Every time - literally, every SINGLE time - I hear the little ping of an email making its way into my inbox, my heart skips a beat, and I wonder: is it Som Kid? Are we matched?
I think it's kind of like a biomom having those Braxton Hicks contractions multiple times a day, every day, for months or years on end. All part of the fun.
Monday 15 September 2014
Sunday 24 August 2014
The Thaimes, They are a-Changin'
It's been a while since the last post, and while we have no real news, Som Kid's life is going to be a little different when he or she comes to live with us than what it was when we first applied, or even just a few months ago...
Difference One: then Kingston, now probably Ottawa
Mike got a posting to the capital early this summer. We knew it was coming, no real surprise, but it kinda sucks. This year, we're taking advantage of a generous military program that gives him a living allowance and lets me stay here with the house / career. We'll likely only get one year of this, then we'll see what Army says. Best case scenario, they listen to our plea and post him back here and life goes on as it was. Worst case isn't even that bad - I suck it up, remember I signed up for military life when we got married, and move up there. It's just rough with the adoption - the more the same things stay in our dossier, the easier it is. We'll find out in the spring for 2015 - 2016, and where ever it is will likely be Som Kid's first Canadian address.
Difference Two: then Violet and Poppy, now Poppy and ?
Being only 3 and 6 years old, I was prepping Poppy and Violet for having a human sibling. By that I mean talking to them about it, all the time, and shoving cookies in their mouths whenever small children were within a visual range at the park... or on TV. I thought about how P would love someone to throw toys around with and how V would probably appreciate a new set of hands for back rubs and chin scratches. Poppy will hopefully be so lucky, but alas, Som Kid will never meet beautiful Violet, or have the pleasure of touching the world's softest ever fur. She was diagnosed with lymphoma in May and passed away in early August. I'm still in disbelief most days, I have trouble remembering she's not there. She'd been my little shadow since April 2nd, 2008 and it's too horrible that she'd gone so soon. She was the best dog, and it makes me so so sad that I won't be able to share her with a son / daughter. Som Kid would be the only one on the playground with a Taiwanese Street Dog!
Of course, it is very likely we will be adopting another friend for Poppy / fur-sibling for Som Kid soon, this is a two-dog household... just not the same two dogs I thought it would be.
Difference Three: then one cousin, now three cousins!
On a happier and punnier note, my sister-in-law Julie (Mike's brother's wife) is in a famiLee way, our nephew Hayden will get a little sister this fall, and my sister-in-law Melissa (my brother's wife) has a Bunn in the oven (haaaaaaa!)! They're having a boy and it's due in a couple of weeks. Very exciting, and we're hoping Som Kid is going to be roughly the same age so that no matter when he or she arrives in our lives, they can be good friends and playmates. And all come with me on a super-fun-cousin trip to Disney World when they're old enough to enjoy it.
So they say things come in threes.... maybe everything else will stay the same until everything is finalized? Not likely, but a girl can dream...
In other news, there was a big ol' coup in Thailand a couple of months ago. This had us worried about how or if it would affect the adoption, but apparently it's fine. The agency people think it's good, even. Let's hope so!
We also dropped in on the Children's Bridge 20th Anniversary Party a few weeks ago. We couldn't stay long but we got a LOT out of the time we were there. We finally had a chance to meet not only Shelley, but also two families who had recently adopted from Thailand! The boys, Ben (3) and Joel (5), were so cute I think I actually squealed, and their parents were so kind and supportive and told us lots about how it all went for them (smoothly!) and how the kids are adjusting (very well!). We learned some funny little quirks we didn't expect, like they pretty much never see grass, so that freaked them out at first... and yet neither of them seemed to care when they saw their first snow storm. :). They were the best part, seeing tangible proof that this process does work, that there is an end in sight, that it actually will probably happen for us...hopefully. Another person we met was Pen, who is the Thai liaison for CB, and what an awesome lady she is. She knew we'd be there and greeted us with a little Thai flag and an elephant keychain she brought back from her last trip for us! Something we could hold on to and look at every day to remind us we'll be going there soon. I love it. And she loved my elephant tattoo! She answered all the questions I had as quickly as I could spit them out. She's so knowledgeable, I feel we're in really good hands with her. And we finally got an answer to everyone's biggest question:
Why does it take so long!?
