Getting Crazy

Well, things have been a little bit crazy in the house. With two kids starting school, helping with homework, extracurricular activities, all mixed with work, work, work, we have unfortunately not been able to record a new episode. We do however, want to keep all of our listeners up to date as to our process and how things are going.

We have sent our homestudy off to CIS and are now simply awaiting the letter giving us approval and setting up dates to be fingerprinted. My thoughts are, "Hey, didn't we do all of this with the first two adoptions. It's not like our fingerprints have magically changed". Well, the U.S. government didn't see quite the same humor in it as I did and simply stated, "Yes, you have to be fingerprinted again." So hopefully soon we will be on our way to get inky fingers. (You don't get inky fingers anymore, it's all done electronically now. Another little worry to mark off of your list.)

Not sure what our next episode will be about but I'm thinking packing for China, or maybe talking about some of the highlights of Beijing. Kim is wanting to do a show on paperwork, but I'm not sure what paperwork we can talk about for more than fifteen minutes. I'm hoping we can record within the next week or two, so be on the lookout and find out what decision we made.

Until then, if you're in the middle of the process or just starting out, remember your child is waiting for you and you two will meet in God's time not yours. So until then keep nesting, praying, and learning all you can about your new child's birth country.

Episode 6: Positive Adoption Language

Ah yes, positive adoption language. Not many people outside of the adoption community know just how upsetting it can be when a stranger comes up and talks adoption while unknowingly using negative language. In this episode we go over some of the positive adoption language and how to better use it when talking to others and especially to your children. We also let Kim rant a bit about a small snag in out adoption process, so hopefully she'll let Bryan off the hook for a while.

Ep. 5: Adoption Books

In episode 5 Kim and Bryan talk about their favorite adoption books. We separated our list into two categories, books geared more towards adults and those intended for children. As usual Kim went above and beyond creating a list that left Bryan thinking he needed to do quite a bit more reading. So have a listen and see if your favorite made our list or maybe you'll find a new book to place on your wish list.

Here are some of the links mentioned in our show.

Center for Adoption Support and Education Store

Half The Sky

Good afternoon!

We are so excited to announce that we have "Pre-Approval" (PA) from China to adopt a specific little boy!!!!  Have we expressed that we are SOOOOOOOOO excited yet??!!!!  :-D

The week wait to receive the PA was hard.  It's going to be a long 10 months wait until we are able to travel to China to receive him.  

Where are we in the process?   Still waiting for our homestudy to be written, proofed, and approved. Once we receive it, we'll be able to mail off our I-800A form to the USCIS (United States Citizenship & Immigration Services) for approval to bring an internationally adopted child into the USA (I-797C, Notification of Approval).  (Prior to the Hague, PAPs (perspective adoptive parents) filed the I-600A form, and received an I-171H.  If adopting from a Non-Hague Country, then this is the forms still used/received.)

We pray that he is well cared for and loved while we wait to be united. Please continue to keep our family and our baby Ladybug in your thoughts and prayers!

Blessings,

Kim & Bryan

Episode 4:The Homestudy

In our fourth episode we chat about our latest homestudy and let you in on all the fun times you get to have when your social worker visits your house. While this is our third time around we still get nervous every time our homestudy comes due and make the frantic dash to clean, clean, clean, as if the social worker will pull out a white glove to check for any signs of dust on every surface, including over the door. So take a listen, enjoy, and if you have any questions or comments, please e-mail us at ouradoptioninternetradio@yahoo.com

Episode 3: Choosing an Agency

For episode 3 Bryan and Kim talk about the importance of choosing an adoption agency, how to get information about various agencies, and things to consider when choosing an agency.

Please feel free to e-mail any questions to ouradoptioninternetradio@yahoo.com or post to the comments section of this post. We will be happy to answer them in an on air podcast.

Here are links to some of the websites mentioned in episode 3
Intercountry Adoption - Bureau of Consular Affairs
Rainbow Kids
Adoptive Families Magazine

Episode 2: Adoption At The Movies

In our second episode we decided to take a lighter route and discuss our top five movies that are about adoption or have adoption in them. We kept our list separate from one another and were both a bit surprised when we only had two overlapping choices. Here are links to the movies we mentioned in this episode, I'm sure you can find these where you rent or purchase your movies, so take a look and find some great adoption movies to fill your movie night.

Bryan's list
5. Disney's Tarzan
4. The Ten Commandments
3. Casa de los babys
2. Martian Child
1. Superman

Kim's list
5. Wo Ai Ni Mommy
4. The Blind Side
3. Disney's Tarzan
2. Martian Child
1. Juno

We also listed a few honorable mentions that I have not included in this list. Hey, I have to keep something secret so you'll listen.