Super-good news, someone won a prize, and how much is this going to cost, anyway?

Hello, there. I have several things to talk to you about today, but let me start with some great news that we heard today. According to our in-country adoption facilitator, our dossier has been verified, confirmed, and registered. I'm not EXACTLY sure what all of that means, except that they didn't find any errors, red flags, discrepancies... yay! Our facilitator said that we will receive our invitation to travel toward the end of this month. Further, he predicts that it will be in early to mid-February that we depart for our first trip. I am SO EXCITED. We were able to share the good news on facetime with Tolia today, and he was so happy. 

Today is the 12th, and you may remember that we had a little guessing-game going, and Ginger, you won a copy of The Grace Effect. Congrats, Ginger, and thank you everyone for playing! 

Our giveaway has been going so well. The love that you guys have shown us through sharing the giveaway and donating to it, has really made us feel so loved. Thank you! Some folks have asked us how much we expect the adoption to cost, and what the components are the financial components. Allow me to do my best to show you what expenses we've had so far, and share an estimate of what expenses are to come. 

So far, we've had direct adoption expenses of about $4000. I say "direct", because I'm not including hosting expenses in that total, though they are related and have been important to our adoption and family bonding (the three hosting trips have been about $8000 total).
Some of the expenses that are behind us (again, about $4000 so far):

Home study (where a social worker thoroughly checks us and our home out)
Criminal background checks
Child abuse clearances
USCIS (immigration) application
Fingerprinting
Notarization
Apostilling
FedEx
Other documents (birth certificates, marriage certificates)

Expenses to come:
Adoption facilitator fees $10,000-14,000 remaining 
Airfare for two trips: $3000-5000
Travel in-country: $1500-2000 (trains, taxis- we'll be traveling back and forth from Kyiv to Tolia's region frequently)
Hotels: $2000-3000
Food: $1000
Orphanage donation: $1500
Child's medical exam: $200
Passports: $200
Other: $1000

So, we have remaining expenses of $20,400-27,900. That estimate is cobbled together by recent families' costs and our own facilitator's estimates, taking into account our own family's unique situation and variables. We expect to be in-country for the first visit anywhere from 10 days- 3 weeks.  The second trip, for our court date and picking Tolia up, will likely be 2-4 weeks. Jude and I will probably return home immediately after court, and Dave will stay in Ukraine with Tolia, during the mandatory 10-day wait period, then will pick him up, and take him for medical exams, to get his passport, and I don't know what else. Lots of paperwork! 

Thanks for reading... I hope that that didn't give you a headache like it gave me! ;) Another look at our giveaway:

An iPad Mini! 

A Kindle Fire HDX

The Bosch Tassimo Single Serve Beverage System 

$100 gift card to Amazon

ANOTHER $100 gift card to Amazon!

An amazing assortment (more than pictured) of cookies and bars made by

 a real-deal French (well, her pastries are French, she is German and Irish, mostly)

 pastry chef. Oui oui! Will accommodate dietary restrictions. 

This GORGEOUS Vera Bradley set- 

the Signature Print Travel Bag & Slim Cosmetic Case

in Venetian Paisley, and it's even more stunning in person! 

The Perfect Party Set from 31 Gifts

(I have one of these that I won in an 

adoption fundraiser last year, and I looove it)

The Hang-Up Home Organizer from 31 Gifts

AND A $50 Target gift card 

A reminder of how it works:

1) Donate to Tolia's super-secure, tax-deductible adoption fund. Don't be alarmed, his pseudonym on there is Sasha. No worries, that is definitely our Tolia! For every $5 donation, your name will be entered into the drawing to win one of these prizes. Donate $10, get entered three times. $25 donation earns you 9 entries, and a $50 donation earns you 20 entries. I could go on. Any other large donation, I will come up with an appropriately insane number of entries for you, never fear! Once you have donated, leave a comment on this post with your donation amount, and let me know if you'd rather it not be published. 

2) SHARE this blog post. On Facebook, Twitter, or your blog. Facebook and Twitter shares get an entry, sharing on your blog gets three entries. See, you can win something for nothing! Amazing, huh? Just comment to let me know how you shared it. 

On Friday, December 20th, we will draw winners, let you know immediately, and ship these items to you STAT! I'm a nerd, and just worked out the math of your likelihood of winning a prize, and you're AT LEAST 30,000 times more likely to win a prize in this giveaway than in winning the Powerball. Great odds at winning a prize, my friend. I've won lots of times from similar adoption fundraisers. (Not to mention EVERYONE wins EVERY time they donate to an orphan's adoption)

Thanks for reading, sharing and donating, friends!