Application Sent in

I have sent in our application to Holt today. At first I didn't think I would be able to send it in today because I was missing one thing from the checklist. However, our contact (we'll call her E) returned my call and said it was fine if I sent that document in later that it wouldn't hold up the start of the application. That was great news so I rushed to the UPS store and overnighted our application to them. With the holidays we didn't want to take any chances for any delays.

As I was driving there I got a little emotional. This is a big step. The only way I can describe the emotions we are feeling right now is comparing it to when you hear the heartbeat for the first time in an ultrasound. Although we have no idea who our child is yet, the love we feel in our hearts for our soon to be child is already growing. With each step I'm sure there will be more emotions.

We love you all and are so glad we have the support of our family and friends.

Sending off Application

As you all know, we have been waiting to send off our initial application to Holt until the siding project is complete on the house. Well delay after delay with that project we have decided to use one of the before pics so that we can get "the book" from Holt before our Home Study interview on Dec 13th. There are a few documents needed for the Home Study but due to Holt requirements those documents are in "the book". So the application will be sent out hopefully on Saturday.

Here is the picture of the house we are submitting with our application.

Official Language of the Philippines

So we've been asked about a possible language barrier between us and our future child. So, first and foremost the "official" language of the Philippines is Tagalog however government institutions speak English. Most families second language is also English. After some research the language used to teach in school is also English. So what is spoken in the orphanages could possibly be English but we won't know until we get our referral. But I thought it would be fun to post some common terms in English with their Tagalog translation. I'll do this every once in a while.

Father - ama (Ah-ma)
Mother - ina (E-na)
dad - tatay (Ta-tai)
mom - nanay (Na-nai)
grandfather - lolo (low-low)
grandmother - lola (low-la)
grandchild - apo (a-po -short o)
aunt - tiya (tea-ya)
uncle - tiyo(tea-yo)
family - pamilya (pa-meal-ya)
I love you - mahal kita (ma-hall key-ta)

So there may or may not be a language barrier but we hope to learn key terms in tagalog so we can communicate with our Little One (LO in future posts)

Domestic vs. International

So we have had quite a few questions asking why International and not domestic. We thought about this for quite some time. Here are the cons of domestic that pushed us toward International:

1. If we wanted an infant there would be no real time line could be fast could be years. However when selected by a Birthmom (BM) we would pay her medical, clothing, food and housing if needed. Once the baby is born there is always the chance she could change her mind. If she decided to change her mind then we are out the money and have to start over. Unfortunately, there aren't any laws to protect the adoptive parents from scams. Although not all BM would be like this we felt the risk too great.

2. foster to adopt: This would be a great option as there are many children in foster care. However, a child isn't available for adoption until the parents legal rights are terminated. So when a cchild is placed with you, the birth parents have every opportunity to take classes and get themselves back together before the court terminates rights. So if they got their act together the child goes back to them. This after we, and you all (our family) have become attached to this child. We don't feel we were ready or able to handle this type of emotional roller coaster.

So the pros of International adoption have out wayed domestic.