Adoption Updates

[kdibattista]

As you can see in the signature- we're going back to Kaz. I couldn't leave Kim in Kaz all alone.

 

[scarlett873]

That's way cool news!! Congrats!!!!

 

[kdibattista]

Julie,

Sent you a PM but in case you didn't see it.... here is info I found on Little Miracles website:

CURRENT NEWS!!!

Available $1000.00 agency grant to every family signing up for the Kazakhstan program that wants to adopt a boy and travel to select (blind travel). These grant funds will be applied to the agency fees.

I don't remember if you are planning to travel blind

 

[skoi]

Kim-
Since the little boy we were asking for info on is off the registry now, we're traveling blind. It would be nice to get the money. We have no idea where it's coming from. Helloooo Saint Thomas More...

Julie

 

[antmaril]

DH and I have our first homestudy visit tonight with our social worker. We are adopting a child from South Korea. I posted about our decision earlier in the week but now that I see this thread I wanted to pop on in and say "HI". I am nervous as can be about our visit tonight.

I just wanted to offer my congratulations on your upcoming adoption of a child from South Korea. We adopted our now 19 year old son from South Korea when he was three months old. He is a wonderful boy and adopting him is the best and most important decision of my life.

Good luck to you!

 

[SandrainNC]

Thanks for the welcome!

DVCJen - Are you waiting on a referral or just starting?

Tiggger1 - Thank you for the compliment on my sweety! I think he is pretty cute myself! I did change his picture today to his graduation from daycare picture. He kind of has a "what is going on?" look happening.

We finished up our homestudy and our SW said she was going to recommend us (yeah!), so now I guess we are waiting for them to finalize it and send it to our placement agency (we have two different agencies we are working with). Hopefully we will hear from them soon so they can get everything to Korea!

Sandra

 

[scarlett873]

This is so pathetic, but kinda funny too! DH and I haven't even officially filed our application yet, let alone begun paperchasing. Well, I thought we had solved the dilemma on what we were going to do in Dorissa's room...that's what I get for thinking...lol

I originally wanted to do ladybugs and panda bears...basically a chinese motif with ladybugs thrown in. Well, I made the mistake of telling DH that I was actually considering switching to a Disney theme. I was thinking about doing a Tinkerbell/Fairy kinda of theme instead...

Well...DH decided that he wants...drumroll please...Mulan! I've got some basic ideas for doing the theme but wondered if you guys had any ideas to share. We figured that we'd go with the colors of her dress (the one she wears to see the matchmaker in Mulan I), so red, pink, blue, and purple, and just incorporate the characters of Mulan, Mushu, and Crickee (however it's spelled) into the room. He wanted something that we could use more of an Asian motif and I wanted Disney...so this is our compromise! I'll use more Asian-type fabrics (thankfully, mom's a pretty good seamstress!!) and I wanted to incorporate the phrase "You'll bring honor to us all"...maybe as a border or just written (painted) somewhere on the wall. I can find lithographs on ebay as well as various Mulan dolls. The more that I think about it, the more that I really think that this is a theme that I can have some fun with!

Any other ideas??

 

[Snoopymom]

Well...DH decided that he wants...drumroll please...Mulan! I've got some basic ideas for doing the theme but wondered if you guys had any ideas to share. We figured that we'd go with the colors of her dress (the one she wears to see the matchmaker in Mulan I), so red, pink, blue, and purple, and just incorporate the characters of Mulan, Mushu, and Crickee (however it's spelled) into the room. He wanted something that we could use more of an Asian motif and I wanted Disney...so this is our compromise! I'll use more Asian-type fabrics (thankfully, mom's a pretty good seamstress!!) and I wanted to incorporate the phrase "You'll bring honor to us all"...maybe as a border or just written (painted) somewhere on the wall. I can find lithographs on ebay as well as various Mulan dolls. The more that I think about it, the more that I really think that this is a theme that I can have some fun with!

