What's his religion?

Two more referral letters needed and a notarized commitment to raise our son in the religion of his first family. hmmm...(psst. We don't even know what religion it is!) When they send me a current weight or a 3rd picture (after 10 months) then I'll ask about their faith. I'm sure we'll work it out.

If he's muslim we'll have a lot of catching up to do. If he's Christian (majority of the country) we're probably ready to go without realizing it.

Need I add? This WAIT is making me act like a teenager. Writing caustic quips in my journal.

Visit back to his village for more paperwork

Now I'm antsy. Before it seemed like the baby would be here before we were ready. Now,
WHAT'S TAKING SO DAMN LONG!

I learned today that yet another visit was needed by the orphanage director to the probation officer of the village to acquire his written recommendation for our adoption. I'm glad they're being thorough, but I figured we were done with those type of interviews by now.  And then do we get a court date?

So I bought our bambino some socks. Do babies need socks? Don't they just kick them off? I figured he  should try and wear in them in court at least....(good thing we just signed up for a baby care class:  )

By forming a family through adoption, especially a transracial family, we knew there would be A LOT to learn. A large part of why I wanted to adopt. Opening my mind, bending it, thinking about culture and identity, international affairs, topics I used to bathe in during my undergraduate liberal arts education and were largely dropped from  the curriculum in vet school.

I am thrilled that our adoption agency pushes education. Actually REQUIRES it. We have been asked to read and report on at least 6 books on adoption, parenting, parenting in a transracial family, along with more than another dozen topics on how we plan to raise our child -- from locating community groups to interviewing people who have adopted or are adoptees. (I keep thinking how great it would be if every parent were required to do this.) We also have to learn some basics of the Luganda language and study up on the history, culture of Uganda.

Due: end of November

Affadvits

Affadvits have arrived from Uganda! We will notarize them today and FedEx them out. NOW the laywer can file our case with the courts.

We are starting to pull together a packing list for Uganda. There are many blogs out there with great advice from folks who have come before us, heading to Uganda to complete their families.

Baby registry!

I'm starting to believe we might actually become parents soon. In that case, we're really behind on getting all the things we'll need for a baby!

With encouragement from friends and family, we've actually registered online. We couldn't settle on one store so we're using "Babylist" which pulls from many stores and organizes it on one site.

Thanks for all your help!

http://babyli.st/jeni-and-eric

members of a feral cat colony we are trying to get under control

Holy yellow fever vaccine! Keeled over in pain and diarrhea for 16 hours, didn't eat solid food for days. Apparently I should be thankful I didn't get the real thing!

The money we wired to Africa made it safely. The lawyer is currently working on gathering DNA from the parents and making sure everyone knows what is meant by "international adoption." Yes, the child leaves the orphanage and goes to the U.S. Apparently there have been misunderstandings in the past. ??

Today we received our Polio, Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Hep A and B vax and scripts for Malaria meds.

This almost feels like an impending trip now...I imagine we should start gathering baby supplies. Somehow I'm scared to make those type of purchases. I'm not willing to face a room full of baby stuff and no baby.

This is us very happy!

on to Africa...

Family have helped launch us to the next and final phase! Our Ugandan attorney can start working on getting us a court date! Things were looking bleak there for awhile with the Ugandan attorney hired, dossier in hand, but unable to move forward without a deposit.

Whew.

We've become financially dried up through this process, and mostly because you need so much money, up front, so often. Plan on $3-4,000 per month on average. It takes a village to adopt a child.

We'll miss you Lizzy.

The dossier (collection of stuff about us) is in the mail via FedEx to Uganda. Just have to wire some cash now.

I can't wait to tell my credit union to wire $5000 to Africa. And fast. To get a child. Yeah right. Sucker.

We have an attorney! $5000, plus $2000 for a private investigator fee. Love it. I'm sure it's all legit....right?...

I believe the PI looks into the child's family history, makes certain there are no lingering relatives that wish to have the child. Really to confirm orphan status. There have been problems in the past where families didn't realize that International Adoption meant the child would be moving to another country.
ouch.

Next step: Send dossier (which is ready to go) and monies to Uganda.