We were told a couple days ago by Helen that it is ok to talk freely to Gertrude now about adopting her as she now knows. That is great because we have wanted to whenever we talked to her but couldn't. Helen said the paperwork has been started. I assume that means to clear her for international adoption. She may not need to have a formal interview. Her friend Kristine, who also said "no" to adoption in March has said "yes" now, and her adoptive parents received a letter from the Ministry of Family Affairs stating this. They got a reply now because the Ministry just recently got their request to adopt and replied after the kids were asked again in August. Our letter came before the kids were asked again. I don't know if I will receive another letter stating she has changed her mind or if they will just start the process. A letter would be nice, but if we know the paperwork is getting started, that's good enough!
We had our 2nd and 3rd interview for our home study and our last one will be on Sept. 14. She will come to our house and meet Tena. It shouldn't be too long after that she will have it written up. We do have to attend 2 classes, one on Sept. 16 and another on Sept. 23, that are on adoptive parenting so I'm not sure if those have to be completed before she starts writing up the Home Study. We'll find out but hopefully not.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Monday, August 28, 2006
Some encouraging news!!
We spoke with Helen in Latvia today and she said the orphanage director, Ilga, had asked Gertrude how she would feel about living in America and Ilga said Gertrude was very excited about the prospect. She doesn't know if Ilga intimated we were pursuing adoption or she approached her with it as a hypothetical question. So, we still can't mention it to Gertrude and this was not her formal interview, but it is exciting that she had such a positive response. I am feeling much better about this impending interview. Also, Ilga had said how happy Gertrude was and how this trip had been so wonderful for her and she could tell she was so much more open and more confident than she was before. It is so good to hear this. She also told us this about 2 other children from this orphanage that came with the hosting and are being pursued for adoption. One of them especially, an 11 year old boy named Olegs, who was so shy and quiet (and I can vouch for it because I've met him!) is a totally different person now. Very confident and talkative. It is amazing what bringing a little light and love to a child will do to change their whole perspective and opinion of themselves. It is a blessing just to be able to play a part in that, let alone adopt them and change so much more for them!!
The director of the Ministry of Family Affairs (the main man of this department) actually contacted Ilga and told her he had a request for some of her kids there and that she needs to do the necessary steps to set up a formal interview. So now, the orphanage director and the Ministry are on the same page trying to achieve the same goal. Things are looking up!
The director of the Ministry of Family Affairs (the main man of this department) actually contacted Ilga and told her he had a request for some of her kids there and that she needs to do the necessary steps to set up a formal interview. So now, the orphanage director and the Ministry are on the same page trying to achieve the same goal. Things are looking up!
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Talk with Gertrude and Home Study
We talked with Gertrude again today! It was another "yes, yes, no" conversation but she did speak a little bit. When I asked what she was doing she said "playing Barbies." I asked if she was playing with Kristina (her friend that also was here) and she said yes. I asked if Agnese wanted to talk and she said yes, then no. She talked with Tena and she told her about Barbies also. Tena told her she loved her and she said she loved her too, same with me. In case you're wondering, Scott wasn't able to talk this morning so he missed out! Mostly I asked a lot of questions, if she is ready to start school, how is Agnese, does she remember her room here. I told her I bought strawberries and thought of her, also bananas and that she is my little monkey. We would tease her when she was here about being a monkey because she ate so many bananas. She said "no" to being my monkey, then backtracked and said "yes!" So, it was great to talk with her but again, she didn't say much!
We had our first interview for our home study on Friday. It went very well. Our social worker is very nice. Her two children are adopted and they are from Korea. We have another appointment Aug. 30 then we'll have our last one a week or two after that. Then she said it might only take her a couple weeks to write it up! This is moving very quickly. We have an appointment to get our fingerprints taken on Sept. 14. If all goes as planned (I wonder what the chances of that are??!!) then we could be done with everything and ready to send our dossier in by the end of Sept or early October. Which means, we could travel as early as November! We are still waiting to hear if they have interviewed Gertrude again and she has agreed to be adopted. All this is very exciting but it is hard waiting and persevering without knowing for sure. It's hard to believe this rests on a 9 year old girl's decision about something so important and life changing. We just have to trust God it will all work out according to what is best for all of us. Which we hope, of course, is that Gertrude becomes ours!
We will call Gertrude again next week. Our plan is to call every Saturday at 9:30, then if there is no answer, Sunday at 9:30. So far it's worked out well.
We had our first interview for our home study on Friday. It went very well. Our social worker is very nice. Her two children are adopted and they are from Korea. We have another appointment Aug. 30 then we'll have our last one a week or two after that. Then she said it might only take her a couple weeks to write it up! This is moving very quickly. We have an appointment to get our fingerprints taken on Sept. 14. If all goes as planned (I wonder what the chances of that are??!!) then we could be done with everything and ready to send our dossier in by the end of Sept or early October. Which means, we could travel as early as November! We are still waiting to hear if they have interviewed Gertrude again and she has agreed to be adopted. All this is very exciting but it is hard waiting and persevering without knowing for sure. It's hard to believe this rests on a 9 year old girl's decision about something so important and life changing. We just have to trust God it will all work out according to what is best for all of us. Which we hope, of course, is that Gertrude becomes ours!
