Grrrr

Today I asked if we ever received the blood test results we requested (HIV and syphilis) for Dang, Tong. No, as a matter of fact, we didn't. Later, I got an email saying that once again we were sent the Dr. form requesting the tests, but no actual test results. These tests are standard and the results are usually part of the medical records. Now, it seems that we have to ask to have the tests repeated, since the results are no where to be found. I feel bad for our little guy having to go through yet one more blood draw, but the test results are important! I was also told that the agency checked on our file Oct. 11th, and there is no particular reason for the LONG wait for our Letter seeking confirmation. Our file is in process, and that is that. Another list serve friend had a log in date of July 20th, and they already have I800 approval! They will probably travel in November!! Grrr.

Foster care and speech services

Yesterday, the social worker from the Department of Social Services came to re-certify us as foster parents. I've known her for years, of course, and we ended up chatting for three hours!! One of the big questions she asked is why we continue to get certified, if we don't plan on providing foster care anytime soon. I confessed to her my feeling that someday, sometime, the four children we fostered in 2008 will return to us, and I want to keep our certification for that reason. I told her about our pending adoptions, and the whole name dilemma too. As we spoke, she asked me my biggest strength as a parent. At the moment, I'd have to say advocating for our children's educational rights. For example, it took me two, less than polite, phone calls to straighten out the school district yesterday. Our Christian school receives its speech services through the public school, and the public school decided that our sons did not qualify for speech therapy. Excuse me? Really? Their English pronunciation is clear and they've met their goals? No? Well, then do NOT try to tell me my children do not qualify for services, just because your public school budget is tight. We pay taxes AND tuition. Tell me all about tight budgets, and cut someone else from the program if you must, because if you cut my children from the program I'm going to seek services elsewhere and sue the district to pay for it!! Ha! For once I won an argument with the school district on the first round! Hooray!! Yep. I went into Mamma Bear mode, once again!

Who will watch the children while we're gone?

I've been reading dozens of blogs over the years, and I was inspired to try to make this blog easier to navigate and more attractive. I changed the design somehow, and now I have a difficult time getting to the page where I can post. I can "view" the blog, but I have to sign in to a different page to post now. Sometimes I can't figure out how to post at all. In any event, my biggest logistical hurdle these days is figuring out WHO will watch the children when we're in China. When we thought we were going in December, we had a multitude of caregivers (college students) from who to choose. Xiao, our former exchange student was our top choice. Now, he'll be back in school in April, and we don't know exactly who will watch the kids left at home. We hate to have our kiddos wait any longer than necessary, but it's possible we'll have to postpone going to China until June, when everyone is out of school. Yikes!!

Fall is here

Well, it's now the first week of October, which is the National Holiday for China to celebrate their Independence. Most businesses are closed for the week, and no paperwork will be processed during the vacation. With Chinese holidays and the US holidays, there are a ton of government holidays between October-February. We are definitely NOT going to get our paperwork completed in time to travel in December now. At least now I can make plans. We will have to wait until the first week of April to travel, so I need to figure out who will watch the children while we are gone. If we traveled in December, I could have had Xiao or Cheng stay with them, but college is not closed in April. Plan B in progress.

A half dozen

It's interesting how I can now justify certain purchases or actions, now that we'll have a half dozen boys in the house. For example, since there will be six boys soon, it's definitely worth it to invest in an air hockey table and a full size drum set!! And last month, I started mowing the front field (3+ acres) so that the kids will have a soccer sized flat field on which to play. Our rolling 3 acres that we already mow just isn't enough anymore, and the front field is flat, flat, flat. I'm already used to cooking for a crowd. It's rare that I don't make enough food to feed a family double the size of ours. In fact, on Friday night we are hosting 6 boys from NYC(overnight) so that they can run in the McQuaid Invitational race on Saturday. We do it every year, and we still often we end up with leftovers! We have four banquet tables permanently set up in the hot-tub room, lined with crockpots etc., just so that we can quickly set up a buffet anytime. Underneath the tables are five coolers, filled with assorted drinks, waiting at the ready.
On another note, we received an email from Elizabeth saying that when WACAP called the CCCWA about our file on Monday, they were told that our application letter wasn't in the file. Grrrr. Eventually, they straightened it out, but Elizabeth is fairly certain that we WON'T be able to travel in December. I'm not losing hope, although I'm already working out plan B. In fact, in my typical fashion I'm trying to see the silver lining. We won't be away from the children on Christmas. The weather will be much nicer in April. Austin will be at the Olympic Training Center for at least one week in April, which makes it easier to find someone to host him for a visit. We will not have the boys on our cruise in February. Yes, this is actually a little bit better for the children, we think, because KangChao and Tong might have motion sickness, other illnesses, or adjustment issues that will not be desirable on a cruise-ship. The trip can be one last hooray before we add to our family again. The airfares are significantly less expensive in April. See? I can look on the bright side, and ignore the fact that we will not get the tax refund we were hoping we would get. Everything works out for the best. Truly. Mine task is not to question, only to put my faith that God has a plan.

Last chance

This week is our last hope to get our Letter of Confirmation (also called LOA) in time for us to travel in December. Even if we DO receive it this week, we'll be cutting it pretty close. In church this week I wrote our special intention in the prayer book, lit a prayer candle, and lifted our anxiety up to God. Now, all I can do is trust that things will work out for the best, either way, since the matter is in God's hands. This week John and I compiled a photo book to send to our sons in China, and John wrote in Chinese on the back of each photo. John also translated a letter to another boy, Kang Zhu, that one of my email friends is adopting from the same orphanage as KangChao. We "met" in a yahoo group, and we've been chatting almost daily about our adoptions. We might actually get to meet in China; if not in China, we will plan to meet with our sons (who are friends in the orphanage) in the summer. Yesterday, David and Ben hung up curtains in the new bedroom. I do not miss having an office one iota, and the new wall/doorway looks like it's always been there. I'm so pleased! I originally ordered bedding and curtains that had lions, tigers and cheetahs on it, but the set is back-ordered for two months, so I ended up going with a simple striped bedding from Walmart for now. When David came home and saw how the new bedroom looked his first comment was "This room is so big, we could easily put FOUR boys in here!" Too funny!

Referral paperwork

Yesterday, I mailed the referral paperwork back to WACAP. One of the 100 documents we had to sign has us promise that we would NOT post our children's photos on the internet or anywhere else. Consequently, I removed from this blog all the photos of the boys. I'll put them back on this site later, when the boys are legally ours! I see blogs with photos of children awaiting adoption daily, but, now that I signed the document, I feel that I need to follow the official rules. The referral paperwork took about two hours to complete. One advantage of all this paperwork is that I'm getting quite familiar with official forms. When it comes time to fill out college applications for Austin, I'll think it's a breeze!