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West Columbia, SC Weather
Columbia, SC
56 °F (56 °F)
Jan
31
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Finger printing, today we got finger printed. No red and blue lights, handcuffs or cops we didn’t even have black ink on our fingers. I was so disappointed. We had it done the new fangled High Tech way with clear gel and a computer. The first thing the guy did was squeeze some clear gel goop on our fingers and said rub you hand together. Becky was so happy because her hands were dry, it’s a girl thing. I think I’ll be saying that a lot since we are going to adopt a girl. When it came time for me to get my finger prints done I was half expecting a message to pop up on the computer screen saying Detain Him, Wanted Fugitive, Shoot on Sight, etc. Fortunately nothing happened and we escaped without incident. Oh, on the way to Charlotte to get our finger prints done we called my Grandmother and told her that we are adopting a baby from China. I think she was shocked, she really didn’t seem to know what to say. When we got back to Columbia, Grandma had called my parents and they told me she sounded excited. Guess I don’t talk to Grandma enough.
Jan
30
Home Study Visit #4 of 4
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Hooray we finished the 4 Home Study visits. I’m going to miss meeting with June, she is one of a kind (I mean that in a good way). We still have a few more meetings with June before this is all over and finalized. We had a blast this last visit. We found out that Cindi was meeting with June to start her Home Study the same time we were picking up our Home Study first draft. Cindi is so excited and like us she seems to be ready to go get the kid RIGHT NOW!! I hate being the bad guy and saying “no” we can’t buy that yet to Becky, I think she’s about to burst. June also had another girl, Cara, come for a visit. She’s having her fair share of trouble with INS, just like Fred and LaWanna. June is having to prepare more detailed info about her and her husband never having had any criminal charges for “sexual abuse” because it was not clearly written out in the home study. Cara and her husband are adopting two children from Russia and she was sharing all her war stories and I hope it made her feel good that we all could empathize with her. Turns out that she worked for Cindi in the mid 80’s at a restaurant that Cindi and Bill had at the time. What a small world. We were glad to have Cara there and I think it made Cindi feel even more assured that this is right path for her and Bill. Oh, did I mention we met again at “Hops”. June’s business partner, Joe, also showed up and we kind of dominated the area where we were sitting and that didn’t seem to sit well with a group of alternate life style women. They finally moved to get away from us, our noisy table. We tried to call LaWanna but were unsuccessful. Little did we know that she called us back while we were at Hops but it was so noisy we didn’t hear the phone. Next time. We had a great time talking for the next 3 hours about adoptions while walking though many stores and me saying “Not yet Becky!”. We also started talking about names and have a few in mind.
Jan
29
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Becky Emailed Florence about our crazy letter, with details of what to include, and she replied that she is working on it. Thank You Florence. We got the Dossier packet today from GWCA and Abbi is our contact person. From what LaWanna told Becky the Dossier is even more forms and BS, just when I thought we couldn’t possibly have more to do. Michele warned also us that this would become more work but we’ve been cruising along so easily and thought she was just as anxious to get everything to China. That’s a laugh. From reading the packet, nothing seems too difficult, but it will be very time consuming. Actually we just got power back to our house so that’s how I’m able to update this page right now.. I hope it will last. 4 days without power, with freezing temperatures, is enough for me. Completing a dossier package now will be a breeze. Bring it on! Got an Email from Cindi & Bill so we sent them the Baby Creighton site, I hope it is helpful. I need to go back and add more info to the past dates. I seem to keep remembering new things that we did, Becky is helping me update this Journal. I’m glad she sees the importance of doing this for the child, family and friends we meet along the way.
Jan
28
After having lost power to our house for 3 days. Our house looked like an abandoned campground with bark on the floor from the wood we used for fire. Blankets were everywhere and a pile of dishes in the sink. I think we passed. Our house was 41° F and I think June was happier to get out and find a place warm to talk. We set up the 4th and final visit for Friday the 30th. One chapter is closing and another one is beginning as we wait for the power to check our Email. Becky called and had a Great talk with LaWanna. We wanted to check on them to see how they were dealing with the storm and if they were without power. They did have power and LaWanna offered us a place to get warm and shower but we couldn’t leave the girls. Also, we’ve been using Becky’s parent’s house as a shower house. The conversation seemed to make Becky feel better and that made me feel better knowing that she is feeling better. Becky is climbing the walls wanting to get her little hands on the dossier package so she and LaWanna walked through the dossier process and then had fun talking about buying for the baby and the baby’s room and the fight they are both having with these urges to buy. LaWanna mentioned some adoption classes that are held at Saxe Gotha (hoped I spelled this right) church in Lexington so that should be interesting.
Jan
24
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Where to start, we had quite a day. We got up and in typical Creighton fashion, running late. As we drove to the Chinese New Year party Becky called Florence Hightower and asked her if she would provide a letter stating that we are sane. Florence was thrilled and happy to write the letter for us. She just wants us to find out what all needs to be in the letter before she writes it. Thank You Florence. We finally arrived at the church 45 min late but no one seemed to care. We stood around and finally started meeting people, hearing stories and exchanging information with several people. It was a relief to meet people that understand what we have been through. We met a couple Fred & LaWanna today and they seem to be just a few weeks ahead of us in the INS approval process. I hope we can catch up with them and travel to China together. We also met with another couple Bill and Cindi that were still in the do I want to do this stage. By the end of the day they seemed to be convinced. I hope they find the happiness that Becky and I are seeking. We then went to Splendid China a Chinese restaurant. We were the first ones there and weren’t sure if we were in the right place until everyone paraded in. Kim another person we met is going to China to pick up her new daughter in 11 days. Kim lives on the other side of US1 maybe 2 miles from our house and not too far from Michele. I can’t begin to tell you how good it felt to meet all these people. We got some Great advice. I can’t wait to see everyone there again. I have to say I was concerned about getting an ugly kid but I didn’t see any ugly kids at the party. Another thing we were told is that the reason you send your photo over to China is that they try to match you with a child that looks kind of like you, isn’t that scary. Hopefully they look more at Becky than me. Oh, Michele’s girls are gorgeous I hope we are that lucky.
