Baby Girl in Review

JUNE: (referral picture = white dress) Her mother died, leaving her an orphan. When she arrived to the Toukoul orphanage, she was 4 months old, malnourished, and weighing only 7.7 pounds (3.5 Kg).

She was rehydrated, and basic medical care was provided. One week later, she weighed in at 8.2 pounds (3.7 Kg). Height 61 cm; head circumference 38.5 cm.

Her physical exam is unremarkable, and her blood tests/xrays/cultures are all negative. She has a good appetite, normal sleep cycle, and began laughing out loud. She holds her head steady when pulled to sitting.

JULY: (update picture = pastel/white romper) At 5 months old, she weighs in at 10.1 pounds; height 62cm, head circumference 40cm. She receives her first set of vaccinations. Developmentally, she rolls over from front to back, imitates some speech sounds/razzing sounds, and recognize familiar faces.

SEPT: (update picture = blue/gold dress) at 7 months old, she weighs in at 13.6 pounds; height 64cm, head circumference 42cm. She receives her second set of vaccinations. She's eating more, and has her formula supplemented with spoon feeds. She sits with support and has started to crawl. She transfers objects from hand to hand, babbles and reaches for familiar people.

OCT: (update picture = blue dress with hair bow) At 8 months old, she weighs in at almost 15 pounds; height 66 cm, head circumference 44cm. She's sitting unsupported and crawls.

According to Radu, everything is all set and ready for our Nov 6th court date. All documents have been acquired, and everyone is prepared.

Fingers-crossed that we become her new parents on this day.

US Embassy in Addis Ababa.

You may recall that I mentioned that we're supposed to contact the US Embassy in Ethiopia on a prior post - but couldn't wake up early enough to ever catch them before 5pm their time...

I finally had a genius moment and thought: "why don't I call the US Embassy in Ethiopia *before* I go to bed?"

So first I had to figure out how to call them:

011 - US exit code

251 - Ethiopian country code

11 - Area code for Addis Ababa

124-2424 - the phone number to the embassy.

So the number is: 011-251-11-124-2424 (this is exactly what you press on the phone)

Was on hold for the better part of an hour (called at 9am their time). Then decided to just send an email to: pasaddis@state.gov.

Got an email response the same day (which was *my* next day) saying they'd received the I600A approval (the form I171h) for an infant girl age up to 2; the dates it (and the fingerprints) expire (which are October 2nd and June 11, 2009 respectively). I also asked about the Visa 37...what it is...how to get it...

...they didn't answer that part.

So...I'll send another email, maybe after we pass court.

Travel Plans. Tickets.

Dubai. Home to the World's only 6-star hotel.


We made the decision to purchase our plane tickets!! We've decided to fly Air Emirates. Our route: LAX to Dubai then Addis. Back from Addis to Dubai, then into SFO (San Francisco). Everyone has a ticket...even baby girl!! The tickets are refundable, changeable (for small fees), and very reasonably priced. Much lower than I expected!!

After talking with multiple travel agents (including American Express Travel), we decided to use:

Scott Nordwall.
Travel International
2345 Rice St. Suite 173
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: 1-800-494-7568 or 651-482-7568
Email: tfs@isd.net


Other popular agencies that we considered:
Elsa Abate
Addis Travel Services
1821 W. University Ave. Suite S135
St. Paul, MN 55104
Phone: 651-646-6900 or fax: 651-646-6909
Email: elsa@addistravel.net


Susan Parr
Susan Parr Travel, Inc.
1234 East Front St.
Port Angeles, WA 98362
1-800 455-7277 or 1-360-452-6596
http://www.susanparrtravel.com/

We've also reserved our hotel rooms (and the rental car to drive down to LA). The reservations for the hotel can be canceled up until 48hours prior to our expected arrival, so we felt comfortable doing this.

***

On a side note -
Most of the "things to do" on the 'pre-trip' list is done.

Trim the branches of the big tree off of the house
Micro-chip the dogs in case they get out
Sprinklers/timer fixed
Reorganize the living space to create more room


We've gathered donations, and I'm hoping to ship the box(es) so they arrive while we are there. I would rather not try to lug all of those extra items on our trip around the World.

We've gathered up most of the medications/supplies we need (still have a ways to go before we have *everything* we want to take). But between me and Sister...all the medication and medical supplies have been acquired!!

Now...we just have to get the rest of the supplies, organize (so we won't forget) our important documents, such as copies of our dossier, passports, tickets, identification, contact lists, my medical license, the stuff we'll need for the embassy appointment, and so forth and so on...(I have a check list to help organize).

Also, one of these days I'm going to wake up early enough to actually call the US Embassy in Addis during their business hours!!