Turns out that, as we know, many of the orphans have been abandoned. The matching part happens on their end WAY faster than we know... but, once a child is matched and heading towards adoption, the orphanage has to broadly advertise it for a long period of time. They put out flyers and newspaper ads and everything, saying the baby's age, gender, and when and where it was found or delivered to them. This is asking for any biological family member to come forward. They take all claims seriously and have to investigate and determine whether or not a child should go back to their biological homes (if they're wanted, sometimes people come forward and sign off on the child's life) or if they would be better with, say, a nice couple of 30-something Canadians. In a way, this is similar to private adoption here, both biological sides of the family have a couple years to contest the adoption - only the adoptive family has the baby until all disputes are settled. This just saves the would-be heartache of a successful biological reclaim for us. So there you have it. No claims = faster match time. Let's hope for that!
All for now!
Difference One: then Kingston, now probably Ottawa
Mike got a posting to the capital early this summer. We knew it was coming, no real surprise, but it kinda sucks. This year, we're taking advantage of a generous military program that gives him a living allowance and lets me stay here with the house / career. We'll likely only get one year of this, then we'll see what Army says. Best case scenario, they listen to our plea and post him back here and life goes on as it was. Worst case isn't even that bad - I suck it up, remember I signed up for military life when we got married, and move up there. It's just rough with the adoption - the more the same things stay in our dossier, the easier it is. We'll find out in the spring for 2015 - 2016, and where ever it is will likely be Som Kid's first Canadian address.
Difference Two: then Violet and Poppy, now Poppy and ?
Being only 3 and 6 years old, I was prepping Poppy and Violet for having a human sibling. By that I mean talking to them about it, all the time, and shoving cookies in their mouths whenever small children were within a visual range at the park... or on TV. I thought about how P would love someone to throw toys around with and how V would probably appreciate a new set of hands for back rubs and chin scratches. Poppy will hopefully be so lucky, but alas, Som Kid will never meet beautiful Violet, or have the pleasure of touching the world's softest ever fur. She was diagnosed with lymphoma in May and passed away in early August. I'm still in disbelief most days, I have trouble remembering she's not there. She'd been my little shadow since April 2nd, 2008 and it's too horrible that she'd gone so soon. She was the best dog, and it makes me so so sad that I won't be able to share her with a son / daughter. Som Kid would be the only one on the playground with a Taiwanese Street Dog!
Of course, it is very likely we will be adopting another friend for Poppy / fur-sibling for Som Kid soon, this is a two-dog household... just not the same two dogs I thought it would be.
Difference Three: then one cousin, now three cousins!
On a happier and punnier note, my sister-in-law Julie (Mike's brother's wife) is in a famiLee way, our nephew Hayden will get a little sister this fall, and my sister-in-law Melissa (my brother's wife) has a Bunn in the oven (haaaaaaa!)! They're having a boy and it's due in a couple of weeks. Very exciting, and we're hoping Som Kid is going to be roughly the same age so that no matter when he or she arrives in our lives, they can be good friends and playmates. And all come with me on a super-fun-cousin trip to Disney World when they're old enough to enjoy it.
So they say things come in threes.... maybe everything else will stay the same until everything is finalized? Not likely, but a girl can dream...
In other news, there was a big ol' coup in Thailand a couple of months ago. This had us worried about how or if it would affect the adoption, but apparently it's fine. The agency people think it's good, even. Let's hope so!
