2 More Referrals

Our agency sent us the good news that 2 more referrals were received; both were for 2 infant girls, one 4 months and one 5 weeks. In two weeks, we've received 7 referrals at our agency; if this keeps up maybe eventually, the wait will go back down, at least to where it is. We should be about #117 on the waiting list as a whole and about #73 for a boy. This is going to be a very short post, since I'm feeling tired and want to get to bed. With the weather changing all the time, I don't want to get worn down and become sick.

Happy 4th Annversary

Yes, today is our 4th wedding anniversary! We went out to dinner at Outback, where the meal took forever. The cook didn't receive it, so we were offered soup or a salad, which we really didn't want. we finally got our meal, which was very good. I got a fillet and Kevin got the fish of the day, mahi mahi. When we got home I was surprised to find a bouquet of roses on the kitchen table. They are gorgeous as you can see. I can't decide which picture is better, so I'll post them all.












Also, here is a picture of us that was taken last month at my cousin Amanda's wedding.

Finally Referrals!

Our agency finally received several referrals today! 5 in all! 3 were of healthy children ( one was even a 3 month old girl!) and 2 were of waiting children! This means we are now #119 overall on the list and #74 for those open to a boy Let's hope this is the start of a our agency getting a lot more referrals. A deluge of referrals would be nice, but just a steady amount of referrals would be a positive step forward to bringing the wait times back down! In other agency adoption news, 3 families returned this week from Vietnam with their children and 7 other families will be leaving tomorrow to get their children, all in orphanages in Ho Chi Minh City. Congratulations to all the lucky families. One day it will be our turn!

Even without this good new, I am in a much better mood. I just needed a break from blogging, but hope to post regularly again.

The other weekend we went to the last county fair of the year here in Illinois. We also saw my cousin and her husband, who live a few miles away. It was great getting together with them. They are going to be opening a coffee shop in their town. It will be the only coffee shop in that town and one of the only meeting places in the town other than a couple bars and an ice cream shop that closes for a good part of the year. We wish them all the luck in the world; although we think they have a real moneymaker there.

Japanese Toilet Training Video

Oops it disappeared from my original entry! So, here's a reposting!

Japanese Toilet Training Video

I've just not been in a blogging mood, but I plan to get back to posting on Friday night. Until then enjoy this cute video. It's from Japan and in Japanese, but it's really cute! Probably would get annoying after awhile though!

No News is Good News, and This Definitely isn't Good

Finally, we received an update from our social worker. Unfortunately, no new referrals were received, but a 12 year old girl was placed who was a waiting child. It's always so nice to see older kids getting to have a family of their own, but especially when that older child is at the age of adolescence. That is incredibly difficulty age group for almost any parent, but to bring a child of that age into your family really shows that family is very special. There are about 6 families curremtly in Vietnam with their children.

The big news, but definitely not the news any of us waiting families want to hear is that wait times have increased. New families being added to the list are being told over 2 years for a girl (this has been so, for many months), but they are now saying the wait times for those waiting for a boy will now be 18-24 months. Our agency does expect the wait times for many people currently on the list for boys to be closer to 15-18 months, but this is just an estimate. Referrals the past few months have really been slow, so they say if referrals continue to be slow the wait times could increase even more, but then if we start getting more referrals, wait times could speed up. Expect the wait to be longer and then if it turns out to be shorter than one can be pleasantly surprised. So who knows we can have anywhere from a year or two wait. This is especially depressing when you are waiting for your first child and getting to be an older parent. The way things are looking I'll be past my 40th birthday, before a child is even a possibility. What's even worse is that since adoption in Vietnam isn't centralized like in China (each agency works with one or several orphanages, so wait times and referrals differ from agency to agency and orphanage to orphanage.) Because of this difference between agencies and orphanages, there is a big fluctuation in wait times. Also, there are unfortunately several unethical agencies, that find ways to get many young healthy infants; thus the quick wait times and large numbers of referrals. Hopefully these agencies will be shut down and not the entire Vietnam adoption program. Anyone considering agencies, please do your homework and if things sound too good they usually are. There is a yahoo group where one can research agencies that are licensed in Vietnam. I do not have the link, but search under Yahoo Groups for "researching Vietnam adoption agencies". Also anyone considering agencies, use only licensed agencies. The Vietnam Embassy requires all adoption agencies to be licensed for Vietnam adoption. Some agencies umbrella or piggyback with a licensed agency and this too is illegal. Sorry for being such a downer today, but I now feel somewhat better.

We had a pretty busy Labor Day weekend. Friday, Kevin went to his 2nd high school football game of the season. Saturday morning, we spent at the Immediate Care Center. I started getting an earache and since my doctor was not in, I decided I better go get it treated before it got bad. In the evening, we went to watch the races at Rockford Speedway. NOT a good idea to do when you have the startings of an earache! Sunday, we went to church and then my parents came over and we went to a dinner at a steakhouse about 30-35 minutes from here. It was so good 3 of us had pork chops and Kevin got a steak. I gave him one of my porkchops and he gave me half his steak. The porkchops were good, but the steak was even better. Then on Monday, we went to another county fair in nearby Wisconsin (Walworth County). So, it was a pretty packed weekend.

Not a lot to report adoption-wise, but our agency did receive one referral for a healthy 4 month old infant boy. There are 3 families currently in Vietnam and 3 more families will be leaving this week. So we have moved one more place on the list. We are # 129 overall and #76 for those open to a boy. Come on referrals, e need to make some more progress. A nice leap would be nice! I'm trying to wait until the end of next week to check with our social worker to see where we are on the list. I try to wait at least 6 weeks between e-mails about our current status. I'm sure as we get closer, it will be more frequent, but at this point 6 weeks is adequate.

Another Game of Tag

1. You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name.

2. If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.

3. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts.

4 At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged & to read your blog!

Here we go:
M - Married - to the most wonderful guy in the world, Kevin!

A - Adoption - How we are forming a family.

R - Reading - Something I really enjoy doing.

I - Impatient - How I feel about this process.

E- Excited about being a mother.

Let's see. I have to tag 5 people. How about Kelly at snips & snails, Elizabeth at Fajitas & Pho, Sue at Waiting for Our Sweet Pea, Jennifer at This Is Now, and Gina at the Leonards at Large