Final Paperwork

Once in Addis Ababa, with the help of our attorney, we'll have to complete the I-600 form (Petition to Classify Orphan as an Immediate Relative). We have the forms now, and we were instructed to fill out as much as possible. Both parents have to be present at the US Embassy (or a notarized signature must be obtained from the 'absent' parent prior to leaving the US) - unless you're a single woman adopting. The person who files the I600 must be the same petitioner as on the I-600A.

Additionally, the I-864 (Affidavit of Support) and I-864A (Affidavit of Support Contract between Sponsor and Household Member) must be done. This is an agreement that you have the resources to provide for the child...and the child will not come to America only to end up on public assistance. This is also filed with the I-600 form at the visa interview at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa. Again, the petitioner of the I-600 form must be the sponsor on the I864 form.

The Form DS-230 Parts 1 and 2 - (Application for immigrant visa and alien registration) to be done for the US Embassy appointment.

*whatever we can't complete, the lawyer will assist once we arrive to Addis. I was told that we meet with him the day prior (Sunday) to go over and complete these forms correctly.

To accompany us in support of these forms:

1) Most recent paystub.
2) Notarized employment letter with recent date.
3) Last 3 years taxes (copies of 1040 and W-2 or 1099)
4) Copy of your INS approval (the form I171h)
5) The DS-230 form (parts 1 and 2)

Additionally, we must be sure to call the Embassy and make sure that our I600A approval (the I171h form) was indeed sent to them via the National Visa Center *prior* to our departure from the US. (If not, follow these steps: write a letter to the USCIS asking them to send the form to Addis Ababa. And they will. Then you'll receive confirmation and a case number that they did.)

That's the last of the paperwork per our Agency. This final paperwork couldn't have been completed prior to the referral as they require the *name* and *identity* of an actual orphan/child.

Q & A with Grace

Grace recenty went to Addis Ababa with her daughter Abigail to pick up her baby Anna. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions.

Grace Q&A

Court date postponed: New court date November 6th

So, the court date was postponed. I don't know if it's okay to post lots of info on the issue, so I won't. Wouldn't want anything to jeopardize future court dates...

But, apparently this is not all that uncommon...and somewhat expected after court reopens. Reading the yahoo groups, it seems that (not infrequently) the rules change ever so slightly with the new "season" and agencies are forced to make adjustments. Adjustments that may not be entirely understood *until* they reopen. Courts reopened last week...so maybe there just wasn't enough time for those required (new) adjustments to be made?

And because of the backlog (I would imagine)...our next court date isn't until November 6th.

The thing is, though, Radu gave us travel dates, and our US Embassy appointment in Addis Ababa (for which we have to be present) is Monday December 15th. This information was not shared prior to this 10/7 court date though I *specifically* asked multiple times). Radu is 'confident' that everything will be worked out, and 11/6 will yield a passing court experience for our family. Maybe he wasn't so confident about this 10/7 date and therefore didn't provide the travel dates....hmmmm...

Anyway,

as far as prep goes, we're ready to have her here - with all of the (big) basic stuff. I have yet to purchase bottles, formula, and smaller baby items. I figure that once she's here, we'll see what stage she's in (afterall, she'll be 10 months old). Maybe she won't want a bottle? Maybe she'll be ready to try out her legs with standing-type toys. Maybe she'll be barely crawling, and still only drinking a bottle? Babies change so much in their first year of life...to try and anticipate her stage (considering the circumstances) is not the easiest thing to do.

Additionally, we purchased all of the OTC (over the counter) meds for the trip. And Sister has more stuff (we have to take inventory of our supplies soon so we'll know what we've got, and what we still need).

So, a December trip. That's not such a bad thing. Haley won't miss school. Hubby is on winter vacation. It gives us a couple more paychecks to save (and spend). With travel dates this far in advance we can start making plans 2 months out instead of 4 weeks out.

The only (relatively) difficult thing was/is...my work schedule. The good thing is December requests are due today...so I requested the needed time off. BUT, that only leaves a handful of days left that are available for me to work...and because I want a certain number of shifts, I'm really trying to work closely with the scheduler (and the group) so I can get *exactly* the days I need to maximize my ability to work on the days I'm actually available.

But for November, where I have lots of blocked days off (in anticipation of November travel) I'm now trying to pick up a few days. AND, because I totally compressed my schedule (i.e. working lots of days in a row, which is highly atypical for me), I'm trying to switch dates around to allow me more time in between shifts to recover. All of these schedule changes are like asking for *personal favors* and care has to be taken to ask the right person in the right way. This, is probably the most stressful part of the 'limbo.'

Hopefully our November 6th court date will allow us to travel as planned in December. The fact that Radu is confident, and other families didn't pass, helps me refrain from totally freaking out about the possibly that there's something about *us* or *her* that is causing a problem.