The Last Long Wait Begins

Our crazy weather continues. It’s supposed to be in the upper 60’s to low 70’s for most of the next week. For us, that’s significantly above average for this time of year, when daytime highs average in the mid-50’s. Hey, we’ll take it! For those not from Oklahoma, Spring brings the stormy season, including tornadoes. No, it’s not Spring yet, but Angie and I both noticed that the air felt that way yesterday for the first time this year. Most of our really bad storms occur from around April through June. With the days getting longer, the warmer weather is quite welcome, although we’ll inevitably get zapped with some more cold weather before long. In fact, I split several wheelbarrows full of firewood and restocked our garage supply in anticipation of the next cold front.

Two years ago, we were entertained all Spring by a family of foxes that had taken up residence below our bluff. Each morning before daylight, they could be found frolicking in our front yard. As they got a bit older, they would venture out periodically during the day. I snapped the picture above while doing some yardwork. This particular juvenile fox decided he wanted to play, and grabbed one of the work gloves I had set down on the ground. Fortunately, he dropped it when I gave chase!

On Thursday we were notified by our China Case Manager that the orphanage in China (#2 China Welfare Institute) had received our care package. So…….our little guy should know by now that he has a family in the process of adopting him. We wish we could have been there to see his response. What were his thoughts as he looked through the photo album we sent him?

The next few months will be quite slow in our adoption. With our dossier to China on 1/22/2009, our next step is to get a Log-In Date (LID). This should occur in the next week or two if all goes well. Then, it usually takes the CCAA 3-4 months to issue the Letter of Acceptance (LOA). Waiting for this is the “dead period.” However, once we get our LOA, a great deal happens in a short period of time, and our travel dates should be around 6-8 weeks after getting our LOA.

In the meantime, we are doing lots of homework to prepare. CWA has enabled all the Hope Project families to get in touch with each other. In fact, a Yahoo group has been set up to do just that. One family has already returned with their daughter, representing the first Hope Project child through CWA to return to the States. Another family is leaving this Wednesday. We look forward to following their blog as they experience their “Gotcha Day” and getting acclimated with their new child. We have also joined a couple Yahoo discussion groups that are proving to be quite beneficial. One is for those adopting children from our particular orphanage (#2 CWI), while the other is for those adopting older children. It is quite enlightening to hear about the experiences others have had and how they have dealt with certain behavioral and other issues. One common thread of advice seems to be to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” Needless to say, the personal histories of these children have shaped who they are to this point, for better or worse, and it may take lots of unconditional love, understanding and well-thought out behavioral modification techniques to fully acclimate them to their new lives.