Our little Spillers

Last renewal??

2011-09-27T18:07:00.003-05:00

It is difficult to try to write something new to this blog after my previous post. The day we came back from Venezuela we supposed to get our fingerprints done for adoption, luckily my smart husband remembered hours before we left that we wouldn't be able to make it on time, so we requested a reschedule of bio-metrics. So lets look at the positive side, for anybody who needs to reschedule the fingerprints it is as simple as sending the appointment letter back and checking the box asking to reschedule. The date is moved about a month.

We got fingerprinted again Monday Sep-19, and the approval for the renewal arrived to our house on Saturday with date Sep-20! It took only one day to get us re-approved! Amazing!

Home Study and the USCIS approval have been notarized and have apostille. They are now on its way to our wonderful agency Adopolis to later be sent to Colombia, just to keep our records up-to-date.

So for any person out there who is still reading this blog (other than Megan, Hi Megan!), we are still in the process waiting for our Colombianito or Colombianita. Our hope is that this is the last time we have to go through the renewal process -I called our agency today to try to convince them of that... not sure it worked, but I took it out of my chest.

I just stole this cartoon from another blog. I just love the irony behind it. Yes, we are approved, but it is still a long way before we can reach our child, hopefully we don't have to fight alligators, boiling acid and marshmallows packed in ammonia!

OH.... I almost forgot! We bought a twin size bed for our child, and I put it together this weekend... YEAH ME! Now we just need to have a child :-)

In memory of my dad

2011-08-30T19:33:00.004-05:00

I miss my dad, I wish he had the opportunity to meet our little one. He passed away on August 15, 2011. The full family was there for the funeral on August 18 in Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela

This is a video made by my sister Aida.

Song: Te Extrañaré.

I'll miss you, be sure
So many beautiful and bad times we live together
The details, the little things, it seemed important q
There are the ones that invade my mind when I remember you

I wish I could turn back the clock
To see you again
To give you a hug
And never let go

But I understand your time came
God has called you to be by his side
So the you wanted, but I never thought
That hurts so much

(CHORUS)

Do not cry for me
I am in a place filled d light
Where there is peace, where there is no evil
Where I can rest

Do not cry for me
It's so beautiful here, I never imagined
I want you to be happy, to go well
And when it is your time, I will be waiting for you

I'll miss you, be sure
How to think life can end
In a second
Life is dust, it can spread at a time
You didn't bring anything, you didn't take anything, just what you had inside

I wish I could turn back the clock
To see you again
To give you a hug
And never let go

But I understand your time came q
God has called you to be by his side
So the you wanted, but I never thought
That hurts so much

(CHORUS)

Do not cry for me
I am in a place filled with light
Where there is peace, where there is no evil
Where I can rest

Do not cry for me
It's so beautiful here, I never imagined
I want you to be happy, to go well
And when it is your time, I will be waiting for you

Home Study Renewal - Getting ready for social worker visit

2011-06-04T17:00:00.005-05:00

This is our third time when a Social Worker comes to visit our house to make sure we are still suitable to become parents. At this time, I would say we are pros! You have to see us today, just relaxing even that tomorrow is the "visit".

If you are new to this process, my best recommendation is to relax. Yes, you want to make a good impression to your social worker, but they are not doing a white glove inspection. They just want to make sure you have a place where you can raise a child, thats all. So don't freak out!

This is what we have done for tomorrow to get the house ready:

Mow the lawn
Clean the house: clean bathrooms, bedrooms, kitchen, pantry. Picked up any clutter. This is regular weekly cleaning!
Wash the dog
Made iced tea (I know, it sounds silly, but we need to have something to serve other than water and beer!)
Maybe I will bake cupcakes (I rarely bake, but I like to do it! So the visit is just a good excuse to bake right now!)

Of course, when the social worker comes, it is not just a walk through the house, we also have an interview! My husband and I talked about any changes that happened during last year, any changes we want to do in our home study.. and that is it. We are in the same page, so we should be re-approved with flying colors!

NOTE: in the first visit when preparing the report for the first time, they do ask A LOT of questions and even flush the toile! See my post about it back in 2009

Nesting

2011-04-15T08:23:00.005-05:00

It has been very long times since last time I posted, but believe me, there hasn't been even one day that I have think about becoming a mother. We started our process in 2008, and we got approval from ICBF on August 2009. Almost two years later, and we are still here, waiting. So what does a mother do when she is expecting? Nesting!Well... my paper pregnancy is too long to be decoraring the room or baby-proofing the house. It is also very uncertain, as we don't know the gender, age, or taste of the child to be buying clothes, painting walls, buying toys. But that doesn't take away that I can be nesting! A good friend of mine suggested a brilliant idea. I can build my child's library! So each month I have been buying children’s books. Some are in English, others in Spanish. I can only imagine getting to the end of the day and sitting with our little one and reading these books. Again, this is a brilliant idea! I already have like ten books, and the collection will keep growing each month. Lets see how many books we ended having! The other thing I bought for our child is a Sock Monkey. My husband has memory of his childhood with this monkey, so I thought it will be the perfect first toy for our child. I had never seen one in person, but now it is sitting in our living room and I think it is adorable. Other way of nesting is changing furniture. We had a hand-me-down sofa, and the sitting space in our living room was limited. So... new sofas arrived! And I'm waiting a little bit longer to replace our coffee table with an ottoman with storage, so we can keep toys there :-) That is it with the Spillers for now. We are still working hard, playing harder, and enjoying ourselves. Stay tuned for the next episode: Homestudy III (coming to this blog next May, after successful homestudies I and II)

Change Of Plans official trailer

2011-01-06T19:24:00.000-06:00

This one should be interesting to watch as a family!

Change of Plans is the fourth film in an initiative sponsored by Wal-Mart and P&G to bring back “Family Movie Night”. Change of Plans is the story of Sally and Jason Danville, a young couple with plenty of love, talent, and career opportunities - and no responsibilities. When Sally's childhood friend dies and entrusts her with four children, Sally and Jason begin a journey that changes the focus of their lives and expands their definition of family. Three of these four children have become siblings through international adoption, and the movie offers a challenging, heart-warming insight into the joys and struggles of building a family from a group of strangers.

