A Tiny Step Closer

I check my email daily, several times a day, just waiting for any little update about our little precious in China. Finally got an email today! It was written in Chinese but had the translation at the bottom:

Great Wall China Adoption,

The application of Timothy and Jamie for adoption of (little boy) that you submitted was received. It is hereby advised that with a review of the basic family situation and the Rehabilitation and Nurture Plan for the Child made by the family, the China Centre of Adoption Affairs agrees to handle and process the case as an adoption of a special-need child after the application file arrives

We were on our way to get our passports today when we realized the folder with all of our information was not with us, so we turned around. Then we decided we didn't feel like going anyway and would wait for Friday. We have to go about an hour away because the local post office is "by appointment only" and they are booked through the middle of April. We will have ours expedited so we can finish our final paperwork and move on!

Things have suddenly gone from a creepy call to a downhill roller coaster! Much like the Texas Giant at Six Flags. It's a slow click click click to the top then suddenly you're practically free-falling!

Homestudy Closure

Just got the message today that the final home study draft has been APPROVED!!!We can finally move on to our final steps!We are still waiting on our official approval letter from China to adopt Little Boy and it has been just almost 2 weeks, which is about what is to be expected. As soon as I get that I can finally show a picture!

I wish I knew how to change the stupid background

Seasons Change

The Rescuers! In the end, the little girl gets adopted. I do believe that is where my interest in adoption began.
My last post was about 3 weeks ago. I have been trying to make it back here to update because so much has happened in such a short time. I am thankful for the last post as it will help explain some of the current situation.
First and foremost, I am thankful for the Holy Spirit and His insight. I do not always know exactly what I am feeling or why, but I know when He's telling me something and I can't imagine my life any other way.
Here's a rough outline of what has happened as of late:

HOMESTUDY
If you can believe it, our caseworker actually sent us a copy of the completed home study. I am assuming that GWCA is reviewing it since I have not received an approved copy from them. I am sending our case worker an email inquiring about this since I have no idea when it is final and approved. Once we have the copy, we can apply for some financial assistance. Green Acres Baptist Church had started the Hope for 100 program last year, which is a charity-based fund to assist as well as encourage adoption. I was informed that there should be plenty of money available to assist us!

PAPERCHASING
Tim & I have completed everything we need to for the adoption except get our passports and background check. We went to get our passports done yesterday only to find out they closed 30 mins before AND you have to make an appointment!! We will probably be spending extra money to have our passports expedited.

We can not do the FBI background check until we have our approved, finalized home study. Of course. Once we have all of THAT completed, THEN we have to send most of the documents to the Chinese Consulate in Houston to be certified and authenticated. Finally, once all of that is complete, we send all of this paperwork (dossier) to GWCA. They review it, then finally it is sent to China and we get our LID (log in date).

CHANGE OF EVENTS
The plot thickens....

Feb. 22 I received my information on how to log in and view waiting children on the waiting child list. I browsed around and saw so many poor children that needed homes. Some had severe problems while others were not as bad off, although still had pretty strong needs. It was nice to be able to see the children and know that we had the option to actually see and choose the child for us!

March 3 I again look at the waiting child list. It came to my attention that very recently China changed the waiting child list. Now, GWCA does not have its own list, it is shared by many other agencies. This was disheartening because that only provides more families looking for children while the list of available children was relatively small.

I felt an urgency then. Desperate, even, to find my child before anyone else did. I kept scrolling and just didn't feel anything. I clicked on the older links in the archive just to see what children were there before. I knew it was doubtful any of those children would be available, but still I was curious. I did find one child that caught my eye. This little blonde-headed chinese boy! He was albino and had the cutest little smile. I had to call my husband over to look at the pictures. I couldn't believe he had been listed under the "special needs" list since there was nothing wrong with him other than albinism.

Several minutes passed. I kept going back to that blonde headed child. I asked my husband if he wanted me to inquire about the child, just to see if he was available still, and he said, "Sure." I sent an email:

Wed 3/03/10 7:51 PM
I have not spoken with anyone yet as to how this works, but if we are interested in a child on the shared list, how will we know if the child is still available and how do we even request information?

