Another step forward!

I love it when you find out that you've moved up in line!!

I 'm fulfilling a long term subbing position at our elementary school to keep my mind busy while we wait.  It it could go through Easter so I figured the timing was about right with the adoption and all.  

I found out that we are one of the last families to have filed the I-600A  form before April 1 under the old regs.  If you file after April 1st, Immigration requires you to file the I-800.  Don't worry, we are grandfathered in!!  I'm told that it takes about 90 days to process the I-800 after fingerprinting is done AND it does not go to a regional office like the I-600A did.  I'm glad that we were able to deal with our regional Immigration office.  The staff up in Buffalo was awesome!  We were in and out in no time and I don't think we had to wait a week from the time they received our homestudy to get our approval letter. Great people to deal with!!

With the new regs... you cannot even be presented with a referral until you have approval.

Soo... Gidget, get your butt in gear! I thought we were going to pick our girls up together! :)

Well... it's been a week since my last post and I don't have any more news to report on our own adoption but there are many families that are being united with their babies as we speak.

Zeena and Amy K. are in India now and are with their little girls, Zaleeya and Devika!! Erica left today to pick up Zachary.  Kristi leaves on Sunday to finally meet Shaili and Amanda will be joining them on Tuesday to be reunited with Prasun.  Yes, I said reunited!  Amanda met Prasun when she traveled to pick up her daughter last year and started the process to adopt him when she returned to the states.  It's been a long time coming, but Prasun will finally see his mama again.  Best wishes everyone!!!!

I am so thrilled for these families!  but have to admit... I am extremely jealous! I have to remember that patience is a virtue and that only God knows when the timing is right for us to know our daughter.  However, with 5 children going home, that means there is room for more children to enter the orphanage.  :)  Maybe we will have some good news to report in the next few weeks.  November is National Adoption Month and it would be great to celebrate with a referral!

Movement again!!

Congrats to Colleen and Greg on their referral of a beautiful baby girl!

That makes our "official" number on the wait list... 5.  So, we continue to sit and wait patiently for our princess! Remember though, there is still a family on hold so we are actually #4. :) Keep the referrals coming!  

Inching along...

So... as promised... any new news would be passed along!  After a brief email from our agency this morning, we have moved to #6.  This does NOT include the family that is on hold.  So... that means we are closer to the top than we think! :) Not every family participates on the adoption forum so it is hard to keep track of everyone and where they are in the process.  All I know is that another child has been blessed with a family!  Congrats to you! 

Remembering Wendy...

Yesterday was a very special day for my family. It would have been my cousin Wendy's birthday. Her life was cut short by uterine sarcoma in November of 2006 at. By the time is was diagnosed it was already in stage 3. Although she had the best doctors possible for the situation, Wendy lost her battle only 6 months later. We started a tradition this year of releasing lavender balloons with messages in them from some place we shared fond memories. This year my Aunt Shirley picked her childhood home.

Then...

(after a bottle of wine, of course!)

we all went and got our hair cut in her memory.

It is being donated to Pantene Beautiful Lengths to help another cancer patient feel beautiful. My sisters and I each had 9 1/2 inches cut and my mom donated 11 1/2 inches.

This day was almost 2 years in the making. It was an extremely emotional day for me because it was something that Wendy and I were going to do together. The day we discussed donating our hair was the last day that we spent together. When she had called me that October to tell me that the treatments weren't working, she made me promise that I would still donate my hair. So... when my mom and sisters asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I asked them to donate their hair with me.

Thanks guys, it was the best be-lated birthday gift ever!

One more hop...

Congrats to Candice and her family for the referral of a little boy!! That moves us to #7. Although... rumor has it that we may actually be #6 because a family waiting has decided to put their application on hold. Any news will surely be passed along. Until then, we wait at #7.

Lots of congrats go out to the families that have received their NOC's and Guardianships in the past few weeks AND many many safe travel wishes to those of you who are traveling.