long time no updates

So every day I run to the mail and every day I am disappointed. Still no form from the state. I was hopeful we would have it submitted to our agency by Nov 1, but that isn't going to happen. I have learned that if we don't submit our dossier by Nov 29th to Ukraine, it will be Feb before they begin to accept them again. Making this process much longer than we wanted.

Otherwise it has been a whirlwind of a month. Lots going on at work and on the homefront.

Todd is busy with football. The Elmwood Trojans have their first playoff game on Saturday. We are hoping for a win to keep the season going.

The kids are excited about Halloween. They are all going as gnomes... their costumes are hysterical!

Work has been hectic, we have had 5 major events in the last month, not including the Extreme Home Makeover of one of our very own Easter Seals families... so much activity! I believe the episode will air Jan 11th... but I will keep you posted. I am enjoying the activity, but am ready for a less hectic schedule! Especially with the holidays around the corner.

If you have any prayers to spare, could you please say a few that this adoption process speeds up for us. I know everything happens in Gods time.... so maybe your prayers should be for patience for us while we wait for that time to arrive.

Here are a few pics... one is of our family at the first Down Syndrome Buddy Walk
in Peoria and the other is of my little gnomes (minus one little gnome who was napping)

One step closer

We heard today that our home study was approved by the state and now has been forwarded to Immigration. Once they process it we will be sent the I-171H form, which is what we need to submit our dossier! How exciting!!!

Home sick with a sore throat and stuffy nose... off to take a nap while the house is quiet.

Enjoying some quiet time...

The house is as quiet as it has ever been. Todd took the kids to a parade and I am enjoying a few minutes of peace! Things are busy on this end... it was Homecoming in Elmwood last night and the football team did well. So they are now 3-1... off to a good start.

The boys are doing well in school. Caleb is adjusting, although he still has a hard time saying goodbye to Todd in the morning when it is time to go to class. Noah is quite the leader in the class. He is busy spending his time thinking about his birthday in Wednesday and he changes the party theme on an hourly basis. Right now it is spooky Halloween birthday!

Meg is keeping us busy. She walks, climbs and dances non-stop. No wonder she is such a peanut she is constantly moving!

This week we recieved our foster parent license from the State. We also heard that the case worker at the state level is currently reviewing our homestudy... so hopefully that is one step closer.

Todd and I are doing well. Busy with work and enjoying the kids as they grow so fast...

I think it is time to put more laundry in... that is how I am spending my peaceful morning as well!!!

Back to school...

Well yesterday was the first day of school for the boys. They were very excited to be heading to preschool, this is Noah's 2nd year in Bright Futures Preschool and Calebs first year. Same class, same teacher... should be interesting. They seemed to have a good first day, talked about playing with blocks, singing songs and most importantly having snacks... which were colored goldfish crackers on the first day!

Todd drops Meg off at Sherry's (who is our sitter, kids "second mom" and answer to our prayers in lot of ways!) and then he and the boys head to school. Since in our small town there is one big school, K-12, and the pre-school is there as well. The boys hang out with Todd in his classroom until almost 8, when he can take them to the grade school gym to wait to go to their class.

Yesterday we were laughing about how next year he will have 4 kids in his classroom in the mornings! It will be like preschool in itself! Noah will be in kindergarden and then Caleb, Ellen and Meg will all be in Bright Futures together! What a hoot that will be.

Big weekend at our house... it is the Fall festival (aka travelling carnival). The boys are excited about the "crazy rides". Last weekend we made the trip to Chicago to see Bob (Anne's Brother) and rode the huge ferris wheel at Navy Pier. The kids also rode the merry go round... and Meg loved that. She waved and blew kisses the whole time... so I am sure she'll be all over the merry go round this weekend as well.

As for our adoption efforts, our home study is at the state, we are waiting for approval from them. I am hoping we have that within 6 weeks... hurry up and wait...
just need to remember it will all happen in God's time...

Crazy Days...

Yikes... where did the last almost 2 weeks go?!?!

We finished classes through our home study agency. There were 8 of us in the class (4 couples). Our good friends Steve and Jenny were two... then we met two other wonderful couples who are planning to adopt from Ethiopia. It was very encouraging to hear their stories and meet new friends to share this journey with.

Class itself was pretty interesting. It gave us quite a bit to think about in regards to the adoption and things to prepare for... such as even though we are hoping to give Ellen a better life, she will still grieve the life she is leaving behind, because it is familiar and all that she has ever known. We also have some great ideas of things we can be doing now to help us prepare ourselves and the kids for the newest Hollis family member.

Last Thursday Todd and I left the house at 4 am to drive to Chicago to be fingerprinted... we got to the place at 7:45 it opened at 8 and we were on our way back home in the car by 8:18!!! Quite the whirlwind... but one more step down.

So now our home study is done. Our case worker has sent it to our adoption agency and once they sign off on it, it will be submitted to the state of Illinois for approval... so now we wait to hear from the state in regards to our next step (they will send us a 171-H form... which means we can then submit our dossier).

In the meantime we wait.... and wait.... and wait... and fill out grant applications

I had a wonderful conversation last night with a gentleman who is the friend of a friend... he lives in Chicago and has many ties to Ukraine. He and his family have built 29 orphanages there and he have travelled to Ukraine over 22 times! We talked a great deal about what to expect when we do travel and he was incredibly kind and generous in offering to help connect us with people in Ukraine to help us while we are there as well as specifics on where to stay etc... God has been so good in taking care of us on this journey... every step of the way we feel his presence more and more.

Todd is busy now that football has started and I have been busy with work training. The boys start preschool next week and all three are in swim lessons. Yet we manage to have some family time each day... granted sometimes it is breakfast, but we certainly make the most of what we have.

Meg has occupational therapy at the house in a few hours... I need to go pick up toys and load the dishwasher!!!

Classes start today!

Parenting classes that is... the first of 3 (4 hours each) sessions that are required for our home study agency. I am looking forward to it... our good friends Jenny and Steve will be in the class with us (since they are currently in the process of adopting siblings from Bulgaria). Plus getting started gets me one step closer to having Ellen home!

Fortunately school is starting which means our house will be a whirlwind of activity! The boys will both be in pre-school (same class... good luck to Ms. Ramsey with that mix!!), Todd is busy with football, work is busy on my end, all the kids have swim lessons, Meg has therapy... it will make our wait for paperwork go by a little more quickly.

In-laws will be at the house tomorrow... I haven't been to the grocery store in a week (since before the walk) so there is no food and I have no idea when I will get there... I guess I will just set out a nice plate of tube yogurt and chees-nips for them to snack on!!! :)

Help us bring Ellen home!

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