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| Growing and Changing | |||
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Our daughter, (that sounds so amazing) is growing and continues to change daily. We celebrated her first birthday, it was such a happy day for us. The memory of our wait for her seems to melt away more and more. I still remember the heart ache of waiting, but now I know why we did and am grateful to have kept with it during the lows. Read full post >> |
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| Making the big choice (part 1) | |||
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| 2007-08-15 I attended my third "informational meeting" on adoption last night. The first two I went with my husband, Tim, but he's out of town this week. The first meeting we went to was with Massachusetts' foster-to-adopt program. Sad to admit, but our immediate reaction after the meeting ended was There's no way we're going to do this! It was clear that the state's main goal was (as it should be) to keep children with their family.... Read full post >> | |||
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| First the sorrow | |||
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| 2007-08-13 My story is the same as so many others. I never really thought about children until I was in my late 30s, and then my husband and I began the simple task of getting pregnant. Only it wasn't so simple. The next thing you know we're being referred to an infertility clinic where I fill countless vials with my blood, where my insides are poked and prodded and filmed from all angles, and where, ultimately, I undergo surgery to remove my right ovary (dermoid cyst, they say) ... Read full post >> | |||
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| In the beginning... | |||
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| In the beginning...you were just a thought. Just an idea. In the beginning...you were part of the plan. In the beginning...you were a dream. Just a fantasy. But God knew that all...because He placed in us the thought. The idea. The dream. The fantasy. He knew that YOU were a part of HIS plan...for us! And we are forever grateful! We're grateful, because of you, our thoughts and ideas are becoming reality. And though, it feels like we're living a dream right now...we're li... Read full post >> | |||
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| Just the Beginning | |||
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2006-11-01 12:44:05 Well, this is the beginning of our journey! We are working on completing our homestudy! Honestly, this is just as scary as it is exciting. A child is something I have wanted all my life, and now that we are really doing this...WOW...I don't even know what I am feeling. Mostly nervousness...what if things happen faster then we anticipated..or much slower? We are looking forward to reading and hearing from other parents or soon to be parents!
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| soon! | |||
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We are so excited we have been told by our agency we will receive our referral sometime in the next month. I find myself trying to guess at her birthday or wondering what she is doing right now. It’s hard to believe she is actually over there just waiting for us to find out about her |
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| lucky | |||
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| With all the heartache of waiting during our adoption, today I feel lucky that we get to experience such a wonderful way to start a family. I wouldn't have it any other way. Read full post >> | |||
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| Nance Matthews | |||
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Written by NANCE MATTHEWS on September 09, 2006 | Journal |
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I am searching for my birth mother. She was found once and I attempted 3 times to have contact with her through an anonymous intermediary. She did not want to meet me and my third time was my last chance. However, that was back in 1993 and I'm hoping she's changed her mind since then. Or - she may have passed away. I'd like to find that out if it's true and find out if I have any siblings. Read full post >> |
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| Lost Referral | |||
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We recieved a referral of a little girl about two month’s ago. After long painful discussion and consulation with a adoption doctor and our agency we decided to turn down the referral. This wasn’t an easy decision but feel it was the right one. So now we are again waiting for a referral, we aren’t sure on the timing. We could travel this year or the beginning of next. Read full post >> |
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| A long sometimes hard road | |||
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Written by Jerry Allen on July 13, 2006 | Journal |
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| We started on this journey back in 1997. My wife and I had a total of five kids between us. She had two boys and one girl, and I had two boys. Our youngest was about to turn 18 and my lovely wife asked how I felt about adopting. I told that would be fine. I thought that was the end of it. She had asked if I liked to fish also, but we haven't fished yet. Well, she procedes to look into adoption. I thought at our ages {40 and 43} that we didn't have a chance. 2 weeks after we met with a ... Read full post >> | |||
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| #1 in a list of many | |||
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| We got word from our adoption agency that we are number 1 on the waiting list of 70 families! wow that's a lot of people. The vietnam program is certainly getting popular. Waiting somedays is harder than others. This week started out tough and now starting to feel out about waiting a week or so longer. I'm looking forward to knowing what size of clothes to buy! I'm hoping to go out and get some deal on summer clothes. It's starting to look like we will have her in Oct-Nove... Read full post >> | |||
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| The Great Adoption Detective | |||
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Sometimes I feel like a great detective, trying to read between the lines of what emails my adoption agency sends out or what the director is really trying to say when I talk to her on the phone.
