next round of US immigration sent.
We ended last week by overnighting our final USCIS application (I800 form). We had confirmation at 6.53am this morning it was delivered by hand directly to a person in their Texas office (yes, I may have been checking obsessively). Now we wait for our lockbox confirmation letter (just letting us know we have the forms and are in the system) and approval. On average it seems to take most people about a month to receive their approval letter, so we are hoping this is the case for us. The almost four month wait for our last USCIS approval was unusual and brutal. :(
updates, a new pic, and trip 1 dates.
Look who we get to meet via Skype on APRIL 25 (well, more like 2am on the 26th :)! We are so very very happy. She is unbelievably beautiful and seems to be doing incredibly well. 20 days until we see you, little Tippi. I’m not sure how I am going to sleep until then. ♡☾ Thank you so much to everyone for all your love and prayers that got us here!
WE (officially) MATCHED!
These are the faces of a mama + papa who just found out they are officially matched with their daughter! The joy and relief is palpable. WE MATCHED!!!! Oh my god. Happy excited relief. Now we wait to be scheduled for our first (virtual) trip to meet our girl, and also for our official written referral from Bulgaria so we can start our next round of US immigration. We’re one huge step closer to bringing you home, Tippi Moon. ☾♡
a happy habit. ☾
We’ve fallen into the routine of sitting in Tippi’s room before bed while we brush our teeth. It’s become like a little meditation, a chance to connect with our girl one last time in the day. We are currently waiting to hear from Bulgaria that we have been officially matched, so that we can then await trip one dates and start our next USCIS application. Staying hopeful this is the week that happens! Please keep that positive energy rolling our (and her) way. ♡ ☾
a long overdue update (and finally some news)
It’s been many months since I have written here, mostly because we have been USCIS purgatory this whole time. It has been a long anxiety filled wait, but we are finally starting to make forward progress again. Let me give you a very brief update about what has happened over the last four months (taken from our timeline post):
november 29 - home study completed/sealed/apostilled
november 29 - file i800A with USCIS
november 29 - all dossier documents sent to agency for approval/translation
november 30 - dossier sent to Bulgaria
november 30 (arrived December 9) - uscis lockbox
december 27 - uscis biometrics
march 8 - i800A approval (arrived march 15)
march 16 - i800A approval sent to Bulgaria
march 19 - i800A approval arrives in Bulgaria
We are now waiting for the International Adoption Committee (IAC) to meet in Bulgaria (they meet weekly-ish) and for our dossier to come up for approval so we can be officially matched (right now we are considered soft-matched, which means they have held her file for us while we gather all documentation). Once we receive this match, which we hope happens in the next couple of weeks, we then wait for something called Article 16 (which is the written referral) so we can accept it and start the next round of USCIS requirements (I-800 application). We will also then be waiting for trip one dates - which we still anticipate will be virtual. Things slow down and the IAC doesn’t meet for most of April because of Easter/Orthodox Easter, so our hope is we will be matched and have trip one dates locked in before then. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming.
Just a couple of proud parents celebrating their long awaited I-800A approval (it’s important to celebrate every small step forward).
we bought our girl a pony!
We bought this thoroughbred back in early 2020 from a salvage yard, with zero plans except she needed to come home with us. When we matched with Tippi, I knew she needed a pony in her room. Thanks to Thomas’s handy dandy magic, the old girl rides again. Now we just need our Tippi Moon home to enjoy it.
always thinking of tippi.
Hot topic around the breakfast table this morning was the buzz of getting our Christmas tree next week. Pilot’s excited response: “hooray, this means Tippi will be home!” 💔 I’m not sure how he came up with this timeline, but I surely wish it was true. I explained it wouldn’t be until after Easter that she came home (because it’s easier to explain time to a four year by landmark dates). His disappointed reply was: “can we still write a letter to Santa for her so he can bring her baby toys?”
We talk about her all the time. She is as much a part of our family as any of us are. This is why I talk about her so much here too. I want to create memories for her to look back on, so she knows how thought about and loved she has always been. And somehow it makes her feel a little more real, a little closer. ♡☾
holiday magic.
When we found out we were pregnant with Atlas, one of the first things I did was to look for the perfect Christmas stockings for us as a family. I found some beautiful handmade ones on @etsy and hung them up the Christmas before he was born. Fast forward four years and I ordered another stocking when I found out Pilot would be joining our family. When we matched with Tippi I knew she needed one too. I went online to buy one and the small business had closed. Panic ensued and I spent too many hours trying to find one secondhand or something similar, while also trying to contact the now closed business.
A few months later (on the day we had our final home study visit) I got an email via Etsy from the woman who had made the other stockings. She said she happened to have one leftover and she would love to gift it to Tippi (cue all the tears). Weeks passed and I wondered if it would arrive, and then today (on #worldkindnessday and the day we were meant to receive our home study draft…. spoiler alert, we didn’t) it came and it’s perfect. We will hang it with our stockings knowing this will be the last year she isn’t home to open it on Christmas morning herself. ♡ ☾
waiting and learning.
