Still Waiting

There really hasn't been anything to report on the adoption front lately.  We are still waiting for our I-800A approval.  We do have a fingerprint appoint on the 19th.  They had some problems getting good prints for me last time.  I am doing lots of lotion in preparation.  Let's hope there are no problems.  We have been assigned on officer and found out that we didn't send in a copy of our home study with the application.  Silly me.  We sent that back yesterday.  Hoping for a very quick response after our prints are done.

Dossier is almost complete.  Waiting for just a couple of things back from our Social worker today and then our medical clearances should be done next week.  Last item of business is getting those family pictures printed out.

Jerry will be travelling alone to go visit Troy.  Can't wait for that to happen.  I am excited to hear about him.

Making Progess

I am excited to say that we are making some progress now.  I am really no good at waiting and that is the definition of the adoption process - hurry up and WAIT.  This past week we received our completed home study back and have sent off the I-800A to the USCIS.  Here's hoping for a quick response.  I am really not sure how long it is currently taking.  If anyone has any idea, it would be nice to hear.

Now we start on our dossier.  That will give us something to accomplish while we wait.  This week we also received our FBI clearances back.  We mailed them off to be appostilled.

Back to finances again - We have had so many unexpected expenses in the past couple of weeks.  Seems like it will never end.  Our newest big impending expense seems to be a new water heater.  Ours seems to be dieing.  We have six people in the house and are having problems getting through one long shower with warm water.  So now is the time to mention something I never have before.  We don't do fundraisers or ask for help financially.  But, if any of the very few of our reader find it in their hearts to donate something, it would really be appreciated.  Anything would help at this point.  Thanks to those who have already donated to Troy's fund.

Unexpected Financial Snag

Yesterday, we received some very unexpected financial news.  Our adoption agency discovered that somehow we show $6,000 short on our fees from our last adoption.  Boy, we sure didn't figure that into our expenses for this adoption.  I'm not sure where the funds will come from, but we are committed to moving forward and hoping everything will work out.  Can't wait for that tax refund to come.

No updates on the adoption process at this point.  We are still waiting for the home study to come back.

We have started

This really isn't much of a post, but I am excited to say that we have started the process. 

• We have emailed our commitment papers.  Waiting for the apostilled ones to come back so that we can mail those in.  Hopefully, we will have the official match before too long. 
• We sent in our fingerprints to the FBI, those were received by them on 1/10.
• We started on home study.  I think that will actually go pretty quickly since it is mostly just an update.  Can't wait to mail in our I-800A.

I am really hoping we get through this process faster than we did with our last adoption.  Patience is definately not my greatest virtue.


I still owe you further updates on Kaden and Meghan.  That will come soon.

Back To The Beginning

I never got around to updating the blog after Meghan and Kaden's home coming, so I will give you a picture update going back to the beginning.   Their adjustment has been amazing.  There really haven't been any issues at all.   Meghan is a stubbon little girl.  Likes to get her own way.  From a girl, really?  

There will be more updates to come as we work our way up to current. 

This was taken in the hotel room on gotcha day

Here is Kaden chillin' in the hotel room

Our 2 older kids made this sign for Meghan and Kaden



Here are all 4 of our kids at the park



First easter egg hunt at Aunties house.  This was the day after they arrived home and after their first day at church.



Ready for the 1st day of school. Since their adjustment was going so well, we didn't wait too long before they started school.



Here is Kaden on the bus the first day.  Not exactly sure what he's doing here.

Christmas 2012

We had no pictures where Santa can actually be seen.  Kaden is always determined to be the center of attention when a picture is taken.  This was taken at a Christmas party at our church.  Kaden and Meghan's first Christmas with us was so much fun.  I am not sure how much they have experienced with Christmas in Bulgaria.  But, Meghan quickly became familiar with Santa Claus and what he is all about.  She was counting down the days until he came.  So much excitement for opening up all the presents under the tree.

Here is Kaden trying to figure out how to open up his first present.

Meghan didn't waste any time tearing it open.

The two older kids both has DS's.  Meghan and Kaden got their own hand held games.  They are called Mobigo from VTech.  Made for younger kids, but perfect for them as they build experience in using them and also learning games for them to play.

I have been very negletful about updating a status on Kaden and Meghan since they came home in April.  They have done great.   I will do another post updating some things since they have been home.

Well, I've have to change the title of our blog from Making it Four to Making it Five.  I started this blog during our last adoption this past year bringing home two children from Bulgaria.  We are now adding one more.  

Let's get this straight, I am a not very good lousy blogger.  I will do the best I can to keep it updated throughout our process.  I really enjoy following other peoples blogs throughout their journey, but I do get frustrated when weeks or even months go by without an update.

We have just made our formal commitment and will start our homestudy update starting January 11th.  Hopefully, with just an update, it will go pretty fast.  Now that we are more familiar with the process, I'd like to think that we can move through the process a little quicker than last time.  But, we know there are certain parts of the process you just can't speed up.

We'd like to introduce you to the newest member of our family "Troy" from Reece's Rainbow.   He has just turned 6 years old.   We really would like to have him home before his next birthday and hopefully he can join his family before next Christmas.