Another delay

I've been asking the agency why we don't yet have a log in date, and this is the response I received last night:
" I checked in with our staff again about your log-in date. Apparently, the CCCWA is saying that they aren't going to log it in until they get your application letter notarized verified and authenticated. This is exactly opposite of what they told us when the issue first came to light a few weeks ago - they said that they were going to process things anyway without it and would accept a faxed copy of the letter pre-authenticated. So, unfortunately, now we aren't going to get a date until the letter gets there. It came back from State today. We're going to rush it through authentication. It should get back late this week or early next and will go right back out to the CCCWA. I'm also going to push the envelope a little bit with them and see if they won't log-in your dossier with a faxed copy of the authenticated letter. I'm sorry, I know this is really frustrating!"
We also found out that it is entirely possible that the CCCWA (used to be CCAA, now I don't know what new acronym even means!) will insist we complete a new dossier for Tong (Issac). Sigh. That will definitely take a few months more, which means we are totally abandoning the target date of mid-December travel. Easter break is now our new (we hope realistic) target date. Heck, at this rate it could be summer break before we travel!
What this really means is that we definitely won't be traveling in December.

Acronyms abound!

The "World of Adoption" includes a million different acronyms, and much like the teaching, nursing and law professions, only those in the loop actually know or understand the lingo. Currently, we are waiting for our LID (log in date) for KangChao, and permission to send our LOI (letter of intent) for Tong. What this means is that our documents were sent to China, but no one has yet logged them in for processing. They are just sitting around someplace, and we have been waiting for the log in date since July 12th. Then, we sent WACAP our letter of intent to adopt Tong also, but we were told that the agency has to get permission from China for us to even submit the paperwork for a second child. It shouldn't be a problem, however sometimes permission to adopt two children when reusing a dossier has been denied. Why some couples were denied, no one knows really. In the meantime, we are holding our collective breathe hoping no one else sends in their letter of intent to adopt Tong before we are granted permission to submit ours. The target date of December 15, one year after we submitted our application, is looking less than realistic now. We would really like to travel during a school break so that we can take J.P. with us, and if it's not Christmas break, then it will probably be Easter break in early April. Of course, when we get permission to travel, we will just have to rearrange everything and deal with the schedule at that time. It's not like we really have a say in the process. Frustrating? Yes. But it's less frustrating if you learn to just go with the flow and not try to make sense of the whole thing.

Pizza for breakfast

I think I've grown over the years as a parent. One of the things that just doesn't bother me anymore is when the kids eat leftover pizza for breakfast. In fact, leftover dinner (whatever it happened to be) has been J.P.'s preferred breakfast since he arrived here from China 15 months ago. It's quick, almost always nutritious (even pizza in our house is often home-made, veggie filled, and whole wheat), and it's NOT sugar-laden cold cereal. Since John's arrival, I've actually come to the realization that cold cereal isn't that great of a breakfast after all. Parenting children from China has that affect; we begin to question why we've been doing things a certain way for many years. Why do we feel that meat has to be the MAIN dish at dinner? Not that we are going to be vegetarians or anything, but a few more vegetables in our diet is definitely beneficial. Do we really need to drive to the movie theater? We can easily bike the 4 miles.
On another note, today David took Ben to the movie theater (alone) to watch Winnie the Pooh. Ben never gets to see movies for little kids because the three teens always convince him to see their movie choice. In the fifteen months since his adoption, Ben has seen hundreds of action/thriller/fantasy movies, and zero movies geared towards first graders. In fact, Ben has seen dozens of movies that I would NEVER have allowed Austin (our almost 16 year old) to watch at age 7. Yes, I've given up on that battle too. David does a quick preview of the movie selected, and he overrules my objections 99% of the time. David believes the fact that good triumphs over evil makes the movie ok. Hmmm. Anyway, my point is that I am counting the days until Ben has little brothers too. We may have two distinct sets of boys, big boys and little boys, but at least Ben won't feel pushed to be a big boy way too soon. I can enjoy my little boys' hugs and kisses for just awhile longer.

Simply do not accept the premise of the question

David and I were watching West Wing (on DVD) the other day, and the public relations person on the show made an interesting statement. If you don't like where the conversation is going, do not accept the premise of the question. This of course, means simply refuse to engage. Lately, I've been trying harder NOT to accept the premise of the question. For example, Austin (who's been away at various camps for 3 weeks) asked, repeatedly, insistently, and loudly, why HE is always the one who has to do the dishes. Since we have a rotating monthly schedule that is clearly posted on the whiteboard, and Austin has been gone for 3 weeks, we all know that Austin doesn't always do the dishes. I had to almost physically restrain myself from marching Austin over to the calendar and angrily pointing out the last time he actually did the dishes. No. No. No. Deep breaths Mom, and just refuse to accept the premise of the question. I kept changing the subject and couldn't be drawn into the dishes debate. It was just exhausting, but it did work, at least temporarily. As I've mentioned several times in this blog, Austin (our bio son, almost 16) is currently our most difficult child. Teenagers. Ugh.Wish they could always stay little and adore Mom!

Names!

After MUCH debate and discussion, I THINK we've settled the name debate. If you read our first blog, when we were adopting John and Ben, the name argument didn't end until the month before we went to China. However, this time, I think we've decided on both of their names already. Here are some of the names we have been considering: Tobias, Leo, Isaiah, Samuel, Isaac, Alexander, Maxwell, Logan, Elias, and Mark. I conceded to the name Logan, for KangChao, under the condition that son number six (Tong) is named Isaac. What do you think? Austin, John, Connor, Ben, Logan and Isaac. We also have Leah (age 28) and Katelyn (age 21), but we rarely see them anymore since they live out of state. Then, of course our extended family, our exchange student children, Camila (22), Xiao (19), Cheng (17). Whew!

Comments?

I added the feedjit application (or whatever it's called) recently to this blog and I've been amazed that people actually read it. I write for Logan and Issac (??) because I'm going to make this into a book for them to read when they are old enough; however, I will admit that it's fun to see that others read my ramblings. Last year, I used a blog2print software and bound our first adoption blog (edited for content) http://petersadoption.blogspot.com. John is really motivated to read lately because he found our blog to book on our bookshelves. When he saw the book had photos of him, and lots of my thoughts and feelings, he decided to try to read in English, for a change. Anyway, please, if you read this blog, leave me some comments. I will NOT publish the comments in my future book for the boys. I'm just curious about your thoughts too. Also, I love to read others' blogs, so send me your links too!

How tall are they?

This morning John (otherwise known as J.P.) wanted to know the height of his new brothers. Since arriving home 15 months ago, J.P. has been a bit preoccupied with height. He's grown over well over a foot this year (and gained 30 pounds), but he's still on the short side, at 5'3", at age 15. Soon, however, J.P. will be taller than I am, and that is his true goal. He always stands next to me and claims he's taller. The other day he had me stand next to him in the sun so that he could compare the size of our shadows, finally conceding that I am, in fact, still a smidge taller. Anyway, we grabbed a measuring tape, pulled up the medical records of Dang, Tong and Fu, KangChao, and compared their heights to Ben's height. Ben is 110 cm, KangChao (Logan or Leo) is 99cm, and Tong is 84 cm. All this was accomplished with a bit of teasing....J.P. teasing Ben that Logan will be taller than him, since the medical report on Logan is a year old already. Ben got all defensive, and told J.P. to stop picking on him for being small. All good stuff. Everyone is super excited about the new brothers, and we CONSTANTLY debate their names. Of course, Austin, the kill-joy, isn't home yet from camp.