A lot has happened in the last couple of days. Yesterday we went to visit my friend who returned from Vietnam a week and a half ago. We had emailed each other many many times and talked on the phone in the previous months but had not met in person until yesterday. And of course we met her new baby from Vietnam. She is so adorable and is so easy going. And now I'm even more anxious to go get our daughter. I took lots of notes from her trip, what to take and not take, do's and don'ts. So we should be prepared. I started packing a few small things.
I also found out that our adoption agency, as of today, has suspended applications for the Vietnam program. This worried me until I found out that it's only for new applications. We're fine since we're in the process. It seems that there is an overabundance of families wanting to adopt from Vietnam and the agency can't keep up. So they are temporarily suspending new applications so they can better serve their existing clients. Sounds like a good decision to me. So where does this leave us? Since our dossier is in Vietnam waiting for translation, we're near the top of the list. The question now is how long will it take to get translated? We don't know. I can't imagine it would be too long. I'm still thinking we'll hear sometime in July or early August. So we wait.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Soon!
Today our dossier will be sent to Vietnam. It will take about a week to get there and then it needs to be translated. After it is translated we can get our referral any time.
My friend is home from Vietnam and it doesn't sound like she had a very good trip. Now I'm really nervous. I haven't talked to her in person yet, just through email. She said they made a list of do's and don'ts for others who will be traveling there. She's not been feeling well since she's been back so I'm not sure when we'll get together. I want to hear all of the details of the trip so I know what to expect.
She did give me some inside information. There were 4 families in her travel group who had their Giving & Receiving ceremony (G&R, this is when the child is officially handed over to you) on May 28, 5 families had their G&R the following week and 10 families this week. When she was at the orphanage she said there were about 30 babies there. She also found out that there are 10 dossiers before ours that need to be translated. So if you do the math, that would mean that as soon as our dossier is translated we should get a referral. We're so close. I think they're pretty busy in Vietnam now with the 10 families being there so I don't know if they will do any translating until after that. So maybe a couple of weeks? The first week of July? And as far as travel, if we have a referral the first week in July there is a possiblity we could travel the end of July or probably August. So I have lots to do in the meantime.
Mark and the boys are going to Noah's Ark today with our church and I'm home working. But that's OK, I'll get a lot done.
My friend is home from Vietnam and it doesn't sound like she had a very good trip. Now I'm really nervous. I haven't talked to her in person yet, just through email. She said they made a list of do's and don'ts for others who will be traveling there. She's not been feeling well since she's been back so I'm not sure when we'll get together. I want to hear all of the details of the trip so I know what to expect.
She did give me some inside information. There were 4 families in her travel group who had their Giving & Receiving ceremony (G&R, this is when the child is officially handed over to you) on May 28, 5 families had their G&R the following week and 10 families this week. When she was at the orphanage she said there were about 30 babies there. She also found out that there are 10 dossiers before ours that need to be translated. So if you do the math, that would mean that as soon as our dossier is translated we should get a referral. We're so close. I think they're pretty busy in Vietnam now with the 10 families being there so I don't know if they will do any translating until after that. So maybe a couple of weeks? The first week of July? And as far as travel, if we have a referral the first week in July there is a possiblity we could travel the end of July or probably August. So I have lots to do in the meantime.
Mark and the boys are going to Noah's Ark today with our church and I'm home working. But that's OK, I'll get a lot done.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The UPS man was here!
Well, last night I checked the UPS tracking number, as I have been every day for the last 2 weeks, and it showed our dossier had been shipped back to us and would arrive this morning. I was so excited! After it was here, I made 4 complete copies of the dossier and sent the original and 1 copy to CAS, the adoption agency in North Carolina. They will receive it tomorrow. And so now we wait again. This time for our referral!
I have been occassionally asking the agency if referrals are still coming in pretty quickly. They don't like to give out too much information. At one point they said yes, fairly quickly depending on what you are specifying and another time they're sticking with their standby of 3-6 months. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The wait it getting harder all the time. But it will be well worth it in the end.
I have been occassionally asking the agency if referrals are still coming in pretty quickly. They don't like to give out too much information. At one point they said yes, fairly quickly depending on what you are specifying and another time they're sticking with their standby of 3-6 months. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The wait it getting harder all the time. But it will be well worth it in the end.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Waiting is hard!
OK, this waiting is so hard. Overall the paperwork hasn't been that bad. I was actually thinking it would be a lot worse. Maybe it didn't seem as bad because I'm pretty organized and have the flexibility to get together whatever is needed. It's hurry up and wait. I did our end of the paperwork and then send it off the the government and wait. And the waiting is by far the worst. And it's probably going to be even harder for me once we know who she is and have to wait to go get her.
Hopefully our dossier will be back from Washington within the next week. Then I will send it to CAS, our adoption agency in North Carolina. Then we wait again, this time for our referral. Then there's more paperwork. Yesterday I emailed our program coordinator at CAS to let her know we should be getting our dossier back soon and then I'll send it off to her. She said referrals are still coming in fairly quickly, whatever that means. It varies depending on the child you are requesting. We may only have a weeks notice before we travel or maybe a months notice. So I'm ready to start packing!
My friend from Janesville who I met through the adoption agency is in Vietnam now with her new daughter. I can't wait to hear from her when she gets home. Her husband, who stayed home with their son, did email me to say that they officially have a daughter and they can't wait to come home. She thinks we will have our referral within a month and will probably be going to Vietnam in August. I hope she's right! She'll be able to give me lots of advice for the trip.
Hopefully our dossier will be back from Washington within the next week. Then I will send it to CAS, our adoption agency in North Carolina. Then we wait again, this time for our referral. Then there's more paperwork. Yesterday I emailed our program coordinator at CAS to let her know we should be getting our dossier back soon and then I'll send it off to her. She said referrals are still coming in fairly quickly, whatever that means. It varies depending on the child you are requesting. We may only have a weeks notice before we travel or maybe a months notice. So I'm ready to start packing!
My friend from Janesville who I met through the adoption agency is in Vietnam now with her new daughter. I can't wait to hear from her when she gets home. Her husband, who stayed home with their son, did email me to say that they officially have a daughter and they can't wait to come home. She thinks we will have our referral within a month and will probably be going to Vietnam in August. I hope she's right! She'll be able to give me lots of advice for the trip.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
No news yet
Tuesday will be 2 weeks that our dossier has been in Washington at the Vietnamese Embassy. It usually takes about 3 weeks for authentication. I check the UPS tracking number daily to see if the package has been sent back to us yet.
I think about our daughter daily even though she isn't here yet. I can't wait to see what she looks like and to finally meet her in person. The boys talk about her often like she's part of our family already. They'll find a toy and say 'Mom, this can be for Ava.' Just tonight we went to Pizza Hut for supper and sat at a table for 4. Nathan said 'Once Ava's here we'll have to sit at a bigger table.' So I know they're thinking about her too. I think they'll be great big brothers to her.
I think about our daughter daily even though she isn't here yet. I can't wait to see what she looks like and to finally meet her in person. The boys talk about her often like she's part of our family already. They'll find a toy and say 'Mom, this can be for Ava.' Just tonight we went to Pizza Hut for supper and sat at a table for 4. Nathan said 'Once Ava's here we'll have to sit at a bigger table.' So I know they're thinking about her too. I think they'll be great big brothers to her.
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