I am learning that to make it through the adoption process requires a mix of insane patience, a willingness to advocate loudly for your child before they are even yours, and a community of people who love you. I am working hard at number one and two, and am forever grateful for the abundance of the third.
We find ourselves still waiting on others to move our adoption process along. Things have stalled while we wait for our social worker to write up our home study report. Once we have these in hand our dossier can be translated and sent to Bulgaria (we have a 12/11 deadline that must be met) and we can start the USCIS process. I am getting very good at squeaking loudly for my girl, even when it feels like I am doing it into the ether (this is where patience comes in, so much is out of our control). But the love part, that’s all of you. And no words can do justice to how much it all means to us. Thank you a million times over!
PS: if you’re lucky enough to find yourself at Dynasty Typewriter in LA, keep an eye out for a very special theatre seat. ♡ ☾
what comes next?
We’ve done everything on our end for our home study, so you might be wondering what happens now. Mostly it’s a mass of paperwork and even more waiting for other people to do their thing (hopefully with haste and efficiency). Here is an abbreviated version of next steps, and I am sure I am leaving somethings out.
Our social worker writes up our home study, which we have to read and approve before it’s officially signed off as being complete.
Once we have a finished home study we can apply for our i800A with USCIS. This is where the biggest waiting happens. They say it can take 2-4 months to be approved, and our dossier isn’t considered complete until we have this. :( Part of this process is being fingerprinted again.
We also need to finish gathering and having our other dossier documents notarized/sealed/apostilled. We have done all of this with the documents we have. We are just waiting on two from our social worker and then the home study and approved i800A. My understanding is that they will send our dossier to Bulgaria without the i800A so that it’s there before our December 11 deadline (we had 6 months from the time we matched to get them everything).
Once Bulgaria has our dossier and USCIS form, we wait for the official referral and trip one dates. This still looks almost certain to be virtual because of Covid.
Right now we are just praying to the universe that people do their parts of this journey quickly and that the USCIS process happens with mass efficiency and speed. We welcome you manifesting this for us too. We just want our Tippi home ASAP!
Working through our checklist and getting alllllll the documents made official.
final home study inspection done!
We did it! Relief. Our fire marshall inspection is done and passed without any worry. We have been blessed with dealing with really amazing people on this adoption journey, and Suzanne our fire inspector was one of these wonderful folks. Now we move onto more paperwork and lots of waiting, but first we celebrate!
onto the county inspections… first up, sanitation!
We did it, we passed! This is the inspection I was most nervous about. The county inspections are the reason we had to have our windows installed, because they would not pass us without them. We also couldn’t wrap up our home study without the inspections complete, which meant our adoption progress stagnated. The good news, it’s done and zero issues indicated. The inspector was insanely thorough and checked every single tiny thing, but our non-stop work and no sleep this past month plus paid off and it was all OK. Her job was to make sure the house was clean and safe, but there is no grey area to their checklist, it’s either you have what they want to see or you don’t. It is a massive massive relief. Tuesday we have the fire marshall visit (hopefully I am not being naive in not being as stressed about this).
We could not to any of this without the support of family + friends (especially those who send alllllllllll the coffee).
we have windows (this is worthy of its own post)
I feel like our adoption process has been in limbo as we wait for them, and they are finally finally here! Now onto the county inspections and getting our home study wrapped in a bow.
our final home study visit
We did it! We had our final in-person home study visit and we passed! We were so nervous to have everything just right and ended up running on four hours sleep and four double shots of espresso on the actual day. But the house looked as best as it possibly could (thanks to our incredible community of friends who have rallied around us so hard the last month to get us here). The visit itself lasted about three hours. Our social worker Amy (who is just the best) chatted with one of our references who had to come here on the day too, with us, and then with our boys. We gave her a quick tour of the house and that was it. Home study (almost) done.
What's next to get it all wrapped up? A few things. Amy needs to write-up our report, which we need to proof read before it’s considered done. She also has to call and chat to our other two references (all three have already supplied written references too - they like to cover their bases). Windows are installed on the 18th (NEXT WEEK YOU GUYS!) and then we have our two county inspections on the 20th and 26th. That’s it!
Once it’s finalized we can immediately apply for our I-800A with USCIS, and then we gather all our dossier paperwork (which includes the home study), make sure everything is notarized (which also has to be doubly certified at the court the notary has their commission), and then send them to apostilled. Then they go back to our adoption agency who sends them to Bulgaria to be translated before being sent to the MOJ (the office that handles adoptions in Bulgaria). Somewhere in all of this we get fingerprints taken again as part of our USCIS application. Then we wait for the I-800A to be approved and finally, once Bulgaria has everything in hand, we get scheduled for trip one AND we should also be given updated information on Tippi (the only information/photos/videos we have are from when she was listed for adoption and were taken in early April). So many steps to go, but we are one big step closer to bringing our little girl home (and that is what I am holding onto).
september update round up
It’s been awhile since I’ve written much, but that’s only because we have been flat out here with home renovations. This biggest happiest news is that (thanks to the power of social media), we were able to get Pella to move our window installation up a whole month to October 18th. This is HUGE, because it means we will be able to wrap our home study process up in October and get our i800A filed with USCIS. Big steps towards getting our girl home.