10 minutes later, I decided maybe I should go ahead and inquire.

Wed 3/03/10 8:01 PM FYI the child we were looking at was under the latest "shared" list. Name Tommy, albinism. I understand that the children on this list may not be available any longer.

The next day I checked my email at work several times waiting for her response. I didn't receive her email until I got home:

Every day I am going through the children and looking at applications for possible good matches. If there is a child who may be a good fit for your family, I will give you a call. I also put forth the weekly list of kids from the shared list. If there is a child who you are interested in learning more about, just send me an email and I will get in touch with you about them!

With the .pdfs and with the activity of the shared list, I do not go back in and update the listings currently. If you inquire and the child is no longer available, I will let you know.

So, I assumed he was no longer available and that we should wait for her to contact us. I googled "how long does it take to adopt from China" or some such and I read where it could even be 8 years before we get our child! I was completely crushed. I informed my husband and he said there is no way he was waiting that long and that we would have to do something else.

I had to agree. 8 years is ridiculous when I am getting older every day.

The frustrations of adopting suddenly washed over me like a huge tidal wave. I began to weigh our options. We could wait for years and years on a child from China. Or, we could adopt locally, still spend a ton of money, however we have to hope we are lucky enough to be picked by a birthmother. What if a birthmother never picks us? We would still be childless. OR we could adopt a child with severe special needs.
Those are our options.
I believe I cried for 2 days. The thought of NOT adopting from China was the same loss I feel every time i have a negative pregnancy test. I could hardly bear the disappointment and decided there was no way I could give up on that dream, I could not let that dream die. Not that one.

Time went by, and I quit crying.

I began my new fulltime position at work On March 8, 2010 and felt a little depressed about it. I would miss all the free time I had. I would miss staying up late and I would miss just doing what I wanted to during the day (like sleep in!). I was on the 5th or 6th floor of ETMC working on a chart when I decided I would check my email just in case she finally responded to my question about the little blonde headed kid.

It just so happened that, sitting there in my inbox, was an email from the lady over the waiting child program:

Tue 3/09/10 10:08 AM

Hi Jamie,

Little (boy) is still available! I would love to chat with you about him a little bit, and then can send you the file if you are interested. Is there a good time to chat?

Still available?! After all this time? My hands began to shake. I felt light-headed. I called my husband immediately and told him. He said "lock the file!"

Tue 3/09/10 11:21 AM

we are totally intersted! call me anytime you can asap whatever :D

I also called and left her a message. Just in case...
I also emailed again later informing her we wished to review the file.

Eventually I received a phone call from her and we discussed the little boy. He will be 2 in June, Just about the same age as my niece. He is developmentally on target, just has albinism. They describe him as introverted and a little shy. I asked her to please send me the file. If we wished to pursue adoption, if he was still available, the file would be locked.

As soon as I got home I checked my email. In bold letters, it stated:

Please note that this child is on the shared agency list. We cannot guarantee this child will be available should you choose to move forward. If I see the child’s file is gone before you have made a decision, I will let you know!
My sense of urgency heightened. We looked through his files and pictures and decided that we would like to adopt that sweet little blonde angel. I composed yet another email:

We have reviewed the child's information and medical file. We did discuss the child's medical information with 2 separate physicians and feel confident we could meet his needs in every way. We would be pleased if you could lock (boys) file for us! We intend to proceed with adopting him if he is available and we receive approval from China. Sincerely, Tim & Jamie

The next morning she called me and congratulated me on our decision.
We're going to be PARENTS!

I knew, KNEW in my gut that our wait wasn't long. It was like sensing a change in the climate, my bones knew it. God has been so good to us this year already, and this is the icing on the CAKE! She said hopefully we will have him by the end of the year, it all depends on how quick paperwork goes through.

I am frustrated, again, that we didn't already have all of our paperwork done already because of the home study delay, however we are working hard to get the house and our finances in order so that our new little boy will be safe and secure.

I am not allowed to post pictures or any identifying information at this time. As soon as we get the official approval from China, oh boy you are never gonna hear the end of it!!

Needless to say, Tim and I are ecstatic and have been over the moon all week.

