Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Zhang Empresses. 10 yr old Chinese adoptees living in Sweden. Their story.
"Growing up surrounded by blond, blue-eyed children in Sweden, Chinese adoptees Alice, Mimmi, Nanna and Linnéa always felt different. The girls were adopted on the same day from the same orphanage but – having moved abroad as babies – they don’t speak Mandarin and have no concept of their native country. Now ten years old, they are returning to China for the first time. What will they make of their homeland? A moving look at identity ..."
I watch the first ten minutes of this DVD on Youtube and as far as I can tell, this would be a useful video for any adopted child to sit and watch when they start to ask questions that we adoptive parents just cannot answer. The DVD was only released in Feb of 2007 so it is quite new.
To watch the first 10 mins of the DVD ... go here
To buy the DVD ... go here
Friday, July 27, 2007
Questions about the next stages
This info has been found on other websites and is not my opinion or fact - just an overall generality of a situation that can vary quiet widely.
These are some answers to often asked questions about Thai adoptions. I won't say they apply to *all* situations (because I doubt they do!) however the process after arrival in Thailand does seem to be similar, if not the same, for most countries.
These are some answers to often asked questions about Thai adoptions. I won't say they apply to *all* situations (because I doubt they do!) however the process after arrival in Thailand does seem to be similar, if not the same, for most countries.
Who are the typical children placed? 12-24 month old children or older if requested. They come from various orphanages - some in Bangkok and others in Pattaya and possibly others that I do not know the names. Thailand’s adoption center prefers to look for families or relatives in Thailand to adopt the children, and they typically hold the child for up to a year before moving him to the international adoption list.
What kind of information will I receive on a child? You will receive a photo and some background information, but it is minimal. You will receive medical and developmental information, but it may not be updated. We are working on improving this. The children referred as healthy children are generally healthy, with no known medical conditions.
What are the parental requirements? You must be married; both you and your spouse must be between 25-45 years of age and must be at least 15 years older than the child to be adopted. Families who have no children are preferred, but they have accepted families with up to two children already in the family. Parents are preferred who have a college education.
What is the typical length of the process? The referral of a child can take up to 2 - 2.5 years (for Australians). Completing the adoption will then take 12 months.
What is the typical length of the process? The referral of a child can take up to 2 - 2.5 years (for Australians). Completing the adoption will then take 12 months.
Do you submit dossiers direct to the Thai Dept. of Social Development and Welfare (DSDW), to particular Thai child-placement organizations, or to both? Via your local government's adoption services in your state to the DSDW.
Do you work with pre-identified placements of waiting children, or placements of healthy young children? Children are matched by the Thai Adoption services in such a way that the child's needs are placed as a higher priority than the needs of a parent. That being said, the child is referred to the most suitable adoptive parents who can meet this child's needs.
What kind of support do you offer on the ground in Thailand? For Australians, you will find that you meet a Thai Social Worker on arrival in Thailand and accompanied to your child's orphanage for your first meeting. After that, it is generally up to you to navigate your way around for the following 10 days or so. There are several reputable Thai Co-ordinators (Miss Oh is highly spoken of by other Aussie parents who have BTDT) who can assist you whilst in Thailand.
What are the country program fees? The country fees appear to be non-existent on sending your file to Thailand - we didn't pay an application fee at all. Fees for Thailand start when you receive your referral but even then are quite minimal - you will need to cover any medicals that your child will have and possibly (although I have been told that this isn't necessarily the case always) you may pay for sponsorship of your child (food, health, clothing etc) between referral and bringing your child home.
There is a donation to the Thai orphanage that housed your child. I think it is something reasonable like USD$1000 but again it's not a certainty. Our Tassie adoption services really don't do Thai adoptions often enough to be up-to-the-minute with all fees.
There are really far more fees on the Australian side than anywhere else what with Department of Immigration (DIMIA) and things like that.