Any other ideas??

I love Mulan!!!

I bought a Spiderman mural transfer on ebay which was just a blown up copy of a coloring book page with pieces of carbon paper to trace on the wall with. It turned out great and wasn't that hard.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQrdZ0QQsassZwishuponamural

She has a dragon, but you could email her about a Mulan one, or you could try and get the copy done yourself from a Kinkos or a blue print copy place.

Some hanging lanterns out of the coordinating cloth might be pretty. You could probably find a pattern or some directions on line.

Good Luck and I think decorating is a great idea. Everyone thought I was crazy when I decorated a room before our homestudy was complete, but it kept me sane. We didn't know if we would adopt a boy or a girl or how old, so I did it nuetral, blue sky, yellow walls, picket fence bed and colorful kites. When ds came home at two, he was so happy to see his room, and it was a piece of cake to add some airplanes and make it boyish. He's six now, so it has been dinosaurs and now it's Spiderman. Life's good!

I hope your little one comes home soon! Hugs!

 

[kdibattista]

How exciting!!! How about hanging some Chinese lanterns?

We are doing an under the sea theme and will probably incorporate my favorite Disney movie, The Little Mermaid .

 

[skoi]

Our homestudy went to USCIS this week. Only a few more pieces of paper to get together, and the dossier will be done.

Julie

 

[scarlett873]

Our homestudy went to USCIS this week. Only a few more pieces of paper to get together, and the dossier will be done.

Julie

Way cool!!! I wish that it would be that quick for us to get our dossier off to China!! It's gonna take us forever...lol. I have warned DH though that I will be like a mad-woman getting our dossier ready as quickly as I possibly can. I'm hoping to be DTC by mid-spring of 2007. And then cross my fingers that the wait time will only be a year so that she'll be home late-spring to early-summer!!

I know, I know...I can plan all I want to...it'll never work out based on MY timeline...lol...

Oh well...I have the next 1 1/2 to 2 years to get everything ready for her majesty's arrival!! She hasn't even been born yet and she already rules our house!

 

[RUDisney]

We did our DS's room in Elmo when he first arrived. I found pictures online and printed them on transparency paper and borrowed an overhead projector from work and did the same basic thing as Snoopymom. One thing I'll suggest, though, is to trace everything out in black. It will make any of your "drawings" pop on the wall. When he got too old for Elmo, I left one behind his door of Elmo getting ready to go to the shower. If you'd like to see it, I can take a picture of it and post it.

A funny thing happened yesterday in PHL airport. We were returning from our vacation in Punta Cana and were going through customs. The officer asks our names and where my DH and I were born. He asks the kids if we are their parents. Then, he tells the kids to go away from the booth with mom so he could ask Dad a question. He asked my DH if the kids knew they were adopted since he'd seen in their passports that they were born in Russia. We thought that was pretty funny, but also kind of nice of the officer to not blow the whistle on us if we hadn't told the kids that they had different parents before us.

One of our greatest joys is being able to take the kids on vacations that they'd never have experienced if we never found one another.

Yay, Julie! Another step closer!

 

[kdibattista]

Julie - have you heard anything about this. I found this on another message board. I put an email into Little Miracles this morning. I hope it's not true

We've been researching KAz agencies and after several calls, yesterday I was told by an agency with a long standing program in Kaz that they are not accepting new families as Kaz currently does not have children available for international adoption.

When I questioned further and stated that the US web site does not indicate any slow down or stop, they acknowledged that but stated they expect such an update to be posted shortly.

THey said that only families already w/dossier's over there will be considered.

The also stated the slow down/stop is countrywide and not agency specific.

Is anyone else hearing this?

All the other agencies we called didn't mention this. If they were'nt one of the bests for that country we woulnd't necessarily believe this.

Any information you can send our way would be most appreciated!!!!!

