We're officially paper pregnant!! We mailed in our application on April 17, 2006 and have begun our homestudy. I am already nervous. I'm just waiting for something to go wrong. That's what 7 years of infertility will do to a girl. Brian is as calm as can be. We ordered our birth certificates and marriage license from the Rhode Island Health department and received them in 1 week. We we're told it would be 4-6 weeks so that was a pleasant surprise. We are still waiting for our passports though. Today we each had 3 sets of fingerprints taken for our FBI and State criminal background checks and child abuse clearance. On Tuesday we have our first homestudy appointment with Creative Adoptions. They want to explain the entire homestudy process and give us the rest of our paperwork including information for our reference letters. So Jen, Angel and Michelle you guys better start writing!! :) We also ordered our driving records (Thank God Brian has a badge that gets him out of traffic stops because he'd have a lot of explaining to do). I also completed the application for the Health Department. We have gotten a lot done in the last week so the ball is definitely rolling!! We are so excited...It finally seems real :)

We decided to take a trip to Rhode Island last weekend. We had a great time with everyone. Saturday night Andrea and Matt invited everyone to their house for dinner. It was so nice to see all of our friends. We haven't seen most of them in almost a year. On Sunday a bunch of us went to one of our favorite places to eat...Wrights Farm. We ate way to much and played with little Lexie and Michael. We stayed with Bev and Dick and visited with my Dad and Marie. The best part of our trip was the mini shower for Ava...at least that's what it felt like. Angel gave us a ton of Lexie's clothes and some new clothes bought just for Ava. She also gave us a mobile for her crib and a boppy pillow. Andrea got us the cutest letters that spell out Ava's name for her room and Bev and Dick we're so nice to let us borrow their Pack and Play that Josh and Collin had used. Michael also drew a special picture for Ava and gave her 35 cents for her piggy bank. We have got to visit you guys more often :)

Ahh, Baseball in April! It felt like we we're at a football game due to the 39 degree, windy and wet weather. But it was worth being wet and VERY cold because the sox won. Bev and Dick came down from Rhode Island and our friend Lauren joined us from Virginia. It's so fun to see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore. The stands are filled with our fellow Red Sox Fans. We spent the day talking to other sox fans and sharing where we all we're from in New England.

We are finally working on some things for our adoption. We have both applied for our passports and should receive them in about 4 weeks. We have also downloaded a program to create a will. It seems strange to make preparations for a child that isn't ours yet but it is required for our homestudy. We decided that if anything we're to happen to us Ava's guardians will be Michelle and Dan and they graciously accepted. Tomorrow I need to take a trip to Walmart to buy 2 fire extinguishers (which we should probably already have). They are another requirement for our homestudy. We also need to get our life insurance.

I frequently visit a message board called Adoptions.com It is a great forum where I can talk to other girls who have completed adoptions from China or are currently in the process. I have learned so much from these girls about the adoption process. They keep on top of all the current information coming from their agencies. The new talk is that there has been a great increase in families adopting from China. This is somewhat due to families switching from the not so stable Russian program. There is also talk of the Guatemala program shutting down in 2007. The increase interest in the China program has resulted in more families being paper ready than the number of babies that are paper ready. China is also trying to promote domestic adoptions but with the current beliefs of Chinese people it will be years before domestic adoptions are widely accepted. The China Center of Adoption Affairs is responsible for processing international paperwork. They have a small office in comparison to the large number of applications they receive. The CCAA prefers to work very closely with International Adoption agencies and strives to keep the adoption process as personal as possible. Because of this it is very unlikely that the CCAA will increase it's office staff. All of these factors could result in a longer wait for Ava. The current wait once your paperwork is submitted to baby is 10 months. There is speculation that the wait could extend to 18 months. The thought of having to wait 18 months for Ava is heartbreaking but she is worth the wait. We really feel in our hearts that our daughter is waiting for us in China. So we will stick it out if the wait does extend to 18 months. China still remains the one of the most stable international programs and is not at risk of closing. Wait times have fluctuated in the past from 14 months to 8 months. We will just keep our fingers crossed for a shorter wait. If it turns out that we have to wait 18 LONG months I will keep myself busy by shopping for Ava :)

We've finally moved!! It is so nice to no longer be in an apartment. I was thinking about how far we have come since we moved to Maryland. We took a step backwards to come here and now it is paying off. We are now in the position to be able to adopt and bring home Ava. Brian has been doing a lot of overtime and now my hours are picking up again. We would love to be able to pay for her adoption without taking any loans so it will be easier to adopt #2 someday. For the last seven years we have been buying things for our baby. We have just stored everything in boxes and put it all away. When we moved into the townhouse we decided to take it all out and put it in her room. Her things are so nice for us to see...It keeps reminding us why we are working so hard. My friend Michelle gave us a bunch of baby girl clothes. They are all hanging in her closet on little pink hangers. Our little Ava also now has her own portable DVD player courtesy of her Daddy. Brian got a free DVD player, since he already has one he decided to put the new one away for Ava. Knowing Brian our 2 year old will be in the backseat of the car watching a DVD, listening to her IPOD, talking on her cell phone while using her PDA!! My friend Angel has also bought her clothes and a picture frame. We recently bought books, a Big bird in China DVD and a stuffed bunny for Easter. Something tells me Miss Ava is going to be one spoiled little baby girl!

