Today we got to go to the Commissary and get groceries for our exciting weekend! My Mom, Aunt, Cousin, and Cousin's 2 boys are all coming to visit! I am very excited. I'm sure they'll be excited too - once they survive the drive out! :) They are due to arrive tomorrow around dinnertime. We're thrilled. G asks daily if R (my cousin's oldest) will be here after her nap. Finally I can say that he'll be here tomorrow but she still has to wait all day!
Tonight Ben has Taekwon Do which he started last week. So far he loves it! Tonight he gets to wear his new uniform for the first time and I can't wait to take pictures!
Tomorrow I'm taking both kids to have their pictures taken. We used to do this in December each year and then we moved and it got moved to later in the year and I realized....B doesn't look pale and sickly in the spring and summer! We should do pictures then! :) Poor B inherited my complexion and he always looked tired and pale in pictures taken at Christmastime, this is a much better time of year when he's been outside playing for over a month. :)
No news today so I guess our home study is still sitting in transition. Hopefully early next week it will be sent to USCIS.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Homestudy!
The homestudy is completed and we've been given an electronic copy to review! Yay! I've looked it over and it looks good. Brian is going to look it over tonight and then we'll email them back tonight. Hopefully it can be finalized and mailed off to USCIS by the end of the week! That would be exciting. I know I'm usually optimistic with the timing of things so it may be next week but we're getting there.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Thougths and update
Thoughts on the weekend:
B spent the night in G's room 2 nights in a row! It actually went really well. We set a timer and said that they could talk/giggle/etc until the timer went off then it was time for sleep. B is much better at this than G - part age and maybe part male/female genes, but both nights they were quiet by 8:30, maybe even a bit sooner. The downside - G missed naps Friday and Saturday so by Sunday she was exhausted! We made both kids take a nap/have rest time Sunday between church and Home Group - they were in their rooms at noon and we're pretty sure both fell asleep! :)
Ear Infections:
Blah! G is on her fifth round with an ear infection since November (some of those have been double so it's about 7-8 ear infections if you look at it that way). The doctor is starting to be concerned. The ENT back in November said that her ears were clear so we're not sure where to go from here.
Our Adoption Journey:
Not ours - it's the title of a blog. Her post today was excellent and I wanted to share that. There is a link on the side of my blog to hers and it's excellent. Kala - you're in my prayers! Thanks for your honesty. It helps me confront my demons more head on (not that I feel the need to write about them yet, but we'll see!). :)
Barker Annual Conference:
I attended a conference put on by our Adoption Agency on Saturday and it was excellent. Collins Tuohy (the adoptive sister from the Blind Side) was the opening Speaker and I was very interested in all she had to say. She is a wonderful speaker, seems very down to earth and connects well with her audience.
There were three sessions that I attended, the first one was on transcultural adoption. Rhonda Roorda was an excellent speaker and very friendly, I was able to speak with her briefly later on, and I especially appreciated her input as an adoptee.
The second two were both panels of adoptees. The first was siblings through birth and adoption, obviously one I was very interested in and I was very interested to hear their perspectives. The second was a panel of college students who were all international adoptees. They had a lot of good insight to offer as well. It was very well done.
Scott Simon, from NPR, did the closing and he was funny and engaging. I appreciated his insights.
Update:
Our homestudy is officially in the hands of our agency. Our wonderful social worker emailed us this morning! I am excited to move forward! :) Now I need to write the Dear Birthmom letter than I've been struggling with for too long. Please pray for me to know what to say! Thanks!
B spent the night in G's room 2 nights in a row! It actually went really well. We set a timer and said that they could talk/giggle/etc until the timer went off then it was time for sleep. B is much better at this than G - part age and maybe part male/female genes, but both nights they were quiet by 8:30, maybe even a bit sooner. The downside - G missed naps Friday and Saturday so by Sunday she was exhausted! We made both kids take a nap/have rest time Sunday between church and Home Group - they were in their rooms at noon and we're pretty sure both fell asleep! :)
Ear Infections:
Blah! G is on her fifth round with an ear infection since November (some of those have been double so it's about 7-8 ear infections if you look at it that way). The doctor is starting to be concerned. The ENT back in November said that her ears were clear so we're not sure where to go from here.