We also dropped in on the Children's Bridge 20th Anniversary Party a few weeks ago. We couldn't stay long but we got a LOT out of the time we were there. We finally had a chance to meet not only Shelley, but also two families who had recently adopted from Thailand! The boys, Ben (3) and Joel (5), were so cute I think I actually squealed, and their parents were so kind and supportive and told us lots about how it all went for them (smoothly!) and how the kids are adjusting (very well!). We learned some funny little quirks we didn't expect, like they pretty much never see grass, so that freaked them out at first... and yet neither of them seemed to care when they saw their first snow storm. :). They were the best part, seeing tangible proof that this process does work, that there is an end in sight, that it actually will probably happen for us...hopefully. Another person we met was Pen, who is the Thai liaison for CB, and what an awesome lady she is. She knew we'd be there and greeted us with a little Thai flag and an elephant keychain she brought back from her last trip for us! Something we could hold on to and look at every day to remind us we'll be going there soon. I love it. And she loved my elephant tattoo! She answered all the questions I had as quickly as I could spit them out. She's so knowledgeable, I feel we're in really good hands with her. And we finally got an answer to everyone's biggest question:
Why does it take so long!?
Turns out that, as we know, many of the orphans have been abandoned. The matching part happens on their end WAY faster than we know... but, once a child is matched and heading towards adoption, the orphanage has to broadly advertise it for a long period of time. They put out flyers and newspaper ads and everything, saying the baby's age, gender, and when and where it was found or delivered to them. This is asking for any biological family member to come forward. They take all claims seriously and have to investigate and determine whether or not a child should go back to their biological homes (if they're wanted, sometimes people come forward and sign off on the child's life) or if they would be better with, say, a nice couple of 30-something Canadians. In a way, this is similar to private adoption here, both biological sides of the family have a couple years to contest the adoption - only the adoptive family has the baby until all disputes are settled. This just saves the would-be heartache of a successful biological reclaim for us. So there you have it. No claims = faster match time. Let's hope for that!
All for now!
Saturday 3 May 2014
No News is No News
Another month of waiting down, and we've still not been stopped, so... that's not bad? And we had the privilege of paying another $1130 in annual membership fees to CB, which means they still acknowledge our existence / bank account. I'll take that as a small victory.
There's LOTS of news about our family these days! All of it (pretty) good! But none of it I can post about juuuuuuuust yet. I'm waiting for someone to send me one thing, and I'm waiting for the end of June to be able to talk about another thing (and HOW MUCH that other thing is being affected by Som Kid!). Big big big news. But not yet.
Until then, here's the awesomest adoption video I've seen.
There's LOTS of news about our family these days! All of it (pretty) good! But none of it I can post about juuuuuuuust yet. I'm waiting for someone to send me one thing, and I'm waiting for the end of June to be able to talk about another thing (and HOW MUCH that other thing is being affected by Som Kid!). Big big big news. But not yet.
Until then, here's the awesomest adoption video I've seen.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Naming Decision!
There are a lot of English names we've been considering for Som Kid once he (presumably, though possibly she, but we'll work on girl-names if that's the case) joins our family, but we keep coming back to this one and can't find a reason to talk ourselves out of it. There are a lot of excellent runners-up, and some might become a second middle name. We for SURE feel the need to incorporate at least one of our passions, literary and otherwise. Between us, those would be Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Little Prince, Harry Potter, and pretty much anything to do with either dogs or outer space. One that kind of combines two of the top contenders jumped out at us pretty quickly, and yah, we're going for it. One that honours both a star and a dog... the Dog Star, in fact, and a character who displayed patience, loyalty, and bravery, who fought for equality, the greatest fictional godfather ever....
Sirius.
EDIT: April fools!!!! Did you siriuslee fall for that? ;)
Sirius.
EDIT: April fools!!!! Did you siriuslee fall for that? ;)
Sunday 23 March 2014
A Dok Rak by any other name...
As we sit here and wait, there are a lot of things Mike and I wonder about the little person that's going to come join our family one day. Is it going to be a boy? Is he / she even born yet? What's the deal with the biological family? What does his voice sound like? What games does he like best? Does he collect butterflies?... but the one that gets us the most is: What is this person's name?! What will we call you?
