Sooooo now we are still waiting. We have a trip to St. Louis in July, and a trip to Atlanta in September
Sunday, June 21, 2009
More of the same
We got our home study update in the mail last week, surprisingly. We were not worried about getting it real quick, we figured she would have it to us by the time we would be ready to travel. We also sent a care package to the baby/orphanage. We used a service in China, www.redthredchina.com , the lady that runs it, Ann, was very helpful. She did call and get us some updated sizes, and pics! Unfortunately the pics were the same ones we already had, :( The care package included a disposable camera, so I'm hoping we will get some new pics anyways. We have no idea if they will use the camera, and if they do, if they will send it to us, or if they will just give it to us when we get there.
Sooooo now we are still waiting. We have a trip to St. Louis in July, and a trip to Atlanta in September, and then Disney World in October. And somewhere in there, hopefully before November, we will be going to China. We're hoping the China trip doesn't overlap any of these other trips, but if our agency calls and tells us a date, we are going!
Sooooo now we are still waiting. We have a trip to St. Louis in July, and a trip to Atlanta in September
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Waiting is no fun
We sent a care package to the baby and foster home a few days ago. We are hoping to get some more updated photos and information on her, mainly sizes, so we can buy some clothes.
Also, our home study update, should have been done last week, but our social worker "lost it". Now, usually I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but every single thing our social worker has had to do, gets messed up. She lost the initial home study and had to re-interview us. Then we needed it updated due to a typo, one sentence was wrong. That took 2 months. So even though I typed out the new update, and all she had to do was print it and sign it, making it as easy as possible for her, she still screwed that up. SO, if you want to know the name of a service/social worker in the area that is really knowledgeable and nice, but extremely slow and forgetful, let me know, I can get you her info, :(
We are also still working on a name for the kid, not sure how that is going to go yet. We are fairly certain we will keep the "Ying" portion as her middle name, but no idea on the first name as of yet. We're taking suggestions of course!
Also, our home study update, should have been done last week, but our social worker "lost it". Now, usually I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but every single thing our social worker has had to do, gets messed up. She lost the initial home study and had to re-interview us. Then we needed it updated due to a typo, one sentence was wrong. That took 2 months. So even though I typed out the new update, and all she had to do was print it and sign it, making it as easy as possible for her, she still screwed that up. SO, if you want to know the name of a service/social worker in the area that is really knowledgeable and nice, but extremely slow and forgetful, let me know, I can get you her info, :(
We are also still working on a name for the kid, not sure how that is going to go yet. We are fairly certain we will keep the "Ying" portion as her middle name, but no idea on the first name as of yet. We're taking suggestions of course!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
We got PA!!!!!!!
Wow, this is borderline stupid at this point, we are flying through most of the steps. We just got the email today that the CCAA(China Gov for adoption stuff) pre-approved our letter of intent. Usually this takes 1-4 weeks, so we are surprised that we got it in 2 days! Here are a couple pics of Dang Ying!
A little bit of info since we can legally give it out. She was born 8/30/07, so she is about 5 months younger than Matt. She is in the Henan Province in a Pingdingshan Orphanage, actually its a foster home. She is "special needs", she has cleft lip/palate, ToF/Tetralogy of Fallot(Heart disease), and a floating kidney. The cleft lip has been repaired, and we think maybe partially the palate, but she may need another surgery, we will just have to check. The heart issue has also been surgically corrected. As for the floating kidney, apparently thats not a big deal, most people don't even know that they have it unless they experience some kind of pain from it. No surgery or treatment required for it unless it bothers her. We reviewed her medical profile with 3 doctors, and they all seemed to say the same things, and weren't overly concerned with most of the issues she had. So now, we are back to the awful process of waiting. The agency said even though all our other approvals have gone through so quickly, that the next step likely won't, and will be about 4-5 months before we are set to travel.
A little bit of info since we can legally give it out. She was born 8/30/07, so she is about 5 months younger than Matt. She is in the Henan Province in a Pingdingshan Orphanage, actually its a foster home. She is "special needs", she has cleft lip/palate, ToF/Tetralogy of Fallot(Heart disease), and a floating kidney. The cleft lip has been repaired, and we think maybe partially the palate, but she may need another surgery, we will just have to check. The heart issue has also been surgically corrected. As for the floating kidney, apparently thats not a big deal, most people don't even know that they have it unless they experience some kind of pain from it. No surgery or treatment required for it unless it bothers her. We reviewed her medical profile with 3 doctors, and they all seemed to say the same things, and weren't overly concerned with most of the issues she had. So now, we are back to the awful process of waiting. The agency said even though all our other approvals have gone through so quickly, that the next step likely won't, and will be about 4-5 months before we are set to travel.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Updates
Ok, first, since I have had a few people ask, "jnj adoption adventure", jnj stands for Jason and Jamaica. The wifey's first name is Jamaica, yes, like the country, :)
We have all our paperwork done again. We submitted the letter of intent(LOI) Monday, and it was translated and sent off to the CCAA Tuesday, so now we get to wait for the ever elusive PA. Could be 5 days, could be 35 days, I love how broad a window all the steps can be. We also confirmed our immigration status, to make sure that it lists that we are approved for a "special needs child", which it does. And lastly, *I* type up the home study addendum and sent it to the social worker. CCAI provides a basic template where you just drop in names and dates and what-not. So HOPEFULLY we will get the home study addendum back this week, all she needs to do is print it and stamp it, but historically our SW has taken lengthy periods of time to get things done. After we get the home study back, thats it, we are back to hurry up and wait status. Only NOW the whole "waiting" process sucks 10x more, because now we have a baby over there, with a name, and a face.
