One Down, Two More to Go!

Last Tuesday night, April 22nd, our hearing was held in Taiwan as we slept. It would have been the 23rd their time. Crazy how that time change effects us. We haven't heard a thing about the hearing and realistically we won't for another 4-6 weeks. Our new case manager is very good at getting information to us immediately and I know she'll keep us informed. Now, that doesn't stop me from wanting to call her to see if she has heard anything. Like many steps in the adoption process, this is another waiting game. Obviously, I'll post anything here as soon I can.

While we wait, we have been enjoying our day to day life. We've had a streak of great weather and it's given us all a taste of spring/summer. I am finally getting that end of the year school feeling and I'm very excited about summer break. Lily has been enjoying playing outside on a regular basis esp. with her neighborhood pals. We've noticed that Lily likes to direct the group of little friends, who all happen to be boys. Oddly enough, they all follow her willingingly and she refers to them as "my boys." I'll often hear her playing with her pals and she'll call out "Look Mom, These are my boys!" I wonder what this bodes for her future role of big sister. I fear Andrew may have a big sister who expects him to become one of "her boys."

On another note, I've done some scrapping with the latest pictures from Taiwan. While they aren't new images, we enjoy them because they get rid of the strange blanket combination in all the photos. Not that I'm complaining about the photos we get from Taiwan. We are gratefull that we get them so regularily. I'm just happy that I can use a littel bit of my scraping skills and make them look more like home pictures vs. orphanage shots. Enjoy!

Update Day!

We got our much anticipated update today! Look at our sweet little boy waving at us!




As you all know, we've been looking forward to this all week. We didn't realize how much we depended upon these little glimpses untill it took a week longer to get the latest one. Any parent who adopts internationally will tell you how much a photo and video means. We study the pictures and memorize the videos (untill we can say the same things the nanny does even though we don't speak Mandarin). It's amazing how much it lifts your spirits to see your little one waiting so far away! What a fabulous way to start the weekend! Please enjoy the newest videos and photos of both our children (can't forget the big sister)!

Still Waiting for an Update

No news from Taiwan. Our program director is on vacation untill Weds. Hopefully we'll get our updates soon, but I do anticipate it'll be a few days or maybe even next week.

Untill then, I have to share that our Lily is growing by leaps and bounds. It seems like when children are really little it's easy to see each milestone achieved and celebrate it. Somehow when they are older, it sneaks up on you and you find yourself saying "Wow, look at how grown up they are." Just this week Lily has been showing off her newly acquired skill of writing words. She's doing well with all the family names like "Mom, Dad, Bill, Nana, Ann, Matt, Bob, Edna." Some of the longer ones like "Melissa, Grandpa and Grandma" are more challenging. For some *odd* reason, she's not been able to write "Andrew, Drew or Andy". Go figure.

I just did this layout today and have to say that I love how it turned out.

Waiting for An Update

We are lucky enough to receive monthly updates via pictures, videos and written reports on our little guy. The updates usually happen the sometime the second or third week if the month. The earliest we have ever received an update is the 11th. We, including other families we are waiting with, were hopeful that we'd hear something this past Friday. Obviously, we didn't. So we are looking forward to this week and hope to get an update on our Andrew.

How can you stand the wait?

This is an understandable question we've been asked a lot lately. The truth is that I think we are handling the wait pretty well. It goes without saying that we'd go get Andrew tomorrow if we could. Since that's not likely to happen, we are determined to make the best of the situation.

We knew going into this adoption that it would be different from China and we'd have to wait 6 months after our referral to travel. At the time we signed up, I did think this would be miserable. I think it has been easier because not too long ago we faced the reality that we may not even get a referral. We went through the holiday season being told our adoption was an "if" not a "when" by our agency. There was an added joy to getting Andrew's referral because we didn't really think it was going to happen. The other thing is that International Adoption scene as a whole is having a rough time. Many of the older, more established programs are having difficulties or shutting down. Guatemalan adoptions face a very uncertain future. The Chinese program is going to take 3+ years. Vietnam, which we were very close to selecting, unfortunately is having difficulties and will likely shut down in September. So, while we take no joy in seeing other adoptive parents struggle, it does help us keep the wait between referral and travel in perspective.