Moving Right Along

Our Letter of Intent and a list of medical and educational resources is on it's way to China. The letter is our formal request to the Chinese government asking to adopt Matthew and promising we would care for him and nurture him as if he was born to us. The resource list is documentation of resources both medical and cardiolgy and also early intervention resources should he need them.
This process is so much clearer and predictable(as much as it can be). As much as I am not looking forward to completing another dossier I feel differently because each paper brings Matthew one step closer to home.
Olivia Steve and I are in full swing planning his bedroom and picking out fun "boy Stuff". Olivia is really into it. She is such a girl any excuse to shop. We have decided on a truck theme with lots of reds and blues. Ihave promised Steve I would practice some restraint and I will but it is hard.
We have been waiting for this joy for two years, I was just saying today that I feel as if a block has been lifted off me. The waiting and worrying and wondering was starting to take it's toll. I know we still have more waiting ahead of us but at least I feel that we have found our son and we are moving toward him. I was on the phone today with our adoption coordinator and she asked me to remind me of our son's birthday. Goofy me started to cry and got myself together explaining that it was the first time anyone had referred to him as our son.I was truly joyful.
I know the months ahead of waiting will be at times difficult but all so worth it in the end. I look forward to meeting Matthew for the first time in China. At that point our family will be complete.

God Works In Mysterious Ways

I haven't blogged in awhile our lives have been kind of up in the air for a few weeks as we have been reexamining where we are in the adoption process. On December 23 2008 we received a call from our social worker,who at this point is a member of our family,that she had received information from another agency re waiting children in China. Adopting an older child had not been something Steve and I had considered but felt we needed to consider it a this point and she sent us the files of 4 children waiting to review and request updated information.
Steve and I reviewed the files and saw little boy waiting in China and both felt that he was to be our son.We have been reviewing documentation and providing information to the agency and just received word yesterday that we are approved to move forward with his adoption.
Our son will be Matthew John and he is waiting for us at the Wuxi orphahange in China his birthday is May 25 2007.He was born with a heart defect that has already been surgically repaired and he is a healthy baby boy and we can not wait to bring him home. We do have a picture but will not be posting it at this time.If you would like to see his picture please leave a comment and I will forward it to you.
Needless to say we are all over the moon about this and looking forward in the not to distant future to having a toddler in the house.We will need to prepare another full dossier for China and are waiting to get the requirements to move forward with that from there we get a logged in date and await a travel approval. This is an expedited procedure as he is a waiting child but the time frame is a little unknown we are optimistic it will be in the year sometime.
I will post more as I have news All the Best Kate.

Happy 2009

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Christmas and all that you wish for in 2009. We are getting back to normal around here. Olivia is back to school and Steve back to work after a two week vacation. Olivia was up this morning and raring to go. Although she won't admit it she likes school and gets bored toward the end of vacations. We had a great holiday after spending Christmas eve at Steve's parents house,where Olivia is completely spoiled, we were at my sister Moe's for Christmas day with my family. On the weekend we were off to Steve's sister upstate for some sleigh riding although the weather didn't cooperate they were able to slide down the hill in her yard a few times.
Steve and I had a wedding on New Years Eve, one of Steve's work friends. We had a wonderful time. We don't usually go out for New Year it was great to get all dressed up and ring on the New Year with my wonderful husband. Olivia went to my Dad's with my sister and all her cousins and spent the night.We are of course sure that she had a good time too as she loves spending time with her Aunt Margie. I had to work on New Years Day, an occupational hazard, a long tiring day the best to be said is it's behind me.
In our home we are looking forward to the New Year and all that it will hopefully bring.Steve and I are going to tackle a few home improvement projects and we have made a commitment toward a healthier lifestyle. Olivia got a junior set of golf clubs for Christmas from my Dad. Steve currently plays and I used to play, badly, before Olivia so we are all going to play as family in the Spring.
We are looking forward to some possible adoption news on or about 1/12/09 when the government reconvenes after the holiday.Steve and I are becoming concerned about the length of time it may take to get the process backlog cleared. Steve and I are on the older end of parenting we had hoped to have this done by now but looking at another year or two to wait may just be too long. We are considering other avenues and options in case this process drags on. We are optimistic that this will be okay . However what we have learned from the international adoption roller coaster is not to put all your eggs in one basket. We are praying but also being realistic I will update as news is available.All the Best !!!