Plugging along...

It has been a couple of days since my last post and I have accomplished a decent amount. I am STILL waiting on the homestudy agency. I did call them today to ask when we would be getting a social worker and they said they would be in touch early part of next week. Monday it will be 2 weeks of them getting our application with money to begin the process. It is very frustrating to say the least because I know there is going to be documents they will need me to get to them and until they tell me what they need I can't get them. It also means they are delaying me in getting to Cliff. I never expected it to be an instant thing.. don't get me wrong if there is one thing I have learned after the birth of my last son is that everything comes in its time but it is frustrating when it is being delayed by someone that I hired. I told them that time really is of the essence here as we are talking about saving my son and although she said she understood I believe she has probably heard my story many times.

Yesterday my husband and I managed to plow our way out of the driveway and get to the post office to order our passports. We then took the 7 CSPs and 5 power of attorney papers to our local bank who notarized them for us for free! We faxed them right over to our facilitator and she was pretty prompt in letting us know that 5 of the CSPs would probably not pass so we had to go back to the bank to re-do them. Apparently since everything must be translated the seal can not cover any letters including the letters "notary seal". The bank was great and re-did them for us but it delayed us from getting them apostilled till today.

We also found a Secretary of States office that does apostilles closer which meant a normal 2 1/2 hour trip became 45 minutes. This should come in handy as it seems like the 12 documents we took care of today is only a small fraction of what is to come. Probably the biggest shock was going to FEDEX who informed me that overnight meant 2-3 days for the unnamed country. Then they insisted that I must have the wrong city as they did not see it in their big book. They told me to go home to make sure... well I walked two stores down the UPS and they sent it right away. Talk about sticker shock.. $166.00. I had to chuckle when the gal asked me if I still wanted to send it.. duh. I told her the little boy waiting in an orphanage was priceless and totally worth that and more. So on Tuesday those initial papers will make it to the unnamed county, where they will get translated and the powers that be will be officially notified of our intent for Cliff.

I would like to thank everyone that has donated to our efforts. We have some upcoming ideas on possible fund raising but it is going to be held up for a week or so. Next week, I have some medical appointments coming up and Jacob has his LAST appointment with the heart specialist. We were fortunate that he did not have a heart issue as 50% of children with Ds have. He did have a small PDA that the doctor said should close on its own. Wednesday he will have his final echocardiogram to ensure that it is closed. Honestly each year he has seen the doctor and I am always on pins and needles so I can't wait to bid Dr. Z. goodbye. Please continue to pray for my family and keep little Cliff in your prayers. It literally breaks my heart each day knowing he belongs with us and knowing paperwork and funding stands in between us. I am working hard on my end and please pray that everyone else works hard on their ends as well. I WILL NOT FAIL THIS LITTLE BOY- HE MEANS TOO MUCH!