Waiting....

Even though the referrals will not come out for awhile, I thought I'd do some updating and just post some info. about our international adoptions. The past few days I've been working at trying to get some paperwork updated. This is the third set of filing of this type of form. The forms are only good for so many months, so we need to keep them updated and which also means more fees We also have to be re-fingerprinted again and More fees. (Maybe our fingerprints changed in the past few months.) We also finished our state requirements, ending with a FBI check. You'll be happy to know that we all checked out OK. When they run our Federal fingerprints we'll be checked out by some other organization. Already being checked by various groups at various times through this whole process. The forms I was working on, are new forms. We are the first ones, for our case worker, to work through this form. So I spent a lot of time wondering if I have completed everything correctly and my case worker could only guess and offer suggestions.

While we wait, I am thankful for the business of an active family, but "Olivia" is always looming out there and often heavy on our minds. Today when I returned from all my document collecting and going to the bank and getting the package mailed off to USCIS, Justin ran out to my car to see if I had brought Olivia home with me.

When we do get a referral, this would mean we would get a picture of a baby girl (we think she would be 8 months to 18 months at the time of referral). We'd also be given her Chinese name, which with almost certainty would have been given to her by the orphanage where she was placed. We would have some brief medical info and personality info, but that would be most likely all. Most of the children would have been living in an orphanage since the time of placement. Lately there are more and more children living in foster care. (nothing like what Justin had, but better than an orphanage.). We would have the choice of accepting the referral or not. After we would accept, we would receive travel arrangements and a travel date, usually about 8 weeks after the referral is accepted.

At that point Bob & I must travel to China, for the adoption is finalized in China and both of us will need to be there. We are considering taking Justin, because the older children often help make the transition easier for the new child in the family. We would also need to take Wendy with us, just for more hands and help with bonding etc. Once in China we would most likely be traveling (most likely flying from place to place) and staying at several different destinations, while going to meetings, etc. and getting the process completed. You receive your child almost immediately. So you are traveling with a child that doesn't know you, has been taken from the only place and people that she knows. She could be throwing up or have a variety of minor ailments, infections, etc. that are common. If they have been living in an orphanage, they most likely have never been outside the orphanage. So those first few days are joyous, but very tiresome and stressful. The entire trip takes about 10 to 14 days.

There are some rumors flying around saying it might be earlier than we were thinking, but there is no way we'd travel till fall anyway, because of the Olympics.