I know it doesn't make logical sense after all this isn't a rubik’s cube that can be solved. I keep telling myself that it will happen when and not a moment sooner than it happens. I'll leave the mystery solving to Sherlock homes. Read full post >> |
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| Still Waiting for our Referral | |||
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| Kristine and Jeffrey are still waiting for their referral from China. The referral will include a picture of our Madilyn to be and a brief medical history. Once they have the referral, we will have a better idea when we are going to China and when where in China we will be going. Read full post >> | |||
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| Updated Timeline | |||
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| Send Dossier To Embassy - March 14th, 2006 Collect Dossier Documents - Feb 3rd, 2006 Applied to INS in person with Fingerprints - October 21st, 2005 Approved Homestudy :) - October 11, 2005 Turned In Homestudy paperwork - August 8th 2005 Working on Homestudy Paperwork, July 1 - July 28th, 2005 Requested Reference Letters from Family and Friends, June 27th, 2005 Attended Homestudy Class, June 21st, 2005 Vietnam Signs Agreement to open adoption in the US, June 21st, 2005 (effectiv... Read full post >> | |||
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| Licensed! | |||
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We heard are agency is now licensed! Which is great news, we are one step close to submitting our dossier! Read full post >> |
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| agencies licensed | |||
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It has been a long road and now are hearing the good news that agencies are being licensed in Vietnam. I'm very nervous as our agency hasn't been licensed yet. Mind you we aren't quite ready to turn in our dossier yet. I just wish the license would come. I cannot wait to start to hear of referrals coming through and hearing about peoples experiences while adopting from Vietnam. I guess this is another test of patience. Wish us luck! Read full post >> |
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| Heritage | |||
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When we considered adopting internationally we thought of how to
incorporate the Vietnamese culture and heritage into our family life.
We hope to bring some of our children's birth country into our house to help with identity issues. We have started to do some reading and last night my husband and I watched a film on Vietnam and look forward to learning more about the Vietnamese culture Read full post >> |
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| waiting dads | |||
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There really don't seem to be very many adoptive fathers on the various
adoption boards etc. Are there any here? If so,
howdy. Where are you adopting from? I'm adopting from VietNam (as soon as my agency get's licensed). I should be making the trip in late summer. Read full post >> |
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| INS Approval ! | |||
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Today we where quite happy to find a letter from INS with our I171
Approval. This is Maia's first step in becoming a american citizen. And
we are approved as her parents to travel abroad to adopt her! Also we can now officially get on our agencies waiting list. I think there is about 15 people ahead of us. And the last step will be our Dossier which will go to Vietnam. We are very excited to share this news! Read full post >> |
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| MailBox Blues | |||
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Every day my husband I go together to the mailbox. Waiting for our INS
approval. How did a piece of paper become so important in my life? It
was 4 weeks yesterday and know one thought it would take so long.
This is the first step for our daughter becoming a us citizen. We
are hopeful it will come soon, but disappointed every time we open the
mailbox and it's empty. Read full post >> |
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| Updated Timeline | |||
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| Updated Timeline | |||
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| INS | |||
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INS fee's go up on October 27th, we are filing on the 17th! Everything
just seems to be fitting into place. We are hoping to get on the
waiting list for Vietnam by the end of the year. Will see how long the
INS approval takes. Read full post >> |
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| We've Begun! | |||
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| We finally made a decision, we are adopting! After much thought and prayer, Matthew and I have decided to adopt. We have chosen an agency and sent off our application. We are working with A Act of Love agency located in Sandy, UT. We have begun our homestudy process and eagerly awaiting our second visit from our Social Worker. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers while we all patiently wait for the Lord to show us our child. Check back often for updates in our journey! L... Read full post >> | |||
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| Introduction to Leila (and Hank) | |||
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| Hello and Welcome! My name is Leila Jackson. My husband, Hank, and I are hoping to adopt a newborn from here in the USA. We hope to have an open adoption and establish a relationship with the woman who gives our child life. (I will probably address our feelings about open adoption in another posting) We currently live in Durham, North Carolina and are working with the Independent Adoption Center branch located in Raleigh. We are coming up on the 1yr mark of being "in the book" and are cu... Read full post >> | |||
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| homestudy update | |||
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We have finished our homestudy! :) Last night we had our homevisit, which went well. Very stressful! But good. We found out we only have one smoke detector in the house, which was a shock and will be fixed this weekend! Now all that is left for the homestudy if for our social worker to write the report. Then INS here we come! Read full post >> |
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| first visit | |||
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My husband will be having the first visit with our social worker next
week alone, 4 hours! I then go for my visit. I know there is no reason,
but I'm nervous. Read full post >> |
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| Updated Timeline | |||
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| finished with paperwork | |||
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We finished our homestudy paperwork! Yea, that was harder then it seems! |
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| AAAW Symposium Thoughts | |||
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| Friday night they had a Korean dance performance and showed a film form the Gathering, a large Korean adoptee gathering in Korea. It was odviouse this was a very important and meaningful experience for all that where involved. Saturday was asesome, they had a panel discussion of adult adoptee’s from Korea. This lead to a very good discussion between adoptive parents and adoptee’s. I’m really glad we got the opprounity to hear from these adult adoptees and hope to le... Read full post >> | |||
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| Updated Timeline | |||
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| AAAW Symposium | |||
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I will be attending the AAAW Symposium this weekend. I'm looking
forward to listening to the talks and hearing from adult Adoptee's.
