Hip Hip Hooray

The past few days have brought about a few new developments on the adoption front. Larry and I met with our social worker on Saturday. The meeting was brief, basically to go over what we still needed in order to complete the home study. While she was here, she said that there were a few things that we still needed, including two background checks that we had sent off about a month ago. I had my heart sent on the home study being complete soon, so I immediately fell into a little funk. But it was nothing that a little shopping couldn't cure.

Later that afternoon, the social worker called back and said that she had found the missing background checks. Only a reference letter and my statement of employment were still out. And as of this afternoon, they had both been received. Which means that OUR HOME STUDY IS ALMOST FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

I'm very excited about the prospect of having it completed by my birthday!

It's difficult when I find myself becoming upset about the process and the amount of time that it seems to be taking. I'm forced to bring myself back to reality when I realize that we have only been in the process for two months. But it feels like forever!

Time keeps on ticking...

It seems that we might be entering into a period of time where we will be doing a lot of waiting and waiting and waiting. But we do have a few pieces of news to report:

We're almost done with all of the requirements for the home study. Our social worker should come by sometime this week to pick up a few remaining pieces of paperwork and meet with us one final time.

I (Megan) passed my medical workup, meaning I don't have syphilis or HIV and I "would be able to physically and emotionally meet the requirements of raising a child." I did have to have a booster shot for the mumps. I now know why babies cry when they get their vaccines. Not because of the needle, but because it feels like someone is injecting you with liquid fire. A week later and my arm is still sore.

We got a packet from Carolina Adoption Services last week about preparing our dossier. (Makes me think of James Bond every time I say that.) Half of it is in Vietnamese. By starting to work on this, it means that we are one step closer to getting our referral. I like to think that we are almost in the second trimester.

And I just want to remind those of you read this that my 30th birthday is right around the corner. I would love to have our homestudy completed and off to USCIS by then. What a great gift that would be!!! But I'll still take gifts as well.

Mommy-to-be Day

So, for most of you reading this that know me well, then you know that I love getting presents. I love giving them as well, but I LOVE getting presents. And I was so excited when I read in one of the adoption books that we should celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day, since we can consider ourselves expecting.

That being said, I celebrated Mother's Day this year. Larry was a great husband. On Mother's Day I received cards from Tobie, the cats and Larry and Owen. Larry also gave me the Willow Tree angel entitled "Child of My Heart," which represents adoptive moms and babies. It is sitting on my desk at work, helping me get through the days.

My dad also joined in giving gifts. He sent a beautiful purple azalea, with a card that read:

"Mom,
You, Dad and I can watch these flowers grow.
Love, Owen and Grandpa."

The plant is beautiful. I'm trying to figure out the perfect place for it.

I will note that Tobie was upset that she didn't receive any flowers. When the delivery man came to the door, Tobie took off running down the street, looking for her gift from Grandpa. She kept running from me and was headed towards the road. Luckily one of our neighbors saw her and called her name. Tobie trotted towards her like she didn't have a care in the world. Tobie is a little too precocious for her own good.

I wanted to congratulate Todd and Jilian on adding Cash to their family. Tobie can't wait to meet him. I hope Cash and Tobie get along better than Tobie and Grisman. (Cash and Grisman are Tobie's canine cousins)

Inkless Fingerprints

Last Saturday, Larry and I traveled to Northern Virginia to be fingerprinted, which is a requirement for international adoption. We left Lynchburg by 7:00 am and arrived at the Citizenship and Immigration Office around 10:30 am, after taking the scenic route through numerous Civil War battlefields. While this was obviously not the most direct route, it was a very pleasant drive.

We were about an hour early for our scheduled appointment, so we thought that we would have to wait. Fortunately, we were able to begin the fingerprinting process immediately. I had envisioned that we would be covered in black ink at the end of the process, but luckily I was wrong. Instead, I felt like I was on CSI. The fingerprints were scanned into the computer. No ink and no mess. There were a few slip-ups, like Larry's wedding band rolling under the machine and I had the luxury of being fingerprinted twice. But the whole thing moved rather smoothly.

Once the fingerprints were finished, we were off to have lunch at Saigon City, which used to be a Pizza Hut. Larry and I both had a bowl of pho --Vietnamese noodle soup. Pho is very good, but different than what I was expecting. Each bowl was chockful of rice noodles and chicken breast. The broth was very flavorful, with a hint of ginger and garlic. We also had grilled meat summer rolls and crispy pork rolls. I rounded out the meal with a pineapple crazy bubble tea. Bubble tea is like a fruity tea smoothie with tapioca pearls in the bottom. I'm not sure I was too crazy about the bubble tea.

When lunch was over, we headed to my favorite place on Earth...IKEA. We got a bookcase, several rugs, some knick knacks and shelves for the nursery. And didn't break a hundred dollars.

Then it was on to Richmond to visit Leanne, Ingram and Thorn, before Leanne leaves for China. We had a blast. Thorn greeted me by spitting up on me, which is becoming par for the course when we see each other.

In the upcoming week, Larry and I have to get fingerprints at the local police department. And for now we're just waiting. We're waiting on our passports, waiting on our homestudy and waiting for CIS approval.

Thorn sleeping. If you look, you can see where he spit up on me.

Adoption excitement

Yeah...we've had some progress. Our I-600A application is in process, which means we are one step closer to Owen Bowen.

We're were initially scheduled to attend a seminar in Roanoke on Saturday, however we were notified on Monday, April 30th that the conference was canceled. I was bummed about it, but figured that we could spend the weekend working around the house. Then Larry checked the mail. And waiting for us were appointments to have our fingerprints taken in Alexandria, one of the steps in processing our I-600A. So, we're heading out early in the morning, getting our fingerprints done and then it's off to IKEA, my favorite place on earth.

But through all this excitement, we received some sad news. Our cat, the same one that was sick last week, is even sicker. It seems that his cancer has returned and there is really nothing that we can do. So Loba is home and we're lavishing him with attention. He's such a great cat and I am so sad about his prognosis.

Faith

Keeping the Faith

Since Larry and I began the process of expanding our family, faith has been has been an integral part of keeping me sane. Not just through the process of trying to have a baby, but through several other things as well, particularly the illness and passing of my stepmother, who was like my second mother. The bracelets in the picture above all have a single charm, on which is inscribed the word "Faith." When Anne got sick in '04, I found these bracelets and gave one to her, my sister and kept one for myself. We wore them as a reminder of what we needed to help through the difficult time. I stopped wearing mine shortly after Anne passed away last year. But last week, I found myself wearing it again. And each time I look at it or hear the charm clink against the bracelet I'm reminded that I need to have faith that we will get through this process, we will meet our child and we will have the family that we've longed for.

Time spent with family...

is always time well spent.

Larry and I spent last weekend at the beautiful Inn at Riverbend in Pearisburg, VA, celebrating my step-brother's wedding. The weekend was wonderful and the wedding was beautiful. I'm so glad that they have found one another.

The weekend away was also a way for Larry and I to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. Hopefully this will be the last one with just the two of us.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

Just look at the form in that cast!


Owen Bowen's uncle and grandpa throwing gang signs?
If I didn't know them so well, I might be concerned.

The view from our room