· Tune in: Saturday, January 8th at 8/7 on FOX
· Spread the Word: Send an email or newsletter to your friends!
· Share: Post the trailer on your Facebook or Twitter page Change of Plans - Trailer
· Visit : www.moms4familytv.com for a discussion guide, essay contest information and more!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-15T15:33:00.001-06:00

It is the season. In so many places I hear talk about the kids who may not have a coat this winter to keep them warm, or wont have gifts under their tree to unwrap on Christmas day, or a meal to celebrate with their family.
This holiday season is hitting me harder. How will my children celebrate this Christmas? Are they being loved? Do they have a coat to protect them from the cold if they are in the mountains? Do they have a roof over their heads to protect them from the severe rains? I cannot get answers to my questions (at least not now) and I cannot do anything right now to protect them, or to express them our love.

So, my wish for Christmas is for them to be safe and not to be long before we are together as a family, just like God has planned for us.

Friends of Colombia Orphans

2010-11-21T20:44:00.002-06:00

Here is a link to a fundraiser for a wonderful cause!

Friends of Colombian Orphans Inc. is a grassroots, nonprofit charity dedicated to improving the well-being of young Colombians who are living in poverty. Established in 2007 by U.S. parents who adopted Colombian children, the organization focuses on structural improvements to orphanages, and vocational and entrepreneurial training for teens and young women.

National Adoption Month / Blog Hop

2010-11-09T20:09:00.004-06:00

To anyone who is or was on the adoption process, or for anybody who is starting this journey... HAPPY ADOPTION MONTH!!!

So, to keep going the celebration, lets join the adoption blog hop!!

Guidelines:
The title of your link should begin with:

Foster - if adoption is through foster care
Private - if adoption is through a private agency
Name of the country - if the adoption is international

Other labels for your adoption could include:

P - if adoption is still pending
$ - if you are still seeking funding for your adoption

I totally missed the guidelines, but at least with the thumbnail you can tell it is a Colombian adoption!

Waiting

2010-10-19T09:29:00.002-05:00

Sometimes things don't turn like we want them to. Other times, life gives us surprises that we never imagined. But nothing happens out of the original master plan that God created for each one of us. And we know that our kids are still waiting for us in Colombia. And we will go and get them. When? We don't know, but I'm sure it will be right in God's perfect timing, whenever He (and ICBF) feel that we are good to go. So for the next two years or so, we will keep praying so they are safe and surrounded by love.

2010-10-17T14:07:00.002-05:00

For all of you who are still around, and those who sent me personal emails, I think this picture says more than 1000 words. Taken last month in Tuscany, Italy.

Talley and I

Citizens of the World

2010-06-23T20:26:00.003-05:00

"Citizens of the World" is a hosting program created by our placement agency Adopolis. I cannot describe it better than they do:

"Adopolis is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed with the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) to initiate Citizens of the World, a Hosting Program for children and host families interested in providing special needs and older children from Colombia an enriching family experience. This program helps to fulfill Adopolis’ commitment to education and service, recognizing the importance of a family life for a child. After the children return to Colombia, the host families can support them in different ways or may be considered as prospective adoptive families.

The goal of the program is to provide children - special needs 4 to 7 yrs. old, and healthy 8 to 12 yrs. old - with a summertime or a Christmas season enrichment experience within the environment of a family’s home. The program is family-centered. The children will stay with a family for three or four weeks during the months of July-August or December-January, which is when families take their summer and Christmas vacations.

More information here
and here

This should be a great opportunity to explore if adoption is right for you!

USCIS renewal

2010-06-07T10:46:00.001-05:00

I realize that it has been a while since I updated this blog with our adoption news.

Well, not many things are going on about adoption, other that we have been approved by the USCIS to adopt up to two kids from Colombia. This is good news but not the end of this part of the road. We have to send the HS appostilled to Colombia ICBF to get their approval and to enter another waiting list. I will get to get the apostille this week, then send it to our agency and get it translated and delivered to ICBF.

My best guess now is to become parents by 2012, even that in my heart I hope to get a referral by the end of next year. I can always dream, right?

So, on the meantime, we have been busy with our new house!!! We found this place with great schools, playground in the community, and what it looks to be nice neighbors. And just 5 minutes away from the office! Other than that, we have been very busy with work, work, and work.

See u next time!

Please pray for her

2010-04-20T08:19:00.000-05:00

Leave the family some comments so they know they are not alone.

Waiting for ...

2010-02-23T21:52:00.003-06:00

waiting

Originally uploaded by 锺樂海

I just found this article in the Joint Council website. It describes exactly what means and what is like to be waiting for a child in International Adoption:

We spend our lives waiting: to get our driver’s license, to finish school, for all the adult pleasures we’ve anticipated. But few of those times require the patience needed to wait for our children when we are in the midst of an international adoption. Once the rush stage is done and all the paperwork has been submitted and sent to our child’s country, the true wait begins — and it is one that makes us weak and strong at the same time.
The weakness comes from feelings of uncertainty (Will it really happen?); of lack of control (especially difficult for those of us who usually cope by taking charge); of insecurity (Will we make good parents? Will our children love us?). The strength comes from learning to trust ourselves and others (our agency and authorities in our child’s country); learning to have faith that something so abstract now will be concrete soon (holding our children); learning all we can during this time (from books, friends, family, and our own instincts).
Only two certainties
In essence, this time of waiting for our children is a combination of fear and happy anticipation, mixed with ingredients of patience, faith, trust in people we don’t know, some sorrow and possibly anger about delays or changes here and abroad over which we have no control, and a large portion of hope. For there are two certainties in international adoption — the first being that eventually we will have our children (not necessarily from the first country we planned on), and the second being that in the meantime there will be delays, possible difficulties, and much less information and control than we would like. If we weather the frustrations, retain our hope, and refuse to give up if we need to change direction, there is no way that we’ll fail to get a child, once our home study is approved.

Waiting

Yep, we are waiting... but now we are waiting for two. We are sending an update request to USCIS and Colombia for siblings up to four years old.

2010

2010-02-01T17:47:00.003-06:00

Hi!!!

2010 is the year! Yes, it is the year to renew our adoption paperwork. My hopes of becoming a mother will start maybe in 2011 or 2012, no hurries here :-)

Just a quick recap of the past couple of months. We spent Christmas and New Years in Chile, eating great seafood, drinking the best wine in the world (well, we will have to travel to the rest of the world to make sure this is a true statesman), and enjoying the warm weather!!!! I was there for work, and the company sent my husband so we could be together for the holidays. It is so cool that they could do that as we both work for the same company!

Other than that, we have been working as always and trying to sell our house! So far, nobody wants this beautiful place.

Next update to this blog? Maybe whenever we get the renewal from immigration. Who knows? Maybe before, maybe later...