You will also need to travel within Australia to the nearest Thai Consulate to register your child within 6 months of arriving home and I know that we signed an undertaking agreeing that we will do so. Post adoption meetings for your SW to see how your child is doing start almost immediately after your arrival home.
What kind of information do you receive when you are matched with a child? Depending on your child's particular situation, possibly medical information (height, weight, etc.), his birth mother's name (this is rare) and the circumstances surrounding his placement for adoption. Oh! And a picture. The picture that we all hope and dream about!
What is it like to prepare the paperwork /dossier? The paperwork was very straightforward. Not a problem at all.
How long in advance do you receive notification to travel toThailand
What kind of support do you offer on the ground in Thailand? For Australians, you will find that you meet a Thai Social Worker on arrival in Thailand and accompanied to your child's orphanage for your first meeting. After that, it is generally up to you to navigate your way around for the following 10 days or so. There are several reputable Thai Co-ordinators (Miss Oh is highly spoken of by other Aussie parents who have BTDT) who can assist you whilst in Thailand.
What are the country program fees? The country fees appear to be non-existent on sending your file to Thailand - we didn't pay an application fee at all. Fees for Thailand start when you receive your referral but even then are quite minimal - you will need to cover any medicals that your child will have and possibly (although I have been told that this isn't necessarily the case always) you may pay for sponsorship of your child (food, health, clothing etc) between referral and bringing your child home.
There is a donation to the Thai orphanage that housed your child. I think it is something reasonable like USD$1000 but again it's not a certainty. Our Tassie adoption services really don't do Thai adoptions often enough to be up-to-the-minute with all fees.
There are really far more fees on the Australian side than anywhere else what with Department of Immigration (DIMIA) and things like that.
You will also need to travel within Australia to the nearest Thai Consulate to register your child within 6 months of arriving home and I know that we signed an undertaking agreeing that we will do so. Post adoption meetings for your SW to see how your child is doing start almost immediately after your arrival home.
What kind of information do you receive when you are matched with a child? Depending on your child's particular situation, possibly medical information (height, weight, etc.), his birth mother's name (this is rare) and the circumstances surrounding his placement for adoption. Oh! And a picture. The picture that we all hope and dream about!
What is it like to prepare the paperwork /dossier? The paperwork was very straightforward. Not a problem at all.
How long in advance do you receive notification to travel to
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
EeeBee Baby. The newest craze for babies.
Stumbling around the internet, as I do, I came across eebee.com.
It seems to be quite the hit with babies as young as 4 months all the way up to toddlers and involves older siblings, parents and grandparents in the interactive play, singing, exploring, creating. Using household items, the funny little character, Eebee (pictured above), does everything a real baby does, interacts with other babies, sings with his mummy and his nanny and has fun learning things the baby way.
I've order the three DVD's for our future child .. can't wait to watch them for myself and, going by the feedback from other parents, they should be a big hit with our babe too!
If you'd like to see a short sample of what you'll find on the DVD, click here and on the left side, at the top, under the logo you'll see a circle with "Play Video".
It seems to be quite the hit with babies as young as 4 months all the way up to toddlers and involves older siblings, parents and grandparents in the interactive play, singing, exploring, creating. Using household items, the funny little character, Eebee (pictured above), does everything a real baby does, interacts with other babies, sings with his mummy and his nanny and has fun learning things the baby way.
I've order the three DVD's for our future child .. can't wait to watch them for myself and, going by the feedback from other parents, they should be a big hit with our babe too!
If you'd like to see a short sample of what you'll find on the DVD, click here and on the left side, at the top, under the logo you'll see a circle with "Play Video".
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Heart-kun. Love Puppy.
Chihuahua puppy born with love-heart pattern in fur ...
The chihuahua was born in May as one of a litter to a breeder.
In pictures: Heart-kun, the love-heart puppy
Shop owner Emiko Sakurada said it was the first time a puppy with the marks had been born out of a thousand she had bred.
She had no plans to sell the puppy, which has been named "Heart-kun".
Courtesy of News.com.au
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Package arrives at Adoption Services, Thailand!
