I was joking in my last post when I said that we expected the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to stamp our paperwork before his morning coffee and send it right back out to us. Apparently, it wasn't a joke! It arrived there yesterday at 845 am and it was stamped and on our doorstep when I got home from work this afternoon. I'm always shocked and amazed when something goes quickly and smoothly.
I rushed the paperwork to the DHL office at the airport and had them send it off to Haiti ASAP. Last time it got there in less than 24 hours, although they call it 2 day shipping. Hopefully Noel (the storm hitting that area) won't slow down the flights carrying our papers or more importantly cause damage or destruction to any of the countries in its path.
Now it's back to the waiting game. Of course, I'm frantically calculating in my mind...if it gets to the lawyer on Thursday and she gets the agency to sign it by Friday...Friday is November 2...6 weeks from November 2 is December 14. I'm simulaneously preparing myself for the worst and reminding myself that it's rare for things to go quickly in Haiti. But it sure is fun to think about picking her up in time for Christmas!
We'll keep you posted as we track the package and (hopefully) hear updates from the lawyer!
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Updates
Our psychological evaluation is on its way to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago right now in both its English and French versions. It should be waiting there when they open tomorrow morning and our hope is that they will put upon it their seal of approval and ship it back to us in the overnight envelope before they have their morning coffee. As soon as we receive it we'll DHL it to Haiti. We found earlier in the process that that can get papers in the hands of the lawyer in less than 24 hours!
We heard on Friday that Bedeline continues to be healthy and that she's regaining the weight that she had lost during her illness. We have no idea how much she may weigh these days but are thinking she may be in 2T clothing by the time she arrives.
Thanks for reading!
We heard on Friday that Bedeline continues to be healthy and that she's regaining the weight that she had lost during her illness. We have no idea how much she may weigh these days but are thinking she may be in 2T clothing by the time she arrives.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Psych update
We got our psychological evaluation completed, notarized, and stamped by the Secretary of State on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Now we're waiting (not so patiently) for it to be translated into French so that we can send it to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago for another fancy stamp. We'll overnight it there with an overnight envelope for them to send it back. When it comes back to us from Chicago we will DHL it to the lawyer in Haiti. We found last time that this can happen in less than 24 hours. The hope is that as soon as the agency has this new paper in hand they'll sign off and release our paperwork. We think that it will be about 6 weeks from that point, putting us at beginning to mid December.
The phrase "Hurry up and wait," seems to describe this situation perfectly. We seem to do a lot of rushing around to get things ready, stamped, mailed, etc. and then we have to put it in someone else's hands and wait. I'm never sure which is more painful, when it is in our hands and the pressure is on, or when it's out of our hands and we have no clue what's happening.
We have a friend who's about a month ahead of us in the process, who's going to have his two boys come home to him soon. I think it will feel wonderful for us when that happens-proof that the system does, indeed, work!
Keep watching for new details!
The phrase "Hurry up and wait," seems to describe this situation perfectly. We seem to do a lot of rushing around to get things ready, stamped, mailed, etc. and then we have to put it in someone else's hands and wait. I'm never sure which is more painful, when it is in our hands and the pressure is on, or when it's out of our hands and we have no clue what's happening.
We have a friend who's about a month ahead of us in the process, who's going to have his two boys come home to him soon. I think it will feel wonderful for us when that happens-proof that the system does, indeed, work!
Keep watching for new details!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Finally, some news to report!
As Marialyn put it yesterday, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that the IBESR (agency where the paperwork's been forever) is ready to sign our papers. Bad news is that before they can do so, they need to see a Pschological Evaluation on both of us. We hadn't known about this before, because it's apparently specific to people under 35.
So, if any of you have any advice about how to make that happen, CALL US! Our goal is to get the evals done, translated, notarized, apostilled (fancy stamp) and DHLed to Haiti by Friday at the latest. The hope is that as soon as they get the evals they sign the paperwork right away. Then there's a 2 week step, then there's a 4 week step. The few people we've told seem less than thrilled that there's another 6 weeks, but for us it's a nice amount of time to be able to get plane tickets, finally buy car seats, get things ready at work, etc. 6 weeks from today is December 1, so perhaps I'll be in Haiti for my birthday (Dec 2) after all!
We're trying to stay a bit realistic, knowing that Haiti timelines aren't always what they promise, but are thrilled to have some news. Finally, something to say when asked 72 times each day, "Any news about the baby?" :)
So, if any of you have any advice about how to make that happen, CALL US! Our goal is to get the evals done, translated, notarized, apostilled (fancy stamp) and DHLed to Haiti by Friday at the latest. The hope is that as soon as they get the evals they sign the paperwork right away. Then there's a 2 week step, then there's a 4 week step. The few people we've told seem less than thrilled that there's another 6 weeks, but for us it's a nice amount of time to be able to get plane tickets, finally buy car seats, get things ready at work, etc. 6 weeks from today is December 1, so perhaps I'll be in Haiti for my birthday (Dec 2) after all!
We're trying to stay a bit realistic, knowing that Haiti timelines aren't always what they promise, but are thrilled to have some news. Finally, something to say when asked 72 times each day, "Any news about the baby?" :)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Happy Birthday Bedeline!
