Updated 100 chart

Here is Bryson's updated 100 chart:

Thank you to everyone who has donated!  I appreciate everyone's help in Bringing Bryson Home!

TWO WEEKS!

Two weeks ago today I found out that I was pre-approved to adopt Bryson.  Those two weeks have FLOWN by and I've gotten a lot accomplished.  

Home Study
Everything minus fingerprinting is DONE!  My fingerprint appointment is Saturday at 12:30.  It feels good to log in to the portal and see (almost) everything with ORANGE CHECKMARKS!  

WHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

China requires that I meet with a Social Worker four times.  One time is for a home inspection.  I already have all of my dates set up ... the last being April 8th.  So I'm hoping my report is written and such by the end of April!!!  Once I have a completed home study I can start writing GRANTS!  

China also requires that I have a psych evaluation.  I went in for my testing after work today.  I'm so hoping I pass.  Apparently most people take 2-3 hours to answer the 567 True/False questions.  Ummmmm ... I was done right at 40 minutes.  But some of them were like, "I like hurting animals", "People are poisoning me" ... stuff like that.  I should get my report back in a few weeks.  

Dossier
Here is what I need for my Dossier.  Each of these was scanned in and sent to Kendra who works at Hand in Hand (my agency).  She has been super sweet and is a pleasure to work with.  Most of these have to be notarized.  Thanks to Kim Sligar for notarizing everything!  I cannot thank her enough!!!  

Letter of Application -- DONE

Birth Certificate -- OBTAINED,  Got Secretary of State to authenticate

Single Declaration -- DONE

Letter of Occupation and Income -- OBTAINED

Financial Form -- DONE

Medical Form -- OBTAINED

Guardianship Statement -- DONE

Police Good Conduct Report -- OBTAINED

Home Study -- in process

USCIS Approval -- This is after Home Study

Reference Letters -- OBTAINED (thanks everyone!!!)

Passport Photo Page -- SCANNED and sent

Family Photos -- UPLOADED

Passport Photo -- The only thing I have to do ...

Dossier Cover Sheet -- It's just a cover sheet, haha.

The next step is sending my Birth Certificate and the Secretary of State authentication to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.  I need to look up the information here in a minute of who I can hire to do this.  Kendra sent me her info ... just got to pull it up!

After my home study and such is done I have to send most of the Dossier stuff to Austin to have the Secretary of State authenticate it.  When I get it back it then goes to the Chinese Consulate in Houston.   

Here in the near future most everything will be out of my hands.  I will need to be patient as the paperwork travels to the Secretary of State ... Chinese Consulate ... and all of the other details that I probably haven't learned yet (this has been a learning experience!)  I will need to keep myself busy with teaching ... and writing grants.  I am hoping to get as much as humanly possible in grants.  PRAY!  

Time to cuddle with Cotton!  Can't forget about him!  

Thanks for following my journey!

Take Care,

Jen

Goodbye Spring Break!

I was lucky enough to be in Iowa for Ryan's 5th birthday party!  A bounce house with a slide ... another large inflatable slide ... a piñata ...  games ... cake ... what more do 5 year olds need to have fun?  The funny thing was before the party even started several kids exclaimed, "Best Party EVER!"  The inflatables were a huge hit!

Spring Break was spent trying to get as much paperwork done as possible.  I got my pre-approval letter on March 8th.  In twelve days I've gotten a lot accomplished.  Cotton's vaccinations expire tomorrow, so he was THRILLED to go get his shots updated today.  Yup, even Cotton is involved in the journey of bringing Bryson home!  I already uploaded his medical records to MyAdoptionPortal.  

I don't have too many things left on my check list at the moment.  Tomorrow I go to my pre-psych eval appointment.  Gotta love paying a $45 co-pay to basically hand over the paperwork I already filled out and them to "determine" what testing I need to have done.  The adoption agency suggests one standardized test such as the MMPI-2.  After my pre-psych eval appointment I have to go pick up my Police Good Conduct form from the Montgomery County Deputy's office.  Then I'm off to the CISD Health and Wellness Clinic to have the doctor sign off on my medical paperwork.  My blood work came back GOOD and my TB test was negative ... just have to get the doctor to sign off on it.  Saturday I wrap up my Home Study tasks with a fingerprinting appointment.  I'm hoping that I'll get a call from my Social Worker next week to start the next phase.  I wrap up the evening with a Bible Study group at my new friend Amy's house!  Tomorrow will be busy, but good!  

