2 Months LID

We are now 2 months into the wait for our referral. We do have some goods news:

I got my 'dream' job! Starting next month I'll be practicing my profession with a new company in a very different environment. It's a slight promotion and a larger salary, but it's the setting and company mission so close to my interests that pulled me in. It's going to be challenging and wonderful at the same time. To maintain privacy I won't say more than that, but trust me - I could not be happier.

What does this mean for the adoption? First we will have to eventually do a homestudy update to take with us to China. Our agency indicated to me that they think we will probably have to do this anyway to renew our I-171H (USCIS approval) because it will be very close to expiring by the time we are close to referral.

Second, it means I'm no longer rooting for referrals to speed up - sorry everyone! I'm not eligible for FMLA until working at the new company for a year. If we have to travel before then, we will have to get very creative with our leave. However, our agency seems to think that it is more likely our referral will come after next June (4/20 LID). They also pointed out that in the event our referral comes in next May or June then our travel dates will still be over the year threshold.

CCAA Update

Congratulations to all LIDs from June 16 through June 28 who will be seeing their referrals very soon!!!

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before June 28, 2005.

Why Adoption?

One of the first questions asked of us on this journey was "why adoption?" Many families choose to adopt because they are unable to conceive a child. Others are strong believers in zero population growth. Still others simply want a child and decide that their child is one of the millions of orphans in the world who want or need a family.

We are in the latter group. To us, genetic material is not a prerequisite for familial love and frankly, I've never had the desire to experience pregnancy. Jacek and I were both touched by adoption thoughout our lives - friends and acquaintances who were adoptees, birthmothers, or adoptive parents.

Perhaps it's these experiences that make adoption seem like the natural and obvious choice for us. We can't imagine completing our family in any other way.

City Wildlife

If you think living in a big city removes you from wildlife you're wrong. We live in a large city - actually IN the city, not the 'burbs. Our yard is filled with grey squirrels, fox squirrels, grackles, cardinals, mourning doves, sparrows, other songbirds and butterflies. We've spotted a hawk or falcon (flying too fast toward a rabbit to see which), a racoon and opossum and a woman a few blocks away swears a red fox family took up residence in her backyard. Of course there are tons of rabbits, but we have them blocked from our yard after the devastation they caused in our native woodland and prairie gardens last year. Coyotes and deer live in nearby forest preserves.

Now we can add a new species to the list - the Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta marginata). I found this little guy in our native woodland garden this morning. Probably one of the neighborhood kids brought it home from camp - it is native to our area and after work we'll take it to a wetland area where there are others of its kind.

I can't wait to share my love of wildlife with our child - if I can't foster a similar passion in her, I hope to at least foster a respect that she will carry throughout life and that will encourage her to make choices that help wildlife and the environment.

Visit these links to learn more about the advantages of Native Gardening and creating your own Backyard Wildlife Habitat.