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!
