so you want to know

We have decided to adopt a special needs child from China. The SN that we are interested in are very minor. In China SN consist of everything from a birthmark to Cerebral Palsy. Many of the children are in fact healthy. We get to choose the special needs we are open too. Some of the SN on our list are strabismus, Cleft lip and/or palate (repaired or still needing repair, Syndactyly (webbed fingers), VSD, Pstosis (droopy eyelid), Hearing Impairment, and birth marks. Most of these things are very minor. We are still researching some of the others on the list.
Now i bet you are wondering why China? When we first started looking into adoption we were drawn to China. The culture, the food and we were excited to travel there. China has an age requirement that both parents have to be 30. I was not 30 yet. Also the wait to adopt a healthy baby is 32 months. So we decided to adopt from Vietnam. They didn't have that age requirement. As you know that didn't turn out very well. When we found out that we didn't meet the deadline for Vietnam we started thinking about what we wanted to do. I had done some research on Korea and found an agency that could get us a child in about 6-8 months but we didn't have the option to travel and we had to start our home study all over. While we were in the process of doing research on Korea i emailed the social worker that did our Vietnam home study. She suggested we look into a few other countries and also the special needs program from China. I started thinking about it more and more and then talked to Tracy about it. I called our social worker and talked to her more about it and she got us in contact with a few agencies she works with. I also called a few more agencies. I talked at length to some of them asking them a ton of questions. Yesterday Tracy and i met with our social worker and decided to go for it! We have to update our home study to reflect the change in country and then we have to get USCIS (the former INS) approval again. We also get to travel to China to pick her up! We are so excited to do that. This just feels right for us. Korea was like our rebound country. Korea has a great adoption program where all the kids live with foster families instead of an orphanage but it just wasn't right for us. This just feels right. So we are now "expecting" a little girl from China!
Since we are part of the Waiting Child program there isn't a set time for a referral. It could be anywhere from 6-12 months from the time we submit our waiting child application which will be sent as soon as our updated home study is completed. So hopefully by mid to late October we should be on the list! Once we accept a referral we will get an invitation to travel in about 4-6 months later. So anywhere from 9-18 months we will be a family of 3!

wait for it....

We have an announcement to make regarding our adoption. But we haven't told our parents yet so...you will have to wait for it. It's not what you think. We didn't get a referral yet. There are just some changes we are making and we want to make sure our parents know about these changes. So check back soon!

moving on

So we have decided to move on from Vietnam. We are going to try to adopt from Korea! The Korea program is something we have been looking into for a few months. I just sent our application off to our new agency. We have to have another home study done. I am a little nervous about it but i am so excited about Korea. It is a very stable program. If all goes well we should have her/him home in 6-8 months! We wont be travelling to pick them up instead they will arrive at JFK and we will pick her/him up there. I am a little bummed about not travelling. I think it would have been great to experience our babys birth country but we will have pleanty of time to take them back when they are older.
I know my last post was a little depressing. I feel like i can breathe again. This time it seems a little more real. Once we finish our home study it wont be long before we get our referral (pictures and medical info on our child) and then 4-5 months later she will be at JFK waiting for us!

defeated

September 1st came...and went. It seemed like any other day. Life went on as usual. I thought it would be different. I guess i didn't really know what to expect. There was no total eclipse, no sonic boom nothing to signify the end of our hopes and dreams. It was just like any normal day.
I feel defeated in a way. Like Vietnam got the best of me. Like Vietnam was dangling an apple in front of me saying go ahead take a bite but before i can even take a bite they pull it away and laugh. I don't know weather to laugh or cry. All i can do is do on like business as usual. But i don't feel the same as i did a few weeks ago. I was hopeful then. Now i am defeated.
At this point all we can do it wait to see if Vietnam will open up anytime soon. I guess in the next few weeks we are going to talk about what to do next. If we are going to wait it out with Vietnam or move on.

lucky number 17

We are down to 17 days. Tomorrow will be 16, then 15, 14, 13, you get the picture. I am trying to remain hopeful but I know that there is a very small likely hood that we are going to get a match in the next 17 days. All that we can hope for is that Vietnam grandfathers in dossiers at least for a few more months. We are so close on the list. If we just had a few more months we would be able to be matched with a baby. But all we can do is wait.

25 DAYS.....

AND COUNTING! Until September 1st. The day that Vietnam adoptions will cease to continue. The day that we have to have our referral or match by.
When we started this process in January I never thought it would be this stressful. Every time the phone rings I jump. Forget about sleeping. I don't remember what a full nights sleep is like! I have no problem falling asleep at first but it is staying asleep that is the problem. And once i am awake i am awake for what seems like hours. My mind racing with the "what ifs". What if we don't get a match? What if we get a match but they decide not to grandfather us in? What if we get a match? What if what if what if!
If anyone has any thoughts on how to occupy my mind for the next 25 days it would be greatly appreciated.

No News...

Is killing me!! I talked to our agency last week and there is still no news. Not even a date when we might hear something. We were told that it is "week to week now". Whatever that means. I am trying not to stress out too much. It's the not knowing that is the hardest part. We are hoping to get a match by the end of the month but that is only 2 weeks away. September 1st (the date Vietnam closes to U.S. adoptions) is fast approaching. If we don't get a match in the next 6 weeks our only hope will be that the U.S. and Vietnam come to an agreement and let adoptions to continue.
I would love to blog more but my life really isn't that interesting. I get up, have my coffee, walk Kodi, go to work, come home, make dinner, watch TV and then go to bed. Like i said... not to interesting. Although sometimes funny things happen. I got a call the other day from a realtor that was showing one of my listings and she said there was a BIG snake in the basement! She wanted me to go get it out so she could take her buyers back!! HA I told her she was crazy if she thought i was going to go anywhere near a house with a snake in it much less go near the snake. So i called the owner. He couldn't find the snake.