Friends of Colombia Orphans can get Free Money!

2009-12-07T22:40:00.002-06:00

Name Your Cause lets you and your friends vote to provide cash and prizes to your favorite charities (and our favorite is Friends of Colombia Orphans). Vote by December 10th and they could win a $2500 eBay gift card!

http://www.nameyourcause.com/view-charity/290/Friends-of-Colombian-Orphans.html

Publish Post

Please vote every four hours, help them stay on the top of the list!

Welcome home!

2009-11-13T17:46:00.006-06:00

On October 10th 2009 a couple we meet during adoption training became a forever family in Russia. Even that we know this news for a while know, today we received an invitation for a welcome home party.

So I though it will be the perfect moment to congratulate the lucky parents from this corner in the web. I look forward to meet with the new members of their family!

Friends of Colombia Orphans

2009-10-19T10:44:00.003-05:00

Have you heard of Friends of Colombian Orphans? If you are in the Colombian Adoption's world, I'm sure you know about them. But in case you don't, this is your opportunity!!! They are conducting auctions on Ebay to raise funds for their projects. They have beautiful handcrafts (I really want one of their Shawl!) and other items at great prices. The best? all the money collected will help orphans in Colombia. Check them out! http://shop.ebay.com/friendsofcolombianorphansinc/m.html

Friends of Colombian Orphans, Inc., is a grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children in Colombian orphanages. Established in 2007 by parents who adopted Colombian children, the Friends focus on orphanages in need that are open to outside aid. They organize and supervise improvement projects using donated funds. 100% of donations go toward projects.

If you want to learn more about their organization, please visit their website: http://www.friendsofcolombianorphans.org/

Pass the world, this is totally worthed!

Five years ago :-)

2009-09-12T19:38:00.000-05:00

Guess what?/ Adivina que?

2009-09-02T08:47:00.003-05:00

We are approved for a child up to three years old!!!

We officially entered the waiting list in Colombia!!!! I'm beyond speechless..

Constanza sent us an email this morning at 3 am, and I didn't look at it until 8:30 am... I can't believe the email was sitting there for such a long time! When I started reading the preview of the message from work (thanks Gmail for that feature!), I had to call Talley and have him wait with me until the message finally opened (longest 45 seconds in my life...).

WE ARE APPROVED!!!

Next steps: In approximately three years, our paperwork will be send to a regional office, then child referral and then travel to pick him/her up! Long way to go, there may not be more adoption news for a while, but we are thinking about the prize at the end of this journey.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nos aprobaron en Colombia para adoptar un ninno o ninna hasta 3 annos de edad! (de 0 a 35 meses). Hoy recibimos un correo de nuestra agencia con tal noticia. Empece a leer el correo en la oficina, pero tuve que llamar a Talley de inmediato porque no podia tener la noticia yo sola.

FINALMENTE NOS APROBARON!!!

Que viene? En tres annos (o un poquito mas) enviaran nuestros papeles a la oficina regional, luego nos daran los detalles del ninno/a disponible para adopcion, nosotros confirmamos que le queremos, y luego iremos a recogerle!!!! Falta mucho tiempo para que todo esto suceda, pero no importa, igual estamos alegres que va a ocurrir!!!!

Calculations

2009-08-06T16:19:00.003-05:00

From date: Friday, July 10, 2009
Added 4 weeks

Normalized to 28 days
Resulting date: Friday, August 7, 2009

Well, it is not like I'm counting... but tomorrow suppose to be 4 weeks since our addendum was submitted to ICBF, and we haven't hear a word from our placement agency. Should I call to ask for an update? I'm afraid to know that there are not news. But I also want to hear any piece of information. Does that make any sense?

So, to relief some stress, we are leaving on vacation on Saturday for a HUGE family reunion! Almost my entire family from Venezuela will be flying to Orlando, and we will spend a week together taking our oldest niece Isabella to Disney. My brother and his wife will be traveling with us from Austin. The only ones missing will be our youngest nieces (1.5 yo) and my brother-in-law.

I'm looking forward to this coming week!

Home Study Addendum - III

2009-07-13T09:48:00.003-05:00

We got news! Not the one that we were expecting, but at least there is an update. Our addendum has been finally submitted to ICBF past Friday 07/10. Apparently, when our documents travel to Colombia, they don't go straight from the translator desk to ICBF, but they have to be legalize by the Miniterio de Relaciones Exteriores (Department of Foreign Affairs). Our agency estimate that we may have another update in 3-4 weeks (hopefully the approval!).

Thank you all for your positive thoughts! We know were are not alone in this journey; it is great to be able to share this with others who are exactly in the same path.

Home Study Addendum - II

2009-06-11T22:27:00.002-05:00

So this is exciting... we have something new to do with the adoption process and it is not only to wait!

I picked the Addendum up just after two hours they notified it was ready (I took a break from work, their office is just 5 minutes away from mine!).

What are my plans for tomorrow??? Go to the Secretary of State to have the document Apostilled, then send it to Washington DC for Adopolis to send it to Colombia. Then back to work...

Then we will wait for translation, then it will go to ICBF... and finally get approval! Maybe another month or two before approval? We are soo close! Curious enough, it will be close to the year mark since we started the process.

What are we doing on the mean time? Simple, we are working like crazy. Talley is studying to complete his Linux certification and I'm starting classes to finish my bachelor degree. So that will keep us busy for a little bit. Hopefully at the time we finish our goals, we will be very close to get a child :-D

Home Study Addendum

2009-06-02T15:24:00.003-05:00

So we though that everything was said, that whoever reads our home study and psych evaluation will know single detail about us (even more than we know ourselves). We were sooo wrong!!! It looks like there is more that can be said and that is what ICBF wants from us.

We are already in conversation with our Home Study agency to have the Addendum done; it may involve a couple of more visits to our house or interviews. When it is ready, we will have to send it to our agency in Washington DC and then it will need to be translated and then be submitted to ICBF. So I'm estimating that it may take another three months before we are approved, which will be after year year since we started this process. Anyway, I think that we may get a child at the end of 2013! (unless I convince Talley that we need to have a sibling group!).

News :-(

2009-05-22T13:01:00.002-05:00

Well, that day came. ICBF is requesting more information about us, info that is already in the homestudy and in the psych report!!! So... why? Why?? WHY???

I guess this is our welcome to the real process of adoption, delays can happen anytime!

Our lovely agency will ask for specifics, what do they exactly need from us that is not included in our dossier. Then we will provide whatever they ask and hopefully we will be approved.

