One Year Mark

Well, as of December 31st we have officially been on the Philippine Adoption waiting list for a year.  Because it has been a year we had to update our home study, which included redoing our FBI and state background and child abuse checks.  We also had to renew our I-800a form, which included going to Seattle to get our fingerprints redone.  At least we didn’t have to pay anything for that, this time anyway.  You are allowed one free extension, so if we have not gotten a referral by Oct. or Nov. of this year then we will have to have everything updated again and will be paying a lot more.

I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by.  Luckily we have enough to keep us busy and keep our minds off of when we will get a referral.  The average wait time seems to be the same, even with the new law that was passed in the Philippines.  We are still being told that we should expect to wait at least 18-24 months.  That means that the soonest that we could possibly get a referral would be sometime this summer, but I have a feeling it will probably be a lot longer.  I’m ok with that though.  With the new dog and the kids coming and going to and from school, I have plenty to keep me busy until the time comes for our life to get even busier.  It will be nice having the kids a bit older and more mature as well.  They are going to be such a big help with their new little sibling.

I haven’t posted anything since my last post about the little boy that we thought was suppose to be part of our family.  We, well I should say I, have been having a hard time accepting this.  I think it would be easier if I knew that the orphanage turned us down because they had already found another family for him, but he is still on the waiting list.  It has been over 7 months since we requested to be matched with him, and it breaks my heart every time I look at the waiting list and still see his picture there.  He could have been home with us by now instead of waiting in an orphanage, as good as the orphanage is, it is still an orphanage and not a home with a family.  It makes me wonder if the timing was just not right and maybe we should try again, if that is even possible.  Then again, I know I need to trust that the Lord knows what is best for our family and what is best for that little boy.  It’s hard right now, but I know one day everything will make sense and we will know that the child we end up with is the one that is meant to be part of our family.