Now that we are moved and settled we can start working on her adoption. On Thursday we are going to apply for our passports. We will need copies of them for our homestudy so we want to make sure we have them for the summer. We also have to decide which agency we will use for our homestudy. We are considering World Child Adoptions and Creative Adoptions. I've talked to people who have used both and so far it seems that Creative adoptions moves a bit slower. We just cant wait to begin.

A new opportunity has also come up for us. Now that Brian has 3 years at his job we are now eligible to take temporary duty assignments. We are now considering taking a position in Toronto, Canada (don't freak out Angel) for 2-4 years. We would do this after we bring Ava home. This would allow me to be a stay at home mom because our living expenses would be covered by Brian's job. They will cover up to $3600 a month for a mortgage and utilities. They will also pay for us to move there and if I decided at some point to work they would pay for Ava's daycare. We would also only pay federal income taxes... we would not have to pay state taxes. Brian looked into flights and found that there are direct flight's to and from Rhode Island and Orlando. It is also only about a 9 hour ride to R.I. After our 2-4 years are up we will give a wish list of where we would like to be transferred. Our list would be:

Orlando, FL
Jacksonville, FL
Savannah, GA
Boston, MA
Baltimore, MD

It is a great opportunity for us so we are really considering it. It would allow us to make great money, while I stay home with Ava. It's kinda hard to pass up!!

Hi everyone,

As you all know we have decided to adopt a baby girl from China. You can probably tell from the title that her name will be Ava (her full name will be Ava Joi). We wanted to create a place where you could all be up to date on our journey. Although we haven't started the process yet we already have a lot to think about and work on. We hope you will come and visit us often.

Why China??

We decided to adopt from China for a few different reasons. China is one of the most stable international adoption programs. They also keep the cost pretty low ($18K) with no hidden fee's. The children are usually healthy and have a low risk of HIV and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. China has a strict one child policy. Due to this, 95% of the children available for adoption are girls. The babies are as young as 7 months at the time of adoption.


The Adoption Process

We decided to start our adoption in Summer 2006. We first have to apply to our agency. In January we attended a seminar held by Great Wall China Adoptions. By the time we left the meeting we knew they we're the agency for us. They are a very well known and reputable agency. GWCA encourages their clients to bring family members with them on their trips to China while many other agencies discourage it. They are very accommodating and handle everything. Their main goal is for us to spend our time in China bonding with Ava.

After we are approved we will select an agency here in Maryland to handle our homestudy. We will meet with them at their offices and they will visit our home at least twice. They want to learn the story of us. Everything from our childhood, families, friends, interests and finances. Most importantly they want to know how we will raise Ava and what our goals are for her. They will analyze our strengths and weaknesses as future parents.

What is included in the homestudy?

Reason for adoption
Family background and history
Family and Marital relationships
Assessment of Finances
Physicals
Assessment of living conditions
The fire department and Health department will visit our house
Problem solving abilities
Thoughts about adoption


Documents needed

Birth Certificates
Marriage license
Police reports stating we do not have records
Financial statement
Reference letters
Medical report stating we are in good health


When we begin our homestudy we will need to file a I-600A form with USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). This form is an application for advance processing of an orphan. This form will give us approval to obtain a Visa for Ava. We will need to fill out the form, send our birth certificates, marriage license and when complete our homestudy and a $685 fee. They will then contact us for a fingerprinting appointment. Once they receive our forms we have to sit back and wait for them to process everything. A rep. from our agency informed us that Baltimore USCIS is currently taking 2 months to process. When our application is approved we will receive a 171-H form from USCIS.

When our homestudy is complete and we have received our 171-H form we will send all of our documents to our agency. This paperwork will now be known as our Dossier. GWCA will review our Dossier to make sure everything is correct. They will then send our Dossier to China (DTC). The China Center of Adoption Affairs will then review our Dossier. If they feel it is complete and do not have any questions regarding our application they will Log in our Dossier (LID). We will now be fully approved and will begin the 10 month wait for a referral (also known as Ava). When they match Ava with us we will receive a picture of her and any information they have on her background. After we accept Ava we will have to wait 4-8 long weeks to travel to bring her home. We will then spend 2 weeks in China sightseeing, shopping, bonding with Ava and finishing the final paperwork that will make Ava ours!

We hope this gives you all an idea of what our next 1-2 years will consist of. We hope you will follow us along the way. We cant wait to introduce you to Ava!!