Oh my, Oh my! NOW we're really excited!!!
This here is proof of delivery for our adoption documents that were sent to Thailand via courier ... whoever Kwanta is (see signatory), I'm going to take them a present when we go to Thailand!
This here is proof of delivery for our adoption documents that were sent to Thailand via courier ... whoever Kwanta is (see signatory), I'm going to take them a present when we go to Thailand!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Official Parents-in-Waiting
Our marvellous SW advised us via phone this evening that our file has been sent off to Thailand via courier today!
Finally, we are parents in waiting. Now I'm just waiting on an email from our SW with the consignment note number so I can follow along with when the file touches down in Bangkok.
I never thought that we'd get to this stage. It seems so far away when you start the homestudy and attending seminars.
Next stop ... Referral of our baby/toddler!
(It's about 18-24 months away so it will be pretty quiet until that wonderful phone call)
Finally, we are parents in waiting. Now I'm just waiting on an email from our SW with the consignment note number so I can follow along with when the file touches down in Bangkok.
I never thought that we'd get to this stage. It seems so far away when you start the homestudy and attending seminars.
Next stop ... Referral of our baby/toddler!
(It's about 18-24 months away so it will be pretty quiet until that wonderful phone call)
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Time, journeys and destinations.
How quickly a month flies by. Our file is still in Australia due to circumstances beyond everyone's control but eventually will arrive in Thailand one fine day.
If a month can pass by this quickly, before we know it we'll be receiving a phone call to tell us that our baby has been referred to us. Only about 18 to 24 of these quick months to go. How very exciting.
I know that people, including myself at times, say that the "journey is just as important as the destination" but in this scenario it is something quite different. I so want the journey to be short and quick so we can arrive at our 'destination'.
If wishes were babies we'd have a tonne of them by now :)
I recently read a little part of an experience that another adoptive parent shared. She and her husband and son went to Thailand to bring home their soon-to-be daughter only to find that the special needs that they knew about weren't the only special needs she had. Apparently there were quite a few other, quite serious, needs that the little girl had that made the family uncertain as to whether they would be able to meet those particular needs.
They arrived in Thailand with excitement and much anticipation as you would expect. They were going to meet the child who they had waited on, thought about, planned for, dreamed of and talked about for a long time. This is a hard concept to explain to a non-adoptive parent - how an A-parent anticipates the arrival of their child in a similar way that a pregnant couple would anticipate their new arrival. There are the similar emotions, fears, dreams, excitement and planning.
In spite of yourself, while you wait your mind starts moving ahead to the day you will meet, how the child will react to you and your partner, how you will deal with the varying scenarios you may face in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, how you will communicate with your child and understand what they need in those first few harrowing hours and days, all of the great things your family are going to experience together, how much love you have to give to your new child, how their sibling is just as excited as mum and dad about their new sister/brother. This may be your first child or a second or third or more.
This particular family were to be greeted by a situation which no adoptive, or even bio parent, wishes to have happen to them. It makes me wonder how these sorts of scenarios can actually occur. The surprise special needs are often picked up by the A-parents who have just met the child and most parents are not medically trained. The needs seem to be identified by traits and behaviours easily spotted. On visiting the local Thai doctors, in this case, the needs were also easily identified by the medical profession there in the child's own home country so it doesn't seem that this is something that westerners have any special insight into.
Often accompanying the referral of the child is a medical document, whether in Thai or English, that parents can give to their own pediatrician in their home country for their interpretation. It seems that these special needs then were not reported on the medical docs at referral either.
It's baffling to me. I can't even begin to understand why it happens and how it affects any children left behind.
If a month can pass by this quickly, before we know it we'll be receiving a phone call to tell us that our baby has been referred to us. Only about 18 to 24 of these quick months to go. How very exciting.
I know that people, including myself at times, say that the "journey is just as important as the destination" but in this scenario it is something quite different. I so want the journey to be short and quick so we can arrive at our 'destination'.
