another step

Hello again. After reading my yahoo groups, many referrals have been received today. that means that many families are going to be growing in the next 2-3 months. We completed another step today. I ran to the doctors office tot get a letter stating that Michael's health will not threaten his ability to parent. Now, we are waiting for our friends get their recommendations and send them in. After that, hopefully we will be approved and will be able to go to the next orientation!

Things are progressing

How about I mailed the application yesterday and the agency got it today? They just called.Yippee! For those on our reference list, you will be getting a letter from them shortly. PLease mail it in by OCtober 7th if possible. We also need a note saying Michaels diabetes wont affect his parenting and we will be approved. Once approved, we will get on the orientation date of October 14th... SWEET

Hows that for good news?
amy

Application sent

YIPPEEE! The application along with a money order was sent to our agency today..This means the process has started..I had it confirmed so that I will know when they get it..Its very exciting...I will write more later!
amy

Updates or not

Still not much going on. Sending the application out before we leave on the trip and will hopefully be accepted and then get an orientation date. Michael was motivated to start with the major house cleaning tonight and I am so proud of him. If you guys know of anyone who is adopting or planning on it, please send me their emails or website links.

I wish I had more to tell you.

Amy

Thursday 13

Thirteen Things I am scared about in the adoption process 1….It will become so overwhelming we will quit! 2. Finances.That we wont have the money at the right time 3.Paperwork will not arrive in time 4.That the house will not be ready in time 5.Friends will not be accepting of this 6.That my passion will for this will decrease 7.That I will do what I want and not listen to God. This one scares me most of all 8.That we aren't ready 9. That I will not keep in contact with the families I have met 10.That the wait time for referrals will continue to increase I really cant come up with 13 this week. These are fears. I have given them to God, but they still stay with me..I know that it will work out according to His will. Thanks for the encouragment and prayers! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Chinese adoption

WE are so excited to begin the process. What happens now is we turn in the full application, wait for approval and an invitation to the October orientation. We are then assigned a socal work and the fun starts. The paperwork is often called "paperchasing" and you will hear that a lot.
I am going to post some info on words, symbols and traditions you may hear in the chinese adoption world. Its very exciting and I am so glad we have all of the support




New to Chinese Adoption?...The Answers To Your Questions:
These answers are based on my personal research and opinions...* Why does it take so long? The paperwork required by China is extensive and it takes a long time to prepare because they want to ensure that their children are being adopted into loving homes. After the paperwork is submitted to the Chinese government, it waits its turn to be thoroughly reviewed. They also have to confirm that the children being placed for adoption are truly orphans. * Why are all the orphans girls? Most of the orphans are girls because in the Chinese culture, boys support their parents in their old age as there is no social security. Girls support their husband's parents. With the one child per family law, most families choose for their one child to be a boy out of necessity.* How old will she be? It seems that the youngest age at the time of adoption is about 8 months. Most of the babies are between that and about 20 months old, with the majority being around 12-14 months when they first meet their forever family.

Important Jargon and Traditions Found In The Chinese Adoption Community:
The Red Thread - "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." - An ancient Chinese belief

.Ladybugs - Believed to be good luck by most people, this is particularly true here. One spring while everyone waited for their referrals, there was a huge infiltration of ladybugs across the nation and immediately following these sightings a flood of referrals came. Or so the story goes.

100 Good Wishes Quilt - To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes Quilt." It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. (Wording borrowed from Original Quilts owner.) Waiting families often collect the wishes along with a sample of each fabric square into a scrapbook for their new child.DTC - Dossier to China. This is the milestone day when the Chinese government logs in the receipt of a dossier to adopt a child. This represents the end of the "paperchase" for the adoptive parents, and the beginning of "the wait" for a referral of a child by the Chinese government. Sometimes also referred to as your LID, or Log In Date.

Questions

Another great question received at work, was "Is it first come at the orphanage and how do you pick the one you want" followed by "If they get ugly, can you return them?"


uhm.....do I even bother???

