Stahlke Adoption

Finding Those Papers

Jonathan and I keep a blue plastic file box with vital adoption papers and information files. When we traveled to Ukraine, we took the whole box with us without even leafing through it. That way, when we needed an unforeseen document, we'd have all of them with us.

Today I did sort through much of the blue box, looking for documents related to our last I-600A application: our homestudy, two financial worksheets, copies of our marriage license and passports, and all the pertinent addresses and phone numbers for the Chicago CIS office. To my dismay, my passport expires on May 1. My mother had reminded me a month ago to check the expiration date, but in the Christmas rush I lost my note to myself to do so. I also called the treasurer at our church to ask how he wanted to handle the cashier's check (i.e., directly from the adoption fund or as a reimbursement to us).

Jonathan is proofreading the homestudy to update the details (e.g., ages of our children, job titles of our siblings, etc.). This will take him a while: the homestudy is about eight pages long, single-spaced. I'm starting the revision of our financial data, especially what we spend each month on rent, utilities, food, etc. We will send all the changes to Wendy, our LSS social worker in Chicago, who will revise the homestudy. She will then notarize two copies and mail them to us--one for submission to CIS and the other for our reference. It can't hurt to carry a notarized copy to Ukraine in the blue box!

posted by Stahlkes @ 5:53 PM