...in updating, that is. Ukraine has officially reopened for adoptions! This is wonderful news. For the months of July and August, they are asking prospective adoptive parents who are already registered with the NAC/SDA to send a letter stating their interest to adopt. They are trying to determine how many registered families they really have waiting, as opposed to those who have switched to other countries or pursued other options during the wait. There are currently 1200 dossiers registered with the NAC/SDA for international adoption. During September, October, November, and December, they will schedule appointments for previously registered families in the order of their registration number.
And what does this mean for us? *wry smile* We are not yet registered, as our dossier made it just a bit too late to Ukraine to be submitted last fall. In January, the SDA will start accepting new dossiers from prospective adoptive parents. Pros and cons... pro: Mark graduates next May. We anticipate that we will be able to travel after his graduation and before he starts a job, so he won't require any vacation time, and he won't have to miss any school! con: All of our documents expire by December this year, including our INS approval. This is the most expensive part of our paperwork (second to the HS, which only has to be updated and is therefore cheaper to redo). pro: We're taking a vacation in September which will be wonderful...con: We don't need the trip cancellation insurance we purchased "just in case". *grin*
Monday, July 10, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Patience
I have determined that I am a patient person. I do not have a problem with waiting--in fact, I'm very good at waiting. Which is a good thing, since we've been waiting a long time for kids. I don't mind the waiting. I don't question why our kids aren't here yet. But my heart aches for what it doesn't have.
I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who is my absolute best friend, and was long before he was my husband. It is hard to pass another Father's Day and not be able to share it with him. For some reason, Father's Day was harder on me this year than Mother's Day. I really want to be able to give him the gift of children, but it is not mine to give. God alone determines our gifts. I do know that when you have waited a long time for something, and it is truly a desire of your heart, you cherish that gift more than any other. I hope we don't cherish our kids to the point of spoiling them. ;) We'll leave that to the grandparents.
There is a new rumor for the SDA opening. I love to share the rumors (share, not spread--there's a difference). I am a roller-coaster person, as those of you who know me can attest. I love the ups and downs and I really like loops and going upside-down. I think that's why I like the rumors. They give me an up, and then a down when they don't become fact. It sounds silly, but when you've gone down you can only go up again! I was in a down at my last posting (thanks, Angela, for the comment!) and I am very appreciative of all the prayers that I know are happening for us and for our children. The latest rumor is that the NAC/SDA will open July 1 or July 7. Why the rumors always seem to put them opening on a weekend or a Friday I don't know. I don't really believe that they'll open the first week of July. But it's fun to think that maybe they'll be open before too much longer.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to rearrange the kids' bedroom. Mark will roll his eyes and smile, because I love to rearrange furniture and I get pretty antsy after a few months of everything in the same place. I've been trying to decide how to rearrange our living room, but I can't seem to come up with anything that will really work. However, I have an idea for the kids' bedroom and the office downstairs so I'm excited to do some furniture moving. I think I've got the office all figured out, but I need to do some measuring in the kids' room.
I'm also (since I never have enough to do...like a certain paper that HAS to be done soon) starting as a volunteer for a local children's rehabilitation institute. I've worked with special needs kids before and I'm really excited to help out here. I'm hoping I can help ease the burden for parents who can't be there as much as they would like. I'll keep you posted (to the extent I can without violating privacy laws).
I am very blessed to have a wonderful husband who is my absolute best friend, and was long before he was my husband. It is hard to pass another Father's Day and not be able to share it with him. For some reason, Father's Day was harder on me this year than Mother's Day. I really want to be able to give him the gift of children, but it is not mine to give. God alone determines our gifts. I do know that when you have waited a long time for something, and it is truly a desire of your heart, you cherish that gift more than any other. I hope we don't cherish our kids to the point of spoiling them. ;) We'll leave that to the grandparents.