Our Adoption Journey:
Not ours - it's the title of a blog. Her post today was excellent and I wanted to share that. There is a link on the side of my blog to hers and it's excellent. Kala - you're in my prayers! Thanks for your honesty. It helps me confront my demons more head on (not that I feel the need to write about them yet, but we'll see!). :)
Barker Annual Conference:
I attended a conference put on by our Adoption Agency on Saturday and it was excellent. Collins Tuohy (the adoptive sister from the Blind Side) was the opening Speaker and I was very interested in all she had to say. She is a wonderful speaker, seems very down to earth and connects well with her audience.
There were three sessions that I attended, the first one was on transcultural adoption. Rhonda Roorda was an excellent speaker and very friendly, I was able to speak with her briefly later on, and I especially appreciated her input as an adoptee.
The second two were both panels of adoptees. The first was siblings through birth and adoption, obviously one I was very interested in and I was very interested to hear their perspectives. The second was a panel of college students who were all international adoptees. They had a lot of good insight to offer as well. It was very well done.
Scott Simon, from NPR, did the closing and he was funny and engaging. I appreciated his insights.
Update:
Our homestudy is officially in the hands of our agency. Our wonderful social worker emailed us this morning! I am excited to move forward! :) Now I need to write the Dear Birthmom letter than I've been struggling with for too long. Please pray for me to know what to say! Thanks!
Russia
I'm sure many of you have heard about the incident that happened with the Russian adoption. Brief overview for those of you who haven't (perhaps with a bit of my opinions mixed in so bear with me).
A woman adopted from Russia and brought her son home. She found out that he had more (emotional) difficulties than she was made aware of or able to handle. Up to this point I feel for her. I am sure that she was exhausted, not sleeping, scared, felt alone, and wasn't thinking straight. It's horrible. However, it still doesn't excuse her actions. She put this poor 8 year old little boy who, though difficult, has never been treated fully with love by anyone which has created at least some of the difficulties in the first place, on a plane alone back to Moscow with a note. That's all. She didn't contact anyone or ask for help. I am sure she was out of her mind at the time, but I am also sure that her agency said that if ever there is a problem to come to them. They will help find a new home for the child if she couldn't handle it.
Due to her actions, Russia is not threatening to close down all adoptions with the US. Right now it's not fully shut down but there are likely to be many additional hoops to jump through for those in the process and a halt on anyone coming into the process. My heart aches for all those families who have either met their children or were about to and are having everything delayed and changed. Please pray for these families. On one of the forums I'm on there are a couple of people who are pretty far into the process (one was supposed to travel this week), please keep them in your prayers! And pray for all those children in the Russian orphanages who need good homes. Thanks!
A woman adopted from Russia and brought her son home. She found out that he had more (emotional) difficulties than she was made aware of or able to handle. Up to this point I feel for her. I am sure that she was exhausted, not sleeping, scared, felt alone, and wasn't thinking straight. It's horrible. However, it still doesn't excuse her actions. She put this poor 8 year old little boy who, though difficult, has never been treated fully with love by anyone which has created at least some of the difficulties in the first place, on a plane alone back to Moscow with a note. That's all. She didn't contact anyone or ask for help. I am sure she was out of her mind at the time, but I am also sure that her agency said that if ever there is a problem to come to them. They will help find a new home for the child if she couldn't handle it.
Due to her actions, Russia is not threatening to close down all adoptions with the US. Right now it's not fully shut down but there are likely to be many additional hoops to jump through for those in the process and a halt on anyone coming into the process. My heart aches for all those families who have either met their children or were about to and are having everything delayed and changed. Please pray for these families. On one of the forums I'm on there are a couple of people who are pretty far into the process (one was supposed to travel this week), please keep them in your prayers! And pray for all those children in the Russian orphanages who need good homes. Thanks!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Waiting Wednesday: Why South Korea?
We are often asked why we chose Korea. There are several answers to this question so I'll do the best I can explaining it.
~ We fit the profile: we are within the age ranges (Brian didn't qualify for some - he was too young :P), we are within the weight ranges (Korea actually has a set BMI that you must be under in order to qualify to adopt from there), and Korea allowed us to have 2 biological children at home and still adopt.
