Nothing exciting to report, but we've talked a lot about our dossier. :) Well, there's been lots of talk regarding timing of our child. It is wrapped into complicated emotions and demands of our lives such as work, finances, and best times to travel. In the end, we've thunk that we may move up our dossier turn-in time from December to November. A little Thanksgiving treat for us.

We still need to check with Frank to find out exact, approximate timing issues. We know it's one month from when our dossier is in Russia to the time we can begin receiving referrals. But we want more. When it comes to planning, no one beats me except my husband, apparently!

Apparently no one really believes us when we tell them it will be February/March when we come home with our child. That's kind of frustrating, but "like water off a duck's back", I try to not obsess about it. :)

Anyway, here's the joy of our dossier: the FOUR PAGES list of what we need:

"Your dossier is a formal packet of documents prepared by you and used to legally introduce your family to the court system in Russia. Your dossier precedes you to the country. Once a match has occurred it is hand-carried to your child's territory by your coordinator and reviewed by court officials, usually the judge, an attorney representing your child's rights, and a rep from the Dept. of Education. (lots more info). You are placed on the waiting list for a child according to your dossier date of possession to Frank. This means a complete dossier."

"Families must complete TWO full IDENTICAL dossiers. Every document in both must be originals. Each document in both dossiers must be notarized and apostilled (that means a notary in Lansing approves each notarized signature). Below is a description of documents required for the dossier."

Application for Registration
FORM (that honestly is what it is titled)
In-Country Application
Petition to the Civil Court of Russia
Petition to the Department of Education
Power of Attorney
Immigration Clearance Certificate I171H
Police Clearance
Marriage Certificate (total of 4, 2 per dossier)
Home Study Agency License
Home Study
Conclusion/Recommendation Letter
Verification of Residence
Certificate of Assets
Deed to House
Medical
Employer Reference Letters
Passport Pages
Recent Photos (between 6-12 including home, family members, pets, child's room, neighborhood, etc.)
Commitment Letters

Me again. Of course, each one of these things has a date of expiration... some 3 months, some 6 months, some one year in duration. So many of these we'll have to update. Yay.
But we'll have a child.... but we'll have a child... anyone doubting our commitment to this will have to reconsider after seeing what we're willing to do!

Doug has looked at this closer than I have. He mumbled something about birth certificates and having to see a CPA as well. We have been using a notary at Doug's work so far to do our documents... we will have to do something awfully nice for her if she notarizes all of the above for us! Integrate her name into our child's name or something..... :)

Now that my work is starting up again, wheels will be set into motion once more. For my part, I have to have a meeting with our union rep to figure out all the intricate steps involved in notifying the school board and figuring out days off for travel time when I'm not allowed anything but "sick days"... work with my principal to find a long-term sub to take my place, as well as write a letter to my parents when the time is right.