Today was a good day--When I got home from work, I found out I had reached two big milestones in the adoption process.
My revised I-171H with the country change was in the mail!!!
I had the "Welcome to your region" email from my agency--I now know my region!!!
Every little step feels so good.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Here's to a better year in 2009
I hope that 2009 started out well for all of you.
I had a lovely first day of the New Year as I celebrated Christmas with my whole family on that day. We had a nice time and had some good remembrences of my Dad. It felt a little odd without him. He wasn't an integral part in the planning or execution of our plans, he would just follow along with what we planned, so everything went on just as before with the only difference being that he wasn't there. It was a little unsettling that it could be so much the same as always and so different at the same time.
As you know, I have been working on my Russian adoption process. I have also been really thinking about the foster children program here in Minnesota so I looked into that. The one big drawback is that the vast majority of the kids are over age 7 and I was hoping for a younger child as I really want to experience some of the younger years. There are some younger children in the foster program but there are many parents waiting for them and they are often part of a sibling group so I was told it would be unlikely that I could adopt a child under 7.
I also asked about dual listing with foster care and Russia which is what I would really like to do but the Minnesota Waiting Children Program does not allow that so it was choose one or the other. I did choose to stay with Russia.
I had my last homestudy visit on Jan. 8th after spending the week before frantically clearing out my daughter's bedroom (that had morphed into a store room) and cleaning the whole house. It went well and I am now officially approved for bringing home one child up to the age of 4. As of Jan. 8th--my approval date, I am on the waiting list for Russia. Yeah!!! The wait for a girl is being quoted as 18-24 months so please pray I will be on the shorter end of that wait.
My agency is opening a program in a country new to them that might hold some promise but I don't know enough to say anymore about it now.
Here is an issue that I would like some honest feedback on:
I asked my social worker about the possibility of siblings (from Russia). I would have to do some more homework--they gave me a list of books to read--and they want me to talk to some other singles that adopted siblings (there are very few) and then go before a committee to be approved for siblings. Now I am not 100% certain I want to pursue this but here is my thinking--I just turned 48 and will be close to 50 when bringing a child home. With the increased costs and wait times, I know I will not be going through this a second time. I know it will be pretty tough when they are young but as I am an older mother, they could be left parentless when they are still young adults and I think it would be nice for them to have each other. I can't imagine my life without my siblings. The only parents I know that adopted siblings have beautiful children that they love very much but they have some pretty trying times. In doing this, I would not exclude the referral of a single chld---just be open to the possiblity of siblings if they were available. Some have already told me I am nuts. My sister said--"if your heart says that, pursue it. I trust God to bring you to the right spot and I trust you to make the right choice". Am I nuts for even thinking this or is it worth thinking about? I do want to be fair to my child(ren). Tell me what you think.
I had a lovely first day of the New Year as I celebrated Christmas with my whole family on that day. We had a nice time and had some good remembrences of my Dad. It felt a little odd without him. He wasn't an integral part in the planning or execution of our plans, he would just follow along with what we planned, so everything went on just as before with the only difference being that he wasn't there. It was a little unsettling that it could be so much the same as always and so different at the same time.
As you know, I have been working on my Russian adoption process. I have also been really thinking about the foster children program here in Minnesota so I looked into that. The one big drawback is that the vast majority of the kids are over age 7 and I was hoping for a younger child as I really want to experience some of the younger years. There are some younger children in the foster program but there are many parents waiting for them and they are often part of a sibling group so I was told it would be unlikely that I could adopt a child under 7.
I also asked about dual listing with foster care and Russia which is what I would really like to do but the Minnesota Waiting Children Program does not allow that so it was choose one or the other. I did choose to stay with Russia.
I had my last homestudy visit on Jan. 8th after spending the week before frantically clearing out my daughter's bedroom (that had morphed into a store room) and cleaning the whole house. It went well and I am now officially approved for bringing home one child up to the age of 4. As of Jan. 8th--my approval date, I am on the waiting list for Russia. Yeah!!! The wait for a girl is being quoted as 18-24 months so please pray I will be on the shorter end of that wait.
My agency is opening a program in a country new to them that might hold some promise but I don't know enough to say anymore about it now.
Here is an issue that I would like some honest feedback on:
I asked my social worker about the possibility of siblings (from Russia). I would have to do some more homework--they gave me a list of books to read--and they want me to talk to some other singles that adopted siblings (there are very few) and then go before a committee to be approved for siblings. Now I am not 100% certain I want to pursue this but here is my thinking--I just turned 48 and will be close to 50 when bringing a child home. With the increased costs and wait times, I know I will not be going through this a second time. I know it will be pretty tough when they are young but as I am an older mother, they could be left parentless when they are still young adults and I think it would be nice for them to have each other. I can't imagine my life without my siblings. The only parents I know that adopted siblings have beautiful children that they love very much but they have some pretty trying times. In doing this, I would not exclude the referral of a single chld---just be open to the possiblity of siblings if they were available. Some have already told me I am nuts. My sister said--"if your heart says that, pursue it. I trust God to bring you to the right spot and I trust you to make the right choice". Am I nuts for even thinking this or is it worth thinking about? I do want to be fair to my child(ren). Tell me what you think.
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