My Agency representative emailed me today, "You are flying through this paperwork!" 

FOUR days left to buy your shirt: https://www.bonfire.com/help-bring-bryson-home/

I am one day closer to bringing Bryson home!  So excited!

Thanks for following my journey to bringing Bryson home!

Take Care,

Jen

Adoption Education Courses

Yesterday I started my 13 hours of adoption education courses.  The first 10 hours is "Because They Waited" which is required for international adoptions.  In a nutshell I learned ...

• Promoting healthy brain development

• Sensory processing and sensory integration

• Parenting to a child's "real age" vs. chronological age

• Understanding the internal alarm

• Building attachment

• Race and Culture

Each of these was accompanied with a test you had to score 80% or better on to move forward.  Some of the tests were pretty intense with specific information.  The 4th test got me (I should have paced them out better) and I scored a 75% and had to retake (oops!)  Thankfully I scored a 95% the second time around.  

The next hour was specific to adopting from China.  This one was very interesting.   From the course's website:

Do you know  . . .

• your child’s birth date might have been assigned arbitrarily, instead of recorded factually
• there are exceptions to and unintended consequences of China’s One Child Policy
• some of the common medical issues observed in children adopted from China
• the difference between Chinese culture and the many levels of sub-cultures your child may have experienced

Tomorrow I will complete the last two hours of training with Parent Planning for Special Needs Adoptions.  I had to give my brain a break!  

Earlier today Mom and I watched Ryan and Jace.  We went to Hills Bank to "cash in" on Ryan's birthday postcard ... a CRISP one dollar bill and two children's museum tickets.  We checked out the eggs and tried to decide which egg would hatch first.  Afterwards a quick trip to Hy-Vee for a few things ... which led to some cart racing up and down the aisles ... and then to hold a few puppies at the pet store.  We went back to their house and attempted to watch "Trolls" but the remote control was MIA, so instead we rested .  Ryan shared her bed with me (until she decided to move onto the floor for more room) while I watched a few adoption courses.  

After the kids went to bed Michaela and I assembled the cutest Trolls hair bands for Ryan's birthday party tomorrow.  I can't believe Ryan will be FIVE!  Pictures to come of her party tomorrow night!  

Thanks for following my journey!

Starting my Dossier

I surprised my parents by showing up on their doorstep (actually in their living room, haha) on Monday.  I road tripped with the amazing Karen, Clint and Grace.  We left The Woodlands Sunday at 5:00AM and arrived into Ames, Iowa at 7:30PM.  We stayed at a hotel Sunday night and then toured Iowa State (gag me, haha) Monday AM and then drove to Iowa City to tour The University of Iowa and meet with the director of admissions at the Wendell Johnson Speech Language Pathology department to get information for Grace.  After our U of I tour (with a stop at UIQuickCare to get a TB test) I surprised my parents.  And surprised they were!

I had big plans for Tuesday.  Or should I say ... I officially started my Dossier by obtaining my Birth Certificate.  Mom started her morning by applying for a passport.  With my birth certificate in hand we drove to Des Moines to the Secretary of the State's office for an apostille.  

An "apostille" is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961.

Yesterday and today have blurred together with the amount of paperwork I have been doing.  Here's what my MyAdoptionPortal task list looks like:

A few of these (i.e. marriage certificate) don't apply to me ... and some I just need to obtain the form to upload (i.e. employment verification)

It's a balancing act because as I am obtaining the Home Study documents, I'm also obtaining my Dossier documents.  Some overlap and some are the same thing on a different form.  

Tonight I registered for my Hauge accredited adoption education.  Honestly ... I had never heard of the Hauge convention prior to a few weeks ago.  I'm learning as I go!  If you are not familiar with it -

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Convention) is an international agreement to safeguard intercountry adoptions. Concluded on May 29, 1993 in The Hague, the Netherlands, the Convention establishes international standards of practices for intercountry adoptions. The United States signed the Convention in 1994, and the Convention entered into force for the United States on April 1, 2008.

