Getting ready for a new sister

So my youngest daughter (12) will be sharing her room with Effie when she gets here and some remodelling is way overdue! I've been working hard at getting the carpet torn out and the walls repainted and next will be the new floor installation. I can't wait to get her home!




Next will be new bunk beds and matching comforters. I can't wait to get formal approval so I can start sending her care packages.




My dossier is in translation so it is starting to seem real now! Here she is below in her crib at the orphanage. I can't wait to give her a family.

New Energy!

I will be perfectly honest; I am terrible at fundraising. I am a very private and independent person  and I don't like to ask for help - not just with fundraising but for anything...


Miraculously though, through the generous support of friends and family and some major penny pinching on my part, my expenses are paid up to date but it won't be long until some very big fees come due.


When I started the adoption journey to bring "Effie" home, I jumped in with both feet. I blogged, I had online fundraisers, and I even had a dinner fundraiser. But after awhile, I just began to feel like I was becoming a nuisance. My circle of friends and family is VERY small and so most of my social media connections are co-workers. I began to feel like in my professional position at work that maybe I needed to ease up. There were deaths in some of those co-workers families and fundraisers for their expenses. I felt like my needs needed to take a back seat for a while.


It can become exhausting and overwhelming from a financial standpoint once you commit to a child and it isn't hard to get discouraged and question yourself but then along comes a kick in the rear...My kick in the rear came when a fellow adoptive mom posted in a Facebook support group a picture of my child. She was advocating for her a mommy! I reached out to her and told her I was in process for Effie. She had just recently adopted Effie's best friend and said that Effie had cried and cried when her friend was adopted and begged that family to take her too. Oh my heart!!


Time to get my head on straight and get busy again....

Getting Closer...

I haven't blogged in a while...I just simply haven't had time. The home study is finally complete and I am waiting on my pre-approval from the  United States Citizenship and  Immigration Service. The next step will  be to have all of my paperwork certified on the local and state level and then send it to the adoption agency for translation...along with a big fat check for $2100.00!


I have applied for 3 grants [the only 3 that I could find that will consider single applicants] and am crossing my fingers. I will not get discouraged - failure is not an option.


My dinner fundraiser is coming up soon!. www.facebook.com/adoptingeffie and is sure to be a lot of fun. Please check it out and stop by.

Getting closer

Making the Decision

I first found Effie while searching through waiting children photo listings. History shows that I start looking about every 3 - 4 years.... This time I was ONLY LOOKING! I had no intention of adopting again. I was about to turn 45! Not that 45 is old or anything but I am eligible to retire in 6 years. My youngest is 9 which means he'll graduate high school just a few short years later....Hmmm.

Effie was probably about 10 months old in the photo.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I soon found a video of her posted on another site and she appeared to be about 2 1/2 years old. I knew I was falling in love but did I have the energy (not to mention the finances) to do it all over again?

I began researching her condition which I soon figured out was not her diagnosis. In addition to her nose malformation, I learned she had a Tessier Facial Cleft. I watched her video again and again and again. I emailed the craniofacial surgeon who had repaired my son's cleft palate and asked his prognosis.

I couldn't get her out of my mind. I struggled for weeks, questioned my self, talked to my kids about it, struggled some more. I was consumed for a period of time with indecisiveness. Besides, I wasn't even eligible. Since I'm single, the guidelines from China stipulate that in order for me to adopt, I can't have more than 2 children under the age of 18 in the home. But sometimes an exception could be made...

I submitted the application to the adoption agency and about three weeks later I received the Notice from the China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption that I was preliminarily approved to adopt Effie. With that approval, I got another picture. She's probably about 18 months and looks a little sad at the moment.

The struggle, the indecisiveness, the doubt...all gone. Effie is going to be my daughter and I am elated!

Adopting Effie

This is my first time creating a blog so bear with me :) I'm going to start with my current journey which is working to bring "Effie" home. Effie is a beautiful little girl who is waiting in China. She was found abandoned at birth and is now 4 1/2 years old. She has always been in an orphanage.

I first found a baby picture of Effie online listed with an agency who was trying to find her forever family. A couple of weeks later I found a video on another agency's site of a 2 1/2 year old little girl that looked very familiar.... I contacted both agencies and found that it was the same little girl!


Effie has a Tessier facial cleft and a nose malformation which will require some significant surgeries. I see her beauty now, just as she is, and when I watched that video and and saw her determination, I was hooked!

 

This is my fourth adoption from China and my third of children with special needs. Because Effie has significant special needs, all of my paperwork must be turned in by mid June.

I already have preapproval from China and the homestudy is almost complete. The race is on!