Exciting News, Big Decisions, and Frustrating Situations

Interesting blog title, yes?

Exciting news: We got our written referral today!!! This is very exciting. I suspect we will have our travel dates here within the next week. Typically, with our NGO (non-governmental organization) families travel 3-4 weeks from the written referral. This means we will likely be travelling the last week of October or the first week of November. Which is kind of what we have been thinking all along. It could happen sooner though! We just have to wait and see. The crazy thing is - when you hit the point of nearly time to travel - it all becomes so real. The nerves, the stress, and the anticipation just hit you like a brick. We've been waiting for the "Written Referral" email excitedly. But, now that it is here, I've been an anxious mess all day. All the what ifs and the what nows start creeping into your mind and you start to wonder if you're really ready. All normal. Having done this once - I know that. But it doesn't stop the range of emotions from tackling you like 300 pound defensive lineman. Adoption is hard work and it is not for the faint of heart. On another note, we have decided on a middle name. Our Little Man's name will be Laird-Michael Dimitrov Hinz. We love his current middle name and we love the tie to his home country - so we are keeping it. We think it sounds fantastic with his name as well.

Big decisions: The million dollar question is, "Who is making the trip to Europe?" In the beginning it was Brian. Then, recently, it was going to be me. But we had some news in the form of an offer from a very close friend today that may have pushed the envelope back to Brian. So, as of tonight, we think Brian is going. There are so many factors that play into this decision that we did not have to worry about with Sterling's adoption. Things like getting Sterling to school and swim practice. The fact that his school is on the complete opposite town from my (Erin's) school and the same side of town as Brian's school increases our challenges. FMLA and paid time off are also playing huge roles as well as possible dates for his coming home trip and availability of help. It really isn't an easy decision. It's a HUGE decision. In some ways we both want to go. We both want to experience his home country. We both want to meet him. We both want to hold him. But for other reasons, neither of us want to go. Report card time is coming up, I (Erin) hate flying (PHOBIC,) Brian teaches college two nights a week as well. So, this decision has not come easily and there are still some factors floating out there that are important to this decision making process and we need to get those ironed out before we have a definitive. As soon as we know, for sure, we will keep you posted. Regardless of who goes, expect lots of pictures.

Frustrating situations: So, when we started on this journey we KNEW we would have to fundraise some. We had the money for the first agency payment and we knew we could get the last agency payment. We weren't overly concerned about travel, but that might be a factor down the road. What we knew we would need help with was the middle agency payment. We set up a GoFundMe account to help with that. Well, we went to withdraw that money tonight and we discovered that there is an 8% fee associated that we didn't know about. I swear we researched it. But their advertising is a little tricky. We read it again tonight and we still think it's worded in a rather tricky fashion. In short, it's our fault. We are losing almost $500 of fundraised money due to the fees. We can still make the agency fee. But losing that money really is a punch in the gut that we were not expecting. It's infuriating actually. So, if you are a family in process, stay away from GoFundMe. Lesson learned. Like I said, it is totally our fault, and it did give us the option we needed to have access to that money NOW (when the second payment is due), but beware. We would have figured something else out. For now, the GoFundMe Page is going to be shut down and all further donations can go straight to Reece's Rainbow: http://reecesrainbow.org/75904/sponsorhinz-3

All in all, things are moving really quickly. I really cannot complain. This process has been SO DIFFERENT from the Ukrainian process. Not harder. Not easier. Just different. It's LONGER. That is for sure. But, we are actually moving at a REALLY fast pace. Just so I have record somewhere, this is what our timeline has looked like so far. This will be Greek to some of you, but some of you will appreciate seeing this all typed out.

May 1: Officially Matched
June 16: USCIS Lockbox Date
July 11: USCIS Biometrics Done
July 25: USCIS Approval
August 13: Apostilled USCIS Approval Shipped
September 19: IAC Meeting
September 23: Verbal Referral
October 7: Written Referral

We are super excited to get to meet/see/photograph our littlest man. We cannot wait to share his information with you as we get it. We are not allowed to publicly disclose his country of origin but we will post pictures as we can so that you can see the gorgeous city that he lives in. Whoever goes will work on disseminating information to the other so that we can have a blog up and running while the trip is in progress. We might run on a one day delay, but we will try our best to keep you informed. Keep in mind that this is the FIRST trip. Laird-Michael is NOT coming home yet. He likely won't be home until March or April. This trip is very hard because after meeting your little, you have to leave them there. Then, in the months between all of the legal stuff occurs and you go back for your second, or 'pick up', trip.

Thanks for all of the support and well-wishes, the pixie dust and prayers, and the listening ears and loving hearts. We really do appreciate it.