Today, October 18, is Bedeline’s first birthday. Of course we had hoped that we’d be celebrating this big event together, but alas, that’s doesn’t seem to be part of the plan. There’s still no word from the lawyer who had said she’d go check on the paperwork last week. We’re not sure if that means that she hasn’t gone at all, has gone and has nothing to report, or just hasn’t contacted Marialyn with an update. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear.
Last weekend we went to Wisconsin and babysat a 2-year-old girl so that her parents (long time friends of ours) could go to a Baptism out of state. It was an interesting glimpse into what our world is going to become when Bedeline does arrive. A very good practice run!
We now have another Haitian child that we’re invested in. We signed up last week to sponsor a child through Sean’s job (Friends of the Orphans) and of course, we had to choose Haiti! Herby is 12-years-old and as soon as the paperwork goes through we get to start writing letters back and forth. We hope to meet him and see the orphan home and hospital that Friends of the Orphans sponsors when we go to pick up Bedeline. Sean’s boss has also asked us to think about leading a trip to Haiti next year! Amazing to think that a little more than seven months ago Haiti was the farthest thing from our minds. It just goes to show that we never know which way our life will go.
Last weekend we went to Wisconsin and babysat a 2-year-old girl so that her parents (long time friends of ours) could go to a Baptism out of state. It was an interesting glimpse into what our world is going to become when Bedeline does arrive. A very good practice run!
We now have another Haitian child that we’re invested in. We signed up last week to sponsor a child through Sean’s job (Friends of the Orphans) and of course, we had to choose Haiti! Herby is 12-years-old and as soon as the paperwork goes through we get to start writing letters back and forth. We hope to meet him and see the orphan home and hospital that Friends of the Orphans sponsors when we go to pick up Bedeline. Sean’s boss has also asked us to think about leading a trip to Haiti next year! Amazing to think that a little more than seven months ago Haiti was the farthest thing from our minds. It just goes to show that we never know which way our life will go.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
healthy girl
Hello friends! We heard last night that Bedeline is once again healthy and happy (insert huge sigh of relief here). She is reported to have lost some weight during her illness and we're again grateful for the extra pounds that she had going into it, though we're having a really hard time imagining her without all those rolls!
We also heard that the lawyer is planning to go to the agency where our paperwork is next week to check on it, since she thinks it should be finished there SOON! Strange, after all this waiting, to hear the word "soon", though we are only allowing ourselves to be cautiously optimistic, not full out excited...yet. Once we get the word that it's out of the this 2nd agency, I believe it goes to round 3 for a few weeks and then has 22 days of translation. We're still clinging to "end of November, beginning of December", but really just praying she'll be here for Christmas. Either way, girl's going to need a whole bunch of warm clothes. She's not going to know what hit her with this Minnesota weather!
In all other aspects of our lives, we Breiningers are doing really well! Sean absolutely loves his new job with Friends of the Orphans and I've begun volunteering there as well. It's such an inspirational organization and we're so grateful to be a part of it.
My job is also going very well. I was recently promoted and am now a mentor coach to four new coaches that we just hired. I continue to do the Literacy Coaching that I have been, but coach and mentor the new folks in addition. The project that I work for is a huge success and it's rewarding to go to work each day to see the difference that's being made.
Last weekend I flew to Michigan to spend 3 days with my favorite baby boy, my nephew Owen. I had only seen him once since his birth in March and it would kill me to see new photos showing how quickly he was growing. I had a wonderful time spending the weekend on the carpet with him, trying to coax him into crawling and getting him to giggle. I look forward to the day when cousins Owen and Bedeline can play together!
Our mantra this week has been "It's October!". An obvious fact, but one that means to us that we're that much closer to November and December, and that, perhaps, good news will be coming to us soon. Keep praying for and watching the blog for good news!
We also heard that the lawyer is planning to go to the agency where our paperwork is next week to check on it, since she thinks it should be finished there SOON! Strange, after all this waiting, to hear the word "soon", though we are only allowing ourselves to be cautiously optimistic, not full out excited...yet. Once we get the word that it's out of the this 2nd agency, I believe it goes to round 3 for a few weeks and then has 22 days of translation. We're still clinging to "end of November, beginning of December", but really just praying she'll be here for Christmas. Either way, girl's going to need a whole bunch of warm clothes. She's not going to know what hit her with this Minnesota weather!
In all other aspects of our lives, we Breiningers are doing really well! Sean absolutely loves his new job with Friends of the Orphans and I've begun volunteering there as well. It's such an inspirational organization and we're so grateful to be a part of it.
My job is also going very well. I was recently promoted and am now a mentor coach to four new coaches that we just hired. I continue to do the Literacy Coaching that I have been, but coach and mentor the new folks in addition. The project that I work for is a huge success and it's rewarding to go to work each day to see the difference that's being made.
Last weekend I flew to Michigan to spend 3 days with my favorite baby boy, my nephew Owen. I had only seen him once since his birth in March and it would kill me to see new photos showing how quickly he was growing. I had a wonderful time spending the weekend on the carpet with him, trying to coax him into crawling and getting him to giggle. I look forward to the day when cousins Owen and Bedeline can play together!
Our mantra this week has been "It's October!". An obvious fact, but one that means to us that we're that much closer to November and December, and that, perhaps, good news will be coming to us soon. Keep praying for and watching the blog for good news!
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