The current school of thought with adoption seems to be that if the child comes with a name, they keep that name. I've read articles and forums and blogs on this, and as much as I want to say we're totally 100% on board with that thought, we're not. There are too many what-ifs. What if the name is terrible in English? What if it just gets silly when combined with our last name? Is it right to send him or her through life in an English society with a name that will be constantly mocked and questioned? We get that the child will be old enough to identify to that name, and we get that it could be very confusing to change it. But couterpoint #1: I changed my own name when I was four and was happier for it because the teasing at school stopped. And counterpoint #2: ESL learners take on English names when they go to ESL school or abroad to learn without any psychological trauma. I've taught kids as young as four who easily accepted that when they were with me, their name was different than when they were at their Chinese schools. No biggie. I've also read one blog that said the name was "the only gift the birthmother gives to the child." I disagree here, as there's a little thing called genetics that she'll be passing along. That's a pretty big gift.
There are a lot of things that we as adoptive parents won't get to do that biological parents take for granted, and naming could be one of them. Most I don't mind, but this one stings a bit. My family can attest, I've been in the habit of naming EVERYTHING my whole life. Seatbelts included. Naming our child would really be the icing on the cake for us.
Anyway, the other day we looked up popular Thai baby names to see what we might be getting into. Some of those names are stunners, with beautiful meanings. These we'd have no problem keeping. Others, not so much. This being said, I mean NO offence to anyone with these names. I'm sure there are languages out there where "Michelle" or "Mike" mean something equally ridiculous as what you'll see below! So folks, I present to you:
Our Top Ten Best and Worst Thai Baby Names!
10: Worst - Chompoo
meaning: pink
Reminds me of a) the word shampoo and b) "...here?"
9: Worst - Kittichat
meaning: famous clan
Okay, it's kind of cute... kitty like in English for kitty, chat like in French for kitty. Would be a wicked-good name for a cat, but a human child? Nope.
8: Best - Chaiyo
meaning: hurrah!
How happy is this name and its meaning?! Also, it's the same word they use in Taiwan to cheer someone one, like "Go go go!" Love it! Especially for a super-happy energetic kid, it'd be great! Maybe not so much for a grumpy lazybones, but we'll see.
7: Worst - Ittiporn
meaning: power
I'm sorry, what kind of porn is that? Along with Ratanaporn, no daughter of ours is going to have "porn" in her name. And her middle name will not be "Star" for that matter.
6: Worst - Kraisee
meaning: lion
You're kraisee if you think we'd call our poor kid that! Although we do like the meaning. We'd just change it to that. Or Leo. Or Simba!
5: Worst - Phichit
meaning: to win
Considering most "ph"s in Thai make a hard "p" sound, this is just bad in English. Bad #1 and #2.
4: Best - Han
meaning: audacious
Mike saw this one and cracked a huge grin. He'd love to have a kid that shares a name with a Star Wars character!
3: Worst - Dok Rak
meaning: flower of love
Oh, it looks like an innocent Thai name, but push the first k over, and you've got a favoured activity of Rob Ford.
2: Worst - Thong
meaning: gold
I like it when the beat goes da na da na / Baby make your booty go da na da na / Girl I know you wanna show da na da na / That NO!
Can you imagine yelling that one out on the playground? Or its male counterpart, Thunathong? Oh no.
1: Best - Som Kid
meaning: living up to intention
Since reading this list and seeing this name, we have had something to call our future child. Som Kid. Conversations have now been like, "I can't wait to go to Thailand and pick up Som Kid!" "Should we enrol Som Kid in piano, or violin?" "I hope we never get a phone call home for Som Kid like I had to make today!" "Can I take Som Kid to Disney World right away?" "No, I want to raise Som Kid vegan." And on and on. And it makes us happy.
All joking aside, we do have some top contenders for English re-names, mostly based on family names and names of characters in our favourite stories. We'll reveal those soon enough to see if they're un-teaseable.
So there you have it. Friends, family, and strangers alike, we welcome your input on this matter, feel free to leave comments below or on Facebook.
