The UPS truck is here! *Seb giggles*
It was our marriage certificate. Finished. Done. And here.
It went from Vital Records to Foreign Affairs Ottawa, to me, to the Canadian Embassy in D.C., from there to the State Dept. in D.C., and finally to the Chinese Consulate in D.C., and then back to me.
I love checking things off my list!
Thank you to all who have bought Wild Olive Tees in support of defraying some of our adoption costs! Your gesture is greatly appreciated!
When you purchase an “Adoption Fundraising” tee and enter our family code “JONES0610″ in the comment and coupon boxes at checkout, a portion from the sale of every tee will go directly to CCAI toward our adoption.
These tees fit well and are comfy and most are made by Alternative Apparel, which has strict manufacturing standards.
I am also pleased to say that we will be having a fund raising sale sometime within the next few weeks. It was the brilliant idea of one (not me). And another who happens to have her own successful second-hand shop will be here to assist us. More details to come!
Thanks again for your support.
Whatever you did for one of the least of these… you did for me.”
Wild Olive Tees is giving away 15 So Loved Tees in remembrance of Esther, who passed away shortly before coming home to her adoptive family. Click on the icon for how to enter.
You can also purchase a So Loved Tee here. 100% of the proceeds of the sale of each So Loved tee will be used to fund a future heart surgery for an orphan in China.
It’s a good cause and the tees are really nice and fit well too.
I have to admit.
You are asking some tough questions.
Then again, I did open this up. And I encourage you to ask more. Remain anonymous if you wish.
But I do request that you post your own questions.
I’m still happy to answer.
Q. “Aren’t you, in the least, concerned about how a “special needs” child will affect the dynamics of your family?
Also, I am sure that with such lovely children, you have grown accustomed to a favorable response to your children in most private and public encounters. How will you feel and react, if the response is not so favorable, to your “special needs” child?”
A. This was not a spur of the moment decision. We think about things very, very carefully. And have been prepared in different ways, for many years, to do this.
It’s not much different trying to prepare the other two for a third bio baby. It’s never going to go perfectly, but we talk to our kids early and often.
As for favorable responses, we don’t really place a lot of emphasis on other people’s reactions. If it’s good, great. If it’s not, so what.
Criticism is a part of life. Jo & Seb will learn how to deal with it as they get older, and all three of them will learn how to stand up for each other in a critical world.
In brief response to the question about trafficking, I ask: because there might be financial corruption in Haiti, do we stop giving to the people of Haiti? Does corruption in the area of adoption diminish the fact that there are genuine orphans in need?
I think these images speak for themselves, don’t you? Among them are the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Thomas Circle, and a demonstration in front of The White House. For more, follow us on Twitter.
Speaking of capital scenes, I went today to get our doctors’ forms that are part of the dossier that goes to China. Had to just show up since they left me on hold forever and ignored my message.
When I got there, I found that mine was incomplete, and they wanted me to come back and get it later. Umm no. Got them to complete what was missing while I waited, but the physician’s assistant’s assistant (yes they have those) initialed it! After my specific instructions not to mess anything up because this is an important form!!
Unless CCAI says otherwise, I’ll have to get them to redo the whole form which makes pulling teeth look easy.
Seems our police checks are lost in space too. When I called them, they had no idea what I was talking about. Never a good sign. We came in on Friday and ordered them in person. Uhhh, you do realize you are *at your job* right now? Just making sure you know where you are…
No Fourth of July fireworks pics to share… it poured of rain. So here’s a question that was asked anonymously…
Q. I am sure many have or will question you as to why you would embark on such a journey. Based on the fact you are for one…as it appears, quite young, and second within the means to have a third child of your own.
A. Hmm. Well for one, the older you I get, the more tired I am. Wouldn’t you agree? So why wait? Our kids are young and we want this child to grow up alongside Jo and Seb, and not be a “tag-along”. You’re right. We are within the means to have a third biological child. But…
…having a third bio child is a completely different concept to what we’re talking about here. We aren’t talking about creating a child in order to expand our family, we’re talking about giving ourselves as a family as we are. Just as a side, this child will be a “third child of our own”, though not born to us. There are over 140 million orphans worldwide. The reality is most of these children will never find a family. We know we can’t solve this magnanimous problem, but it is within our reach to affect at least one life.
“‘I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.’” Jn 14: 18
We’re still raising funds with Wild Olive Tees and they just introduced kid’s tees to their line of fundraising shirts! This is another exciting way that you can help us raise funds. For every tee you purchase Wild Olive Tees contributes $7.50 to our adoption fund.
Take a look at what they’ve added (remember to enter our family code JONES0610 in the coupon and comment boxes):
You can read more about helping orphans or supporting our adoption here.
Great news! Jordan’s new passport arrived yesterday. Next step was to send his birth certificate to the Chinese Embassy for authentication.
It came speedily!
I applied for my passport today and they took my original citizenship certificate! Even though that’s the procedure, it still makes me a bit nervous… Well, let’s hope it’ll come back in one piece. Now, time to take a break for the holiday weekend! Remember, Q&A is ongoing! I’ll be tackling one tomorrow!
What are you doing this weekend?
As part of the requirements, we’re supposed to complete ten hours of online parent training. This is required by the Hague Convention. Just for the record, Jordan has already done some, I have not. Apparently it’s a lot to do with adoption-specific issues and cultural information, and not about how to change a diaper.
I remember going to a training class before Jo was born. Why you sign up for these things, I don’t know. It taught about the five S’s of how to calm a baby: swinging, soothing, sssshhhing, swaddling, and I can’t even remember the 5th S. Anyway! None of it worked and she screamed colic for 5 months straight. Ain’t no class gonna prepare you for that!
But like I said, this is a whole other kettle of fish that I’m sure is actually worthwhile. I hope it will cover topics you don’t deal with when a child is born to you, such as attachment and bonding. I’ll be interested to learn more about it, when a get a free minute. Hopefully it will bolster the self-education we are trying to fit in on the side.
Here is one response to a question asked about financial criteria…….
Q. “I am not familliar with fundraising as an effort to support adoptions. should financial status not be a criteria when being accepted as adoptive parents?”
A. Financial status is an absolute criteria for adoption. If you didn’t meet the minimum financial requirements, you wouldn’t even be able to apply. China’s basic financial requirement is:
- Family must show net worth of at least $80,000 as well as an income earning of at least $10,000 per person in the household, including the adopted child. For more on additional qualifications, click here.
While the estimated costs run around $20,000, we are not raising funds in order to complete this adoption. We will be paying with cash, because we do not believe in going into debt to do this. In the six years in which we have been married, we have paid off approximately $114,000 in debt on a single income, during which time we also moved four times and paid cash for Eve’s US citizenship process. Click here to see how we did it. See below for why we did it……
The reason we strive to raise funds is, the more money we can raise, the more our costs can be offset (for more on costs, please see our expense table at the bottom of this page.) Any money saved will go straight back into the care and education of all of our children, adopted and biological.
The plight of the orphan is great. Therefore we’d be equally grateful if you would consider donating to our agency directly, not only do they aim to keep adoptive costs under control but they are doing good things in China, like helping orphaned high school grads go to college and donating special bottles and clothing to orphanages.
Keep those questions coming!
