We're now #225. CHI received two referrals this week - a 13 month old girl and an 8 year old boy. Yay for the kiddos and their new families!
We went to see the movie 21 tonight. It was rather - eh. Kind of boring. It takes skill to make a movie about Vegas that dull. Ah, well, we had fun anyway. Our next movie venture will be to the snazzy new Warren Theatre that just opened a few miles from us. Balcony with wait service? I'm in!
OK, you blogaholics - I suppose I'm behind the times as I just discovered how to set up Google Reader to keep up with all the adoption blogs. Why has no one clued me in to this beautiful, beautiful invention until now? The lightbulb is on and my Blackjack is now tethered to my hand.
Showing posts with label CHI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHI. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Referrals!
Yippee for two CHI families! Two referrals for baby boys were received this week. I hope their new families blog so we can see the cuties.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Flu-Induced Ramblings
How sad - I've only blogged for a couple months and I'm already guilty of blog neglect.
CHI didn't have any referrals this week, but hopefully there will be several in March. Several families will be traveling this month. I still haven't come up with a cute waiting list countdown calendar idea yet. Maybe I'll hit Hobby Lobby this week.
No news related to the pending resigning of the MOU.
I've been home with the flu and a sinus infection since Tuesday. Today's the first day I feel normal-ish, other than a cough that feels like it originates in my toes.
I added a new skill to my repertoire while I was home. I spent a couple hours mastering the cup trick shown in the Happy Slip video below. That's an advanced stage of cabin fever, I believe.
I showed off my mad crazy rhythym skills when Hubby came home from work. I think he was more confused than impressed.
I also came across the blog of a single mom who has adopted... drumroll please... 39 children. Wha....? Yes, 39 children. Fascinating.
I'm sitting on the back porch typing this, and a storm's getting ready to roll in. The wind just picked up substantially. I wish it would blow my neighbor's windchimes straight to Oz. Yesterday it was mid-70s and beautiful. Now, a line of severe weather including hail and a tornado watch is headed this way. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Crazy Oklahoma weather!
Have I mentioned how ready I am for winter to pass and take all of its cooties with it?
CHI didn't have any referrals this week, but hopefully there will be several in March. Several families will be traveling this month. I still haven't come up with a cute waiting list countdown calendar idea yet. Maybe I'll hit Hobby Lobby this week.
No news related to the pending resigning of the MOU.
I've been home with the flu and a sinus infection since Tuesday. Today's the first day I feel normal-ish, other than a cough that feels like it originates in my toes.
I added a new skill to my repertoire while I was home. I spent a couple hours mastering the cup trick shown in the Happy Slip video below. That's an advanced stage of cabin fever, I believe.
I showed off my mad crazy rhythym skills when Hubby came home from work. I think he was more confused than impressed.
I also came across the blog of a single mom who has adopted... drumroll please... 39 children. Wha....? Yes, 39 children. Fascinating.
I'm sitting on the back porch typing this, and a storm's getting ready to roll in. The wind just picked up substantially. I wish it would blow my neighbor's windchimes straight to Oz. Yesterday it was mid-70s and beautiful. Now, a line of severe weather including hail and a tornado watch is headed this way. Tomorrow it's supposed to snow. Crazy Oklahoma weather!
Have I mentioned how ready I am for winter to pass and take all of its cooties with it?
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Yoda and Friends
My cell phone has been dying a slow death since the fall. I finally gave in and bought a snazzy little phone, a Blackjack II. It took me months to justify the increased monthly payment. I'm an internet consultant, though, so I need to be able to access my site from anywhere, right...? Well, that and check movie times.
At any rate, I just learned how to transfer pictures from my camera. Here's one of hubby enjoying his Valentine's treats.
At any rate, I just learned how to transfer pictures from my camera. Here's one of hubby enjoying his Valentine's treats.
Yes, he's sharing his cookie with a little Yoda. Ahem, Yoda himself said, "Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not, for my ally is the Force." Quite a powerful li'l guy.
In adoption news, we just received an update from CHI. The sweetest little three-year-old girl, who is HIV positive, has been on their waiting children list for over a year. Her forever family has now found her! Congrats to the family. She is quite the cutie.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Mr. Postman...
USPS confirmed delivery of our package to CHI this morning. Yay! The list is updated weekly, so we won't know our official number until the end of this week or the beginning of next.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Memorandum of Understanding
Chocolate Cherry Diet Dr. Pepper is my new obsession. I'm a bit panicked by the fact that it's a limited edition flavor. Perhaps I should stock up while my friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart has it in stock.
At any rate, I drank entirely too many today; it's late, I'm sick, and yet I'm wide awake. Bouncing off the walls, to tell you the truth.
I'll use a bit of my energy to post about the one topic I've been avoiding: the MOU, or Memorandum of Understanding. PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) visiting my blog know what issue I'm addressing, but I thought I'd bring my friends and family up to speed with a Cliff Notes version. It's a bit confusing; I'll see if I can be brief or not.
