Still Nothing

A few of you have asked what we've heard about our homestudy... Nothing, really. I emailed the agency yesterday and was told that they received quite a few homestudies on the same day as ours, so that's going to slow it down a little. She also repeated that they will contact our SW if any changes are necessary. So, hopefully it won't be much longer, and we'll hear from one or both of them about it soon. I appreciate the interest, though. It's so nice to know people are thinking of us. I'm really hoping to get our I600A submitted before the big fee increase (which I believe is towards the end of July??), so keep us in your prayers that the homestudy will be approved soon. I have my I600 app. all filled out and ready to go, just waiting to have a homestudy to submit with it.

I'll let you know as soon as I hear something! You know, the "hard waiting" hasn't even started yet!!!

Also, are there any BTDT folks reading who have experience with applying for adoption loans and grants? From what we understand, we can start doing that once we have our homestudy- but we don't know much about it. We didn't do it last time. Leave a comment, or email me. Thanks!

I'll let you know as soon as I hear about our homestudy! Again, thanks for thinking of us.

Greetings PAPs, APs, and Other Acronyms...

It's funny... I started this blog to keep our friends and family updated on our adoption, BUT... the majority of our visitors are those from the adoption community- people we've never met, who found us through my link on an adoption group; People who have traveled, or are traveling the same road we're on (and some of our relatives still haven't been here yet!). Things don't always happen as we plan; sometimes it's better! I love having so many visitors- the more the merrier! I've already "met" some fellow WACAP pioneers, and I'm so glad to have found you. I hope to learn from you as you blaze the trail! I must say, I'm continually amazed by the amount of support, helpfulness, and strong sense of kinship that exists in the adoption community. It's great to have you here, I'm just not sure I can hold your interest- I'm not a writer!

I've had several people asking about our family and kids, soooo... For those of you who don't know us- We are Michelle and Darrell; 40 and 49 yrs. old. We live in the midwest and have been married 18 yrs. We have 6 kids, as well as Darrell's 3 adult children from his first marriage. Their ages are: 27, 25, 21, 17, 15, 13, 8, 7, and 6. We adopted our youngest from Hubei, China in '02. We are also a homeschool family (and yes, we are busy). We are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to bring home a precious baby boy from Vietnam. That's it in a nutshell, and probably more than anyone wanted to know!

We heard that our homestudy draft made it to the agency today- YEAH! Now, they're waiting for a few things from us that I put in the mail last week. When they have everything they need, they will review our homestudy and let us know if we're approved (I hope, hope, hope...). We'll let you know as soon as we hear something!

Latest Report: There's Nothing to Report...

As of today, I'm still waiting to hear from our social worker to find out if the rough draft of our homestudy has been turned in for WACAP to review. The last time I heard, it was going to be sent in at the end of last week, but I don't know if that happened. Until our agency approves our homestudy, we are not even technically considered part of their VN program yet. I've emailed the SW, but didn't hear from her today. Maybe tomorrow...

Once they approve the homestudy, we'll sign a contract and pay the first fee to WACAP. We can send off our I600A application to USCIS, and then I think I'll start feeling like we're getting somewhere. Right now, it just feels like we're in limbo.

Acrobats of China

Today is Children's Day in China. The Acrobats of China at the New Shanghai Theater, in Branson, MO, held a special event today for families with children adopted from China. It was a full day with the acrobats, beginning at 10 this moring and ending with a special performance by the acrobats until 5 this evening. The day was filled with play time at a local park and games with the acrobats, a Chinese lunch served at the theater, presentations by a local FCC chapter, and finally the acrobats show.

It was so good for Brianna to see so many Asian children all together in one place- something she hasn't seen before (not since she lived in China, anyway). I think she was a little overwhelmed by it all- in a good way. I kept watching her watch the other kids. She was really taking it all in! One highlight of her afternoon was getting to go up on stage and participate in a ribbon dance and a dragon dance.

My Daughter, The Ribbon "Dancer" (??)

One of the acrobats picked her up and held her for a group picture at the end of the afternoon and she was on cloud nine!

This was the first year for this event, and they said they want to do it every year. I would HIGHLY recommend going, if you're close enough. Even if you haven't adopted from China, go see their regular show, if you're able. The things they can do are just amazing! It really is a great show.