I'll post my thoughts about the event here after it is over. Read full post >> |
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| Autobiographical | |||
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We are working on our Autobiographical for our homestudy. I find it
hard because it's a lot of questions that you don't normally think
about on a daily bases. I'm going to take it one question at a time,
there is over 60 questions! yeks. Read full post >> |
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| paperwork | |||
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We have been busy collecting paperwork and getting ready for our
homestudy. We are hoping to turn in our paperwork in two weeks. Read full post >> |
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| Foster care status and Common Hope | |||
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| We haven't taken any children since Mariah left. Trying to regroup emotionally and spend some time alone - trying to decide if we want to get off this roller coaster. We went on the first real vacation we've had in years (Honduras and Guatemala). While in Guatemala we heard about Common Hope (www.CommonHope.com) and visited one of their sites which seemed very well run and clean. We decided to sponsor a six year old girl through Common Hope – we’ll be able to meet her when we g... Read full post >> | |||
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| Waiting | |||
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We continue to wait for Vietnam to open, but now have a more positive outlook on the situation. I figure we can take this time to prepare and enjoy our time together before we get really busy with a family. We will be going on a much needed vacation for Thanksgiving and are hoping to clear our heads and unwind. Read full post >> |
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| Vietnam | |||
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Today is our first rain of the winter season and yet again I wonder what happened to summer. In the coming weeks we will have a better idea of the status of Vietnam adoptions. There is an important meeting being held right now in Vietnam and the outcome of this meeting might effect our family in a postive or negative way. And I hope we get a chance to adopt from Vietnam! Read full post >> |
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| Adoption Thoughts | |||
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Although our adoption process has been tough and many road blocks along
the way. I still feel good about adopting and want to continue to
persue this as a means to parenthood. I believe this will be a experience I will look back on for the rest of my life. Today, I'm feeling ok with the wait and hope we hear good news with Vietnam soon. Read full post >> |
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| Cathwel | |||
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This week we are waiting to hear back from Cathwel's to see if we can adopt from there. <br /> If we can adopt there we will hurry to finish the homestudy and send all of our paperwork off to be placed on the waiting list. Part of this process is creating a photobook of our family. Mat and I have decided to create it as a scrap book. We enjoyed creating on for our wedding and look forward to this project. <br /> Read full post >> |
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| adoption | |||
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We now are back to trying to decide where to adopt from. Thailand is an option, but the kids are older. If we adopted from Thailand the child will probably be around 12 month's old. I'm still trying to decide if this would be ok or not. There are some disadvantages to this. I mainly think of the things we would miss. Taiwan has another program which we could try to adopt from but this might not work out again. Read full post >> |
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| News on Taiwan | |||
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We found out today we won't be accepted for adopting Miao-Hua. <br /> This is upsetting but we are glad to know and can now relax and focus on finding a situation that will fit for our family. <br /> Read full post >> |
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| Miao-Hua | |||
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Mat and I will know next week if we can adopt Miao-Hua. We where asked
by our adoption agency to write a letter to the people considering our
case in Taiwan. At this point it's hard to say if we will get accepted.
They are concerned that we have been married for such a short time.
