Homestudy Update Approved!

It seems as if the homestudy process for Issac has taken so much longer than the process with Abigail and Jen.  I anticipated that an "update" would take much less time than an entire homestudy.  As I compared the timetables, I discovered that our homestudy for the Princesses took fifty-four days from the beginning to approval by our placement agency, and this time it was only fifty-two days.  If it was two days shorter than why did it seem to take twice as long?

I believe the explanation may lie in where the time was spent.  The first time WE were busy fulfilling educational requirements, rushing around gathering documents, mailing things back and forth, gathering the dossier, etc.  This time our paperwork was pretty simple.  We had our documents turned in only eight days after beginning the process.  But then we had a longer wait.  Why?  Because other people were busy.  That left us simply in "wait" mode.

While  parents in the adoptive process normally live in some kind of a time warp where every day seems a week long, they are typically busy at this stage with the gathering of the dossier requirements.  Since we didn't need to do that this time, I believe we noticed the days even more.  Likely no one but fellow adoptive parents in process and my mother-in-law will care anything about this analysis, but since we APs are an obsessive bunch I will indulge myself.  The rest of you feel free to skip the next paragraph.

It took five days longer for the social worker to visit this time after we turned in our paperwork.  As our file was compiled at our homestudy agency, they discovered a few requirements that hadn't been included on the to-list we received from them.  This resulted in waiting on documents later in the process.  While it took only nine days after the social worker finished her visits to receive the rough draft with the girls, this time it took twenty days.  All told it was only ten days longer to approval after turning in our paperwork, but it honestly felt like months. 

What now?  Well.... we are waiting.  Once the placement agency receives the notarized copies of the approved homestudy they will send our paperwork to the USCIS.  There is some amount of confusion about how to approach this step since our fingerprints on file don't expire until mid January.  Here's hoping for a clear answer and a quick approval!  The clock never stops ticking on a parent's watch - especially when they are just waiting.

The Little Princesses get their teeth fixed

Friday morning came VERY early as we found ourselves in the van at 4 AM and heading to Indianapolis.  While I am certain that there are very capable pediatric dentists in Ohio, we've loved and trusted ours for over a decade.  When it came right down to it we couldn't make the switch after we moved.  Because of the amount of restoration that needed to be done he recommended doing it while they were under general anesthesia.  We arrived at the surgical center right on time at 6:30 AM.  The girls were fairly calm, albeit somewhat confused as to why we got them out of bed so early and put them in the van in their pajamas!

Jen was the first one on the schedule.  She was the more nervous of the two, and fussed a bit beforehand. 

She came out of the anesthesia very well, and was fairly cheerful when it was all done.  They were not able to save a couple of the teeth that were supposed to have had root canals.

Abigail was the opposite.  She was all cheerful before the surgery, excited for her turn to ride on the wheeling bed, and waved goodbye all the way down the hall.  She had only one tooth that could not be saved.  This Little Princess was NOT happy when she came out of recovery though and just wanted to GO HOME!

I believe they may have sprung us a little sooner since Abigail was so insistent that we leave. It was a long drive back to Cincinnati, and we had to pass the barf bucket around more than once.  (I really began to question my sanity on keeping our old dentist at this point.) We arrived back home right about noon.

The Little Princesses continue to be opposites.  Jen played happily (well except for being miffed that they took her teeth) but Abigail fought nausea for the rest of the day.  Thankfully when Saturday dawned, they were both back to normal.

I am so glad to have the dental issues behind us.  They both had a lot of decay and must have been uncomfortable living with those mouths! 

Adoption Jewelry!

I've been busy creating adoption themed jewelry as a fundraiser for Isaac's homecoming!  I hope you'll visit us and find something you like!  Here is the link   http://www.etsy.com/shop/AsOneRescued

We have necklaces and earrings, and Isaac's advocate made some really lovely glass bead bookmarks.  A few examples of what you will find.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Puzzle Fundraiser for the Prince

Some friends are requesting a puzzle fundraiser for our Prince, and it does seem as though he ought to have his own.  So I was pretty excited to find this puzzle of his province.  It is a photo of rice growing on the mountain side.  How they carve out these fields is FASCINATING!  If you get the chance watch episode #1 of the series "Wild China" on Amazon or Netflix to get an idea of the beauty of Isaac's province.

Never heard of a puzzle fundraiser?  How does it work?  Very simple!  Make a donation of $5 to help us bring our prince home and we'll put your name on the back of a puzzle piece.  claim as many pieces as you'd like!  It is FUN to watch it come together and very touching to see the names of the friends who helped us along in the journey.  Here is a photo of the Little Princesses' puzzle when it was in progress

And when it was completed.

We glued it together and framed it in double glass.  It is on display in the entryway of our home.  We see it everyday as a reminder of the many people who helped to make their homecoming possible.

Want to be involved?  Our goal for Isaac's puzzle is to raise the funds for his airline ticket home.  This will take approximately $5 per puzzle piece. Just click the Paypal donate button in the right sidebar to claim your pieces!  Or you can donate (tax exempt) through our Reece's Rainbow link here.   Please let us know if you donate for puzzle pieces through Reece's Rainbow as we don't get automatic notification of it and want to be sure we get your name on the piece(s).  Thank you for your involvement!

