An update already

What a surprise to receive an update with some of the info we asked for, already! :)

We got new measurements, which I am happy to say are a slight improvement.  I will know more on this after I hear back from the adoption specialist in the next few days.  He is reported to be about 20 lbs and just under 30 inches at 18 mos. old.

We also received 2 new pictures and 2 short videos showing us that he is now walking by himself.  I think they took the pictures from the videos.  They aren’t as clear as I’d like but I will have to be grateful for this update!  Anytime we receive updated info and/or pictures, we are thrilled!  He definitely looks older.  :(

Again, we are told he is rather extroverted and likes to “run wildly all over the place.”  I think we are IN for it with this little guy!  We have never had a child we had to chase all over the place (but I’ve watched friends do it, haha), so this could be interesting!

Something I didn’t mention, yesterday, is that because of the specific orphanage our boy is living in, we have the opportunity to take over his monthly sponsorship from now until we go get him.  This is a small way for us to begin caring for him and, as a bonus, we will receive quarterly updates.  Yeah, there was no hesitation on THAT decision!

I was able to send off the questionnaire, forms, and fees needed by our agency, this morning.  I do think we are now done with paperwork until we receive our LOA.

Referral!!

Last week was quite an exciting week!  It went something like this:

Monday- We received “THE CALL" from our adoption agency.  They have a referral for us!  After hearing a little about him, I said, "YES, send me the file!”  It took me about 5 seconds to text Kevin, find the email, download the file and pull up the first picture.  SO CUTE!!  I know some people wait to look at the file with their spouse, but there was no way I was waiting!  (OK, I may have texted my mom in there, too!)  I showed Kevin the file as soon as he got home from work, but we had to wait until after the kids went to bed to have any real discussion.

Tuesday- I called an adoption clinic and emailed the whole file to them for review.  Lots of staring at pictures and re-reading every word in his file!  Some searching for different growth charts and looking up various things online.

Wednesday- The adoption specialist (a pediatrician who specializes in international adoption) and the clinic coordinator called to review the file with me.  We talked for about an hour.  I was ready to move forward and wasn’t sure I could wait for Kevin to get home from work to discuss this!  I will also admit that I jumped WAY ahead and started counting days and looking at the calendar.  Yes, you other adoptive parents will know exactly what I’m talking about.  Don’t try to deny it!  We made the decision to move forward and accepted the referral!!  I contacted our agency to let them know and find out our next steps.  They emailed our instructions with a “congrats" and I was off to write our Letter of Intent (LOI).

Thursday- I reviewed our LOI one last time and emailed it to our agency.  I shared with a few close friends.

Friday- Our agency let us know they would have our LOI translated and then sent to the CCCWA (China Center for Children’s Welfare & Adoption- the people in charge on the China end).  We told the kids.  I was trying to decide whether I should video or take pictures of the occasion and ended up going with pictures.  I couldn’t even get the words out before Caetlyn guessed what was going on!  The kids huddled around the pictures excitedly, while I tried to snap a few pictures of them.  Yeah, they were less than cooperative with that part.   

Now, here we are at the start of a new week.  I had just explained to Caetlyn that “nothing happens in the adoption world” on the weekends.  Well, guess what!  An hour later I had an email in my inbox, telling me that our LOI was submitted into the CCCWA system and the file was now officially locked in China!  Because it is already Monday in China, the CCCWA had reviewed our LOI and agreed to "move our application into the procedure for special-need adoption.”  This is basically our Pre-Approval (PA).  Because we are already LID, we will not get a PA. 

We are now allowed to share our news and even send our little guy care packages as we wait for the CCCWA to review our dossier and send our Letter of Acceptance (LOA).  This step typically takes 60-90 days, so it’s going to be a looooong wait!

Now, for the info you REALLY want!

Our little guy has just turned 18 months old.  He is described as very mischievous and extremely active.  His medical need is a mixed bilateral cleft lip (right complete, left incomplete) that has already been repaired, and a cleft palate that still needs to be repaired.

We are quite taken with this little guy and hope to receive an update soon!

We have a questionnaire and a couple of forms to fill out and sign for our agency (1 needs to be notarized), and will send those back with our next fees on Tuesday. :)

Still waiting

We have not received any news from our adoption agency as of yet.  I have finally settled down a bit so that I am not jumping anytime the phone rings.  I emailed our agency to see if I could get an idea of how much time we will likely wait for a referral, and they responded that many other families who have some of the same special needs checked on the MCC have been matched within a few months of LID.  I am telling myself that perhaps we will have a referral before Christmas. :)  And the longer our dossier is in China before we get matched, the higher chance it has of already being translated and cutting some time off our next paperwork wait--the LOA (letter of acceptance).

God’s timing is perfect...

No news

We have not received any referrals as of yet.  I will be sure to let you know when we do!  I am pretty jumpy anytime the phone rings.  I keep telling myself that it could be months before we hear anything, but my heart is not listening to my brain! :P

For those who are curious, our “spot in line” with our adoption agency is based on the date we submitted our medical needs checklist, which was 1/26/14.  This checklist, much like it sounds, is a list of medical needs they tend to see in the children’s files.  I researched the needs on this list for several months before we filled out our application to adopt.  Many say the checklist feels “brutal” and I would have to agree.  It doesn’t feel right to check some needs and not others, but it is important that we be honest with what we feel our family can manage.  Our adoption agency will use this list to help guide them in their search for a child for us.  Of course, our number one guide in all of this is God. :)

The kids started back to school this week.  Caetlyn is in 8th grade, Rebecca is in 3rd grade and Nathan started kindergarten!

Surprise!

Yes, that’s our LID!  We are completely surprised to have it just 2 days after the CCCWA received our dossier! :)  The picture was Kevin’s idea.  I told him we needed to take a picture that would “say” LID and the date.  He is so literal! You’ve got to love his sense of humor!

What does this mean for us?  Most importantly, it means we are now eligible to review and/or lock files of LID-only children.  These tend to be the younger kiddos (the age range we have requested) with more minor and/or correctable special needs.  It also means it’s time to download the next packet from our adoption agency.  Guess I will get busy...