Whoo-hoo! A very close new friend of mine, Debbie, just got her referral yesterday. She's been matched with an adorable little 14-month-old boy named Alexander from Russia. She's a single mom who lives in nearby Silver Spring...I've already told her I can babysit. She and her mom leave for Russia probably within the next week. She and her her mom are the ones I rode to Baltimore with, just last week, to attend the parent support group meeting (Jeff was out of town), and we had such fun! They are two amazing, fun women!
Russia is different from Korea, in that once you get a referral ("match"), you must travel to Russia to accept the referral in person. You must stay there for, I think, one week, and then you have to come back to the states, wait for the paperwork to go through (a few months I think), and then they call you back to the country when your child is ready to be picked up and the adoption will be finalized in country. It will probably be hard for Debbie to meet him, get to know him, and then have to leave him until everything is finalized.
Korea is totally different: We'll get the referral and be able to accept it over the phone (our caseworker handles the direct contact with the Korean officials), after we review the child's file and run the medical file by a doctor to make sure he is healthy and there are no hidden medical issues.
Those kids from Russia are adorable, and I cannot wait to meet Debbie's son, who she's decided to name Lucas Alexander. What a beautiful ring that has to it, huh? I'm ecstatic for my friend and just had to share the good news with all! Our time is a'comin'! That being said, I have to admit, the wait is getting a lot harder, but it helps having so many friends and family members supporting us and keeping us busy with fun stuff while we wait for our dream to finally come true.
It's supposed to be a beautiful weekend here and in PA (which is where I'm headed tonight, for a much-needed visit with my nieces, sister, and parents). Enjoy the spring--it's turning out to be filled with beautiful little blessings indeed!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
I Should Clarify...
...that when I say we hope to get a referral by August, it means that we will get a MATCH at that point. Once we accept the referral, we will then have to wait 4-5 months before being united with our child. Sometimes it feels like this is never, ever going to end, but that's on the bad days. On the good days (and there are many of those), I am reminded that, like anything else in life, this is a process.
But does it HAVE to involve the damn DMV? (Whoops, I'm in MD now...I mean the MVA!) I am expecting more cranky bureaucrats behind desks. (sigh)
Going to teach yoga now. That is certainly bound to cheer me up!
Happy Easter, everyone!
But does it HAVE to involve the damn DMV? (Whoops, I'm in MD now...I mean the MVA!) I am expecting more cranky bureaucrats behind desks. (sigh)
Going to teach yoga now. That is certainly bound to cheer me up!
Happy Easter, everyone!
Friends Getting Referrals, Updating Our Home Study
Hi, everyone! We had a parent support group meeting Tuesday evening in Baltimore, and we found out that several of our friends got their referrals! Their babies are beautiful! Three couples who are adopting from Korea got referrals...and since they were ahead of us on the list, now we are bumped up by that many slots! (CC still doesn't tell us what our number is on the list, but there are 16 families waiting for boys, and we think we're at least halfway up the list, if not higher). The new estimate for time to referral is 14 months. Our paperwork went to Korea in June 2008, so it'll be 14 months in August. So hopefully we will have a referral (remember this is the "match") by the end of the summer.
I have to say, friends, the waiting is getting much much harder (to those of you waiting longer than me, sorry that I'm saying this, and I empathize with your wait!), and time seems to be passing much slower. This is the biggest test of patience I think I've ever been through in my life. I was riding with my friend Kyrie and her mom and her kids in Vienna, VA, the other day, and Kyrie started to pull into a parking spot that was labeled with a stork ("for expectant mothers only") so she was like "Whoops!" and started to pull away. But I screamed "Hey! I'm 'pregnant'! I've been freaking pregnant for 12 months now! Park here, dammit!" And she did. Ha ha! It was great. We parked there. And I dare anyone to argue with me about that.
Apparently, our caseworker informed us, we have to update our home study. So we need to obtain new copies of our latest certified driving records, we have to fill out another financial "scenario" form, we have to get new letters from our employers (stating that yes, we still work there, we were hired on X date, and we make X money). And there's one more thing I'm forgetting (I really hope it's not something ultra-bureaucratic like getting re-fingerprinted with the state or something--ugh).