Vietnam requires a Memorandum of Understanding to be in place with any country that completes adoptions of its orphans. That once-innocuous little phrase has come to induce cringing in adoptive parents nationwide. The MOU is good for three years, and the current agreement expires in September 2008. The intent of the MOU is to ensure that ethical adoptions take place. As PAPs that is, of course, our biggest concern as well.
Over the last couple of months, the fact that the MOU may not be resigned in its current state has become a distinct possibility. Vietnam has not adhered to some of the conditions agreed to, such as publishing standard fees. Vietnam and the US are scheduled to announce their intention to resign the MOU in March 2008. So what could happen from here?
- VN and US agree to resign the MOU as it is. Adoptions continue without a hitch.
- VN and US renegotiate the MOU. The current agreement will expire in September, and the countries will work together to put a new agreement in place, hopefully quickly.
- VN and US could suspend adoptions even longer.
No one knows what will really happen.
Our agency does not feel like there will be a long suspension. They have also been told by the DIA that if the MOU is not resigned, parents whose dossiers (the final batch of paperwork) have already been sent to VN will be allowed to complete an adoption as planned. Since we will be so new to the list at that point, we may be able to stay on the list and not be affected, even if there is not a new agreement in place for as long as a year or so.
Why? We will be added to the list somewhere in the mid-200s. CHI completed 80 adoptions last year. At that rate, it will likely be a couple of years until we receive a referral. Vietnam is allowing CHI to have a total of 100 dossiers in the country. Therefore, say the MOU expires in September. CHI will already have the first 100 families on the list logged in to Vietnam, and will work through that list for the next year or so. Therefore, we would be moving up the list even if it took a year or more for a new MOU to be reached.
Everyone's on pins and needles waiting to see what will happen. For now, we are going to ENJOY finally being added to the list, evaluate our options, and make some plans for what we will do under different scenarios. I'm incredibly grateful to be working with CHI. They do such a great job of communicating the situation, answering my gazillion questions, and working on solutions.
Please pray for a quick agreement to be reached for the sake of the children and for the sanity of their parents-to-be. I have a feeling we're in for a crazy ride! :)
At any rate, I drank entirely too many today; it's late, I'm sick, and yet I'm wide awake. Bouncing off the walls, to tell you the truth.
I'll use a bit of my energy to post about the one topic I've been avoiding: the MOU, or Memorandum of Understanding. PAPs (prospective adoptive parents) visiting my blog know what issue I'm addressing, but I thought I'd bring my friends and family up to speed with a Cliff Notes version. It's a bit confusing; I'll see if I can be brief or not.
Vietnam requires a Memorandum of Understanding to be in place with any country that completes adoptions of its orphans. That once-innocuous little phrase has come to induce cringing in adoptive parents nationwide. The MOU is good for three years, and the current agreement expires in September 2008. The intent of the MOU is to ensure that ethical adoptions take place. As PAPs that is, of course, our biggest concern as well.
Over the last couple of months, the fact that the MOU may not be resigned in its current state has become a distinct possibility. Vietnam has not adhered to some of the conditions agreed to, such as publishing standard fees. Vietnam and the US are scheduled to announce their intention to resign the MOU in March 2008. So what could happen from here?
- VN and US agree to resign the MOU as it is. Adoptions continue without a hitch.
- VN and US renegotiate the MOU. The current agreement will expire in September, and the countries will work together to put a new agreement in place, hopefully quickly.
- VN and US could suspend adoptions even longer.
No one knows what will really happen.
Our agency does not feel like there will be a long suspension. They have also been told by the DIA that if the MOU is not resigned, parents whose dossiers (the final batch of paperwork) have already been sent to VN will be allowed to complete an adoption as planned. Since we will be so new to the list at that point, we may be able to stay on the list and not be affected, even if there is not a new agreement in place for as long as a year or so.
Why? We will be added to the list somewhere in the mid-200s. CHI completed 80 adoptions last year. At that rate, it will likely be a couple of years until we receive a referral. Vietnam is allowing CHI to have a total of 100 dossiers in the country. Therefore, say the MOU expires in September. CHI will already have the first 100 families on the list logged in to Vietnam, and will work through that list for the next year or so. Therefore, we would be moving up the list even if it took a year or more for a new MOU to be reached.
Everyone's on pins and needles waiting to see what will happen. For now, we are going to ENJOY finally being added to the list, evaluate our options, and make some plans for what we will do under different scenarios. I'm incredibly grateful to be working with CHI. They do such a great job of communicating the situation, answering my gazillion questions, and working on solutions.
Please pray for a quick agreement to be reached for the sake of the children and for the sanity of their parents-to-be. I have a feeling we're in for a crazy ride! :)
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