Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there with the toughest job on earth! I have mixed feelings today - I know in my heart that I am my son's mother already, but having him on the other side of the world makes me feel so helpless. I got a truly wonderful present for Mother's Day this year...updated pictures of our little guy! The last pictures we have of him are when he was eight months old and now he is twelve and a half months. I was disappointed to see that he is not smiling in any of these new pictures, but the support and reassurance of other AP's has set my mind at ease. For those of you who have maintained a blog of your journey I just want to say thank you! It is so inspirational when those of us waiting for our children see the enourmous changes your children go through from the time you meet them in the orphange to the day they are home with your family. It is amazing the difference in their eyes and smiles as they go from vacant stares to bright-eyed and happy toddlers basking in their mommy and daddy's love. Your stories and pictures keep me going and maintain my faith!

Our Adoption Timeline

April 19, 2006: Signed with our agency
April 20, 2006: Mailed in our i-600a
April 21, 2006: Ordered certified copies of my birth certificate
April 25, 2006: Mailed in our Home Study application, documents, and fees.
April 26, 2006: Requested certified copies of our marriage certificate (Bucks County, PA)
May 1, 2006: Scheduled our Home Study appointments
May 1, 2006: Recieved certified copies of our marriage license
May 1, 2006: Started my baby shower registry
May 2, 2006: Received certified copies of my divorce decree (Suffolk County, Long Island, NY)
May 3, 2006: Joe got his employment verification letter
May 3, 2006: Mailed out Joe's passport application (expedited service)
May 3, 2006: Ordered certified copies of Joe's birth certificate
May 4, 2006 Mailed reference requests to friends and family
May 4, 2006: Requested notarized letter from bank
May 4, 2006: Made doctor's appointment for physical and physician's letter
May 4, 2006: Got my fingerprints for FBI Clearance
May 4, 2006: Requested my Employment Verification Letter
May 5, 2006: Recieved my Employment Verification Letter
May 8, 2006: Dawn's doctor's appointment for physical and physician's letter
May 10, 2006: Our first Home Study Visit
May 12, 2006: Dawn's Sagem Morpho fingerprinting appointment
May 13, 2006: Joe's Sagem Morpho fingerprinting appointment
May 25, 2006: Our second Home Study visit
July 12, 2006: Received completed Home Study (after receiving earlier and requesting corrections)
July 21, 2006: Received fingerprint appointments from USCIS
August 2, 2006: Fingerprinted

Kazakhstan is not in Kalamazoo :-)

Many people have asked what country we are adoting from. When I say Kazakhstan they often look at us and say "Kalama-huh?" You can see from my last post of the map of Kaz just how large it is. I was very surprized when Joe told me it was three times the size of Texas! This is the flag of Kazakhstan.

Kazamawhat???

The Road Less Traveled

Joe and I are on a quest to be joined with our son or daughter. This journey actually began some time ago with our decision to start a family. However, it became clear to us that we are being led down a different road - the road less traveled. Our quest is taking us to Kazakhstan. I know in my heart that our baby is there waiting for us. Like many parents who set out on the adoption journey we have selected a child from a photolisting. However, I have been warned that nothing is written in stone and our baby may indeed be adopted by another family or reunited with his birthmother. The boy we have chosen is one year old (as of the end of April) and has the most brilliant smile! We battle our own emotions when trying to decide between keeping his pictures up around the house, allowing those daydreams that creep into our minds, and rejoicing - or keeping our hearts closed and remaining cautious.

When a woman is pregnant she is blessed with a nine month period of time to bond with her unborn child. She and her husband can dream, plan and celebrate the life they have created. When adopting...you must remain both hopeful and skeptical at the same time. It is a very difficult balance that I am not certain I can manage as an all-or-nothing personality. Joe has resolved to ward off heartache by doing his best to remain neutral. He sees this boy and imagines him being our son, playing in our backyard - throwing the ball to Daddy. If it unravels it will devastate him. And while we are both 100% certain that we will come home from this quest with a beautiful and precious baby...we acknowledge that the road ahead will be fraught with both joy and uncertainty.