Adoption Update

It’s 2019, and we are so excited.  Assuming everything goes well, we will go to Thailand to meet and pick up our son.  We just got an update with some information and pictures, and he is just adorable.  I can’t wait to hug him.

When we first found out we had a son, we decided not to tell Little Miss.  It can be a long process, and the sense of time for a four year old is not there.  We told her over the holidays and showed her pictures.  One picture our agency sent us was of her brother looking at a picture of her. She loved seeing it.   She is really as excited as we are.

We have been telling Little Miss that we will be going back to Thailand this year, and we will go visit her foster mother, and now she knows we will be going to bring her brother home, as well. She told us he might be a little sad because she was a little sad when she had to leave Ya.   She still loves to look at pictures of her foster mother holding her when she was a baby.  She understands that she didn’t come from me but was born from her tummy mommy.  When we have friends that are pregnant and are showing, she lets everyone know she has a tummy mommy and a mommy.

What are the next steps?  We wait.  #storyofadoption . We are currently waiting for Thailand to give us first approval.  Once we get that, we know we will travel about three months after that approval.  Things seem to be going a little slower this time around for the approval, but we hope to get it soon.  Our little man’s nickname in Thailand is Google.  We do not know how they came up with that name, but we will call him Mister here on the blog. It is very common for Thais to go by their nickname, which is totally random.  Some other nicknames we have heard  are Note, Yogurt, Title and yep, Google.  We are still figuring out a name for him.  We will keep his Thai given name as his middle name.  That we know for sure, but Charles and I can’t agree on his first name.

Right now he is 21 months old, and while I was hoping to bring him home before he turns two, it doesn’t look like that will happen. The Thailand board that gives these first approvals only meets twice a month, and they deal with adoptions for these children to go to other countries, as well.  While I wish they met more often, the board is working hard to make sure their children go to good homes.  We had to meet with the board a week after we met Little Miss, and they each had our file in front of them and asked us questions.  At the end,they thanked us for adopting a child from their country.  I lost it and cried right there in the meeting.  So, while many people complain and ask can’t it go faster, I know they are doing the best they can with the time they are given.

So, while we wait, we soak up our time with Little Miss.  She has grown up so much, and I know she will be the best big sister.  She is so excited, but that might change once he is actually home and she has to share her playroom.  Haha!  This has been great for us as a family to talk about adoption and answer her questions.  At random times she will ask things, and we want her to know that we will answer them because it is part of her story.

Little Miss has let multiple people know that Google’s room will be in the current guest room.  So, next up we will start working on his room.  We still want my parents to stay with us when they visit, so we have talked about putting a sofa bed or Murphy bed in the playroom.  Does anyone have a sofa bed they love?  The long term plan is that we want to build another level on our garage to make an inlaw suite, but we still have some time before that happens.

So, there we are, and this mamma is getting anxious.  I have been pretty calm during the process, but knowing he is older than Little Miss was, I now know the milestones we are missing.  I keep telling myself he is in a good place, and the agency is starting to prepare him for when we meet.   I really can’t think about that because being through it once it is the most heartbreaking thing to encounter.  We as parents are so happy but seeing your child grieve so much is heartbreaking.  We know time heals, but it still makes it hard.

On a lighter note, we are so blessed to grow our family through adoption, and again, if you ever have questions please reach out.

Cheers!