Anyway, life continues to move on, and we continue to look forward to the day when we are finally, ourselves, parents. That will be one freaking awesome day.
Love you all!
I have to say, friends, the waiting is getting much much harder (to those of you waiting longer than me, sorry that I'm saying this, and I empathize with your wait!), and time seems to be passing much slower. This is the biggest test of patience I think I've ever been through in my life. I was riding with my friend Kyrie and her mom and her kids in Vienna, VA, the other day, and Kyrie started to pull into a parking spot that was labeled with a stork ("for expectant mothers only") so she was like "Whoops!" and started to pull away. But I screamed "Hey! I'm 'pregnant'! I've been freaking pregnant for 12 months now! Park here, dammit!" And she did. Ha ha! It was great. We parked there. And I dare anyone to argue with me about that.
Apparently, our caseworker informed us, we have to update our home study. So we need to obtain new copies of our latest certified driving records, we have to fill out another financial "scenario" form, we have to get new letters from our employers (stating that yes, we still work there, we were hired on X date, and we make X money). And there's one more thing I'm forgetting (I really hope it's not something ultra-bureaucratic like getting re-fingerprinted with the state or something--ugh).
Anyway, life continues to move on, and we continue to look forward to the day when we are finally, ourselves, parents. That will be one freaking awesome day.
Love you all!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Painted the Room
This is just a quick note to let you know that I painted the room on Sunday. Finally got motivated enough to slap that paint on the one wall. (I know: How lame am I, it takes me this long to paint one freaking wall?!) It looks awesome, though! Based on our crib set pattern, we selected an aquamarine-blue color above the chair rail and a rich brown color under the chair rail. I have to admit, I am pretty good with color when it comes to interior decorating, but this wall came out much, much better than even I had anticipated! I LOVE it! I am going to take a photo one of these days and post it here. If you go to www.cocalo.com and search on "bali" you'll see our room theme. It's no huge secret or anything. I've started registering, which has been fun. I've registered with Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby thus far. Although my sister in law yelled at me b/c I registered for four highchairs. I didn't want to forget which ones I liked, and I didn't have time to select just one. Now it turns out that my neighbor has a high chair for us (which I'm all about--hey, we'll take it!). Anyway, I'm rambling. Life is good. I'm getting impatient. Jeff doesn't seem to be: What's up with THAT?!? Talk to you all soon. Time to go teach my yoga class. I need it as much as they do, after this crazy work week! Hugs to all.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Epiphany: In This World
Well, folks, I just had an epiphany, of sorts.
OK, I wasn't the one who had it. My friend had it, and passed it on to me. But I can still claim it as "mine" b/c it relates to our adoption path.
Giving credit where credit is due, I must acknowledge my wonderful friend, yoga teacher/mentor, and (as of late) Intro to Meditation instructor, Kathy Donnelly. Kathy and her husband have three adopted grown sons from Korea, and they also used Catholic Charities of Baltimore. She was asking me the other night, after meditation class, when I thought we might get a referral and then when we might be united with our child. I wasn't sure where she was going with all this, b/c I know I've told her all of this before, but I answered anyway, realizing that people tend to forget that they already asked me this question.
When I told her that we'll hopefully get our referral sometime this summer, and then our child will be in our arms sometime this fall, she then asked, "How old will he be when you get him?" My response was "ummm...the agency says anywhere from 8-12 months, but likely about 10 months."
She paused for a minute, her eyes welled up with tears, and she excitedly grabbed my arm with one hand and placed the other hand to her mouth. She whispered, with an incredible amount of emotion, "Oh, Kathleen, that means that he's in the world. Your baby is in this world!" And she pulled me to her and hugged me fiercely.
When she said that, I kind of froze and got all weepy myself. We looked into one another's eyes, realizing the power of our common connection (and in her eyes, I saw her reminiscing about the three different days when she herself realized this about each one of her own sons!).
I remember thinking "Wow, this will be one of those moments I will never forget...when I realized for the first time that our child had entered this world."
And in classic Kathleen style, I am now weepy all over again! For God's sake!
I feel kind of silly and surprised for not realizing this myself--after all, it involves simple math! ...but wait, no, I take that back. I'm terrible at math. No surprise that Girl Wonder the Editor didn't think about doing the damn math.
