Application

The formal application is not that bad. They ask all the questions I expected plus a few more which I will ask Michael to help me with. They ask the "why do you want to adopt"? and "what kind of baby/child do you want?"

Not too bad..Im waiting back to see if I can use a few people as references, I have called the doctor for letters for the both of us and left a message for 2 people at the agency. We are working on a finding a Friday night to attend an informational meeting in Atlanta to ask questions about the process from families who have done this..Should be fun!!!!!

Adoption talk

We spent a good portion of our weekend in Florida talking about the adoption process, the long trip to China and changes to our house. I am still going over adoption agencies but we are feeliing good with our decision. We got home to 2 new packets from different agencies.

I keep hearing stories of people who have adopted internationally. if you have friends or stories who have gone through it, please let me know!

This week, we are going to try to get letters from our drs saying we are healthy to be parents, hopefully get some money from work to start the process and talk to people about being a reference for us. Be warned, you make get a phone call or email from us!


Thats it for today, the more I write the more I realize I have to do, especially to the house..Wwe have a lot of painting to do.....Wanna help? Just kidding.

Until the next update!

Amy

Update

We dont have a hold up but I think we are going to check out one more agency before sending anyone any money. there is a group here called First Friday that meets monthly and just give info about all of the agencies and the process in general!

Application

I have looked at the application and the letter that was written to Steve and Nancy and realized it was meant for us. The letter just stated we needed to doctors letters saying we were healthy enough to be parents. I let them know at the meeting and on the preliminary application that Michael was diabetic and they told me it shouldnt be a problem. I am researching other couples that may have health issues just to feel more secure about all of this. I have been working the last 3 nights so I have not been awake enough to fill it out, but I noticed it was extensive which is really good. We have to get all kind of referances including, family, friends, employers and someone from our church.

Hopefully I will get started on the application on Tuesday!




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Saturday June 17th

Our preliminary application was approved and we received our offical application in the mail today. It was long (not overwhelming) and detailed, but was understood that. There was also a letter explaining how long the wait in China is (and I have heard this from all agencies we have checked out) but there was one problem. the letter was addressed to Steve and Nancy! I hope Steve and Nancy got our letter.

I must tell you that more and more am I feeling at peace about this. I wondered for maybe one minute how our family and friends would react and if they would accept this new family member. I obviously got over that.My inlaws have been so supportive and its quite exciting that they live so close by..

We know we are looking at a 12-18 month wait and I am very okay with that. In 9-10 months, I will probably grow very impatient but thats okay. this morning as I was getting ready to leave work there was an adoption story on with a family adopting from India..It was truly sweet and wonderful and makes this journey more exciting!

AMY

update

Got an email from the agency that the letter should be in the mail..Whats in the letter? I have no idea! I am also on a few message boards with couples who are going through/gone through the same thing..So thats the update for today

AMY

Wait for appoval of preliminary application

Thats what we are doing. Still waiting for a call from the agency..2 weeks will be Friday. After that we do the the official application and turn in the first check..Details to come

Monday morning!

Hopefully this is the second week and we will hear something from the agency. When we do, we shall keep you posted. I do believe that my friends and family may be more excited than we are..I doubt that, but the level of excitement is truly beyond belief. Many people are asking how long will it take? Realistically 12-18 months and I am totally okay that. It will take that long to get our house ready and I am not joking. I have started a list of things that must be done even before we get to the home study. There was something else I had to say, but I totally forgot! Thanks for all of the links to everyones websites and friends and families who have adopted internationally. Friday night at work, I learned a friend of mine has parents who live in China so its nice to know we have resources..
Have a great Monday

Adoption story/process

So here we are with post number 2 and some of you are wondering why and how we decided this! Let me say that I really wasn't interested in the whole adoption things a few years ago, although I have a few friends who have gone through it over the years!

Most of you know that I have a favorite artist Steven Curtis Chapman who has adopted 3 little girls from China over the past 3 years. Michael and I have been to 2-3 concerts of his over the past 3 years and his story has always been told in his concert. He has created Shaohannas hope to share international adoption with people. This was just the beginning. The funny thing is that I have every one of his cd's. In college the only song I ever skipped was "When Love Takes You In" because it was for those adoption people and although that's a nice thing to do, it surely was not meant for me. Little did I know that those words would help my heart grow.

We have thought about it over the past couple of months and had done a bit of research before we went on the cruise. Mind you, I have been praying about this for a while now. On our Disney cruise we went on a swim with the stingrays tour and had a blast. We were in line to get on a boat and they asked for a family of 2 to join the almost full boat. We raised our hand and moved up to the front to get on the first boat. While we were there I say beside a lovely family who has a Chinese daughter with them, They were so friendly and told us they had not only adopted Marissa but also had another daughter from China ,Reece. I spent a while talking to Reece finding out she may be one of the most charming 6 year olds I had met (Kelly, Janie is only 5 so I am not forgetting about her). They were so encouraging and had a lot of information for us. Then we found out they were from Marietta Ga and probably live only 10-15 minutes away. How cool is that? We saw them a few times on the boat and presently are trying to hook up with them for dinner so that we can hear there story. Little did I know that this family was Rich and Denise Hall, whose story appears in the National Geographic film, Lost Girls of China. God put us on that boat and orchestrated every moment.


Denise put me in touch with Susan Chapman who has an adoption support group locally and we can meet new friends who are already a part of the process. Susan has called me and has invited us to North Metro Church. We look forward to learning more.
Since then things have gotten crazy but good. Using myspace, I gotten back in touch with friends from college. Through a friend, I learned my old college neighbor is in the process of adopting from China and has provided all kind of support. Friends are sending me links to other peoples links..its totally a God thing because my heart has gone 360 in the whole adoption idea!


Once we talk to Bethany, we will pay the fee and be assigned a Social Worker. We then will provide a lot of paperwork and begin the home study. Lots more paperwork will be done and more waiting until we are officially signed in with China. Eventually we will get a referral from China, meaning they will provide us with a picture and medical history of our potential daughter. Once we say okay to this, we wait a few more months and then we pack up and spend 12-14 days in China with others. They always travel with other Americans and we have a personal guide who never leaves us. We stay at a hotel called the Swan hotel for our stay in China while we do paperwork. Then we come home, do more paperwork and then it shall be done. It wont be done because we will have a permanent member of the Christopher family!

For now you can pray for us
1.emotional/mental health I am not worried about this but I hear at times this can be stressful and frustrating. What, its not all fun?

2. physical health Pray that by the time we leave for China, we will both be in good health

3.finances We feel like this is a step of faith and that God will provide. My job is going to help, but not only are we going to need to pay for the adoption (which includes the country fees and Bethany's fees) we will need to pay for the hotel, 3 plane tickets, visas and spending money

4.We can finally get the house together (lots of painting and organizing to be done

5. Our future child who hasn't been born yet!

Thanks already for all of your support

If you have any questions, post a comment or email me at amyschristopher@comcast.net

First Post

Greetings from the Christopher family! We invite you to begin this wonderful journey with us. We are at the earliest stage so we have quite a while to go. This blog will be strictly related to our journey in adopting a little girl from China! I can not guarantee that this will be the most entertaining blog ,but we can promise to share our joys and disappointments from the long road! This is going to be a life changing, eye opening experience and I am so excited...More to come on why and how we came to this decision!

Stay tuned for updates. Don't forget to check our individual blogs at www.xanga.com/amychristopher and www.valtool.blogspot.com

Thanks for all of the support! We are excited,scared, nervous and about 50 other emotions at this time!

Amy and Michael