If wishes were babies we'd have a tonne of them by now :)
I recently read a little part of an experience that another adoptive parent shared. She and her husband and son went to Thailand to bring home their soon-to-be daughter only to find that the special needs that they knew about weren't the only special needs she had. Apparently there were quite a few other, quite serious, needs that the little girl had that made the family uncertain as to whether they would be able to meet those particular needs.
They arrived in Thailand with excitement and much anticipation as you would expect. They were going to meet the child who they had waited on, thought about, planned for, dreamed of and talked about for a long time. This is a hard concept to explain to a non-adoptive parent - how an A-parent anticipates the arrival of their child in a similar way that a pregnant couple would anticipate their new arrival. There are the similar emotions, fears, dreams, excitement and planning.
In spite of yourself, while you wait your mind starts moving ahead to the day you will meet, how the child will react to you and your partner, how you will deal with the varying scenarios you may face in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, how you will communicate with your child and understand what they need in those first few harrowing hours and days, all of the great things your family are going to experience together, how much love you have to give to your new child, how their sibling is just as excited as mum and dad about their new sister/brother. This may be your first child or a second or third or more.
This particular family were to be greeted by a situation which no adoptive, or even bio parent, wishes to have happen to them. It makes me wonder how these sorts of scenarios can actually occur. The surprise special needs are often picked up by the A-parents who have just met the child and most parents are not medically trained. The needs seem to be identified by traits and behaviours easily spotted. On visiting the local Thai doctors, in this case, the needs were also easily identified by the medical profession there in the child's own home country so it doesn't seem that this is something that westerners have any special insight into.
Often accompanying the referral of the child is a medical document, whether in Thai or English, that parents can give to their own pediatrician in their home country for their interpretation. It seems that these special needs then were not reported on the medical docs at referral either.
It's baffling to me. I can't even begin to understand why it happens and how it affects any children left behind.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Watch Movies/TV shows online FREE!
Now here's something interesting that I was told about tonight. This site lets you watch recent movies (some not yet released here in Australia!), TV shows, cartoons, anime, music videos and sport ONLINE, for FREE and NO registration is needed. Just click and watch.
Pretty cool eh. There are no catches. I just went to the site, saw a tv show I wanted to catch up on, clicked on the link and it loaded.
Hey presto. Amazing what you can find on the net :)
Pretty cool eh. There are no catches. I just went to the site, saw a tv show I wanted to catch up on, clicked on the link and it loaded.
Hey presto. Amazing what you can find on the net :)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
What's a girl to do?
Hmmm, what to blog about today ...
It seems that waiting for our baby is coming quite easily (says she who has been waiting, oh, less than two weeks ... har har .. what patience!)
I actually doubt that our file is in Thailand yet. It had to first visit with the Thai consulate (in Australia!) so it's probably still sitting on a desk there. Hmmm, bit more of a wait yet I guess. Every now and then a little voice in my head says "could be any day, Kimbo, any day" and my stomach gives a lurch of excitement. Then I bounce back down to reality and take off those rose coloured glasses. Til the next time.
I've been wondering lately just how busy the Thai program will become now that China's program seems to be a touch overloaded. It will be interesting to watch as there are limited spots for Aussies adopting from Thailand - we don't get carte blanche to send off files.
Korea is down and out at least until 2008 I believe, China's overloaded, Ethiopia has a few more requirements than other programs, Hong Kong seems a mammoth program with hideous, complicated amounts of paperwork to wrestle with (according to our SW), India seems also to have a limited number of children being adopted overseas to Australia anyhow as well as a complicated program to work through, Lithuania is mostly for those of Lithuanian descent and a long-ish process I believe, Colombia is apparently an unknown for the most part, Fiji - nearly non-existent for referrals, South Africa is quite some way from actually starting, local adoption in Tassie is rare-ish, ... I don't know anything much about the Philippines, Bolivia, Taiwan or Chile but they could be interesting options.