Yikes, I'm going to have censor some of these postings when we do end up sharing them with our child!
Happy Valentine's Day to all. We are traveling to PA to see all three of my adorable nieces and my entire family...after a nice dinner tonight with my sweetie at this swanky restaurant in Columbia, MD. What a great way to spend a long weekend!
Whoo-hoo! Welcome to the world, little one!
OK, I wasn't the one who had it. My friend had it, and passed it on to me. But I can still claim it as "mine" b/c it relates to our adoption path.
Giving credit where credit is due, I must acknowledge my wonderful friend, yoga teacher/mentor, and (as of late) Intro to Meditation instructor, Kathy Donnelly. Kathy and her husband have three adopted grown sons from Korea, and they also used Catholic Charities of Baltimore. She was asking me the other night, after meditation class, when I thought we might get a referral and then when we might be united with our child. I wasn't sure where she was going with all this, b/c I know I've told her all of this before, but I answered anyway, realizing that people tend to forget that they already asked me this question.
When I told her that we'll hopefully get our referral sometime this summer, and then our child will be in our arms sometime this fall, she then asked, "How old will he be when you get him?" My response was "ummm...the agency says anywhere from 8-12 months, but likely about 10 months."
She paused for a minute, her eyes welled up with tears, and she excitedly grabbed my arm with one hand and placed the other hand to her mouth. She whispered, with an incredible amount of emotion, "Oh, Kathleen, that means that he's in the world. Your baby is in this world!" And she pulled me to her and hugged me fiercely.
When she said that, I kind of froze and got all weepy myself. We looked into one another's eyes, realizing the power of our common connection (and in her eyes, I saw her reminiscing about the three different days when she herself realized this about each one of her own sons!).
I remember thinking "Wow, this will be one of those moments I will never forget...when I realized for the first time that our child had entered this world."
And in classic Kathleen style, I am now weepy all over again! For God's sake!
I feel kind of silly and surprised for not realizing this myself--after all, it involves simple math! ...but wait, no, I take that back. I'm terrible at math. No surprise that Girl Wonder the Editor didn't think about doing the damn math.
Yikes, I'm going to have censor some of these postings when we do end up sharing them with our child!
Happy Valentine's Day to all. We are traveling to PA to see all three of my adorable nieces and my entire family...after a nice dinner tonight with my sweetie at this swanky restaurant in Columbia, MD. What a great way to spend a long weekend!
Whoo-hoo! Welcome to the world, little one!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
February 2009 Parent Support Group Meeting
This post is kind of long. FYI.
We had our monthly meeting for waiting parents this past Tuesday evening at the agency's offices in downtown Baltimore.
Our friend Erin and husband Kevin brought their newest addition, Emma, with them. She came here in mid-January from Korea. She's been home for just about 3 weeks now and is full of spunk! Erin said they are exhausted and sleep-deprived but happy to finally have her home with them. Emma was laughing and smiling at all of us the whole time. She has very little hair but Erin still managed to get a small tuft into the tiniest little ponytail on the top of her head. Adorable! Erin and Kevin, as well as another couple, were there to share with us their experience and to answer any questions that we waiting parents had. As well as to show Emma off! It's always good to get the story straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
Then a very experienced nurse who works at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Travel Medicine (or something like that...who knew that such a specialized place existed???) spoke to us about which vaccines people will need if they are traveling to their child's country (vaccines for the adults, not for the kids). And she also addressed general guidelines (e.g., don't drink the water, bring certain meds to care for yourself as well as your child [one of the most common ailments is traveler's diarrhea...ugh!]). This clinic is a one-stop shop for all things travel-medicine-related; you can go there to get everything taken care of before you travel. Nice to know that such a place exists. And this woman has been working in the field since the 1960s and knows her stuff! And she has an adopted daughter from Vietnam (14 yrs old) who happened to be there and talked to us about her own experiences as an adopted child (my favorite line was "...and I've had no troubles with school, so don't worry!"). She and her mom have traveled to Vietnam three times and they seem to have a very close relationship.