The hardest part of it all is having to put faith in other people to do their part to get everything done smoothly.  I will be hiring a courier service to take my birth certificate with it's state certification to the Chinese Consulate in Chicago.  Once it is authenticated it will be sent back to me.  Once my dossier is complete (it cannot be complete until my Home Study is issued) I will hire a courier to take it to Austin (unless it's at a time I can road trip there) to get state certification and then hire another courier to take to the Chinese Consulate in Houston.  I also am waiting for my employee verification from my school district, reference letters, reference forms, medical forms from doctor ... the list goes on.  

On my most immediate TO DO list: Completing my "Heart of the Matter" Education, writing my autobiography ... and enjoying family while I'm in Iowa.  

Can you believe it???  Ryan will be turning FIVE!  She is having her 5th birthday party on Friday and I'm excited I'll be able to go!  Her theme is "Trolls".  I need to watch the movie with her ... I still haven't seen it!

Thanks for following my journey!

Love,

Jen

100 Chart

Another family I know had this fabulous idea!  I asked if I could borrow her idea and she said YES!

Grid Updated 11:20PM 3/11/17

How it works:

The grid is numbered 1-100.  I am asking that you consider choosing one or multiple squares and donate the amount shown on the square.  For example, if you chose 1, you simply donate $1.  Once you have chosen your number, you can PayPal the amount to me at jenruppert3@gmail.com by selecting "send money to friends and family" or donate on https://www.youcaring.com/helpjenadopt.  If you donate through PayPal please comment with your address ... and if you donate on YouCaring please email me with your address.  I will be sending out pictures as Thank Yous and want to make sure you get one!

I will update the grid every night marking off the squares with a heart!  

This fundraiser involves 100 people!  100 people who are helping to bring Bryson HOME!  

Feel free to share this with your friends and family!

Thank you all!  Have a wonderful Saturday!!!

Love,

Jen and Bryson

Paperwork

I should be an expert in paperwork once Bryson is home!

To begin my home study I had to go through 10+ screens filling out information on "MyAdoptionPortal" which Little Miracles (my home study agency) uses.  It's actually a nice system, having everything in one location and being able to submit electronically.  I have all of the initial stages done, application fee of $250 paid ... now just to submit all of the pictures it is asking for.  I have that on my "TO DO" list for tomorrow!  As much as I'd love to complete everything in one day ... that's just not realistic.

For those of you who have asked what is required for the dossier ... here is the list:

This morning I started the process of obtaining my medical forms.  I went to the Conroe ISD Health and Wellness Center.  They were being super thorough.  I think the doctor was feeling the pressure to dot every i and cross every t.  The form requires you to do a routine blood test, HIV test, HbsAg Test and TB test.  I knew going in I had to be fasting.  By the time the doctor completed the physical it was almost 9:00AM.  So going in for the labs I was hungry.  The lab tech didn't have any butterfly needles and went digging in my right arm.  One TINY drop of blood was obtained.  She moved on to my left arm.  Not even a drop.  I was doing fine ... until she started digging in my hand.  I started feeling woozy and told her ... I remember putting my head down on the table ... and then hearing voices as I started to wake up.  I passed out cold.  Ugh.  Thankfully they gave me paperwork to get my labs done at Qwest Diagnostics.  I planned to get them tomorrow ... until I looked at their website and realized they are closed on Saturdays.  So I braved it and went to Qwest after work.  Guess who had butterfly needles?  Guess who successfully drew my labs!  SCORE!  The HIV and Hep tests should be back in a week.  I just have to get my TB test done at a RediClinic and have it read ... once all of those things are complete the Wellness Center can sign off on my paperwork.  Yay!  

The funny thing ... after all of that ... I don't think I got one thing checked off the list yet.  Hopefully next week I am able to plow through some of the "TO DOs".  

Today one of my students drew Bryson his first picture (Anime style of course!)  LOVE!

Have a great night!  

Bring Bryson Home T-Shirts

Please check out: 
https://www.bonfire.com/help-bring-bryson-home/

I am selling T-Shirts!  Let me know what you think!!!