Jan
23
Home Study Visit #2 of 4
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Becky and her Mom (Ruth) went to INS in Greer, SC today and saw Mrs. Gutwald. June told Becky to see no one else but Mrs. Gutwald and say “If you don’t touch these papers my baby will be butt ugly.” You have to meet June to understand. Needless to say that was not the first time Mrs. Gutwald heard that line. Of course she denied having any say in what the baby would look like or if it had Colic (sp?). Becky handed over the INS Form I-600A, Birth certificates, Marriage license, Tax returns and a check for $560.00 to start the petition to adopt a foreign child and told Mrs. Gutwald that she was evidently passed on luck by processing the paperwork so we felt very confident. She then rolled her eyes and they walked through what was in our packet and then Becky and her mom were on their way. While there, they saw a beautiful Chinese girl around 2 yrs old with her mom getting some type of paperwork and Becky wanted to ask if they could just take her but the guard at the door had a gun and they decided that was a bad idea. We also got to have the second of 4 meetings with June Bond. We met her at “Hops” and talked for an hour. Becky’s mom really enjoyed meeting June and we had fun pestering the waiter. One of the new items June asked for was another letter from our Doctor stating that we are mentally and emotionally ready for parenthood. As I thought about it I got upset. There are crack whores and teenagers having babies and I have to have a letter stating I’m sane in order to adopt a baby. It’s not June. She is just trying to cover any and all questions brought up by the INS in Atlanta. Apparently the INS in Atlanta is on a power trip and June is battling with them for other families right now. Actually, it’s just this one lady there, Officer Honner (sp?). We shouldn’t have any problems but June is trying to cover all the bases. That still doesn’t mean that I can’t be pissed about it. Tomorrow Becky is going to try calling Florence Hightower. Florence works with Dr. Whitman and is a Psychologist specializing in reproduction therapy or something like that. We felt she had seen us through one of our darkest times so we’ll try to get her to give us a reference letter. You know one that says that Pete & Becky are not Wack Jobs and would make wonderful parents. Oh, we also got a phone call from GWCA letting us know that they got the contract and have processed it and the next package of forms and instructions to create our dossier for China are on the way. Tomorrow we are going to a party for Chinese New Year put on by the Midlands FCC. We can’t wait. I almost forgot we got Jimmy’s letter of reference in the mail today, Yahoo we now have all the letters of reference.
Jan
22
There’s no turning back now. We mailed the signed contract and check for half the GWCA agency fee $2,250 UPS Next Day. The contract basically states that if we back now out we loose all our money and that GWCA is not responsible for a bunch of stuff like if the kid is broken. I think I like the contract that we signed for adopting our cat Sesame better. It just said don’t declaw the cat which we did 3 months after getting the cat. Don’t tell any one. I also got 3 copies of our marriage certificate from DHEC. While I was at DHEC I got Marie’s letter of reference. Tonight we are pulling together all the information for the INS Form I-600A. The INS wants everything pictures of the house, marriage & birth certificates (certified of course) and so on.
Jan
20
We got the contract and our formal written Approved notice from GWCA today and Sara’s reference letter.
Jan
19
Home Study Visit #1 of 4
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We met June for lunch at “On the Border” today for our first of 4 visits. It’s not that June really likes us; although we hope she does, it’s required by China that we have four visits by a Social Worker to insure we are decent people and have a nice home to raise a child. Of course we both had to take our weekly Saturday shower this Monday morning and had to comb our hair and use that there deodorant so we smell real nice. I think we fooled her this time, however the next visit will be at our house so the rest of the week will be a flurry of activity cleaning the house of two over worked and under paid state employees (No, not our house, we’re going to find someone with a fancy house to impress June). We had a Great time at lunch. Boy can June talk (June if you read this, I mean that in a good way). We are still finding out how little we know about what we are getting ourselves into (I mean that in a good way as well). We turned over our life in paperwork and a Money Order for $50 to have a background check by SLED. Since I was and still am the perfect child; many people still say, I have nothing to worry about; but Becky, talk about a women with a past (I’m just kidding, wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Factoid: One of the interesting things June pointed out is that most Engineers adopt from China and people with a Liberal Arts background adopt from Russia. If you read 1/17/04, June also thought “Rubarb” was the best. Unfortunately my parents can’t let it go and are trying to come up with a name to top “Rubarb”. Our poor child.
Jan
17
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Got a call from June to set up the first of four Home Study visits. No one said that this was going to be easy. We also got a call from Becky’s Mom (Ruth) with the first of several name suggestions. Ruth came up with the name “Babe Ruth” for Pete’s Mom (Barbara) & Ruth. My parents responded with, if the child is a boy, we could name him “Whopper” for Becky’s Dad (Walter) and Pete’s Dad (Pete). Ruth immediately came back with “Rubarb” for Ruth and Barbara. Becky and I both felt that “Rubarb” was the best but my parents couldn’t let that name go unanswered. My parents followed up with “Reba”, “R” for Ruth, “E” for Pete, “B” for Barbara and “A” for Walter. Again, Ruth came back with “Phoebe” for Pete and Becky. After that flurry of potential baby names, we begged them to stop. I can assure you the child will not be named any of those names.
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