~ The timeline is on the faster end for international adoption. Approximately 18 months from start to finish (give or take a few months) is faster than many countries, even though it seems slow to us. Since we knew we were going to be here for 2 years (we're hoping for longer, but that's all we know for now) this fit within our time restrictions.
~ The children in Korea are around 1 when parents travel to bring them home. We hoped for a younger child so that there would be a fairly natural transition for B and G into having a younger siblings.
~ Cost and travel! While the cost of international adoption is pretty high no matter what, the fact that we only have to travel for a week definitely helps. Many countries require 2 trips and each trip is anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks in length. With 2 kids at home and Brian's job this wasn't a possibility for us. We also are likely to be able to travel to Korea with our children one day as well.
~ We will have a lot of information. We will have extensive medical information on our child as well as possible contact with the birthmom later on (that's up to her - we will send updates through our agency to the Korean agency once a year). Also, the foster system in Korea is wonderful.
There are many other factors that we discussed at the time but this gives an overview of our decision. I'll discuss domestic vs. international in another post.
~ We fit the profile: we are within the age ranges (Brian didn't qualify for some - he was too young :P), we are within the weight ranges (Korea actually has a set BMI that you must be under in order to qualify to adopt from there), and Korea allowed us to have 2 biological children at home and still adopt.
~ The timeline is on the faster end for international adoption. Approximately 18 months from start to finish (give or take a few months) is faster than many countries, even though it seems slow to us. Since we knew we were going to be here for 2 years (we're hoping for longer, but that's all we know for now) this fit within our time restrictions.
~ The children in Korea are around 1 when parents travel to bring them home. We hoped for a younger child so that there would be a fairly natural transition for B and G into having a younger siblings.
~ Cost and travel! While the cost of international adoption is pretty high no matter what, the fact that we only have to travel for a week definitely helps. Many countries require 2 trips and each trip is anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks in length. With 2 kids at home and Brian's job this wasn't a possibility for us. We also are likely to be able to travel to Korea with our children one day as well.
~ We will have a lot of information. We will have extensive medical information on our child as well as possible contact with the birthmom later on (that's up to her - we will send updates through our agency to the Korean agency once a year). Also, the foster system in Korea is wonderful.
There are many other factors that we discussed at the time but this gives an overview of our decision. I'll discuss domestic vs. international in another post.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
A website that I enjoy
I'm a big fan of the Creating a Family website. Here is a preview of the show for this week:
This week's Creating a Family show (April 7) will be a panel of adult transracial adoptees. Join us for a frank discussion with the real experts on transracial adoption—adults of color who were adopted by white parents as children. They can tell us much about what worked, what didn't, what they would suggest to this generation of transracial adoptive parents. The panel includes adults who were adopted domestically, from Korea, from China and from Colombia.
You can listen or download the show at http://www.creating afamily.org/ radioshow. html You can send questions in advance to "info at creatingafamily. org". Please pass the news about this show to other forums and groups.
This week's Creating a Family show (April 7) will be a panel of adult transracial adoptees. Join us for a frank discussion with the real experts on transracial adoption—adults of color who were adopted by white parents as children. They can tell us much about what worked, what didn't, what they would suggest to this generation of transracial adoptive parents. The panel includes adults who were adopted domestically, from Korea, from China and from Colombia.
You can listen or download the show at http://www.creating afamily.org/ radioshow. html
Monday, April 5, 2010
A little bit longer wait....
It looks like I was a bit optimistic that the homestudy would be wrapped up by the end of this week. It sounds like it'll be to our adoption agency for editing at the end of the week so hopefully by early to mid NEXT week it will be ready to be sent to USCIS. I know it's not a huge adjustment it's just that each step has taken just a little longer than anticipated. I know I should expect this but I'm not good at it! I know it'll be fine. It's all in God's hands, not mine.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Happy Easter!
We were blessed to have Brian's brother and a friend from church join us for dinner today. They were awesome because they both helped cook and/or played with the kids quite a bit while Brian and I were cooking. I'm now stuffed!