First Friday

Where do I even start? I am hoping Michael will also post his feelings towards last night..SO we went to a doctors appt and then had Carrabas for dinner (early, and there was no line). Then we headed to the Chapmans for our first First Friday..First of all, we felt out of place when we got there..Why? The homes started at 700,000 up to 3 million..It was wacked..I will never be in this kind of neighborhood again.. So, we were the first to arrive..We met Susan and Dan and Mimi, their 4 year old petite daughter adopted from China..Loved it...

Then the people started arriving. They said it was a small crowd, I'm guessing 50-60 people..I thought it was huge. Many people brought their adopted daughters..Yes, there were people all in the process. One family leaves Sept 12 for Makayla Grace. The entire group prayed over them before the night was through. The family showed pictures and was totally excited about the trip..It was contagious. We met several couples. One couple has offered to sit with us if we want to visit First Baptist Woodstock. They have been on mission trips to the Chinese orphanages and thats how they decided to adopt..Its the coolest thing! We met a couple who is waiting on a specific piece of paper and its been a long wait and they were frustrated.Very nice people and the husband gave me lots of information...
We were able to meet Mr Diets, he's the president of the Atlanta chapter of the group we will be using. All in all, it was an awesome experience..The agency we chose is being used by most of the people there and we have no doubts about them at all. We will probably go to our orientation October 14th if we can get our application this week.

We mingled, ate cookies and checked out family pics for about an hour until question and answer time..

We can not go back until November, but I hope to be there! It was far better than I ever expected.. We left so motivated to get this started. Im still fearful about the financial situation but God has laid this on our hearts for a long time and I know He will provide. We met so many people. I felt like we immediately joined a family or a club that was opened to everyone. I think all of the future moms had tears in their eyes at least once sometime last nignt.


Stay tuned to whats going on in our hearts!!!!

Tonight

Well, tonight is our first Chinese adoption support group thingy. I am pretty excited as we are going to meet a lot of people and meet some children born in China. Its called First Friday and its held the first Friday of the month. This is the first time we have been able to go. It should be fun. A nurse that works with me tore out a piece of paper that had an adoption seminar this Thursday using the group we will be using. Im not sure I will be able to go, but its nice that people are looking out for me. I am getting more focused on getting the house organized. We may board Lucy for 2 weeks in October and if we do, that will be when we get most of the organization done. Ive learned that we need to show proof of shots for the cats, so we will need to get that done as well. I am also hoping we will see the couple we met on the cruise again..

There really is a lot of things to do, but it will get done, I am sure..Its nice to have something to motivate me..

Thursday 13

Thirteen names I have loved for little girls since I was a little girl!1! Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!1. Madison2.Abigail3.Sara4.Rachel5.Carson6.Rebekah7.Emily8.Delaney9.Mackenzie10.Annie11.Victoria12.Elizabeth13.KathrynUnfortunately, most of these are trendy and Michael and I are not into that many trendy names. That being said, these are names I like. This list should predict our future daughters name on it..Mind you, I wanted twins named Jackson and Madison for 10 years and thought I was the first one to come up with that. I was wrong..All of America had the same idea!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

uhm

Not sure whats going on with blogger or where the rest of my posts are, but I will figure it out!!!!!!

First Thursday 13

Thirteen Things about Amy and Michael 1…. We have been married almost 5 years 2.This is the first time I have done a Thursday thirteen but I think the idea is very cool 3.We have been thinking about adoption on and off for a few years. 4. We have lots to do to get our house ready for the home study 5. The whole idea scares the heck out of me but at the same time is exciting as anything 6.I can not wait to have a blog that says we are in China 7. When I am at work, I read peoples blogs and love to read stories of adoption 8.Although we have not talked about it, there are names I really like 9. I am scared half to death of the flight to China 10. I actually like to answer peoples questions regarding adoption, although I dont have all the answers 11. I think Michael will be rockin dad 12. I want to take my kids to Disney World for vacation 13. I cant wait to have the sound of children in my home Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

First Friday

Did I tell you guys about the couple we met on the cruise that adopted 2 girls from China? they introduced to a couple who hold a support group in their home once a month, "First Friday"! I have been trying to work every Friday for extra money but I am off next Friday! Guess what day it is, Sept!. I think we can go. I am very excited as there will be people who are in various stages of the adoption process, those who havent started, those whose paperwork is almost through, those waiting for a referral and those waiting to leave for China!. I am very excited that we can go and meet these people! Yippee!