The current school of thought with adoption seems to be that if the child comes with a name, they keep that name. I've read articles and forums and blogs on this, and as much as I want to say we're totally 100% on board with that thought, we're not. There are too many what-ifs. What if the name is terrible in English? What if it just gets silly when combined with our last name? Is it right to send him or her through life in an English society with a name that will be constantly mocked and questioned? We get that the child will be old enough to identify to that name, and we get that it could be very confusing to change it. But couterpoint #1: I changed my own name when I was four and was happier for it because the teasing at school stopped. And counterpoint #2: ESL learners take on English names when they go to ESL school or abroad to learn without any psychological trauma. I've taught kids as young as four who easily accepted that when they were with me, their name was different than when they were at their Chinese schools. No biggie. I've also read one blog that said the name was "the only gift the birthmother gives to the child." I disagree here, as there's a little thing called genetics that she'll be passing along. That's a pretty big gift.
There are a lot of things that we as adoptive parents won't get to do that biological parents take for granted, and naming could be one of them. Most I don't mind, but this one stings a bit. My family can attest, I've been in the habit of naming EVERYTHING my whole life. Seatbelts included. Naming our child would really be the icing on the cake for us.
Anyway, the other day we looked up popular Thai baby names to see what we might be getting into. Some of those names are stunners, with beautiful meanings. These we'd have no problem keeping. Others, not so much. This being said, I mean NO offence to anyone with these names. I'm sure there are languages out there where "Michelle" or "Mike" mean something equally ridiculous as what you'll see below! So folks, I present to you:
Our Top Ten Best and Worst Thai Baby Names!
10: Worst - Chompoo
meaning: pink
Reminds me of a) the word shampoo and b) "...here?"
9: Worst - Kittichat
meaning: famous clan
Okay, it's kind of cute... kitty like in English for kitty, chat like in French for kitty. Would be a wicked-good name for a cat, but a human child? Nope.
8: Best - Chaiyo
meaning: hurrah!
How happy is this name and its meaning?! Also, it's the same word they use in Taiwan to cheer someone one, like "Go go go!" Love it! Especially for a super-happy energetic kid, it'd be great! Maybe not so much for a grumpy lazybones, but we'll see.
7: Worst - Ittiporn
meaning: power
I'm sorry, what kind of porn is that? Along with Ratanaporn, no daughter of ours is going to have "porn" in her name. And her middle name will not be "Star" for that matter.
6: Worst - Kraisee
meaning: lion
You're kraisee if you think we'd call our poor kid that! Although we do like the meaning. We'd just change it to that. Or Leo. Or Simba!
5: Worst - Phichit
meaning: to win
Considering most "ph"s in Thai make a hard "p" sound, this is just bad in English. Bad #1 and #2.
4: Best - Han
meaning: audacious
Mike saw this one and cracked a huge grin. He'd love to have a kid that shares a name with a Star Wars character!
3: Worst - Dok Rak
meaning: flower of love
Oh, it looks like an innocent Thai name, but push the first k over, and you've got a favoured activity of Rob Ford.
2: Worst - Thong
meaning: gold
I like it when the beat goes da na da na / Baby make your booty go da na da na / Girl I know you wanna show da na da na / That NO!
Can you imagine yelling that one out on the playground? Or its male counterpart, Thunathong? Oh no.
1: Best - Som Kid
meaning: living up to intention
Since reading this list and seeing this name, we have had something to call our future child. Som Kid. Conversations have now been like, "I can't wait to go to Thailand and pick up Som Kid!" "Should we enrol Som Kid in piano, or violin?" "I hope we never get a phone call home for Som Kid like I had to make today!" "Can I take Som Kid to Disney World right away?" "No, I want to raise Som Kid vegan." And on and on. And it makes us happy.
All joking aside, we do have some top contenders for English re-names, mostly based on family names and names of characters in our favourite stories. We'll reveal those soon enough to see if they're un-teaseable.
So there you have it. Friends, family, and strangers alike, we welcome your input on this matter, feel free to leave comments below or on Facebook.
Thursday 6 March 2014
Adoption in the Media Lately
Fact: if something is important to you, you notice it everywhere. Hence this post.