We wrote the letter last night and are waiting for feedback. Then it will get sent. We put as much signcerity and love into the letter that we both agree it should help our case. If it doesn't the... Read full post >> |
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| taiwan | |||
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| Day two of paper chaching. I told my boss today about our adoption plans. Because I was concerned he was going to get annoyed with all of my leaving early. He was really nice about it, said take the time if needed. I also got some information on the Birth mom. Sad, made me cry. She is young, unmarried. She tried to keep the pregancy from her parents but they found out and where very angry. The father isn't around. She told me she graduated from a vocational school. Not sure if t... Read full post >> | |||
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| Taiwan | |||
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Today we start the paperwork to bring home a special needs baby. Her
name is Miao-Hua and she has a small hole in her heart known as VSD.
This is a mild condition and she is expected to recover without the
need of surgery but if she does needs surgery it is a simple process. We are excited and nervous. Now we go into double time so we can finish our homestudy and see if we are approved for her. Then we will wait for travel, probably about a 6 month process. Were excited! Read full post >> |
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| let it be | |||
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| I'm tired of waiting for Vietnam. I'm tired of being told, your too young, you haven't been married long enough. I'm tired of checking newsgroups religiously every minute. I'm tired for searching for news on Vietnam adoptions resuming. I have decided to let it be and what happens, happens. I mean do I even have control of this. So I will let the situation play out and see where it takes us. Now, I'm going to enjoy the weekend and not stress over the adoption! I'm sure my husban... Read full post >> | |||
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| realization | |||
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As I was driving to work this morning I had a thought.
I've been upset on how long this adoption process is taking but women
who are infertile go through this twice. Once why there are trying to
concieve, with all the tests and expensive procedure that a lot of time
don't work. This can go on for months to years before couples decide to
look at other options and choose to adopt. THEN... they have to deal with all the waiting and polical procedures involved with adoption. ... Read full post >> |
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| A new day | |||
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Today is a new day and hope with all my heart our government is taking action to resume adoptions in Vietnam. <br /> I do believe now that it has some top officals eye that the process will go faster. I still feel in my heart that someday we will be able to adopt from Vietnam. Read full post >> |
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| Why we are adopting | |||
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| My husband and I decided early on in our relationship that adoption is how we would like to start a family. Mind you, we can have biological children, but we wanted to help a child in need. The upsetting thing is there are a lot of requirements with international adoption that might stop us from adopting. One being, we are both young, I’m 29 and my husband is 26. Which doesn’t meet some countries requirements, China in particular. Second, while we are newlyweds, ... Read full post >> | |||
| Other programs | |||
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| I'm sure Vietnam will open as soon as we switch countries. But we cannot wait forever and already have been waiting since the summer of 2002. That is when we first made the final decision to adopt from Vietnam. We are looking into other programs and have found we don't have many options. kazakhstan is one option for us. The down sides of this program is the length of travel on average is 30 days. Also you don't get a referral before you travel, which makes me a little nervious. ... Read full post >> | |||
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| Update on Vietnam | |||
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Friday we found out the negotations between the US and Vietnam are not
going well. This is heart breaking because of the last update which we
where under the impression things where going to be finalized. <br
/> We are considering other options, don't really know what that means but both of us are ready to start a family and are tired of this emotional roller coaster. Read full post >> |
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| Vietnam waiting game | |||
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We have been for over a year now for Vietnam to reopen and resume our adoption efforts. Last week we heard a top offical is taking interest in getting Vietnam open as well. This has been very exciting for us. These big steps are incouraging and nerve racking as well. I find myself daydreaming about baby stuff, nurseries, walking my baby or imaging my husband playing with our children. These daydreams make me smile and want to cry at the same time. Read full post >> |
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| VIETNAM!!! | |||
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I still cannot believe it but Vietnam is opening. The agreement will be
signed next week when the PM of Vietnam is in Washington. It has been rumored that it will take a couple of month's for adoptions to get going. We are going to our homestudy meeting on Tuesday and have already started the paperwork again. It has been so long that I still am in shock. We have so much to do to get ready and am extremely happy for the news. Read full post >> |
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| special needs | |||
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We got word that today the first family is coming home in the piolet
special needs program in Vietnam! This is very exciting and I have hope
that we are near a end to this journey! Read full post >> |
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| New Year | |||
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The new year is here and it finds us still waiting for news. We are hoping good news will come our way shortly. This is a tough wait and I find my mind wondering. Read full post >> |
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