I did see a little about the Kenyan program being worked on by our adoption departments here in Australia. I believe they did a recent visit to Kenya to talk over the intricacies. It seems, so far, that this won't be an 'easy' program to undertake, being that they require the adoptive parent/s to live at least 3 months in Kenya with the child before they confirm the adoption can go ahead and the new family can return to Australia.
That would certainly be an ideal situation to find yourself in though, for the child and for the new parents, if one had the financial ability to do so. What an amazing way to get to know the country of your child's birth intimately and maybe even the birth parents/extended family, if possible. I guess this would be hard for 90% of families from Australia though, especially if they have jobs or businesses to run back here at home.
Here I am thinking about our second adoption already and we haven't even brought our first babe home yet! Scott just shakes his head when I start on ...
It seems that waiting for our baby is coming quite easily (says she who has been waiting, oh, less than two weeks ... har har .. what patience!)
I actually doubt that our file is in Thailand yet. It had to first visit with the Thai consulate (in Australia!) so it's probably still sitting on a desk there. Hmmm, bit more of a wait yet I guess. Every now and then a little voice in my head says "could be any day, Kimbo, any day" and my stomach gives a lurch of excitement. Then I bounce back down to reality and take off those rose coloured glasses. Til the next time.
I've been wondering lately just how busy the Thai program will become now that China's program seems to be a touch overloaded. It will be interesting to watch as there are limited spots for Aussies adopting from Thailand - we don't get carte blanche to send off files.
Korea is down and out at least until 2008 I believe, China's overloaded, Ethiopia has a few more requirements than other programs, Hong Kong seems a mammoth program with hideous, complicated amounts of paperwork to wrestle with (according to our SW), India seems also to have a limited number of children being adopted overseas to Australia anyhow as well as a complicated program to work through, Lithuania is mostly for those of Lithuanian descent and a long-ish process I believe, Colombia is apparently an unknown for the most part, Fiji - nearly non-existent for referrals, South Africa is quite some way from actually starting, local adoption in Tassie is rare-ish, ... I don't know anything much about the Philippines, Bolivia, Taiwan or Chile but they could be interesting options.
I did see a little about the Kenyan program being worked on by our adoption departments here in Australia. I believe they did a recent visit to Kenya to talk over the intricacies. It seems, so far, that this won't be an 'easy' program to undertake, being that they require the adoptive parent/s to live at least 3 months in Kenya with the child before they confirm the adoption can go ahead and the new family can return to Australia.
That would certainly be an ideal situation to find yourself in though, for the child and for the new parents, if one had the financial ability to do so. What an amazing way to get to know the country of your child's birth intimately and maybe even the birth parents/extended family, if possible. I guess this would be hard for 90% of families from Australia though, especially if they have jobs or businesses to run back here at home.
Here I am thinking about our second adoption already and we haven't even brought our first babe home yet! Scott just shakes his head when I start on ...
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Snuggly Hooded Winter Jacket
My lovely mother-in-law has been knitting furiously in preparation for our baby/toddler. Even though we are some time away from a referral.
I got the idea about a jacket like this from a girlfriend of mine, Prue, who wears these thick woolly hooded jackets with wooden toggles all the time throughout our chilly winter months here in Tassie.
She's done such a fabulous job of the little jackets that she's now made five in total (finishes them in a day or two!), two for us and three for my girlfriends who have all recently had their babies.
I got the idea about a jacket like this from a girlfriend of mine, Prue, who wears these thick woolly hooded jackets with wooden toggles all the time throughout our chilly winter months here in Tassie.
She's done such a fabulous job of the little jackets that she's now made five in total (finishes them in a day or two!), two for us and three for my girlfriends who have all recently had their babies.
Awww Monkeys. Farm dreams too.
Kudos to this blogger for the cute pic
These are twin Pygmy Marmoset monkeys. They grow to a maximum of 13cms and and weigh not more than 170 grams and are found in the Amazon. I love monkeys of all sorts (one is a main character in my Thai childrens storybook - except he's not exactly a monkey, he's a Gibbon, found in Thailand amongst other places) so often I can be found searching Google images for sweet monkey pics or reading about them if I get a minute to spare.