Media Story #1: A disabled Edmonton woman is looking for a home for her daughters. How very very sad for this family, and I have no doubts that she wants what's best for her girls. As, I'm sure, do all the people volunteering to adopt. But the way this whole thing has been approached - essentially asking for an adoptive family through social media - does nothing to promote the way adoption works, in reality. Sure, she could put them up for private adoption, rare at any age other than birth, but do-able. But even then, the adoptive parent(s) can't just be John Does off Kijiji, they still have to go through a homestudy and get approved by their province. The girls would most definitely have to go into foster care while waiting for that. And why why why would she turn to Facebook when there are who knows how many waiting parents already approved on legitimate private adoption birthfamily match sites? Why? This story frustrates me. And there's the whole negative stigma on foster system perpetuated here. I get that no one wants to live in a temporary place, it's far from ideal, but it's a solution when nothing else is workable. I don't like the language they use here: "dumped into the foster system"... makes it seem like a garbage heap. Foster families are composed of amazingly strong people, who are HEAVILY screened and supervised by CAS, who give up a lot to take care of young people with nowhere else to go. I wish the world would stop making it seem awful, it's unfair to those who are just trying to help! Anyway, best of luck to this family, I do hope they find a happy ending.
Media Story #2: I need to watch all the The Little Couples because adoption. (And sorry for the cheesy guy commentating on that video.) I don't have TLC at home, and cannot find full episodes / seasons on the website, but I have caught a few here and there at the gym. I was aware they'd adopted their son from China, and would really like to go back a few seasons and watch them through that process. So cool that a mainstream channel is documenting a real family being formed this way! Huzzah for public awareness. And now they've got a second one! Good for them and I'm glad they're sharing.
Media Story #3: The Modern Family "recycled a child" comment. We are HUGE fans of MF, I've used clips many-a-time in various courses that I've taught, totally love it, totally love that they're bringing international adoption into the spotlight in a fictional-but-fairly-accurate way, with some tongue-in-cheek comments about it - always so far, in my opinion, to highlight and eye-roll at misconceptions (e.g. When Cam and Mitch introduce their daughter in S1E1, Phil says, "Lily... won't that be hard for her to pronounce?")... but this comment.... oh dear. I'll admit, I burst out laughing at it, but then slapped my hand over my mouth. And then started giggling again. And then felt horrible. When you think about it, adopting IS the ultimate green thing a parent can do. One of our (minor) reasons we want to adopt is because we want to do our part for the environment and keep the population at a sustainable number. Yah, obviously, one family isn't going to make a difference with seven billion people. But, as they say, you can build a mountain one grain of sand at a time. So I GET where the writers are coming from here and they make a good point in the debate between Mitch and his neighbour. But to liken an adopted child to an empty tin can? Not cool. Not cool to make them feel in any way unwanted, useless, disposable... ever. So in some other of Mitch's words... SHAME!
Media Story #4: Woody Allen makes adoption look horrible. Ugh. Enough said.
Media Story #5 The Simpsons, S24E21. Okay, not so current, but I'm a couple years behind on my Simpsons viewage. But it was new to me recently, and I wanted to save the best for last. In this episode, the viewer learns that Carl is adopted. To an Icelandic family. Who are white. This is just briefly mentioned, almost in passing. No jokes about adoption, transracial adoption, nothing. The story then moves on to be all about "Carl's ancestors" - using those words. No character at any point says anything along the lines of that not being his 'real' family or bloodline. I was waiting for it, and was so happy when it didn't come! So high-fives to you, Simpsons writers! They have highlighted international and transracial adoptions before, with the Selma-Ling plot line, but I haven't re-watched those episodes from an adoptive family perspective yet. Will do then will hopefully send double high-fives to the Simpsons writers.
All for now. Next time, naming! We've got ideas and want your input!
Monday 3 March 2014
Quick Update
I've had several of my friends ask* for an update lately, so I got on Shelley's case** and she told me that:
- the election did take place, despite the protest
- the protesters continue to protest anyway... haters gonna hate
- police have recently (after a month?!) demanded the protesters stop blocking streets, they're expected to sloooooowwwwly grant this request and start occupying parks and other open public spaces (of which there are not many in the city!)