Good news? Well, at least somebody is looking at our paperwork and it is not sitting in a big pile! So we are closer to approval than what we tought!!!

Are no-news good news?

2009-05-13T17:09:00.002-05:00

Well, if you have follow our timeline and previous posts, on May 17th it will be three months since our dossier made it to ICBF. Adopolis mentioned that it should be approve between 2-3 months, or maybe more.
I coudn't wait until the 3-months mark to ask for a status update so I emailed them on Monday. I received the reply today: "No news". She will check with her contact in Bogota to see if there is anything new.

Well, I have to look at the possitive side of this: At least we are not rejected! (no yet ;-)

Federal adoption tax credit

2009-05-06T21:14:00.002-05:00

Email received from our Home Study agency:

The Federal adoption tax credit has enabled thousands of families to be able to adopt a child/children. However, the current adoption tax credit is set to expire in December 2010, unless Congress acts to vote to continue it.

Action is needed! Please take the time to read the following article on the Rainbow Kids website to understand more about this legislation.

http://www.rainbowkids.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=639

Feel free to pass this information on to any adoptive families, families in the process of adoption, your friends, and your family members and have them contact their representative as outlined on the website. It is critical that this legislation be approved to continue!

P.S. Yea for Texas for having such a large number of co-sponsors!!!

Meet Bogota, the capital of Colombia

2009-04-14T13:03:00.001-05:00

I'm trying to learn everyday more and more of the country where our child will come from, and I found this very cool documentary by PBS

$$$$

2009-03-12T21:51:00.004-05:00

Even that we are far from getting our child, we are budgeting our future expenses thinking about how much cost to raise a child. It is just amazing how much daycare costs!!!! Anyway, that wasn't the reason of this post.

Today we went to sign the papers to refinance our house! Yes!!!! Even that we own the same amount of money than yesterday, now our interest rate is low (4.6% against the 6% we were paying before), and we also reduce the amount of years to pay for it! So after all, we are going to be paying the same amount monthly, but it is still a win-win situation! Now Talley's job is to get our Homeowner association to build a playground in our neighborhood :-D

Life is good, less debt makes it better :-)

NEWS!!!

2009-02-19T14:56:00.003-06:00

We got this email today from our agency:

"Le informo que su solicitud y documentos fueron presentados al ICBF el martes. Espero que podamos tener noticias de aprobación a su solicitud en unos 2-3 meses"

OMG! Can you believe that??? Wait.. I guess I have to translate that:

"Your application and documents were introduced to the ICBF on Tuesday. I hope we can have news about the approval of your document in around 2-3 months"

Kiva

2009-02-12T13:00:00.003-06:00

I wanted to let you know about Kiva (www.kiva.org), a non-profit that allows you to lend as little as $25 to a specific low-income entrepreneur in the developing world.

You choose who to lend to - whether a baker in Afghanistan, a goat herder in Uganda, a farmer in Peru, a restaurateur in Cambodia, or a tailor in Iraq - and as they repay their loan, you get your money back. It’s a powerful and sustainable way to empower someone right now to lift themselves out of poverty.

It is beautiful to be part of a project like this, and to know that so little can make a HUGE impact in others life.

Think about it ;-)

Lucky number: 69

2009-01-29T19:35:00.003-06:00

It took only 69 days to get the permission from the government to bring a child to the country!!! (from the time they received our forms until the approval). YES!!!!

Small update

2009-01-29T10:51:00.002-06:00

Things got a little bit busy around the Spiller's house, but we are going back to normal now. My mom came to visit us last week and it was soooo good to have her here to spoil us!!! I think Talley really wants her to come here more often to see if I get by osmosis any housewife skills. Also my little brother got married to the beautiful woman who is in our Christmas photo. It was a very small ceremony and we are looking forward to plan the BIG wedding in Venezuela soon!

Anyway, back to the adoption topic. On January 16th our dossier was sent to Colombia for translation. On January 20th we were told that the private orphanage haven't decide if they are going to take new families, so Talley and I agree to have our papers send to ICBF. I keep believing that God is pointing us out to the right place where our child is at.

Well, that is it for now ;-)

What is going on?

2009-01-09T11:40:00.004-06:00

That may be a question that I ask myself everyday, what is going on? Specially on the adoption topic. Our agency requested a name affidavit from Talley as well, because in some documents he shows with his middle name and not in others. Fine, this document received its apostille past Monday and it was mail out the same day. It arrived to the agency yesterday. I also sent a new collage of pictures to put in our dossier, those includes the ones that I posted here previously. She says that all our documents look good [:-)] Happy dance!

I don't know when the agency will send the documents to Colombia to have them translate, but it should be very very soon, the sooner the better. Not only because we want our child soon, but because some documents may expire!!!

On a different note, there is a very small chance for our application to go to a private orphanage. If they accept us, our waiting time may be smaller and they are more chances to have an infant. I'm very sure it is on God's hand to decide where our child is at, so He will put us in the right place at the right time. But lets keep our fingers crossed :D

Our family!

2009-01-04T09:52:00.001-06:00

These pictures were taken on Christmas Day. We spent time with Talley's mom for lunch and dinner with Talley's dad in Marble Falls. My brother Max and Jessica joined us for dinner!

And this picture is my dad and our three nieces in Venezuela. The twolittle ones are twins! They are also our goddaughters :-) And becauseI don't want to discriminate anybody in this post, here are pictureswith my mom and my sister and brother-in-law.

If you noticed, we only have nieces! No little boys around! Lets see
what comes to us :-)

On a side note, our agency already got our dossier and they are
reviewing it. We have to send something else on the mail on Monday.
Hopefully nothing else is needed.

Feliz Navidad!

2008-12-24T18:03:00.006-06:00

Feliz Navidad!

In Venezuela we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve. We get together and have dinner as a family (a very late dinner). Then children go and play and at midnight baby Jesus bring them gifts (usually one per child). Oh, how many good memories I have from this holiday! Of course, now I live in US and I kind of got used to the tradition here to celebrate on the 25th. We will have lunch with Talley's mom and dinner with Talley's dad where my brother Max will join us with his special friend.

No matter what tradition we follow, this year is special. It is the first time that we are working toward expanding our family. Yesterday, December 23rd, we sent the last paperwork needed in our Dossier to be sent to Colombia. That is a HUGE milestone! Anybody who have gone through this process know how important is to complete and collect all the documents. Now start one of the less expected parts of the journey: to wait. Wait to have our documents translated and send to Colombia (2-3 weeks). Wait for the Colombian goverment to give us approval to adopt there (could take three months or more). Then we will have to wait again to get a referral for our beautiful child (+/- 2 years). So we are expecting to be celebrating Christmas with a child in 2011 (if we are lucky). Hey, I'm not complaining because he/she is not here yet, I'm happy because it is sooner than at the beginning of the process!