UPDATE:  If you'd like to see the puzzle's progress, there are photos HERE!

Building Wonder World

My husband has been busy for a few weekends.   A friend was finished with their play set and its equipment and wanted it removed from her yard.  And oh, by the way, their neighbor had a couple of sets that they wanted removed also.

  So he took them apart, rented a trailer from U Haul, and brought all the pieces home.

On a quest to have enough play things for all of our kids AND our grandchildren he is building Wonder World!  One of our married daughters was visiting with her two children, and when I told her our goal was for each of the children to have a swing, she replied, "Better keep on building!"

 At last the slide was attached...

I believe The Little Princesses approve of the project so far.

Stay tuned.  It is still very much a work in progress.  As aforementioned daughter above put it... if we build it, they will come!  Anyone have ideas for making a portion of it accessible for a wheelchair?

Make Believe and Imagination

We've come a long way with the whole concept of playing.  I believe that play is a child's "work".  It involves all of their senses.  They learn about and experience the world through their play.  When the Little Princesses first came to us they didn't really "get" play.  They looked at the toys, but didn't seem to know what to do with them.

After they had been home for a short time a box arrived at our house with their own little dolls and bottles for them.  It didn't take long to "teach" them how to feed their baby dolls with the bottles and with the food in their play kitchen.   Many of you will remember the kitchen set Ethan upcycled from an old entertainment center.  They have played for so many happy hours in it.  A play mop is another of their favorite toys.   
 

 Now that they've been home a few months they get it!  They love to bake pizza in their kitchen and serve it up to us and to their baby dolls.  They love to make coffee and bring me a cup. Here is a scene from the patio just a few days ago.  Pay special attention to the silver piece of plastic-don't-really-know-what-it-is in Jennifer's hand.  They have discovered imagination!  To them it is a telephone.  They jabber away (in Chinese) no doubt making plans for their household.

My house is a little messier and a little noisier, and a lot more rewarding!  Wonder what plans they have cooked up for this afternoon?

Big Changes

In case you didn't notice, we've had a change to the title of the blog.  Didn't notice?  Look again!  We've added a PRINCE to the adventure!  Yes, this is the official announcement that we have started the adoption process again.  We have PA (time to brush up on that Adoption Acronyms post) for a charming young man who will be eleven years old by the time he joins our family.

Our prince currently lives at an NGO - Non Government Organization.  In this case it is a non-profit that does rehabilitation/health care with orphans.  They designated his file name as "Peter."  Since our grandchild #7 (due in December) has Peter as a part of his name; we have thought long and hard about what to call our young prince.  At last Ethan declared his name late last night -- Isaac Hudson.  Isaac means "laughter" (I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions) and Hudson after Hudson Taylor.  He will also keep his Chinese name as a second middle name.

Isaac is affected by Spina Bifida and uses a wheelchair.  He likes to play chess and the Wii.  The director at his facility reports, "This boy is really a lovely kid.  He is emotionally well balanced, joyful, smart, motivated and responsible.  He loves children and can be trusted around the little ones. "  His advocate tells us that he seems to have been gifted with good interpersonal and social skills and is a "people person."

We have been sent many photos, and several are of him eating ice cream. We suspect he has a sweet tooth.  I can't wait to introduce him to Cincinnati's Graeters ice cream!

Sadly, the organization that is currently in charge of his care is closing at the end of August.  There is a possibility of  Isaac being placed in an English speaking foster home while he waits for us, and we are super duper excited about that opportunity!  Oh how wonderful it would be for him to be able to communicate with us once he arrives home!  Please pray with us that this foster home will work out so he won't have to be returned to the orphanage.

One big difference in the adoption of the Prince as compared to that of the Princesses is that he is old enough to actually be required to sign a document agreeing to the adoption.  This is done the day after we meet him but before the adoption is finalized.   Pray for his clarity and peace.  Even though the alternatives for him in his birth country aren't good, sometimes choosing an unpleasant "what you know" is easier than taking that leap of faith into the scary unknown. 

We were required (primarily due to USCIS) to redo nearly all of our homestudy documents - health forms, state clearances, fire safety inspection, social worker study, etc. - but were able to gather everything pretty quickly, and our awesome social worker has already finished her visits.  The homestudy was definitely easier this time around.  Thankfully, we were allowed by China to reuse our dossier since it has been less than a year since the Little Princesses' homecoming, and we have already gathered the few things required as updates for it.  This has saved us a lot of time and stress on the paperwork!  The one significant requirement before our dossier goes back to China for the official matching is the clearing of those immigrations forms again, and the I800A approvals are taking a couple of months right now.

Our friends and family were so very gracious to us and our Princesses these past several months and gave generously out of a heart of love.  We are very grateful for that, and hesitate to even ask for any help again.  Alas, the tremendous cost of adoption is still a fact, and should you feel led to help, there IS a need.  I'll simply draw your attention to the fundraising tab above, just under our photo.  There are a few ways that you can become involved if you would like to do so.

One can never really be sure about projected adoption timelines, but our best guess for Isaac's  homecoming is probably around March of 2014.  We are excited (though likely as surprised as you are) to begin this adventure again.  Please rejoice with us and keep Isaac (and us) in your prayers in the months to come.