Introductions

Many of you viewing this site know me.  For those who do not, let me introduce myself.  I am Jennifer Ruppert!  I was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa (GO HAWKEYES!) and moved to Texas in July 2003 to accept a position as a Deaf Education teacher.  Fast forward 14 years, and I'm still here!  For the last 13 years I have taught in Conroe ISD (North Houston).  For the last 12 years I have taught at Vogel Intermediate.  I absolutely love teaching 5th / 6th grade.  

Having just turned 36 and still single I have decided to start my own family through adoption.  I feel called to adopt a Deaf child.  

Why have I decided to adopt internationally?  In researching kiddos who are Deaf in the US I found that many are part of a sibling group and have multiple disabilities.  At this time, that would be too much for me to handle.  In looking internationally, I was saddened to learn that many deaf children are placed in institutions as they get older because they have not learned sign language and are unable to communicate.  Imagine a child who is smart, only lacking in communication due to a lack of resources, sitting in an institution for the rest of their life.  How devastating!  

I have belonged to "Rainbow Kids", an online advocacy page for years.  I was under the impression adoption was a process I would not be able to afford.  Early in February an adorable boy popped up on my Facebook feed.  He grabbed my attention and pulled at my heart strings.  I inquired with the agency he was listed with and there were several unknowns about his health as they believe he has CP.  I had to be realistic and realize that I cannot care for a medically needy child.  I realize there are always unknowns when you adopt a child, but I need to set boundaries of what I can handle as a single mom.  


After going through Rainbow Kids and looking at other deaf children I stumbled upon "Hands in Hands" and Pam Thomas (an amazing adoption coordinator for HiH).  I talked to Pam for quite some time and we talked about the initial qualifications (net worth, health, etc) and she sent me information to see if I could come up with the numbers needed.  When the numbers got me to where I needed to be for my net worth as a single person, she sent me some kids files.  How could you not fall in love with EVERY child?!  

Going through the kids' files was hard.  How do you pick just one child?  I had to think realistically and set parameters.  I was open to either a boy or a girl.  I want to adopt a deaf child.  I set the age parameters to a current age of 4 to 8, maybe 9.  I wanted the child to be old enough to be enrolled in school full time and of elementary age.  I the child was too old, they would be enrolled at Vogel and I would have to switch teaching assignments for the two years they are at Vogel.  Having all of the newness of parenthood at the same time as switching schools would be TOO MUCH.  

Bryson.  When I opened his file, I knew he was the one.  He would be my son.  He recently turned six (they had to best guess his birthday) and he is the most adorable boy!  My heart melted.  

On Sunday February 26th (my Dad's birthday) I submitted my letter of intent to China asking to be Bryson's Mom.  China received it as they started their business day Monday February 27th.  Pam told me it could take one day to one week to hear from China and receive my preapproval.  Almost a week in that changed as she had another family receive their preapproval after two weeks.  I had to be patient ... it was super hard ... and I had to remind myself daily to be patient.  

TEN days later on Wednesday March 8th I got a text about 8:00PM from Pam to check my email.  Oddly enough I had checked it 3 minutes before ... and had the usual junk mail.  So I refreshed my email ... to find ... MY PREAPPROVAL letter from China.  I called my parents ... then my brother ... and the rest is history!  

Last night I posted on Facebook and I cannot keep up with the messages!  I cannot believe the amount of love I have received.  I cannot wait for you all to meet Bryson.  But me FIRST :)  

Now begins the journey of Bringing Bryson Home.  I will be starting up some different fundraising campaigns.  I have something up my sleeve ... but I don't want to spill the beans until I work out the logistics.  Hopefully within a week I can share with you all!  
I will most likely be closing my YouCaring page and starting a new page that was suggested by a friend who has fundraised for adoption.  I'm not sure if you all know ... but GoFundMe takes roughly 10% of proceeds ... YouCaring 3.2% ... and the site that was recommended does not take a percentage.  

If you would like to donate in the meantime you can PayPal me by choosing "Send Money to Friends/Family" ... I am jenruppert3@gmail.com

Every day is a learning experience!  Today I received my dossier instructions and I filled out the initial paperwork to begin my home study.  I will be learning as I go ... and asking a million questions to my social worker and Pam.  

Tomorrow morning I will do my blood work to begin the home study.  Gotta start checking different things off my list ... might as well start by doing the physical!  

Please check back as I document my journey in Bringing Bryson Home!

Love you all!  Take Care!