Now, I know it's not true that they don't have any children available but maybe they misunderstood and they are predicting more "regions" will be closing... not the entire country

 

[scarlett873]

Wow...I hope that isn't true for you guys!! Please keep us posted...

I'm a firm believer in whatever is meant to happen will happen. I've lived my last 5 years with that mantra. While I was frustrated with myself for not being able to conceive, I've come to realize that we we meant to adopt first! There's obviously a plan and a reason as to why we have been pointed down this path to China...our daughter is waiting there for us (or will be very soon!!)...

Hang in there girls!!

 

[kdibattista]

Julie -

Got an email back from Andrea and all is well. Basically is what I was thinking. Some regions are implementing crazy rules and a lot of the smaller agencies are folding their programs because it's not worth it to them. Kaz itself is not closing... at least not today Sorry for the panic... I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest

On a side note.... I have a fundraising idea that I think will be great for anyone interested (kind of a group and individual thing). Now, I'm still waiting to hear back from Pete (the webmaster here) to see if we can partner up with the DIS and I will let you all know when I hear something .

 

[scarlett873]

Julie -

Got an email back from Andrea and all is well. Basically is what I was thinking. Some regions are implementing crazy rules and a lot of the smaller agencies are folding their programs because it's not worth it to them. Kaz itself is not closing... at least not today Sorry for the panic... I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest

Phew!!! That's excellent news!! I was thinking about you guys all morning!

 

[skoi]

Kim- I emailed you before I came to check here. Glad you talked to Andrea about it. She told me about 6 weeks ago they were actually opening 2 new regions.

Of course our homestudy agency didn't notarize/sign the homestudy properly for Kaz, but it'll be okay for USCIS, so we have time to fix it.

Julie

 

[disneymom3]

Hi guys! We have just started considering adopting a baby girl from Guatamala. I don't even know what all is entailed besides setting up our first meeting for our FAQ section. I have a very close friend who works with an agency here in town and we will most probably go with them.

One thing I need to figure out for sure is if we can really afford this. Oh, yeah, and if we are really ready to go back to baby raising life. Bottles, diapers, waking up in the night, etc. Our youngest is 4, so life has gotten pretty easy. Still, we had always planned on 4 kids but then some health issues for me caused us to make a permanent decsion to prevent that fourth baby. Turns out my diagnosis was wrong. Wondering if this was God's plan all along. We'll be praying for insight in to what we are supposed to do.

I look forward to hearing about all of your news!

 

[mking624]

I'll join in! My DH & I are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Guatemala. We are currently working on the dossier, and we have our final homestudy appointment this Sunday. YAY!

Hi guys! We have just started considering adopting a baby girl from Guatamala. I don't even know what all is entailed besides setting up our first meeting for our FAQ section. I have a very close friend who works with an agency here in town and we will most probably go with them.

One thing I need to figure out for sure is if we can really afford this. Oh, yeah, and if we are really ready to go back to baby raising life. Bottles, diapers, waking up in the night, etc. Our youngest is 4, so life has gotten pretty easy. Still, we had always planned on 4 kids but then some health issues for me caused us to make a permanent decsion to prevent that fourth baby. Turns out my diagnosis was wrong. Wondering if this was God's plan all along. We'll be praying for insight in to what we are supposed to do.

I look forward to hearing about all of your news!

Julie, if you want to adopt from Guatemala, I would suggest getting started very soon. There is an issue with the Hague Convention that has the potential to stop Guatemala adoptions as of early next year. Check out guatadopt.com, they usually post updates there. As far as finances go, there are lots of grants and loans that specifically cater to adoption.

 

[disneymom3]

Julie, if you want to adopt from Guatemala, I would suggest getting started very soon. There is an issue with the Hague Convention that has the potential to stop Guatemala adoptions as of early next year. Check out guatadopt.com, they usually post updates there. As far as finances go, there are lots of grants and loans that specifically cater to adoption.

Yes, thank you. I do know that as my friend has said the same thing. Thanks for the website.