As much as I ask him, Scott just won't let me have one (and I guess, neither would our Tasmanian government, although I've not checked). Spoilt sports.
I'm a little obsessed with an idea that floats around in my head and has done for years. Scott and I intend to, eventually, own a good few acres. On those many acres I'd dearly love to have a barn just for my animals to live in. All sorts of animals - alpacas ... sheep ... monkeys! (yeah right) ... chickens ... my Havanese puppy ... old homeless cats from the pound ... a cow or two ... all hand-reared and living in harmony ... (sigh) ... yes, I know I sound like a loony but nevertheless how much FUN would our child have growing up with lots of animals around to love and care for.
I was bought up in a city. My extended family, most of them anyhow, live on the Darling Downs in western Queensland, in places like Dalby and Toowoomba and Roma so regularly throughout the year we would spend a bit of time with them. In particular when I was early teens I would spend weeks of my school holidays out with my Grandma on her farm an hour outside of Injune, Queensland - just Grandma and Poppy and I. I remember when I eventually came home, I'd cry and cry for days cause I missed her and the farm so much. Mum didn't know what to do with me. It would happen *every* time I came home. I'm sure she wondered how she'd ended up with this sooky child who wanted to live with her Grandma in the country.
Grandma showed me how to milk cows (I'm sure I couldn't do it now and I'm not even sure I got the hang of it then either), she'd cut the head of a chicken and let it run around the yard to show me how they can live even with their heads chopped off (funny at the time, cruel in retrospect) then she'd kill them and have me participate in taking their yellow, fatty guts out (no guesses why I'm a vegetarian now hey) before cooking them for our dinner.
I'd ride the little motorbike up and down the dirt roads for miles around their property, snuffing it regularly in the middle of nowhere and wondering how the heck to get it started again. I'd walk the dirt roads for over an hour from Grandma's house to my great Aunt's place to visit, stopping in at the waterhole to swing from the rope over the river (never had the guts to let go though). My great Aunt and Uncle had, and still have, thousands and thousands of head of Brahman bulls on their massive property and my second cousins, Trevor and Denis, would take me out on the back of their motorbikes to go see everything and we'd go build fences (boring: especially when you are 13 yrs old and have zero strength to do anything useful) and herd the cattle here and there.
The neatest thing was that my Great Aunt rode the motorbikes and herded cattle just like the men did and she still does that to this day. Imagine that hey!
Anyhow, I guess all of this in it's way has shaped my move to Tasmania, our move down to the country outside of Hobart and our future dream of having a farm of our own. Scott is a country boy anyhow, grew up in the middle of nowhere in a mining camp with country, mountains, rivers and adventure all around him, he camped with his brother-in-law (who was quite a bit older than Scott as he was growing up). So he knows all of the practical stuff about living the country - useful!
How did I start with monkeys and end up with farms?
As much as I ask him, Scott just won't let me have one (and I guess, neither would our Tasmanian government, although I've not checked). Spoilt sports.
I'm a little obsessed with an idea that floats around in my head and has done for years. Scott and I intend to, eventually, own a good few acres. On those many acres I'd dearly love to have a barn just for my animals to live in. All sorts of animals - alpacas ... sheep ... monkeys! (yeah right) ... chickens ... my Havanese puppy ... old homeless cats from the pound ... a cow or two ... all hand-reared and living in harmony ... (sigh) ... yes, I know I sound like a loony but nevertheless how much FUN would our child have growing up with lots of animals around to love and care for.
I was bought up in a city. My extended family, most of them anyhow, live on the Darling Downs in western Queensland, in places like Dalby and Toowoomba and Roma so regularly throughout the year we would spend a bit of time with them. In particular when I was early teens I would spend weeks of my school holidays out with my Grandma on her farm an hour outside of Injune, Queensland - just Grandma and Poppy and I. I remember when I eventually came home, I'd cry and cry for days cause I missed her and the farm so much. Mum didn't know what to do with me. It would happen *every* time I came home. I'm sure she wondered how she'd ended up with this sooky child who wanted to live with her Grandma in the country.
