Answers about our adoption.....

OK, before I answer any more questions I have to just say that it seems I have lots of lurkers out there who need to come out and say hello! I checked my live traffic feed and my counter when I published my last post just a couple of days ago and 200 people were on my blog and only 6 of you commented and many were local! Makes me wonder if there are just some Nosey Nelly's out there or you really are interested! So if your out there and you frequent my blog please say hello and tell me who you are. I won't bite ;O)

Looks like CC@@ got threw 4 days. By the sounds of things March 6th is the cut off. Congrats to all of you who will finally be seeing your child's face for the first time!!!

geminirn asked...How would you feel with a boy referred?
A. Well I didn't know until just recently that this could even happen! I know our province gets the referral first and they have been pretty particular with sticking to the perimeters that are on our dossier but I would hope they would call us and tell us. I think at that point I would have to believe that was what was meant to be so I would do whatever it takes to bring him home.

redmaryjanes asked...will your child from China be the last addition to your family or do you plan to add more children?
A. We would love to have more! If things would have went according to plan when we started this process and we would have had our daughter in the 7-9 months we thought we would be waiting, we would have another dossier in China by now. I would love to have 3 or 4!

Kristy asked...Do you ever feel kind of weird knowing that you are going to have a grandbutton and a young daughter at the same time?
A. I guess the thought crossed my mind in the beginning while Jac was expecting but now I can hardly wait to have the two of them grow up together. They are going to have so much fun together! Actually I'm also excited to see the dynamics of Jac and my relationship take a new shape. Now that will be weird! Two moms one younger one older, one the mom of the other mom...it is going to be awesome.

Lesa asked...What would you think about the SN route? That is if the wait gets even longer.
A. In our dossier we said we would be open to minor correctable medical conditions. We didn't know much about the two routes at the time and figured the dossiers all went to the same program. If I felt led to switch, I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibilities. I wouldn't do it as a second choice, I would do it because I truly believed our daughter was there, and that I prayed about it and truly felt God was leading us on that path.

Nadine asked...Would you consider adopting an older child from somewhere else and why does it take so long to adopt a baby from China?
Great Questions. I actually get asked this a lot from friends.
A. I could not fathom turning my back on what I truly believe God led us to do to grow our family. I believe everything happens in God's timing if we wait and follow His direction. I have been in love with a little girl from China whom I've never met for over 3 years now and have been praying for her and I know it's not in vain. My daughter is there.
A. I don't think there is one simple answer to this one but I will try to answer the best I can. When we first started the adoption process we were told that the wait to referral was about 7-9 months. This didn't seem that bad to us but we knew going into it that this time frame could change. As we were progressing through the process we noticed that the wait times were increasing. We realize that this could increase even more but the time frame could get shorter as well. One of the main reasons we understand caused the increase in wait times is an increase in the number of dossiers (requests to adopt) that China received. North America adopted thousands babies from China in 2007 and numbers seemed to be increasing each year. Along with the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc also increased their adoptions from China. China also had put into play the Hague Convention of International Adoption Law. The Hague basically put policies in place to ensure that the international adoptions are serving the needs of the children first. Basically this means that there were new polices and paperwork that China had to go through in order to be in compliance. Hope this makes sense. It didn't always take this long and many of us believe that we are over the hump and things will speed up in the near future due to the tightened rules and the number of families that have chosen to add to their family in other ways, having moved out of the line.
PS. I know that is is painful for some people to watch us wait, believe me I really do covet any prayers that you may offer on our behalf. I know Nadine has prayed for us. For that I thank you from the bottom of my heart :o).

Isabella's Mommy and Daddy asked...Have you finished the babies room?.....LET US SEE.
A. Yes, her room has been ready and waiting for almost 2 1/2 years! I made beautiful curtains that have faded and now need to be changed, I used it as a catch all for a while then felt bad and tidied it up.
I had to open the closet to show you where I hide stuff!
I love this Mary Englebreit print.
I took the bottom panel of the curtain off, it was really faded by the sun.
I think I'm going to repaint it a soft lime green to brighten it up. I have to bring her dresser in from the other room someday too. Sunshine used it when she stayed with us. I've been keeping my eyes open for a nice pink and green 5x9 rug. So I guess you could say it's still a work in progress.