And Now, How About Some Good News?

So, never mind the post below! I got a call from Tien at our adoption agency this morning, and we are officially Lauren's parents! Our final ruling was issued today. It looks like we will be leaving on March 1st, meeting Lauren on the 5th, and our AIT appointment (to get her passport and visa) will be on the 6th. We will be arriving in Taiwan on March 2nd, Lauren's eight-month birthday and our six-year wedding anniversary. Basically, we could not be any more excited and are ready to get going on travel plans, packing, etc.

Thank you so much to those who have supported us through this crazy process, especially Jessica, who has been emotionally on my side through every last detail...from a China adoption we began a year ago and orginally thought we'd complete this spring but actually would have taken years, to the decision to switch to our agency's brand-new Taiwan program. Everyone should have a friend who screams with excitement and bursts into happy tears when you call them with good news. Jessica is awesome.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. We are just thrilled to be able to share this news with all of you!

Setback

We learned yesterday that our adoption agency doesn't expect us to have our final ruling and travel dates for several more weeks. Apparently, people (court clerks) go on vacation in advance of the Chinese New Year closure, which we weren't expecting. So, instead of the normal four-week wait between first ruling and final ruling, we are looking at an eight-week wait. We'll hopefully be traveling in mid-March, but it feels very up in the air at this point. We are very disappointed and even considered going ahead and traveling anyway (you are allowed to foster your baby in Taiwan if you choose), but we decided that was not the best thing for Aidan and our finances. So, that's the update for now. Hope to post better news soon.

Lauren's Room

Ryan and I have been hard at work on Lauren's little room. Her room, which is accessed through Aidan's room, used to have a tile floor and brown walls. It is just about ready now, complete with a crib filled with stuff we'll take with us on our trip. We are ready, Taiwan judge, whenever you want to go ahead and issue that final ruling!

Baby Shower

On January 13th, Jessica, Margaret and Jenn gave me a wonderful baby shower at Margaret's house. Everything was perfect: beautiful Asian decor, creative games (thought up by Jenn), delicious food like homemade shiitake wontons (by Margaret and Lily), adorable party favors (Jessica's doing), even homemade fortune cookies with inspiring fortunes found by my mom. It was really important for me to welcome Lauren with a shower since I did not feel comfortable having one with Aidan (because of the nature of domestic adoption). It was a great celebration and thanks to everyone who drove from Portland and Grants Pass to be there! And a big thank you for all the wonderful gifts, too.

I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few and I hope to post more when I receive them from the picture takers.

News News News!

Yahoo! We received the email we've been waiting for today, letting us know that our first ruling happened yesterday, January 8th. In approximately two weeks, the birthmother's rights should be terminated (please keep your fingers crossed that she signs off on the final paperwork). In four or so weeks (hopefully less!), we should receive our final ruling. Then some other paperwork has to happen on the Taiwan agency's end, and then travel plans can be made. We think we will likely be delayed by Chinese New Year on February 18th (the country basically shuts down for one week), but hopefully we'll be traveling by early March! Great news!

January Update

Happy New Year! We received another update on Lauren today. She is 15 pounds now and is dressed in my favorite kind of terrycloth sleeper! Chubby babies are my favorite, and she looks scrumptious! Still no court news to be had...BLAH, as Toad in Aidan's "Frog and Toad" books would say. So we wait...hope to back with another post soon!

Her Older Brother is Pretty Great, Too

I've made this blog all about Lauren, but since I don't have anything to report in that department, I wanted to share some great photos of her gege ("older brother," pronounced guh-guh), whom we love so much! Aidan James is 3 1/2 and seems excited to be a big brother. He is still my baby in a lot of ways, so we are curious to see how the transition will go for him. But he talks about Lauren a lot and seems to be starting to understand that she will be living at our house.

The first photo was taken at the Christmas tree farm we went to in December; the second is on the ride home from the farm; the third is of Aidan enjoying playing with the wrapped presents the week before Christmas.

December Update

We received our monthly update on Lauren this afternoon. At just shy of 5 months old, she weighed 14.5 pounds and was 24.4 inches tall (she is 5 1/2 months old now).

Many people have been asking us when we are going to travel. We still do not know. There is no news on our court proceedings. A couple of people in process just ahead of us have had about a 2 1/2-month wait between their hearing and first ruling. Our hearing was November 2nd, so if our judge was at the same speed, our first ruling would be in mid-January and we'd probably be traveling in March (picking up Lauren when she was 8 months old). Still hoping it happens quicker than that for us, but it will be fine however it works out!

Happy holidays to everyone...

Good News

We received word from our agency yesterday that our hearing happened on November 2nd (Lauren's 4-month birthday)! The hearing is the first step in the court process, in which the birthmother and social worker appear before the judge. Everything went fine, so now we wait for the next step, which is known as the first ruling. From looking at other adoptive parents' timelines, it seems the first ruling could happen anywhere from within a month to a couple of months. Ten days after the first ruling, the birthparents' rights are terminated and arrangements for travel can begin to be made. At the VERY least, we are still a couple of months away from being able to travel. I am hoping for February as an optimistic yet somewhat realistic estimate. It could still be longer than that, too.

Here is a picture of Sun Moon Lake, which is in Taichung County, where Lauren is.

Thank you for all of your good thoughts!

November Update!

We got an update this evening on Lauren -- exactly four weeks since the last one. She is getting even more beautiful! Her last doctor's appointment was on 10/27, just shy of four months old. She was 13.2 pounds and 23.6 inches.

Unfortunately, we have not received any updates regarding our court proceedings. I did email our caseworker back after she sent the pictures asking when we might expect to hear something in that department; I'll post again when we have news. Please keep thinking good thoughts for us that we can get this little cutie home before too long!