Grandma showed me how to milk cows (I'm sure I couldn't do it now and I'm not even sure I got the hang of it then either), she'd cut the head of a chicken and let it run around the yard to show me how they can live even with their heads chopped off (funny at the time, cruel in retrospect) then she'd kill them and have me participate in taking their yellow, fatty guts out (no guesses why I'm a vegetarian now hey) before cooking them for our dinner.
I'd ride the little motorbike up and down the dirt roads for miles around their property, snuffing it regularly in the middle of nowhere and wondering how the heck to get it started again. I'd walk the dirt roads for over an hour from Grandma's house to my great Aunt's place to visit, stopping in at the waterhole to swing from the rope over the river (never had the guts to let go though). My great Aunt and Uncle had, and still have, thousands and thousands of head of Brahman bulls on their massive property and my second cousins, Trevor and Denis, would take me out on the back of their motorbikes to go see everything and we'd go build fences (boring: especially when you are 13 yrs old and have zero strength to do anything useful) and herd the cattle here and there.
The neatest thing was that my Great Aunt rode the motorbikes and herded cattle just like the men did and she still does that to this day. Imagine that hey!
Anyhow, I guess all of this in it's way has shaped my move to Tasmania, our move down to the country outside of Hobart and our future dream of having a farm of our own. Scott is a country boy anyhow, grew up in the middle of nowhere in a mining camp with country, mountains, rivers and adventure all around him, he camped with his brother-in-law (who was quite a bit older than Scott as he was growing up). So he knows all of the practical stuff about living the country - useful!
How did I start with monkeys and end up with farms?
Friday, May 18, 2007
It's now out of our hands.
The process, as we know it, is now out of our hands and in the hands of the officials who will, in their own ways, play their very important part in creating our family.
Today at 3pm, we handed over all of the docs for notarisation and to finally be sent off to Thailand, with short stops at DFAT and the Thai consulate.
So now what do we do?
We wait. And wait. And hope. And have lots of dreams at night about our future child it seems. I have never had so many dreams that I remember when I wake up as I have been having in the last two weeks. The dreams involve children of various ages, some are Asian and some are Caucasian. It seems that my mind is trying to figure out how to put a face to our little babe.
Funny. I don't sit and consciously think about it all day long, or even for a long part of the day at all. Of course, sometimes I drift off into a daydream but then there's usually other things to do that take up my attention, work, housework, friends, family, my book, discussions with Scott, and all of the things that you do in your everyday life.
My subconscious must be working overdrive though.
Today at 3pm, we handed over all of the docs for notarisation and to finally be sent off to Thailand, with short stops at DFAT and the Thai consulate.
So now what do we do?
We wait. And wait. And hope. And have lots of dreams at night about our future child it seems. I have never had so many dreams that I remember when I wake up as I have been having in the last two weeks. The dreams involve children of various ages, some are Asian and some are Caucasian. It seems that my mind is trying to figure out how to put a face to our little babe.
Funny. I don't sit and consciously think about it all day long, or even for a long part of the day at all. Of course, sometimes I drift off into a daydream but then there's usually other things to do that take up my attention, work, housework, friends, family, my book, discussions with Scott, and all of the things that you do in your everyday life.
My subconscious must be working overdrive though.
Pumpkin hat.
Another Mum waiting for her babe from Thailand, Andrea from New Zealand, has revealed a secret talent. Knitting hats for babies! But not just ANY cute little hats, these are Gooseberry (or in our case Pumpkin) hats!
I immediately contacted Andrea to request one for our very, very own baby/toddler and she has kindly created the most amazingly colourful, beautiful knitted bubs hat.
Now my mother-in-law, who has been madly knitting outfits for our babe, will just have to knit a special little outfit to match the cap.
