5 WEEKS

Today is 5 weeks since we were officially approved by Taiwan to adopt a baby. We were told that we should receive a referral within 3-6 weeks. Obviously it didn't happen in 3 weeks, or even 4 or 5 weeks for that matter, so I'm hoping it will be soon. All I can say is that I'm glad that we signed up for this program when we did because now people are being told 6 months!!!! It's amazing to think that this program has grown that much that quickly. The waiting is the worst part, especially since we don't know for sure if we're getting a boy or girl...probably a boy since pretty much everyone requests girls, but we don't know for sure. I've promised Alan that I won't buy anything until we get the referral and I must say I'm pretty proud of myself so far. The temptation is definitely there, but I'm showing some amazing self restraint!!! I guess that's about if for now...check back soon!!!

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

We've been on a long road to parenthood, but if all goes as planned we should have a little one home by the end of the year. After many years of trying to get pregnant with no luck, we decided that in order to make our family whole that we would pursue adoption. With that being said, in January we decided on an agency, Commonwealth Adoptions International and began the journey. At the beginning of this process we were looking into adopting a girl from China, but after hearing how long the wait had gotten and being told of CAI's new program through Taiwan we decided that's the path we would take. We were officially approved by Taiwan on January 17th, so we're eagerly awaiting our referral (adoption speak for the child that will soon be ours). We did not specify whether we would like a boy or girl so we are even more anxious to get our referral!! We have had 2 home study appointments(think question and answer sessions to get to know us better and make sure we're suitable parents-to-be) to date and are waiting to get paperwork back from the state and U.S. government before our dossier will be complete and ready to send to Taiwan. Once our dossier has been sent to Taiwan we'll have a better idea of when we'll be traveling to pick up our baby.

Remember to check back from time to time. I'll post as often as we get new information to pass along. As soon as we have a picture of "Baby Suan" I'll post that as well. Thanks for reading!!