- once the street I care about is clear (and Shelley's contact figures that will be within the week) the DSDW people will move back into their office
- it will then be safe to send our dossier and they can start seeing our awesomeness
- that puts our worst-case**** time line at mid-March 2017 for a match, mid-March 2018 for bring-home.
I shall post again when the dossier's been (re-)sent. That and highlight some adoption-in-the-media-lately fun. And coming soon: the naming post.
*and yes, to publicly answer a question from my good-dear friend, it IS okay to ask! Mike and I are not shy about the adoption in the slightest. It doesn't make us sad to talk about it, waiting is part of the process and we accept that. We celebrate that we've not been stopped yet and just look forward to our match. If we're not saying much, it's because it's kinda boring at the moment!
**sometimes I feel bad about the amount of questions I ask her. But then I remember that she has all my money*** and I don't feel so bad.
***JK, CB is not-for-profit.
****hopefully, who knows, they change this stuff up all the time! Knock on all the woods!
- the election did take place, despite the protest
- the protesters continue to protest anyway... haters gonna hate
- police have recently (after a month?!) demanded the protesters stop blocking streets, they're expected to sloooooowwwwly grant this request and start occupying parks and other open public spaces (of which there are not many in the city!)
- once the street I care about is clear (and Shelley's contact figures that will be within the week) the DSDW people will move back into their office
- it will then be safe to send our dossier and they can start seeing our awesomeness
- that puts our worst-case**** time line at mid-March 2017 for a match, mid-March 2018 for bring-home.
I shall post again when the dossier's been (re-)sent. That and highlight some adoption-in-the-media-lately fun. And coming soon: the naming post.
*and yes, to publicly answer a question from my good-dear friend, it IS okay to ask! Mike and I are not shy about the adoption in the slightest. It doesn't make us sad to talk about it, waiting is part of the process and we accept that. We celebrate that we've not been stopped yet and just look forward to our match. If we're not saying much, it's because it's kinda boring at the moment!
**sometimes I feel bad about the amount of questions I ask her. But then I remember that she has all my money*** and I don't feel so bad.
***JK, CB is not-for-profit.
****hopefully, who knows, they change this stuff up all the time! Knock on all the woods!
Friday 24 January 2014
Happy? Yes, yes Siam.
Turns out that yes, we have been approved from Thailand! Now we just wait for a match, and update any paperwork as it expires (medical after one year, employment after one year, something about the homestudy after two years, etc.). Woot!
Thursday 23 January 2014
Wat's Wrong?
I knew things were going way too smoothly! We were way overdue for at least a minor hiccup. And hopefully that's all this is - very very minor. Fingers crossed.
As some of you may know, there's a massive political protest going on in Bangkok right now. As a result, the Thai social workers who would be looking at our dossiers now or very shortly have had to relocate for safety. This should just be a temporary move, and let's hope so. However, the agency is reluctant to send our stuff (which is now back in Canada as of today - which I believe means the Thai embassy has approved us? I'm checking with Shelley) over to them at the temporary location in case they move back before it gets there; and they don't want to send it to the regular location in case the mail simply can't be delivered. So our dossiers are stuck where they are for now.
Shelley has assured me they are doing all they can from the temporary location - another couple just got matched yesterday, in fact! - but it's best for our stuff to stay where it is. The election that may or may not happen is scheduled for February 2nd, so I'd imagine we'll have more info slightly after that.
Until then, have a Buzzfeed list of famous people who were adopted. That's right #4, #11, and #19.
Shelley has assured me they are doing all they can from the temporary location - another couple just got matched yesterday, in fact! - but it's best for our stuff to stay where it is. The election that may or may not happen is scheduled for February 2nd, so I'd imagine we'll have more info slightly after that.
Until then, have a Buzzfeed list of famous people who were adopted. That's right #4, #11, and #19.
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