During this time, and during this particular holiday I will always be greatful for the beautiful family I have. I'm very lucky to have found one of the best human beeing in the world: Talley who will also be one of the best fathers ever! (I saw him last night playing with his little cousins and niece, he is soooo ready to be a dad!). Yes, I have been very blessed in my life to be surrounded by wonderful people on this season.

May this holiday season bring you happiness in your life. Feliz Navidad!

Latest update

2008-12-19T16:40:00.007-06:00

New update in our list!!!!

Home Study - ready
FBI Clearance - ready
Birth certificate - ready
Marriage certificate (long form) - ready
Employment letter - ready
Physician letter - ready
Psychological assessment- ready
Name affidavit - ready

As you can see, all the documents changed to ready status. Including the FBI clearance! What does it mean? We are ready to mail our documents to our agency so they can review them and send them to Colombia!!! YES!!!!!!

On the other hand, Talley and I had to take off from work today to go to San Antonio to the Immigration office to get our fingerprints taken (this time for the I800A document). Our appointment was schedule at 9am. We left Austin at 6:30am to avoid morning traffic. We really avoided it! We arrive to the office around 8am. We took breakfast in a close IHOP, and arrived back to the office a little bit before 9am. We were done with the entire process at 9:10! It was less than 10 minutes total! We headed back to Austin immediately. I had time to get (again) our physician reports and get them Apostille very quickly. All before noon, it was a very productive morning!!!

Now it is time to get ready for Christmas. The tree is up, decorations are out of the boxes. We still don't know exactly what are we doing on Christmas day because Talley's dad will have a minor surgery on Tuesday, so maybe we will celebrate another day. Who knows... we still have time to plan ;-)

Progress

2008-12-11T09:26:00.002-06:00

At this point in Adoption, we are following two different process. One with the US Goverment and the other one with the Colombian Goverment.

The one in US is to request permission to bring an orphan here. They are requesting our biometrics (to be done on 12/19 - received letter on 12/09).

The other one is the paper chasing to complete our dossier to send to Colombia. This is the current status:

Home Study - needs Apostille
FBI Clearance for each adoptive parent. - At the FBI, it will be a week tomorrow that they received it.
Birth certificate of each adoptive parent (long form) - Talley's needs Apostille. Nancy's ready.
Marriage certificate (long form) - Needs to get Apostille.
Employment letter for each adoptive parent (if applicable). Needs Apostille.
Physician letter for each adoptive parent - Needs Apostille.
Psychological assessment of the couple or single adoptive parent - Needs Apostille.
Name affidavit - Needs Apostille.

All the documents that need Apostille are ready to be taken to the Secretary of State. I should be doing very soon!

The dossier also needs to include photos of us, the house, our families and our dogs!!! This is a work in progress.

So, we soon will arrive to a stopping point waiting for the FBI clearance before being able to send the documents to Colombia. When the dossier is ready, it has to be translate and then submit to the ICBF. Hopefully that will happen the second week of January, the latest.

~Nancy

I-797C, Notice of Action

2008-12-09T17:46:00.002-06:00

So a couple of things had happen these days.

First, Talley's little sister Savannah (17) with her choir sang on the White House today!!! Check the video (sec. 37).

On Sunday, after arriving from work I decided to look at our mailbox. Silly me because Talley check the mail on Saturday, and there is not delivery on Sunday!!! But when I opened it, I found the letter from USCIS acknowledging that they received our I800!!! That is very exciting :-) But not only that, but today we got our letters with appointments to get our Biometrics done! That means that the process is moving :D

Other than that, we put out our Christmas tree, and decided that our child will learn about the true meaning of this festivities. Baby Jesus will bring our child a gift on Christmas. Santa can take care of the rest of the world ;-)

Dossier

2008-11-26T21:57:00.007-06:00

We are currently working on getting together our dossier. This is a collection of documents that we need to send to Colombia to get their approval and enter the waiting list.

So far, this is what we need to collect:

Home Study - Received, needs Apostille

FBI Clearance for each adoptive parent. - Sent today to FBI!! Yes!! It may take a couple of weeks to have it back.

Birth certificate of each adoptive parent (long form) - Getting Nancy's Apostille in LA; Talley's gets Apostille in Austin.

Marriage certificate (long form) - Needs to get Apostille.

Employment letter for each adoptive parent (if applicable). Waiting for HR to give them to us to have them notarized and Apostille.

Physician letter for each adoptive parent - Should arrive on the mail next week, then needs to gets Apostille.

Psychological assessment of the couple or single adoptive parent - Waiting for psychologist to finish the report, notarized and Apostille. .

Name affidavit - explaining that I'm the same person with maiden and married last name. Needs notary and Apostille.

We are waiting to have all the documents together and notarized to go to the Secretary of State and authenticate the notary signature (that is Apostille). So right now, there is nothing else that we can do about the dossier, we are waiting in everybody else to get back to us.

In another hand, I (Nancy) found that we are able to get our fingerprints done for FREE in our office!!! And the Administrative Assistance will notarized all our documents there too...FREE! That saves us trips to the bank and money!!!!

Wow... today is a good day :-)

I800A

2008-11-20T15:28:00.006-06:00

I800a form is on its way to Chicago!!!
Talley reviewed the form yesterday, we re-read our home study to make sure we were really approve to have a child. All the documents were attached.

After considering several times how to send the document out, I though about doing it via USPS. They have never lost one of my packages, and they are usually on time with delivery. So right when I was turning to the street where the postal office is it at, I though that I don't want to take the risk with this important document, so I went to the UPS distribution center (very close to the postal office). There this beautiful lady took my package and told me that it will be there on Monday!. I felt so good sending this out that I went to Starbucks to get a White Chocolate Mocha to celebrate. When I arrive home I realized that I didn't put the money order on the envelope to USCIS!! OMG! I was freaking out. Without the money order, they will not do ANYTHING and things may get delayed just for that. So I called their customer service to ask them not to ship the package, and the lady told me to go back to the office that should not be any problem. I got there, explained to the lady what happened, and she without any problem got my package back, opened, got a new envelope, printed a new sticker, put the documents inside with the money order. No problems no delays!!!