There is a new rumor for the SDA opening. I love to share the rumors (share, not spread--there's a difference). I am a roller-coaster person, as those of you who know me can attest. I love the ups and downs and I really like loops and going upside-down. I think that's why I like the rumors. They give me an up, and then a down when they don't become fact. It sounds silly, but when you've gone down you can only go up again! I was in a down at my last posting (thanks, Angela, for the comment!) and I am very appreciative of all the prayers that I know are happening for us and for our children. The latest rumor is that the NAC/SDA will open July 1 or July 7. Why the rumors always seem to put them opening on a weekend or a Friday I don't know. I don't really believe that they'll open the first week of July. But it's fun to think that maybe they'll be open before too much longer.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to rearrange the kids' bedroom. Mark will roll his eyes and smile, because I love to rearrange furniture and I get pretty antsy after a few months of everything in the same place. I've been trying to decide how to rearrange our living room, but I can't seem to come up with anything that will really work. However, I have an idea for the kids' bedroom and the office downstairs so I'm excited to do some furniture moving. I think I've got the office all figured out, but I need to do some measuring in the kids' room.
I'm also (since I never have enough to do...like a certain paper that HAS to be done soon) starting as a volunteer for a local children's rehabilitation institute. I've worked with special needs kids before and I'm really excited to help out here. I'm hoping I can help ease the burden for parents who can't be there as much as they would like. I'll keep you posted (to the extent I can without violating privacy laws).
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Sigh...
Important Notice to the Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine - June 14, 2006
Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
The Embassy has received a diplomatic note dated June 6, 2006 from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noting the new adoption authority, the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child will open in July 2006. The Embassy will continue to track the transition and other adoption-related issues closely, and will provide updates as appropriate by e-mail and on our webpage: http://kiev.usembassy.gov/. Any American adopting parents who would like to be added to our e-mail list are welcome to contact us at adoptionskiev @ state . gov (remove spaces).
I'm really trying to be hopeful, but right now all I want to do is lay my head down and cry.
Dear Members of the American Adoption Community Interested in Ukraine:
The Embassy has received a diplomatic note dated June 6, 2006 from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine noting the new adoption authority, the State Department for Adoption and Protection of Rights of the Child will open in July 2006. The Embassy will continue to track the transition and other adoption-related issues closely, and will provide updates as appropriate by e-mail and on our webpage: http://kiev.usembassy.gov/. Any American adopting parents who would like to be added to our e-mail list are welcome to contact us at adoptionskiev @ state . gov (remove spaces).
I'm really trying to be hopeful, but right now all I want to do is lay my head down and cry.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Has it been a month yet?
I can't pass this one up. This video was put together by a mom of a child adopted from Ukraine. She has presented it to the Ukrainian Embassy in the US to encourage them to reopen adoptions for US citizens. Every child shown on this video has been given a home, a family, love, and hope for the future. If even one of these children had remained in the orphanages, he would have been turned out on the streets at age 16. There are still so many waiting for their parents to come and get them.
Adopted children video
I thought I got this corrected last week but apparently it didn't take. Here's a second try.
Adopted children video
I thought I got this corrected last week but apparently it didn't take. Here's a second try.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
I promise not to make you cry again...
I probably shouldn't promise that so early in the game. How about I promise not to make you cry for a few...er...days? I was going to say months, but then I thought I might have something sweet to share, and I don't want to get in trouble for breaking any promises.
The newest rumors: The new SDA is supposed to open up June 24--yes, that would be the same SDA who was supposed to open up the beginning of May. What can you say about governments? I hate to destroy the hopes of some of you out there, but the opening of the SDA doesn't really mean a whole lot for us. One of my coworkers heard they were opening late June and said "oh, so you could have kids by July!". Ummm, no. Aim for December, maybe February and you're probably closer. Unless of course you mean July 2007. ;)
There are at least 600 dossiers already registered with the old NAC being transferred to the new SDA. That equates to 600 families waiting to get appointment dates, all ahead of us. It's going to be awhile. But don't give up hope. There might be a small loophole we can squeeze through. Currently, it appears that when the SDA opens, they will have the same restrictions on US families as before the NAC shut down--namely, the only children allowed to be adopted by US citizens are those over the age of 10, siblings of children you have already adopted, and special needs kids. If true, those of the 600 requesting young, healthy children may not get appointments (this is only speculation). We're still open to adopting special needs kids, and have a couple of special needs that are near and dear to our hearts for a variety of reasons. So we'll see. No guarantees on when we'll succeed, but we're not giving up.
