Katie, Tim & Cale Nester...

...would love it if you would follow along as we record our adoption journey. We feel blessed to be called to adopt a son from Ethiopia!
About our journey:
- We requested "either" gender, 0-18 months.
- We received our referral of Megersa on Nov 5, 2009; he was 2 months old.
- Megersa's name is pronounced "Meh-gur-sah."
- Our case was submitted on Dec 18, 2009 and our court date was Jan 27, 2010. We were fortunate to pass court on the first try!
- Tim's mom and I left for Ethiopia on March 8, 2010 for an Embassy appointment of March 10, 2010. We passed!
- Megersa met the rest of his family in the US 3.13.10.
- When we re-adopt him, his full legal name will be Megersa Jace Nester.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

171H and the potty

Well, we got our 171H in the mail today. How 'bout that? You're wondering what it is, right? Well, I don't know if I have the complete handle on it yet, but I'll try to explain -
It is our CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) approval to adopt a child. It is the approval we got for having filed our I600A and having your homestudy completed.

It goes something like this:
We completed our homestudy. It was approved.
We filed for our 1600/1600A (Orphan visa petition). It was approved.
Then we got fingerprinted. And they came back clear.
So the 171H is our reward! :)
This is good news, because this is the last piece of the paperwork puzzle that needed to be sent to our agency BEFORE we get a referral for a baby.
(Don't get too excited though, we don't think our referral will be happening for another 2 or so months.)

To that extent, I'd also like to share that Tim and I are in the process of having our homestudy updated to include a baby/toddler up to 18 months. We also put in that we would be open to twins (if they became available). And we recently let our agency know, too, that we are open to some mild special needs. As you can see, we are trying to keep all of our basis open to let God pick the child.

In other exciting news - CALE WENT PEE-PEE ON THE POTTY TODAY!
It was his first time, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't on-purpose (because he was stripped down, placed on the potty and "plugged" into Blues Clues - his absolute favorite show), but none-the-less, it was exciting! I gave him some M&M's as a reward and he was just so happy. We sang the "pee-pee on the potty song" and I got pictures. YEP, I'm gonna be one of those Mom's!
Anyway, when Cale finished his treat, he politely asked for "more" but I told him no. I told him that he could have more when he goes pee-pee on the potty again. Well, my little Candy Man went right back over to the potty and sat down. He then proceeded to make the "sssss" noise. After that he just looked up at me with those great big blue eyes and asked for more again. Haha! Sorry pal, nice try! We did try to pee-pee again later, but it went on the floor.
Sa la ve.
Well, maybe he'll be potty trained by the time our baby comes home!!
I don't have my hopes up, but I think it would be FANTASTIC to have only 1 child in diapers.
Wishful thinking perhaps. But, you never know!

So that's what's going on in the Nester house this April Fools Day.
Nothing else to report. No practical jokes to be had.
Until next time...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I still remember when you told me how many diapers kids go through and how horrified I was!! I still am slightly horrified. I love that he went back to the potty and made a noise, haha he's sneaky that little Cale!