We will call Gertrude again next week. Our plan is to call every Saturday at 9:30, then if there is no answer, Sunday at 9:30. So far it's worked out well.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Finally talked to Gertrude
The kids finally got back from camp and a time was set up for us to call Gertrude on Friday. I was the only one home (Scott out of town and Tena at school). She has already forgotten a lot of her English but she understood a lot of the questions I asked her. Mostly I just asked her how she was, did she go to camp (she said no, I think she thinks I was asking if she was at camp), is she swimming, etc. I told her I missed her and she said "thank you" and I told her I loved her and she said "I love you" in her sweet little accent. I told her Allie misses her and I asked her if she missed Allie and she said yes. Allie is our dog, by the way. She said yes to missing Pop and Tena also.
Then today, Sunday, we called again and we all got to talk to her. She was sounding a bit more animated but still "yes, no" answers and not really any conversation. She asked if I wanted to talk to her sister. I did and her sister speaks fairly good English. I told her we love Gertrude very much and that we miss her and that Gertrude told us about her. I asked her what she does there and she said she plays football, basketball and swimming and she likes horses. I told her horses scare me, I fell off one and she laughed. She seems very sweet. I asked her if she wants to come visit America and she said she did. She answered that she got our letter, her but not Gertrude. We actually wrote Gertrude and wrote a note in there for her (Agense) so I think she might be saying she read the letter, not Gertrude. I told her I bet she is a great big sister and she hesitated then said "yes." I said "sometimes?" and she said "yes. I asked to talk to Gertrude again and she said "yes" but then hung up. Communication still tricky! I'm glad I got to talk to her though. I'm hoping Agnese has gotten some feel for who we are and that we are willing and happy to write and talk to her and include her as much as we can in our family. We want that for her and for Gertrude and it will help when they both have to make a decision of how each of them feels about Gertrude being adopted in another country with us.
We are hoping they will get Skype, Helen said they are working on it, a digital video communication where we can actually see each other. We have it now, when they get it at the orphanage it will be a free call. Communication with another language will be much easier when we can see each other! Tena and Pop both talked to Gertrude a little bit, with much the same conversation of yes and no. So, it was great to talk to her. Once they have Skype it will be much nicer and will help the next several months got by easier before she's ours.
Then today, Sunday, we called again and we all got to talk to her. She was sounding a bit more animated but still "yes, no" answers and not really any conversation. She asked if I wanted to talk to her sister. I did and her sister speaks fairly good English. I told her we love Gertrude very much and that we miss her and that Gertrude told us about her. I asked her what she does there and she said she plays football, basketball and swimming and she likes horses. I told her horses scare me, I fell off one and she laughed. She seems very sweet. I asked her if she wants to come visit America and she said she did. She answered that she got our letter, her but not Gertrude. We actually wrote Gertrude and wrote a note in there for her (Agense) so I think she might be saying she read the letter, not Gertrude. I told her I bet she is a great big sister and she hesitated then said "yes." I said "sometimes?" and she said "yes. I asked to talk to Gertrude again and she said "yes" but then hung up. Communication still tricky! I'm glad I got to talk to her though. I'm hoping Agnese has gotten some feel for who we are and that we are willing and happy to write and talk to her and include her as much as we can in our family. We want that for her and for Gertrude and it will help when they both have to make a decision of how each of them feels about Gertrude being adopted in another country with us.
We are hoping they will get Skype, Helen said they are working on it, a digital video communication where we can actually see each other. We have it now, when they get it at the orphanage it will be a free call. Communication with another language will be much easier when we can see each other! Tena and Pop both talked to Gertrude a little bit, with much the same conversation of yes and no. So, it was great to talk to her. Once they have Skype it will be much nicer and will help the next several months got by easier before she's ours.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Adoption Drama
Well, we have been very busy compiling paperwork, going to our doctor's, getting police background checks, letter from our accountant, etc. for the adoption. We had a big scare a few days ago when we got an e-mail from Lavian Family Affairs saying they cannot clear Gertrude for international adoption right now because she had said "no" to foreign adoption back in March when interviewed. I didn't notice "March" at first and thought they had just interviewed her. It was devastating and I was sick to my stomach and cried. I told Scott and he had us go back and re-read the letter and we noticed she was interviewed in March before she came to visit. We called Helen (one of the chaperones that was here that works with the orphans & courts) and she assured us most kids say no when they are interviewed out of the blue like that. Gertrude has been at camp since she returned to Latvia and just got back Aug. 17 so they will interview her again soon. Helen is going to talk to her to make sure she knows she will not lose contact with her sister if she is adopted. We (especially me!) are very anxious but trying to stay calm, pray and trust God through this. We are moving ahead with the paperwork, with the expectation we will soon hear some good news.
A couple days ago we sent in our first batch of paperwork--our home study (not all of it but enough to get started with interviews, etc.) and our I600A to our government (which had to wait for our corrected birth certificate and marriage license delaying us about 3 weeks), which we finally got. We have our first appointment with our social worker next Friday Aug 25 for the first of four interviews to complete the home study. This is so exciting! Things are finally moving along. We just keep praying for that one crucial bit of news, that Gertrude is ready to be adopted and move to America.
A couple days ago we sent in our first batch of paperwork--our home study (not all of it but enough to get started with interviews, etc.) and our I600A to our government (which had to wait for our corrected birth certificate and marriage license delaying us about 3 weeks), which we finally got. We have our first appointment with our social worker next Friday Aug 25 for the first of four interviews to complete the home study. This is so exciting! Things are finally moving along. We just keep praying for that one crucial bit of news, that Gertrude is ready to be adopted and move to America.
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