Whats going on?

Whats going on with the Christopher family? Well, I learned how to add links to this site. It was not as easy as I expected but I figured it out.

My coworkers love me. When they assigned patients Wednesday night,they gave me a lovely 17yo post op patient. The reason they gave me this patient was that his parents recently got back from China after adopting baby Gracie. How sweet was she! Unfortunately, by the time I got back from my meeting, the patient had fallen asleep and I was unable to talk with them. I was quite disapointed..I am sure another one of those moments will come again.

We are heading to Florida for a few days. We have started cleaning and organizing the house, a little bit. Michael finished painting the bathroom upstairs and it just needs some touch ups. Some friends have given me ideas to help with that, but it is a bit overwhelming. We have gotten a fire extinguisher. We should have one anyway, but we are sure the homestudy people will want to see it. Thats about it.
I have totally enjoyed answering questions..I told someone we were adopting from China and there answer was 'Is that legal'? That was kind of funny. I am sure we will have more questions like that but that was great. More details to come as we set our orientation date and wait to get approved.. Thanks for all the kind emails.

Amy and Michael

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

Finally, this is the video that led to the journey of adoption

its a God thing

Okay, another sign God is totally in this process. We went to a new doctor yesterday..Wonderful Christian lady who, get this, is in the process of adopting. She has 3 kids but is adopting 2 older ones this year and soon as she is matched..Anway, because of her history, she knew what labs we would need, what info the agency would need.


How cool is that?

anticipation

A lot of people were given a log in date today for China. How exciting for those families!!! Now they begin the wait for a referral for their child!
As I have had time to explore and research blogs, websites and talking to people who have adopted something has occurred tot me..i mean really occurred to me what a life changing proceses adoption will be. Just the idea of adding a person to your family is simply HUGE!! Those of you who have adopted and those who have biological children can share with me.

I remember getting married almost 5 years ago. That was a HUGE change. You cant be selfish anymore..I had my ways of doing things as did Michael. We still have our own ways of doing things but you have to be able to adjust to your spouses ideas..that was hard..I think it was 6 months into the wonderful marriage that it hit me. It was hard but you know what? It was also fun. I loved learning new things about my husband and i still do.

I seriously think about the day we get our daughter from China, and how not only will our lives be forever changed, but also hers. i pray for a smooth adjustment as we take her from a place she has never left to a new and exciting life..

I am sentimental person, although most people wouldnt know that. I am also very excitable. I cant wait for the day that they place our daughter in our homes and we take her home with us..

People

Sitting here at work, wondering when we will be mailing the application. Its pretty complete, we both answered our questions, thats pretty much it.

Apparently Michael met someone today who has used the agency we have chosen?

Someone asked me today "Why China, dont you like American kids"? Now, tell me, how in the heck is the proper response to that?



Ladybugs are cool!

questions

The strange questions have started. "why are you adopting"? Why China and not another country? Why would you spend that much money on a family?

Mind you, most of these people are just curious but it sometimes I think people are being ugly. I am not worried though.I do believe that our child will be loved and cherished by all of our family and friends..its actually exciting to think about it.

The formal application should be going out sometime next week and then we wait for the next step. We are working on getting the house ready for our homestudy, but with both of us working a lot of overtime, the process is slow. I can report the bookshelf is no longer in the kitchen which is pretty exciting.

No, we havent talked about names. i dont know why.Perhaps its the fact that we have a long wait ahead of us.
Michael has told me that Lucy will have to go to training school before we bring any child into the home. We got Lucy the bassett hound due to the laid back, lazy personalities they are know to have. Lucy seems to have a defect. Im just kidding. It is funny to watch her do laps in the back yard..


Until next time...

me and Michael

Nope. There really is nothing to report. I am getting so much info from people on the internet about China and our agency and everything, I am ready to meet some of these people. We are expecting the best...paperwork will not be that difficult, we will be approved, travel will be great, baby girl will bond and not grieve over her new environment.

I am very excited about the whole process,but the difficulty of the process is starting to hit me. Perhaps Michael and I can over the adoption packet in the car or while on the trip. I hope so. There is so much to talk about..

I am not worried.
I know we can do it.
Its just how to start.

amy