Funny moments from dinner:
**I asked Ella if she remembered where we knew S from (he's in our home group at church but the kids pay very little attention to the adults). She said yes - Blue's Clues. Never thought of it but I guess he looks a little like the guy on the show. Oddly we hardly ever watch Blue's Clues.
**Ella trying to lick her plate clean (until we stopped her and sent her to the bathroom to clean up).
**Not much else so I guess I have to say that Ben was awesome during dinner. He told us about his volcano (potatoes with gravy) and ate with no complaints. If you have known my child since he was little you'd know that he used to be a horribly picky eater and meals used to be miserable. This change isn't funny but it's wonderful so I'm sharing it.
No news on the adoption front. We're hoping that our paperwork is sent to USCIS by the end of this week. First our social worker has to finish writing it up (and do one more interview, I think) and then send it to our agency for proof reading, then our SW edits it and it's ready to be sent. I hope that's not optimistic. We'll see.
Have a glorious week!
Funny moments from dinner:
**I asked Ella if she remembered where we knew S from (he's in our home group at church but the kids pay very little attention to the adults). She said yes - Blue's Clues. Never thought of it but I guess he looks a little like the guy on the show. Oddly we hardly ever watch Blue's Clues.
**Ella trying to lick her plate clean (until we stopped her and sent her to the bathroom to clean up).
**Not much else so I guess I have to say that Ben was awesome during dinner. He told us about his volcano (potatoes with gravy) and ate with no complaints. If you have known my child since he was little you'd know that he used to be a horribly picky eater and meals used to be miserable. This change isn't funny but it's wonderful so I'm sharing it.
No news on the adoption front. We're hoping that our paperwork is sent to USCIS by the end of this week. First our social worker has to finish writing it up (and do one more interview, I think) and then send it to our agency for proof reading, then our SW edits it and it's ready to be sent. I hope that's not optimistic. We'll see.
Have a glorious week!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Excited about a new idea: Crazy Love
A blog that I just heard of and started following has a pretty cool idea about giving to those who need it, whether to help support their adoption, or help because someone lost a job, etc. To learn more about it go to: http://aplacecalledsimplicity.blogspot.com/ and look at her post on Crazy Love.
Home again, home again jiggity jig...
with my 2 little pigs. :) We had an amazing time in Florida. When we were leaving G said that Ch (H's youngest daughter) is her best friend and B said that he wishes we were all family and could always be together. Talk about speaking right to my heart! It was so hard to leave but hopefully they'll be visiting us soon! It's too bad I don't post pictures b/c I'm paranoid - but I have some ADORABLE ones from our trip. Too bad H and I never think to get in any until the last morning when we look exhausted and not put together at all. Oh well.
We're still waiting to hear that our homestudy is all written up. Hoping for early this week! Right now I'm letting our eggs sit that I just boiled and I'm going to do some egg coloring with the kids! I love Easter! Such an amazing holiday. It's all about New Life in Christ and takes place in spring which is also filled with lots of new life. It's always been one of my favorite holidays (probably b/c I was born on it!). ;)
I've been following some wonderful blogs and I'm part of a yahoo forum and it seems like I've seen several travel calls and referrals lately. Congratulations to all! So excited to see the creation of these wonderful forever families!
Hopefully my brother in law is headed this way today (car troubles have stalled him) and the kids are very excited to see him! We also told them that we could get their bikes out so they are thrilled. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Happy Easter!
We're still waiting to hear that our homestudy is all written up. Hoping for early this week! Right now I'm letting our eggs sit that I just boiled and I'm going to do some egg coloring with the kids! I love Easter! Such an amazing holiday. It's all about New Life in Christ and takes place in spring which is also filled with lots of new life. It's always been one of my favorite holidays (probably b/c I was born on it!). ;)
I've been following some wonderful blogs and I'm part of a yahoo forum and it seems like I've seen several travel calls and referrals lately. Congratulations to all! So excited to see the creation of these wonderful forever families!
Hopefully my brother in law is headed this way today (car troubles have stalled him) and the kids are very excited to see him! We also told them that we could get their bikes out so they are thrilled. Hope everyone has a wonderful day! Happy Easter!
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