The newest rumors: The new SDA is supposed to open up June 24--yes, that would be the same SDA who was supposed to open up the beginning of May. What can you say about governments? I hate to destroy the hopes of some of you out there, but the opening of the SDA doesn't really mean a whole lot for us. One of my coworkers heard they were opening late June and said "oh, so you could have kids by July!". Ummm, no. Aim for December, maybe February and you're probably closer. Unless of course you mean July 2007. ;)
There are at least 600 dossiers already registered with the old NAC being transferred to the new SDA. That equates to 600 families waiting to get appointment dates, all ahead of us. It's going to be awhile. But don't give up hope. There might be a small loophole we can squeeze through. Currently, it appears that when the SDA opens, they will have the same restrictions on US families as before the NAC shut down--namely, the only children allowed to be adopted by US citizens are those over the age of 10, siblings of children you have already adopted, and special needs kids. If true, those of the 600 requesting young, healthy children may not get appointments (this is only speculation). We're still open to adopting special needs kids, and have a couple of special needs that are near and dear to our hearts for a variety of reasons. So we'll see. No guarantees on when we'll succeed, but we're not giving up.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Waiting
Usually I do pretty well with waiting through all of this, but every once in a while something gets me. This one did.
Cheerios commercial
Cheerios commercial
Monday, May 15, 2006
Updates
Whew! I thought things would slow down once April was over, but we're still moving full steam ahead! The clothing drive was a few weeks ago and we collected nearly 3 tons of clothing--not bad for a first drive. We got a great response at the church and the staff has agreed to put it on the calendar for next year. All of the clothing we collected is being sent to Brovary, Ukraine, which is a suburb of Kyiv (also spelled Kiev). The really cool part about that is that we have visited the clothing store and the church where these clothes will be distributed. We spent the night in Brovary while we were in Ukraine in 2003.
A couple of weekends ago, we coordinated the team-building events at our church retreat. We had a blast at the retreat, in part because we got to play with everyone's kids! At one point we were in the pool, and were watching 6 kids between the two of us. It was great! Everyone keeps saying if I watch their kids I won't want so many, but I'm still thinking a houseful (read: 6 or so) would be fantastic. It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend. We played some tennis, softball, mini golf, played in the pool, and ate so much food. We had a great time with the team-building activites (especially the marshmallow towers).
This weekend being Mother's Day, and my sister's graduation, and her birthday(!), I drove down to Spfd for lunch with some of the family on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was a very short visit since we already had dinner plans with some friends of ours. One of them we hadn't seen for several months as he's been in Iraq, and we were so glad to get to see him. Welcome home, Scott! :)
A couple of weekends ago, we coordinated the team-building events at our church retreat. We had a blast at the retreat, in part because we got to play with everyone's kids! At one point we were in the pool, and were watching 6 kids between the two of us. It was great! Everyone keeps saying if I watch their kids I won't want so many, but I'm still thinking a houseful (read: 6 or so) would be fantastic. It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend. We played some tennis, softball, mini golf, played in the pool, and ate so much food. We had a great time with the team-building activites (especially the marshmallow towers).
This weekend being Mother's Day, and my sister's graduation, and her birthday(!), I drove down to Spfd for lunch with some of the family on Saturday. Unfortunately, it was a very short visit since we already had dinner plans with some friends of ours. One of them we hadn't seen for several months as he's been in Iraq, and we were so glad to get to see him. Welcome home, Scott! :)
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