I talked with at least three couples who are ahead (but only by a few months) of us on "the list" for Korea. So they will serve as guideposts, so to speak, as we get closer to our referral date (e.g., when we hear that these couples have gotten their referrals, we'll know that we're getting close!). There may be others who weren't there that night, but I know that we are slowly moving to the top of the list. I can feel it! Most people who received their referrals are waiting about a year, so it looks like our referral won't happen any earlier than June (our paperwork was in Korea officially as of early June 2008).
So keep the prayers and good thoughts coming!
The nursery is coming along nicely. I've washed, folded, and put away all the clothes that Jeff's brother Joe gave us from his son, Tristan, last weekend. We got so much stuff! I am lovin' it! We got an unused pack-n-play, a rarely-used stroller (full size, not umbrella), and tons of toys (one is a motion-sensitive screaming monkey whose battery shall be promptly removed--Joe threw that in on purpose, I just know it). Joe's also going to help us get the house kid-proofed (there are several safety-related things that the agency wants us to do before we bring our child home). Luckily for us, Joe is a contractor and knows his stuff. He's a great resource, and we're thankful for him!
Anyway, that's our latest news. Parenthood is in sight, for sure!
We had our monthly meeting for waiting parents this past Tuesday evening at the agency's offices in downtown Baltimore.
Our friend Erin and husband Kevin brought their newest addition, Emma, with them. She came here in mid-January from Korea. She's been home for just about 3 weeks now and is full of spunk! Erin said they are exhausted and sleep-deprived but happy to finally have her home with them. Emma was laughing and smiling at all of us the whole time. She has very little hair but Erin still managed to get a small tuft into the tiniest little ponytail on the top of her head. Adorable! Erin and Kevin, as well as another couple, were there to share with us their experience and to answer any questions that we waiting parents had. As well as to show Emma off! It's always good to get the story straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.
Then a very experienced nurse who works at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Travel Medicine (or something like that...who knew that such a specialized place existed???) spoke to us about which vaccines people will need if they are traveling to their child's country (vaccines for the adults, not for the kids). And she also addressed general guidelines (e.g., don't drink the water, bring certain meds to care for yourself as well as your child [one of the most common ailments is traveler's diarrhea...ugh!]). This clinic is a one-stop shop for all things travel-medicine-related; you can go there to get everything taken care of before you travel. Nice to know that such a place exists. And this woman has been working in the field since the 1960s and knows her stuff! And she has an adopted daughter from Vietnam (14 yrs old) who happened to be there and talked to us about her own experiences as an adopted child (my favorite line was "...and I've had no troubles with school, so don't worry!"). She and her mom have traveled to Vietnam three times and they seem to have a very close relationship.
I talked with at least three couples who are ahead (but only by a few months) of us on "the list" for Korea. So they will serve as guideposts, so to speak, as we get closer to our referral date (e.g., when we hear that these couples have gotten their referrals, we'll know that we're getting close!). There may be others who weren't there that night, but I know that we are slowly moving to the top of the list. I can feel it! Most people who received their referrals are waiting about a year, so it looks like our referral won't happen any earlier than June (our paperwork was in Korea officially as of early June 2008).
So keep the prayers and good thoughts coming!
The nursery is coming along nicely. I've washed, folded, and put away all the clothes that Jeff's brother Joe gave us from his son, Tristan, last weekend. We got so much stuff! I am lovin' it! We got an unused pack-n-play, a rarely-used stroller (full size, not umbrella), and tons of toys (one is a motion-sensitive screaming monkey whose battery shall be promptly removed--Joe threw that in on purpose, I just know it). Joe's also going to help us get the house kid-proofed (there are several safety-related things that the agency wants us to do before we bring our child home). Luckily for us, Joe is a contractor and knows his stuff. He's a great resource, and we're thankful for him!
Anyway, that's our latest news. Parenthood is in sight, for sure!
No Airport Trip
Of course, as luck would have it, little Cara's plane had mechanical troubles and, long story short, they arrived six hours later than they planned...at 1:00 a.m. Dulles Airport in VA is a good hour away from our home in MD, so we ended up not going. But I did lend her my video camera to use. We saw photos of "the moment" and it looked every bit as special as everyone says it is! And Cara is just adorable!
Next posting: Our parent support group meeting this week...stay tuned.
Next posting: Our parent support group meeting this week...stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)