I'm sure that if I tried to do the same with USPS it would be impossible because I usually use their kiosk and nobody should be able to help me. God is in our side in this journey, and he made me change my mind about the courier right in time!

I LOVE UPS! I will be there very often with adoption documents!

What is next?

2008-11-18T18:42:00.006-06:00

Ok, great, we got approved!!! That is a HUGE milestone, but it is one of many steps in our path.

What are we doing now?
We are completing all the documents needed to send to Colombia. The psychologist report should be ready this week. Employment letters need to be re-written, doctor report needs to be redone And there are still more papers to get. But it will not take us too long. This collection of documents is called dossier.

Also, we are filling our I800A form, that is basically asking permission to the goverment of US to bring an orphan to the country. It usually takes 90 days to get the approval. Luckily, this document doesn't hold the process at all.

We are approved!

2008-11-14T13:11:00.003-06:00

From Our little Spiller

We voted

2008-11-04T18:00:00.002-06:00

I just realized that I was very excited this morning when I posted here, that I totally forgot about the election!

For our child who will eventually read this blog: I want to let you know that your parents participated in this historic elections. We went last week to vote. Your dad and I went to the Goodwill close to our house and casted our vote for Obama. You should be very proud of us, because we were thinking about the future that we want you to have in this country. I hope we made the right decision ;-)

I am not a criminal!

2008-11-04T13:55:00.003-06:00

I am not a criminal! At least not in Venezuela (or Texas). And I have a document in my hands that says so. Well, I don’t have the original any more because it was delivered this morning to our home study agency. But I have pretty copies that remind me that I have clearance in my own country!
I was glowing this morning when I delivered the background check to the agency, a HUGE smile was in my face, ear to ear. I’m still glowing, and it will last for a long time :-)

Disclaimer: Talley and I have FBI clearance in most of the states of US thanks to our line of work. We get a background check at work very often!!!

Happy Dance... Miracles DO happen!

2008-10-29T16:26:00.006-05:00

OMG.. thinking about the title of this very short post I have come with more than a thousand!

My mom just received my background check and she already shipped it to us! It should be arriving to Austin very soon. What about that? Miracles do happen :-)
With this document, our home study will be ready!

On the other hand… Talley and I talked about where to apply for our child, in a casa privada or at ICBF. With the suggestion of our placement agency, we decided to submit a preliminary application to the casa privada (they only need the official home study and the report from the psychologist). If we do not get in their wait list in six months, we will apply with ICBF.

At the same time that we apply for the casa privada (Los Pisingos), we will request permission to the government of US to bring an orphan home, and that could take up to 90 days to get. So our decision may only delay the process three months.

So we may be submitting paperwork to Colombia in the next couple of weeks!!! HAPPY DANCE!

Any news?

2008-10-25T14:31:00.002-05:00

I wish I have better news to post, but we are kind of stuck. Our homestudy report is almost ready. We already got the draft from our fabulous social worker Charlotte. We reviewed and sent it back to her. So, it should be ready, right?
Nope, our home study cannot be completed until all our clearances have been received by the agency. The government of US wants to make sure that we have not commited a crime or abuse any child in any place in the world (or at least on the places where we have lived) since we were 18 years old. What does it mean? That we need to wait for a background check back from Venezuela for me (Nancy). Any problem with that? Think about any burocracy possible in a country and you will find it in Venezuela.
Neither of our agencies have the power to request this document there. So we ‘hired’ somebody to request it in my behalf. I had up and downs with this person, but it looks like finally he will send the documents to our house next Monday 10/27. If this really happen, we may have the background check here at the end of the week! If not, well, plan B. I will have my cousin to find them. If the documents show up at the end of the week, it will be a miracle!

On the other hand, we are changing the age of the child we want to adopt. Talley was listening a show in NPR and he understood how important is the influence of the parents in the first years of age. Well, the same guy who wanted a potty trained child at the beginning of the process is now more inclined to get a younger child. Amazing! Talley surprises me everyday! Thank you NPR!

Also, we are getting close to decide which way to adopt in Colombia. There are two posibilities. One with the government (ICBF, free) and the second is with a private house (kind of orphanages: casa privada, donations highly welcome). The casas privadas provide very good care of their children, ICBF place children in foster care. We don’t doubt that either way the child will be taken care of. But with casas privadas we have a bigger chance to get a younger child (almost newborn!), but it is more expensive. Also, with ICBF we understand that our wait could be between 24 and 30 months. With the private organization, we don’t know the length of the wait. We are requesting counseling from our placement agency, but at the end we have the last word. Lets pray we make the right decision!

BTW, Halloween is coming up and we will dress up!!!

How much can a test say about you?

2008-10-18T09:26:00.004-05:00

I had my psychological test done yesterday. A full four hours with the psychologist! It even included an IQ test! I have to draw a couple of pictures, form figures with blocks, say the meaning of words! (that was difficult considering that English is my second language!).

The best part was the questionnaire (True/false) with more than five hundred questions!!!! that was the Minnesota Multiphasic personality Inventory-2. These were some of the questions:

I like mechanics magazines
I have a good appetite
I wake up fresh & rested most mornings
I think I would like the work of a librarian
I am easily awakened by noise
I like to read newspaper articles on crime
My hands and feet are usually warm enough
My daily life is full of things that keep me interested
I am about as able to work as I ever was
There seems to be a lump in my throat much of the time
A person should try to understand his dreams and be guided by or take warning from them
I enjoy detective or mystery stories
I work under a great deal of tension
I have diarrhea once a month or more
Once in a while I think of things too bad to talk about
I am sure I get a raw deal from life
My father was a good man
I am very seldom troubled by constipation
When I take a new, I like to be tipped off on whom should be gotten next to
My sex life is satisfactory

So yes, they ask about EVERYTHING!!! And not only once but like 10 times in different words!!! Recommendation: stick to the true during the entire test, after question #200 you will not remember what you reply previously!

Why do we have to have all these done? Simple, they want to make sure we are smart and sane enough to have a kid! How many people who has biological children will pass this test? Who knows... I'm not even sure that we will pass it!!!!

On the other hand, I'm having some issues getting my background check in Venezuela. The person who was doing it is asking me for an outrageous amount of money! I wish we were rich, but we are not! Anyway, lets see what happen next.

That is it! These are all the new news about adoption... stay tune!

Not too much to report

2008-10-07T16:19:00.005-05:00

Past Thursday we received our training certificate. We are officially trained to become international adoptive parents! Still, I bought a book that arrived yesterday called "Adoption Parenting, Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections" that contains more information that will help us be good parents.