We are fully aware of the "averages" associated with the next few steps. Basically 4-6 months is what we were told from now until we travel. BUT, given the fact that we have greatly blown out most of the previous "average" numbers, we're hoping to get her before she turns 2, August 30th. Thats about 2.5 months away, and fairly unreasonable, but we can still hope! I've seen other people get LOA/TA in 2 months, so I know its a possibilty, :)
Since the referral came about 6 months before we had anticipated it, at the earliest, we are now faced with a few things we need to get done. A bed, DAH! I just took the baby's bed apart last month so he could sleep in his big-boy bed. Now I need to reassemble it and buy another mattress for it. Clothes, I've been batting away all the girl clothes wife looks at when we go out, saying "We don't have any idea how old/big she will be, just wait, we have a few months!" HA! That kind of backfired on me, so now we get to spend twice as long in the clothing sections looking at 2yo boys clothes, and 2yo girls clothes, grrrrrreat! Also we need to get the room arrangements setup. We are still debating on how thats going to go. Since they will be "virtual twins" we are thinking about putting their beds in the same room to let them sleep together. It will def help the bonding process, and may help ease the transition for the two of them. Then we could setup the other room as a pure playroom. We're going to do some research on that though to see what other people have experienced. We will probably need to get another stroller, or a dual stroller now too, and maybe another chest of drawers for clothes. Other than that I think we have everything else, purely because we already have a 2 year old. Now the wife's girl friends, that have been asking, can finally setup a baby shower and dump clothes on us, lol.
Lastly, yes, we have pictures of her, but we aren't supposed to post them publicly until we get PA, so as soon as we get PA, there will be pics!
We have all our paperwork done again. We submitted the letter of intent(LOI) Monday, and it was translated and sent off to the CCAA Tuesday, so now we get to wait for the ever elusive PA. Could be 5 days, could be 35 days, I love how broad a window all the steps can be. We also confirmed our immigration status, to make sure that it lists that we are approved for a "special needs child", which it does. And lastly, *I* type up the home study addendum and sent it to the social worker. CCAI provides a basic template where you just drop in names and dates and what-not. So HOPEFULLY we will get the home study addendum back this week, all she needs to do is print it and stamp it, but historically our SW has taken lengthy periods of time to get things done. After we get the home study back, thats it, we are back to hurry up and wait status. Only NOW the whole "waiting" process sucks 10x more, because now we have a baby over there, with a name, and a face.
We are fully aware of the "averages" associated with the next few steps. Basically 4-6 months is what we were told from now until we travel. BUT, given the fact that we have greatly blown out most of the previous "average" numbers, we're hoping to get her before she turns 2, August 30th. Thats about 2.5 months away, and fairly unreasonable, but we can still hope! I've seen other people get LOA/TA in 2 months, so I know its a possibilty, :)
Since the referral came about 6 months before we had anticipated it, at the earliest, we are now faced with a few things we need to get done. A bed, DAH! I just took the baby's bed apart last month so he could sleep in his big-boy bed. Now I need to reassemble it and buy another mattress for it. Clothes, I've been batting away all the girl clothes wife looks at when we go out, saying "We don't have any idea how old/big she will be, just wait, we have a few months!" HA! That kind of backfired on me, so now we get to spend twice as long in the clothing sections looking at 2yo boys clothes, and 2yo girls clothes, grrrrrreat! Also we need to get the room arrangements setup. We are still debating on how thats going to go. Since they will be "virtual twins" we are thinking about putting their beds in the same room to let them sleep together. It will def help the bonding process, and may help ease the transition for the two of them. Then we could setup the other room as a pure playroom. We're going to do some research on that though to see what other people have experienced. We will probably need to get another stroller, or a dual stroller now too, and maybe another chest of drawers for clothes. Other than that I think we have everything else, purely because we already have a 2 year old. Now the wife's girl friends, that have been asking, can finally setup a baby shower and dump clothes on us, lol.
Lastly, yes, we have pictures of her, but we aren't supposed to post them publicly until we get PA, so as soon as we get PA, there will be pics!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Referral!
We have a referral! Whats that mean? Well, it means that we reviewed a child's profile, and made visits to several Doctors for some consultation. After reviewing the precious little girl and talking it over with the family we called and told the agency YES! Her name is Dang Ying, she was born(a guess on the orphanages side) August 30, 2007. The bio-kid and the new little one will be about 5 months apart in age, yes, two 2 year olds in the same house. Mommy and daddy may need to start buying box-wine, :) She is currently in Henan province in Pingding Shan City, China. We have a little more paperwork to do now, but we are sooooooo close now(hopefully 4-5 months). I will post some more info later, but had to post SOMETHING to mark the occasion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