In other renovation news, things are moving at a fast speed now. We have all the tradies here this week - HVAC, electric, and plumbing. We are out of the house this weekend so the spray insulation can be done, and then drywall folks start on Monday. It’s so exciting to see our beautiful #fishhawkhouse take shape again. Thomas and I are busy trying to make all the itty bitty decisions like fans and pendant lights - there is far too much choice, but I am so happy to be here.
We had a little working bee at our place this past weekend with a group of dear friends we have known since Atlas was a baby. We blitzed the front stairs area, mulching, laying stone, reframing, and making it safer and look much tidier. This is a temporary fix until we one day add the wrap around verandah, but as this could be years away (sigh). We also welcomed another family of friends who helped continue this work and also scrubbed our kitchen until it shone, perhaps for the first time in 30+ years.
Still to do outside before the 9th - add railings back to the deck off the kitchen (we removed the rotten old ones and cut 2/3 of the deck away, also due to rot). Finish laying stone in front and in the back, move and stack the last of the firewood, and lots of gardening weeding and edging.
In adoption news, we found out what specific orphanage Tippi was in and not surprisingly, it sounds like quite the grim place. There are no good orphanages, but hearing firsthand stories of families who have picked up children there, just hit home the reality, the heartbreak, and the desperation to get her home.
We also booked in our county inspections for the last week or so of October (the earliest dates we could get post the windows going in). Fingers crossed tight for smooth sailing. We have just entered Mercury Retrograde, but we are hoping a positive attitude and a whole lot of good energy will get us through unscathed and without anymore delays.
In fundraising, we have already raised just over $7000! This is so unbelievably amazing and we are incredibly grateful. We appreciate everyone’s love and support more than we can say. ♡
happy birthday to me
Today is my last birthday as a mother of two and somehow just that tiny fact made Tippi feel a little closer to coming home. I haven’t shared much for awhile as there hasn’t been a massive amount of progress to share. Renovations continue at a decent pace and (great news!) our plumber started today, which is as much of a milestone as turning 38 is. Our electrician starts next week and our HVAC guy the week after that. Then it’s on to insulation and drywall, and finally the darn windows which are still the biggest delay in getting our home study wrapped up. We continue to contact Pella weekly and they continue to tell us the same thing (ha). Maybe this week will be different. ;)
For my birthday my mum sent me a dress and cardigan that use to be mine as a little girl. I have a beautiful tote bag from a friend where I have been storing Tippi’s treasures, but it was a bit of a squeeze to get them in so I decided today was the right day to hang her clothes with the boys’. I’ve only bought a couple of things, but I cannot begin to describe how happy it made my heart to see her tiny little sweet pink clothes hanging next to her brothers’ stuff. We love you so much, Tippi Moon! ☾
work work work
Work all day.
Work all night.
Repeat 7 days a week.
There has never been anything more worth working hard for.
home study visit #2
Our second zoom home study visit is done! Just like the first one, it felt like a fun and easy two hour chat with our super lovely social worker. Our third and final IN PERSON visit is scheduled for October 9th. After this it’s just waiting for our darn windows to arrive (pray to the gods that Pella works with unexpected efficiency and gets our windows to us in October) so we can have our home study signed off, our dossier finalized and sent to Bulgaria, and our USCIS forms applied for (the next big long wait, approx. 2-4 months to be processed). Adoption is definitely a lesson in patience and hope, but my goodness it will all be worth it when we finally get to bring our Tippi girl home.
let the fundraising begin!
It’s official! We were approved by Reece’s Rainbow to set up a family sponsorship page (woot) and it’s online and ready to go. After a week of what felt like lots of back steps, this was a wonderful exciting leap forward towards getting our girl home. Now comes the part that feels scariest of all for me… asking people to help support us (it’s so much easier being on the giving end vs the asking/receiving). Massive thanks and gratitude in advance for all your love and support in this journey!
a little sign from the universe.
A fun quick little story. I follow a small business online called joonbird that sells mostly children’s clothing. Everything is handmade using vintage fabrics and has such a wonderful aesthetic to it. Today was a drop day, and I have had my eyes on a little pants set for Tippi. I jumped online when I saw things were restocked to find the outfit I wanted in a fun striped/floral fabric. However the first thing that pops up is an outfit named the TIPPI! It’s not a common name and it felt like such a lovely sign from the universe that it’s all going to be ok. Naturally I immediately bought it for her, and already plan to pack it on our pick up trip to Bulgaria (cue happy daydreaming).
