The Polar Express Train Ride

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Meet our little princess, Norah

Finally, after more than 2 years of adoption failures and waiting, Matt and I are thrilled to announce the birth of our daughter, Norah. She was born 7-31-09 and weighed 6lbs 14oz. She was 2 days old when we took her home from the hospital. We are so blessed and grateful to be able to parent this little angel!

You might be adopting from China if...

~You know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways...
~You've been expecting a baby for over 3 years...
~You understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world...
~You've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S...
~You know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes..
~Your homestudy is followed by a number (i.e. #3 or #4)...
~You never know how many days next month will have...
~You know that babies come in batches...
~You've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime...
~You automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl...
~You own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons (because you don't know when or how big)...
~You look twice when you see a lady bug...
~You're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009...
~You know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months...
~Your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years...
~You know who the Rumor Queen is ... AND ... you don't know who she is...
~You know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather...
~You've waited so long, they re-checked your fingerprints to see if they changed...
~Trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles...
~When you speak of "that time of month" you're talking about CCAA updates & referrals...

And finally...You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart

China adoption video

Saying goodbye and moving forward ...

I cant believe its been 7 months since my last post. For those of you that dont know, the contract between the US and Vietnam expired Sept 1st. What that means is that Vietnam shut down and will not grandfather-in those families that have been logged in and waiting. (Big sigh). Vietnam may reopen in the future, however, we have chosen not to wait. I feel that we have been caught in the middle of a tremendous tug-of-war between two countries that has little, if anything, to do with the welfare of the children. With a heavy heart we say goodbye to a country we had grown to love ... yet never got to see.

The good news is that we have decided to adopt from China. The wait is long, however, we feel this is the right path. With fingers and toes crossed, we plan to adopt our 2nd child domestically. Stay tuned ...

Virgil's Gotcha Day

This post is purely selfish. Its a reminder to myself that although the road to our daughter is long, she will eventually be in our arms. I hope you enjoy this video. It was the first one I made.

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Our journey begins

I wanted to create a blog so that our family and close friends could follow our adoption journey while we were in Vietnam. We're hoping to be in Vietnam, holding our daughter, by the end of 2008.

Our paperwork update: All of our paperwork has been submitted, as of yesterday, to our adoption agency, Orphans Overseas. We are waiting for our home study to be sent to USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services). As soon as that happens we'll wait for our I-600A approval (petition to adopt an orphan). Once approved, our information will need to be authenticated, first locally then by the secretary of state and lastly by the US Consulate in San Francisco. Once authentication is complete our dossier will be sent to Vietnam where it will be translated and sent to the DIA (Department of International Adoptions). Once this happens we'll be given a number on our agencies waiting list and the real waiting begins!