We finally have a “due date”!! 4/19/2005
The letter came today! We have an appointment at the Adoption Center in Ukraine on July 27, 2005.
Here we come, LT!!!!!
Note to Marla
(Pardon me readers while I post a personal note to someone I can’t reach any other way…)
Dear Marla,
Pleeeeeease e-mail me with a username and password so I can continue to share your world. E-mail me at jodi at redmonk dot net and I’ll be right over! We’ll be joining you soon as parents to an internationally adopted child!
Thanks!! Jodi
Adoption Process – Week 36 4/16/2005
This week we did get some good news. It isn’t huge, but it certainly has us a bit anxious and excited. We learned that the letter containing our appointment date was issued from the NAC and is en route to us via regular mail. The NAC representative who spoke with our translator would not inform her of the appointment date specified in the letter nor would they inform her of the date the letter was issued. She was only told that it had “already” been sent. This information was provided on Thursday. So the letter could have been mailed some day between April 5 and April 14 and will take approximately 9-12 days in transit. That means it should arrive somewhere between April 15 and April 27, which means any day!!
We haven’t really done much else specific to the adoption besides continue to pray and prepare in general for the prospect of becoming parents sometime in the foreseeable future – more specifically sometime in 2005 (we hope!).
Our parents (the soon to be grandparents) seem to be getting excited along with us and everyone else seems as anxious as we are to learn our appointment date. It is very encouraging to have this kind of support, as it really helps us feel like the “expecting” parents that we are!!
Keep praying for the children and the difficulties in the adoption process in Ukraine. It is not a smooth or easy process right now, and the families traveling and the children waiting need the hand of God to help them to meet one another at just the right time.
Thanks for following our story and standing with us for our LT!!
Adoption Process – Week 35 4/8/2005
From the paperchase standpoint, we are pretty much idling. Our dossier has been submitted, approved, and now we await our travel date. We did discover that we need another certified copy of our marriage license for acquiring the child’s birth certificate (listing us as the parents) once the adoption is finalized. We sent off for that, but other than that we just continue to wait for another precious envelope from the Adoption Center in Ukraine telling us the exact date that we are welcome at the NAC to get the referral for our child. They probably haven’t even sent it out yet, but I can’t help but check the mail everyday anyhow hoping, wishing, praying that it might come in record time. Unlikely, I know, but you’ll have to allow me to be a little loopy right now. I’m about to become a parent!
I also ordered some more books. One is on Christian parenting and is called Shepherding the Child’s Heart. I’m really looking forward to reading it. It focuses on nurture, trust, love, and the whole child rather than emphasizing compliance and “good behavior”. Obedience and discipline are taught and valued but not for their own sake – i.e. not merely to preserve mom and dad’s public image or to earn praise from others. I’ll share more as I read. I trust it will be challenging!
I’ve also ordered Holding Time, which comes highly recommended in the adoption community. It is especially helpful for assisting adoptive parents with practical suggestions for how to foster attachment between your child and you. This attachment happens fairly naturally in most families, including those who adopt a newborn, but if you are adopting a child who missed those early bonding weeks, months, or even years, these strategies are critical. Essentially, you have to teach the child through experience how to receive love from you, how to trust you, and how to feel safe and secure. That, my friends, is no small task!
The other thing I have begun to do to prepare for our adoption is make lists. I’ve always been a listmaker, but at times like this I go a little crazy. Of course, thanks to modern technology and communications, I’m not so much making my own lists as borrowing from the lists of others who’ve gone before me. I can then consolidate and edit these lists into one that works for me. Thanks to all those generous listmakers who have shared with me thus far. Listmakers unite! 
In the news… 4/7/2005
- The Pope’s Passing – I have admired this special man who has been watched, adored, listened to, and revered by so many. His life and influential role have had a significant impact on life as I’ve known it, and I believe it has been a Godly influence. He is beloved by so many and will be deeply missed by the Christian community of believers throughout the world. I offer sincere condolences to all who grieve for the Pope, both catholics and non-catholics. My prayer is that his successor will stand by his spiritual convictions with the same gentleness, strength, depth, and passion that John Paul II did.
- Terri Schiavo’s Passing – This heart-wrenching battle was well-fought, but I’m sure I am not the only one who is relieved to have the political battle done with at least for now. To be forced to wait, watch, and wonder as the “powers that be” decide the fate of a human being is just not my idea of a good time. My hope is that Terri is now enjoying eternity with God and my prayer is that her parents and her husband are comforted in their grief, even though they felt differently about her life. I also pray for all those who are at present faced with similar difficult decisions. May God give you wisdom and peace when it is most needed.
- Presidents Bush and Yushchenko met last week and set some agenda items for the near and distant futures. Yushchenko also had an opportunity to address a joint session of congress. One item that has come up between our two nations is the issue of Visas. Evidently, the U.S. has agreed to reduce the fees that Ukrainians have to pay for certain types of visas and Ukraine has agreed to eliminate certain visa requirements for U.S. Citizens. A summation of this and other items the two presidents agreed to can be found here. If the new visa policy takes effect soon, it could mean some savings to us in both time and money, as under current rules, we would have to apply for double-entry visas for both of us.
- The Price of Gas – I’ve been watching the gas prices here at the few stations on my way to work. This week the going rate was$2.27 – $2.29 per gallon of regular unleaded, and this is in the suburbs. I can’t imagine what’s it like in places like San Diego or New York! And I’m hearing rumors that this is barely the beginning. Yikes!