After all, one does need to have the perfect outfit to go with a perfect knitted cap, doesn't one!
P.S. Already this evening, I've received an enquiry about another mum who'd love a pumpkin hat for her friend's baby ... if you'd like to contact the creator, Andrea, she can be emailed by clicking HERE ...
I immediately contacted Andrea to request one for our very, very own baby/toddler and she has kindly created the most amazingly colourful, beautiful knitted bubs hat.
Now my mother-in-law, who has been madly knitting outfits for our babe, will just have to knit a special little outfit to match the cap.
After all, one does need to have the perfect outfit to go with a perfect knitted cap, doesn't one!
P.S. Already this evening, I've received an enquiry about another mum who'd love a pumpkin hat for her friend's baby ... if you'd like to contact the creator, Andrea, she can be emailed by clicking HERE ...
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Docs to DHHS.
I'm really tired and have an early start so this will be a short update only.
We're meeting with the gentleman who will Notarise our documentation tomorrow. After that, they'll be bound and sent to DFAT (Dept. Foreign Affairs & Trade) who apparently will return them around 48 business hours later, at most. Then they'll zoom off to the Thai consulate in Melbourne for a 10 business day turnaround.
And finally! I am happy to say that they will then be jetting off to join a pile of adoption dossiers in the "Dept. of Social Development & Welfare", Bangkok, Thailand.
I added the little blue elephant tonight to the top, right hand menu bar over there ---------------------------->
because he's a great expression of the 'happy dance' that I'm feeling at getting to this stage.
Somehow, in my fuddled little mind, I might have expected that someone could find a reason why we weren't suitable adoptive-parents-to-be. That we'd be vetoed for some bizarre reason. I said as much to *J*, our SW, today when we met to check over the docs.
*J* just looked at me, shook her head and reassured me that everything will be ok. That's the value of a great SW. Sees your fears and says just the right thing. Thanks *J* :)
We're meeting with the gentleman who will Notarise our documentation tomorrow. After that, they'll be bound and sent to DFAT (Dept. Foreign Affairs & Trade) who apparently will return them around 48 business hours later, at most. Then they'll zoom off to the Thai consulate in Melbourne for a 10 business day turnaround.
And finally! I am happy to say that they will then be jetting off to join a pile of adoption dossiers in the "Dept. of Social Development & Welfare", Bangkok, Thailand.
I added the little blue elephant tonight to the top, right hand menu bar over there ---------------------------->
because he's a great expression of the 'happy dance' that I'm feeling at getting to this stage.
Somehow, in my fuddled little mind, I might have expected that someone could find a reason why we weren't suitable adoptive-parents-to-be. That we'd be vetoed for some bizarre reason. I said as much to *J*, our SW, today when we met to check over the docs.
*J* just looked at me, shook her head and reassured me that everything will be ok. That's the value of a great SW. Sees your fears and says just the right thing. Thanks *J* :)
Can anyone say $30 million.
Tonight's Powerball was a Jackpot and was won by one person. Yep, all 30 million smackers for one small human being.
The first thing that came to mind was "Amazing! Imagine how many adoptive parents who could easily cover their adoption expenses with THAT amount of money!!! Divide $30,000,000 by $20,000 (roughly average for the most expensive of adoptions that I know about, China) ...
that's 1500 families fees covered and home with their new babies :)
Well, maybe I'm not being totally truthful. I really imagined how many tim tams that would buy me. Maybe even buy me one of those tim tam genies I saw on TV.
Does that make me greedy?
The first thing that came to mind was "Amazing! Imagine how many adoptive parents who could easily cover their adoption expenses with THAT amount of money!!! Divide $30,000,000 by $20,000 (roughly average for the most expensive of adoptions that I know about, China) ...
that's 1500 families fees covered and home with their new babies :)
Well, maybe I'm not being totally truthful. I really imagined how many tim tams that would buy me. Maybe even buy me one of those tim tam genies I saw on TV.
Does that make me greedy?
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