On the other hand, one thing that may hold a little bit the Home Study is the background check! The government of US requires to check for all criminal records from age of 18. So... Talley's record is clean as it can be... but mine can be an issue . The home study agency needs to request to the government of Venezuela for my criminal records. Do you know what that mean? That it can take forever and ever to have them! The good news is that there is a way around!!! I contacted somebody in Venezuela to request them personally... so they should be here in two weeks! Isn't that wonderful?

I just hope that those records are accepted by USCIS

Adoption letter

2008-10-02T12:13:00.000-05:00

This is the letter that we are sending our family and friends to let them know about our adoption process.

October 3, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
Please forgive us for not telling you this in person, but it is time to announce the big news for us and we want to share it as soon as possible with everyone: We are expanding our family! Some of you may know already that we have been thinking about this for some time. For those who don’t know, we are following the path of adoption. This is something we always planned to do, and we are certain that our current situation will allow us to bring a child to our lives.
Since last July we have been reading about it, asking question in several places and to several people. After extensive research, we decided to find the next Spiller in a foreign country: Colombia. Everything in our investigation leads us towards there. We have researched domestic and every country that allows international adoption, but there has been a constant "pull" towards Colombia.
1. Colombia shares a lot of history with Venezuela, so it will be easy to introduce our child to his or her culture.
2. Colombia allows adoption of children as young as four months old. We would like to have a child that young and up to four years old.
3. The cost is much less than other countries.
We started our paperwork early September. We are almost done with our home study. When the final report is done, we need to get approval from the government of the United States to bring an orphan to the country. Then we will need to put together a dossier to send to the authorities in Colombia. After they approve us, they will assign a region where our child will come from. Finally we will get a referral for a child and we can travel to get our kid! Our expectation is to bring our little Spiller home in around two years! It may look like a lot of time, but we feel that this will give us time to get ready.
We have a lot of love to give, and there will be a child that could thrive in our home. So, there's our big news! Please keep us in your prayers that God will give us patience!!! Please pray for our son or daughter that is or will be born in Colombia. Our child will be so lucky to have all of you in his life.
If you want to stay up to date with the process, please check out our website: http://nextspiller.blogspot.com/

With love,
Talley and Nancy

Lessons from the training

2008-10-02T11:24:00.000-05:00

Talley and I went to a training class past weekend. It was so informative! I can not believe how much information we got in just 10 hours. I wish it was even longer!
A few things we learned:
1. We need to be the only caretakers of our child for the first six to eight weeks we have him/her. That will help with the attachment and bonding between us.
2. We need to be prepare to deal with the grief that our child may experience for the separation his/her environment.
3. Our child may have some development issues, but there are tools out there that could help us.
4. It is important to keep the identity of our child, therefore Colombian culture will be preserve in our house.
5. We are not alone in this process. There are many other couples who are walking the path of adoption, and there are many tools that can help us to do the transicion as smooth as possible.

Our biggest lesson: more than ever, we are sure that we want to expand our family through adoption. I’m sure we will be good parents!

Timeline

2008-09-28T10:13:00.000-05:00

So far this is what we have been doing for the adoption of our little child. I will try to upload to the side of this blog and keep it up-to-date as much as possible:

08-23-08 Started paper chasing
08-29-08 Received documents from Home Study Agency
09-03-08 Nancy's initial interview with Psychologist
09-04-08 Talley's initial interview with Psychologist
09-08-08 Hand delivered application and with paperwork to home study Agency (LSSS)
09-09-08 Nancy's physical exam
09-11-08 LSSS cashed check
09-11-08 Sent Application to Placement Agency (Adopolis)
09-11-08 Fourth wedding anniversary
09-17-08 Talley's physical exam
09-19-08 First Home Study (Talley's and couple's interview)
09-20-08 Last Home Visit (Nancy's interview, home inspection)
09-27-08 Started Hague training (7 hours)
09-28-08 Finished Hage training (3 hours)
10-03-08 Talley's psychological test
10-17-08 Nancy's psychological test

Training

2008-09-25T20:38:00.005-05:00

Our social worker emailed me yesterday to let us know that the first draft for our homestudy should be ready tomorrow Friday.. yes!

This weekend we have our Hague training. It is mandatory that any person adopting from a Hague country takes 10 hours of these classes. We are getting them all this weekend! It should include topics as attachment, bonding, doctors for children adopted internationally, and topics like that....

What Is the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption?

The Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption is an international agreement between participating countries on best adoption procedures. These procedures have basically two goals in mind:

The best interest of children are considered with each intercountry adoption.
The prevention of abduction, exploitation, sale, or trafficking of children.

The guidelines and procedures that are set forth in the Hague Convention are also for the protection of birth families, as well as adoptive families. Part of the Convention's guidelines ensures that one Central Authority is in place in each country so that adoptive parents get the most accurate information regarding adoption. The Department of State is the U.S. Central Authority for the Convention.

From: http://adoption.about.com/od/international/f/whathague.htm

Anniversary Day

2008-09-20T12:05:00.003-05:00

September 11th was our 4th wedding anniversary. That was past week, a Thursday. A couple of things happened that day:

Talley got me flowers, beautiful!!!! The same color that I picked for him in our wedding.
I had a job interview for a different position in the same company. I'm still waiting to hear back from them.
We mailed the application out for the adoption agency.
The home study agency cashed our check.
We had a romantic dinner in a nice restaurant downtown. Talley picked it and it was really good!

I'm still very gratefull to have found a wonderful man like Talley to become my husband, my life's partner and the future dad of my child. I LOVE YOU HONEY!

Home Study update!

2008-09-19T11:09:00.003-05:00

We had the social worker's visit and interviews!

On Monday I was announced to switch my work schedule, so I had to work Wednesday, the same day the social worker was coming to visit! That made my Tuesday a cleaning day, dusting everything in our house! Everybody tells you that this is not a 'white-glove inspection', but I wanted to be ready just in case! Talley helped to clean a little bit more when he came from work.

So here is how it went: she came to the house, we offered her something to drink, she sat in our living room, explained the process and then started asking questions about discipline, grief, bonding and other things that I barely understood! Talley did great answering most of them :-)

Then she asked me to leave so she can have the individual interview with Talley, I left to walk the dogs. Later she left.

So... did you look at the house? did she noticed that I cleaned everything? Nop!!! If all visits were the same than this one, this is a piece of cake!

