This blog hasn't been updated in 5 years!  And there is a good reason for it, but reading all the posts again and looking at the timeline, it seems like this blog is missing a closure chapter.

So here it is.  Short and sweet :-)

Adoption never happened.  Which it is a blessing as we are not longer married.  It has been 4 years since the divorce was final.  We got reimbursed for some services we payed ahead of time but that they were never going to be used.  Both agencies were very easy to work with to withdraw our application.

I still think of all those children who need family.  And who knows, I may decide one day to adopt one by myself.

Peace and love.

~Nancy

Last renewal??

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

"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

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

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

Waiting for ...

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

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!

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!

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

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 :-)