approves the I-800, they will issue a I-797C. We've heard that this is generally taking about 2 weeks so we should receive the I-797C this week. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to travel the last weekend in April.

2 weeks down...

The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy. After receiving our referral information, we sent everything to the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota so that an adoption specialist could review Sam's medical information. Besides having asthma, he appears to be a very healthy little boy.

Then we wrote a letter to the director at the orphanage officially accepting the referral. After that, we had a ton of paperwork to complete... I-800, I-864W, and DS-230. We also had to update our medicals and employment verifications as well as our FBI Background checks. So we went to the police station last Thursday to get fingerprinted, then went straight to Fed-Ex to overnight our fingerprints to the FBI. Beth warned us that the FBI Background checks have been taking up to 10 weeks lately which is why we needed to get them done ASAP. When I heard 10 weeks I kind of went into panic mode and decided to call Congressman Pomeroy's office (they helped us with Joey's adoption so I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask). I spoke with a guy named Nick and he was great... he listened to me ramble on about how I can't possibly wait 10 weeks to see my little boy and then told me that he has a contact at the FBI and would see if he could help expedite our results. Whatever he did worked because we had our results the following Tuesday. They processed our results in 1 DAY!! It is a HUGE relief to have this part done. THANK YOU NICK!!!

You may be amazed (but probably not surprised) that I actually had time in between filling out all of that paperwork (and calling my Congressman's office) to start shopping. Here is one of my first purchases (I couldn't resist)...

Our agency told us that we could send a care package to Sam so we bought him a really soft blanket and matching puppy and a little photo album with our pictures in it. Beth sent the package to Colombia early last week so hopefully he'll be receiving it soon.

What's next? We should receive our I-797C (Sam's visa pre-approval) within a week or so. The approval is forwarded to the National Visa Center who then forwards it on to embassy in Bogota. They will review the documents and issue what's called an Article 5. The Article 5 is then taken to ICBF and reviewed. Once ICBF is finished reviewing it, they will notify Casa de Maria and our "encuentro date" (the day we get to meet our little boy) will be set. Once we know our encuentro date, we can make our travel arrangements and apply for a visitor's visa. If everything goes as planned, we will be traveling at the end of April!!

It's a BOY!!!!!!

On Monday, March 1st we received the call we have been waiting for... a little boy at Casa de Maria in Medellin is waiting for us!!! His name is Samuel and he is 11 months old. We are hoping to travel in 6-8 weeks and after a 4 week stay in Colombia, we will be able to bring our little boy home. We are all so very excited to meet little Samuel.

For the past several months, I've had a feeling that we would hear something in March. Call it mother's intuition, I don't know. When I got to work Monday morning, I changed over my calendar to March and said a little prayer that we would get a call soon. Then when I was home at lunch, my phone rang. I didn't reach it in time but quickly noticed it was Beth, our case worker. I knew right away that she had a referral for us... my heart was racing, my hands were shaking and the tears were welling up in my eyes. I called her back and right away she asked if Josh was with me. He wasn't so she conferenced him in. Once she got him on the line, she said "CONGRATULATIONS... it's a boy!!!" It was such an amazing moment... words cannot describe. Then she emailed a photo along with the rest of the referral information and when I opened his picture and saw that big grin... my heart just melted and I knew I was in love! His given name is Samuel and right away both Josh and I agreed that we wanted to keep his given name. Once I looked up the meaning, I knew we had made the right decision. The Hebrew name Samuel means "ask of God" and he truly is a gift from God!

Tucker Adoption Journey Weblog

I recently exchanged emails with a woman named Amy who is currently in Colombia with her husband adopting their first child and get this... they are adopting from Casa de Maria in Medellin and they are staying at the same hotel our agency recommends. It's been fun following her blog and seeing pictures of Medellin, the orphanage and the hotel and hearing about their process while in country. She's also offered to send me additional pictures of the orphanage which I am very excited about. I put a link to her blog under the Colombian Blog List to the left so be sure to check it out.