The Best Part of the Day
Do you have a favorite part of the day? A routine moment you always wish would last just a little longer?
I do. I’m still savoring the last few minutes I spent cuddling and reading with Noah before his nap. I just love those quiet moments when my little boy slows down and settles into my lap for stories. Together we go off on little adventures into the pages of our favorite books. And as we get to the last book on our stack, Noah often turns and plunks his head right on my shoulder, ready to go upstairs and drift from the world of books into the world of slumber.
If that isn’t peace, I don’t know what is.
At any rate, I thought I’d let the quiet moment linger awhile and do some writing here on the blog. January’s been a busy month in the Tol household, as you’ve probably figured out from the absence of posts. Brian and I are in the middle of our adoption home study process, which includes various interview appointments, training programs, working through a lot of paperwork, and wrangling with the national government over the spelling of my last name. (The National Passport Center has single-handedly transformed me from a “Tol” into a “Toi,” but that’s a story for another day!)
If you want to get a feel for what’s involved, just check out this shot of our initial checklist of forms we had to gather for our formal adoption application. Now that we’re in the home study phase, I have a new checklist, of course! But fortunately, since we are planning to adopt from Korea, we don’t have a lot of additional paperwork to complete. (Some other countries require you to jump through a lot more hoops.) When I think about all the things we’ve completed already–and all the things we have yet to complete–it seems like a daunting process. But I’ve really appreciated the way Bethany (our adoption agency) has broken it down into manageable steps. As another adoptive family we’ve met commented: “It’s a lot of work, but it’s all doable.”
But it hasn’t been all work and no play. We just got back from a fun family retreat we spent with the Russcher clan this weekend. We stayed at Khardomah Lodge in Grand Haven, MI. It’s a quaint and very old home with 15 guest rooms and lots of nooks and crannies. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera, so you’ll just have to use your imaginations to conjure up images of a cozy fireplace, yummy food, fun family games, and lots of laughs. The only down part of the weekend was that Brian, Noah, and I were all fighting some nasty colds. But we enjoyed the time with family nonetheless.
Well, that gives you the January highlights for the Tols. And for those of you who’ve been faithful enough to read to the end of this post, you get to enjoy this reward: Some recent pictures of Noah!
Noah found a pair of Mommy’s slippers. He really gets a kick out wearing them!
And finally, a picture of Noah and his Sunnyside Farm, another favorite toy he likes to play with.
The Home Study Begins. . .
Hey everyone, I just “found” this post in the draft pile here on Wordpress: I guess I forgot to actually post it! Anyway, here it is, only about 2 weeks late. (Originally written on Jan. 10, 2008)
Just thought I’d update folks about our adoption process. We’ll be going in for our first home study interview tomorrow. I’m not really sure what will be involved with the home study process, so hopefully we’ll get some helpful info tomorrow. I have a sinking feeling that we will probably receive another checklist of forms to fill out. (By the way, it’s my birthday today, and if you’d like to send a gift, I think I’ll be needing some extra ball point pens.)
As an interesting note for all you red tape lovers out there, another step we’ll be taking soon is to file form I-600 with INS, which is the “Petition to File Orphan as an Immediate Relative.” I was reading through the various instructions, and I guess we would fall into category #4 of filers which states:
“Submitting an Application for Advance
Processing of an Orphan Petition in Behalf
of a Child Who Has Not Been Identified.”
And unfortunately, some of the other category descriptions were even lengthier. Now really, with all the tax money we pay, you’d think they could hire an editor to pare down the word count, don’t you think? I guess the verbage is another example of government waste!
Adoption Paperwork
In case you haven’t heard yet… we’re adopting! Well, we’re planning to adopt. We still have a couple of hoops to jump through before the State says we’re competent… Ahem. 
We’re working on an international adoption with South Korea as our country of choice.
A lot of people had questions about the process, so here’s a brief breakdown of the process:
- Paperwork
- Home Study
- Submission of documents to country
- Waiting
- Waiting
- Waiting
- Referral
- Waiting
- Waiting
- Adoption
As you can see, there’s a lot of waiting involved. The estimate right now is that the adoption would take place sometime in early- to mid- 2009.
So, it goes without saying, prayers for patience are greatly appreciated.
We completed the application paperwork on 12/31, and, man, was there a lot of it! Here’s a picture of the checklist:
We spread the rest of the paperwork out, and it took the length of the kitchen table!
The longest part of the application is the “autobiography” section, which clocked in at 10+ pages — each! — and 50+ questions. It covered everything from “tell us about your childhood” to “what have you learned about your spouse since the wedding day” to “what’s the hardest part about being a parent.”
It was good to think through a lot of those questions, but, to be honest, we’re happy to be moving on to the Home Study portion of the process. We’ll write more as that unfolds.