Thursday was my individual interview. She came to the house again. But this time I did not clean or get ready! I was at work and running just on time to make it to the appointment (thanks Cali!). I noticed immediately that the house was not totally clean, but considering past day, I did not care that much. She came to our door 5 minutes after I walked in. She asked questions about my family, my relationship with them, our hobbies, what do we do together. Then she asked me to tour the house!!! OMG, I was not ready for this! We did not make the bed that morning (like usual), and I have a pair of socks in our bedroom. Well, she saw how we live everyday. Our house is not messy, but I wanted to have everything perfect. She was fine, opened closets, refrigerator, freezer, pantry, cabinets and even flush the toilets! Anyway, I guess she wanted to make sure we live there and there is space for a child.

She will be drafting our home study report and sending it to us to check it out before going to our agency... it was so easy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Home Study

2008-09-13T13:09:00.002-05:00

We just talked to our social worker and she is coming to visit next Wednesday! This should be exciting. The same day we will have the couple's interview and Talley will have his interview. Mine will be on Thursday.

We turned out papers to the home study agency past Monday (9/08), and mail out the papers for the adoption agency on Thursday (9/11, our anniversary!).

Now it is time to get the house ready for the home study!!!

Agency

2008-09-05T16:13:00.004-05:00

We found an agency!!! We are all set! Well, kind of. They don't have our application, but they know we like them and that we will go with them.

How did we pick them? First of all, we coudn't find any negative review about them. Second, they have been working with Colombian adoptions forever! And third, it was recommended. When I talked to the lady in charge of the program she was very nice, and made me feel comfortable. I did not have to leave a message in a machine like with a whole bunch of other agencies!

So, here are our partners for adoption:

Home Study Agency: Lutheral Social Services of the South
Adoption Agency: Adopolis

BTW, we already had our interviews with the psychologist... we only need a test and we are done with him!

Random thoughts

2008-09-04T12:39:00.004-05:00

We have wonderful friends and neighbors who have agree to write personal recommendations for us. They are mailing the letters out to our home study agency. OMG! I'm so excited that this is happening. A lot of people are helping us to have a kid.
On the other hand, I got an email from my mom. She is still trying to figure out how to adopt in Venezuela. I wish there is a hope to do it there, but we know it is very difficult.
I had an interview with the psychologist yesterday. Today is Talley's turn. Hopefully he will declare us ready to be parents!
We got news today that Talley's birth certificate is on its way!!!!
I have a doctor appointment next week to get the physical test. It will even include a drug test!!! Talley's will have to be done the following week.
I keep trying to contact agencies for the adoption. There is an slide chance that we will be able to do a semi-independent adoption! Yes!!! I hope this happen.
I stopped in Half books yesterday and got two books about how to raise a toddler. We may not have one for two years, but hey! it is never too soon to be ready.

Home Study documents

2008-09-02T19:25:00.003-05:00

We are killing trees! And this is just the beginning of how to kill a forest!. Our application for the home study needs a whole bunch of documents fill out. To get an idea, here is what they are asking:

Materials needed for Home Study with Lutheran Social Services of South

1. Applications - Done
2. Directions for reaching home - Done, the agency is 5 minutes from our house!
3. Medical forms on each member of the family - Need to get the appointments.
4. Autobiography - Half done
5. Marriage and Parental questionnaires. - Almost done
6. Clear snapshots of all family members. - Working on that this weekend.
7. Photo of the front of the residence and proposed outdoor play area for children. - Waiting for prints of the front of the house and need to take picture of outdoor play area.
8. Budget sheet. - Done
9. Copy of marriage certificate. - Done
10. Proof of citizenship. - Done
11. Reference letters. - On their way
12. Statement verifying employment and salary. - On their way (HR will send them tomorrow)
13. Copy of front page of most current tax return. - Done
14. A photo release permitting the sharing of information and pictures in the management program. - Done
15. Financial agreement with a check (application fee). - Done
16. Authorization for Criminal History & Child Abuse Record Check. - Done
17. A copy of the driver’s license and SS card. - Done
18. Copy of each applicant’s birth certificate. - Missing Talley's... waiting for delivery
19. A floor plan of the house, identifying the dimensions and purposes of each room in our home. - Done
20. Firearms Safety Verification. - Done
21. Statement verifying we received a whole bunch of information from the Agency! - Done

PS: I almost forgot to mention, but we need an agency to proceed with the adoption process. So we are hunting for one now!

What is next?

2008-08-26T20:58:00.005-05:00

We keep researching about adoption, where to do it, what do we need to do and other million questions that come to our mind.

Ukraine was an option for international adoption, but after reading so many people coming back home with their arms empty was not motivating. We don't want to make it all the way there and still come back childless.

So, we thought about adopting from Venezuela, but I called the Central Authority there and it is almost hopeless, the process way to complicated!! (In 2007 there were only 5 adoptions reported from Venezuela in USA, that means something!). However, my parents will try to research more locally to see if there is any chance. I would love to have a Venezuelan kid!!!

But... maybe it will not be Venezuelan, what about Colombian? They have a very well known program that is really good. There is culture of adoption in that country. For those who don't know, Venezuela and Colombia were once one country. This video shows this country. This is our adoption country of choice!

Deciding that we want a child from Colombia means that we may have to wait two years to get a kid. It sounds like a lot of time, but we are ready to wait for our son/daughter to join us. Now it is time to put together our dossier.

One of our big steps is deciding to go through this process without an Agency in US. I'm researching as much information as possible to get everything right. There are dozens of websites that can help you with this task. I contacted the central authority in Colombia to verify they do not request us to have an agency. I also contacted the USCIS to make sure there are not problems with them either. We got green light from them!!!

Please keep us in your prayers, this will be a very long process and we need all the support we can get.

Talk to you later!

First step

2008-07-26T17:28:00.001-05:00

This Spiller family is looking for a little boy!

Talley and I have decided that it is time to become a family of three! Do not panic, we are not pregnant! We are researching our choices for adoption, however we have a very strong feeling that our little boy is waiting for us somwhere!. Please keep us in your prayers while we go through this journey!

~ Nancy

----------------------------

Esta familia Spiller esta buscando a su pequeño hijo!

Talley y yo hemos decidido que es tiempo de hacer nuestra familia una familia de tres! No hay de que preocuparse, no estamos embarazados ;-) En este momento estamos investigando que opciones tenemos para adoptar, no obstante sentimos desde ya que nuestro pequeño nos esta esperando en algun lugar!. Por favor, mantenos en tus oraciones mientras estamos en esta jornada!

~ Nancy