Little Sister

My mind has been occupied with the adoption process....the steps I know must be taken before I can meet little sister, the steps that must be taken until little sister can come home. The process can be very overwhelming. Little sister comes to mind frequently....I find myself looking at her pictures, watching the video I have of her, and wanting the time to fly. I would love to have her in my arms right now, but I know I can't. So I hold on to the little things, I focus on the steps I have to take and spending time with Maria.

So, I'm sure people are curious about who is little sister. Little sister is almost two, in fact she will turn two before the end of September. She has beautiful brown eyes and dark brownish black hair. An amazing smile, although she seems to share it with people special to her. She had a rough start to life, born too soon and with an unexpected special need. From her medical report and video I know she will need to see some of the same specialist Maria sees. I know she will become use to working physical therapist and occupational therapist. The PT and OT that I work with have seen her video, they are already making plans on how to help little sister when the time comes. Little sister is currently seeing a PT at her orphanage.

Little sister lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe. She is within an hour of the capitol city. I have been able to connect with families who have been to her orphanage. From what I have been told and have seen, the orphanage is an older building, not kept in the repair.....which is typical of this area. One family has told me that the children seem to get a lot of attention, but the staff are also there to get their gossip time in....ok, so this does happen with women and we know most of the time women are in these type of positions.

The few pictures I have a very special and since little sister isn't legally adopted I personally do not plan to share pictures of her publicly on the internet. I also do not plan to say where little sister is currently living until the adoption is finalized. We do have an FSP on Reece's Rainbow and an account on Adopt Together. If you would like to donate just search for Horn on either site. If you have any specific questions about little sister or the adoption process, please feel free to leave a comment.

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T-shirt fundraiser

We are selling t-shirts to help raise some of the funds to bring little sister home. T-shirts are being sold for $20 per shirt. The shirts come in Youth sizes M-XL (in only the green and brown) and Adult sizes S-3XL. If you are interested in buying a shirt leave me your email in the comments (I will not publish it) and I will contact you.

***We are adding toddler sizes in similar colors.  The toddler sizes will be 2T-4T.  If you want a toddler size check with me about pricing (still waiting on that).

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This and that

On Friday we had our first meeting with our homestudy social worker. It was at a library and we had a great time chatting. So, I didn't prepare the social worker by telling her that Maria has SB and is currently using her wheelchair. One part of our talk was discussing little sister's special needs (all kids adopted from orphanages have special needs of some kind, some are just more obvious than others). SW asked me about how I will manage little sister's SN. I simply looked at Maria and said, after this spring I can handle anything! Then I went on and explained what had happened with Maria. SW agreed, I have it under control. Overall the meeting went well, I have a list of things to gather and get done. Have fees that I need to fundraise for (different post on that).

As we left we saw a man walking with forearm crutches. Maria is very aware of other kids and adults who have physical disabilities. This man was with 2 younger elementary age girls. As I was wrangling Maria's wheelchair into the car, he and I made eye contact and smiled at each other. He said hello and asked how things were going. I told him good and asked how he was. He responded that he was doing the best he could. As I got into the car, Maria commented that she had seen him (which I knew she would). As we drove away I was thinking about him....he was independent, taking his kids to the library. Was life easy for him.....probably not, but he was living life. I'm not sure what he thought of me....I'm sure he understands the challenges Maria and I deal with....I wonder if it made him think of his mom. We don't know each other, but we share an understanding one that so many do not understand.

On Monday I started back to work......my summer break officially over. Maria still has 3 weeks of summer left. She is hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's home having lots of fun with kittens. She is doing good and very happy that grandma made Moussaka for her. It is a blessing to have family nearby, who love Maria and want her with them when I have to work.

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Paperwork

You know those movies, where the parents decide to adopt and magically they get the perfect baby in no time at all? Yeah, that isn't adoption, that is. Hollywood. Adoption is a lot of paperwork. Right now I'm in the process of beginning a new homestudy. For those who don't know a homestudy isn't scary. It is a social worker coming to your home, checking your finances, medical, past history....asking questions about your family, support system, parenting style, etc. It is a lot of information and very in depth. Part of this process is getting a basic physical and blood test, background checks and FBI finger prints.

I'm hoping this part of the paperwork will be done before the middle of September. I have our first appointment for the homestudy on Friday. I'm excited to get the paperwork started. The sooner I can get the homestudy in hand the sooner I can send in documents to the USCIS (that part can be a bit of a wait). My goal is to have my dossier for little sister in her country by the beginning of November. This momma is motivated.

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Life

Adoption is a part of our everyday life. Some days it plays a bigger part than others. This journey has been long, it hasn't always been easy, I have changed so much from when I first started. When I first started the adoption journey, my plan had been to adopt a toddler as healthy as possible. My thoughts were that the younger a child the less likely for attachment issues, the more years together to see her grow. But then things changed.....I saw Maria's picture. I knew she was suppose to be my daughter. My path changed....I began the process of adopting Maria, who was 10, almost 11 at the time. Giving up the dream of a toddler was difficult. I had to face the possibility that I may never have the chance to adopt again, that I might never have the toddler that I had planned for, but I knew Maria was worth it. Maria's adoption was difficult in so many ways....not because of Maria, but more because of the people I had to work with. The Bulgarian agency I worked with was and is about the money.....not about the kids. They do the minimum for families and caused me a lot stress and anger. My placement agency was better, but in the end had to maintain their relationship with the Bulgarian agency. On my pick up trip they were not there for me....no emails, calls, text, etc. I was hurt and angry that a person who claimed to be my friend wasn't there when I needed her. So, I focused on Maria and what she needed. We created a family and my world has been amazing because of her.

Over the past two years, I have healed. I am finished with the Bulgarian agency I had so many issues with. I'm done with the placement agency now too. I have considered time and time again about adopting again....and time and time again it wasn't the right time, I hadn't seen the right child. The thought of going back into the adoption process has made me feel stressed.....so I have been passive. Saying not yet, I'm fine the way things are, Maria needs a sister someday......just never figuring when that day would be. This past week a friend, who also happens to work for a placement agency, sent me a picture and my world turned upside down. This week has been a hurry of initial paperwork and trips to the notary. Gathering ideas for fundraising (adoption is expensive). There will be more post about our new journey to little sister. Just wanted to let everyone know we are back in the paperwork chase and hopefully within a year we will have little sister home.

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