And to think... I started this blog a year and 1 week ago. Look at how much has happened! It wasn't so long after all. I am so excited to continue this blog now that I have some meat for it!

Getting On Track

Hi Jamie,

At this point, I realize that an apology from
me is likely not  sufficient, but I will offer it
anyway:  I am truly sorry for taking  so long to
complete this home study. I have been dealing
with several personal crises in the past 6 months
and have not handled my adoption obligations in
an entirely professional manner.At this point I am
committed to completing your home study within
the next 3 days....

Today we spent a lot of time trying to figure out what needed to be done, by when, how and how much. There was much shifting and sorting of papers and many phone calls and web searches. I think things are finally organized in a "Adoption for Dummies" sort of way so we don't get lost and confused. Seriously..where's the map?

We designated Tuesday, March 2, 2010 as the day that we will get everything done for this adoption that we possibly can. This is the most confusing, time-consuming, puzzling process I think we have ever been through, however we are starting to feel like progress is being made.

We have received several rough drafts of our homestudy. Today's email from GWCA was a message forwarded that was sent to our caseworker. There were many corrections and addendums needed, I just hope she doesn't procrastinate any further and takes care of this. I have a feeling with GWCA breathing down her back she will stay on top of it.

Due to the long, 3-4 year wait for a child from China and the face that we are not getting any younger, we decided to go the "special needs" route and were accepted into the program. I chose simple, correctable or minor issues such as a cleft lip/palate or a mole on the child's face or arm. I wouldn't be opposed to a missing finger, even. It feels better to know that
A) we will be adopting a child that has a lesser chance of being "wanted" and
B) WE get to pick the child that we want.. not have China pick the child for us! We really like that.

I told Tim the other day that I really feel deep inside that our wait will not be too terribly long, and he said, "me too". That made me feel even better and more confident.

I am so blessed to have Tim in my life. Some people do not understand adoption or how very important it is to that child! He is so understanding and caring and giving. What a lucky little child we will have..he/she will have no choice but to adore his/her father because he is a good, good man.

Home Study Woes

I heard back from GWCA soon after I sent them an email concerning our home study slacker of a social worker. She said they spoke with the social worker and informed her the home study *must* be in their office by Monday. By Monday, I mean last Monday. I just sent off another email making sure that happened. I expressed my concern over only having about 3 months to gather all documents and having the dossier submitted by the end of May and she sort of told me not to worry about it, that they would do everything they can to make sure we make deadline.
Unfortunately, as inexperienced as we are with the process, I did not realize that most people have their home studies completed within about a month. A MONTH! :'( I can't understand how she could be so inconsiderate with our time, and our HEARTS! We are so ready for this to happen and already have such a long wait (maybe).
I say 'maybe' because I just submitted our special needs adoption form. This could cut our wait time down. We may even opt to adopt an older child, I'm just not sure yet. We are waiting on God and his direction. We will know it when the time comes!

Today I am getting a lot done. I just rearranged the office so that I have a spot strictly for working on adoption stuff. There is still a lot to do, after all. We only need 4 more hours of hague training and I found a website that offers $12 a credit courses. So.. just another $50 and we'll have that part of the dossier completed! I'm already enrolled and paid, just need to sit down and do the course.
We set next week as the date that we will get our pictures made for our passports. Depending on our money situation, we might possibly apply for our passports the same day. God has been so good at providing us with money..even if we do have to work for it :)
I'm still excited about the adoption, even with all the setbacks. I just know this will be the most rewarding thing in our entire lives we will ever have the pleasure of experiencing.

Frustration upon frustration

And yet another month later... nothing.

I sent our social worker a curt email stating that it has been 7 months and we are tired of waiting. 7 months!! That has been more than enough time to complete a homestudy and we have been more than patient. I also emailed GWCA and informed them of our frustrating situation. I even called and left a message.

We discovered today that, because she has taken so long, we now have to re-order our birth certificates and marriage certificate. This should cost us about another $75 or more. Needless!

I think we are both dizzy with stress by now trying to figure out everything we need to do and in what order, as well as what document goes with which place at what time. It is so, so confusing! If we had not already put out so much money, I would be ready to throw my hands up and say "Forget it!"

I have to keep thinking about our china doll. She will be worth it..