We have (tentative) dates!

This week has been another one of those adoption rollercoaster weeks. We were told last week that we would be contacted on Monday with travel dates. When we weren't contacted by late Tuesday, Kent e-mailed our case manager, who said she was working on it. On Wednesday, the case worker called to tell me that they couldn't set a travel date because our fingerprints expired on August 3rd (I am still not sure how fingerprints can expire, but whatever). Actually, we knew they were expiring in August and had them redone in April when we switched to Taiwan. Luckily, USCIS admitted that they had not updated out paperwork and that we did, in fact, have valid fingerprints (whew...).

So, yesterday, some tentative dates have been set. We will "pick up" Kai on either October 21st or 22nd and have our first appointment at the American Institute of Taiwan on October 23rd. We will pass along more definitive info once we receive it. We will most likely fly out on my birthday/our anniversay on the 18th!

We are getting closer!

Measurements...Finally!

We finally received Kai's measurements on Friday - after asking for them. He is almost 17lbs and about 25 inches long. According to Asian growth charts, he's in the 50th percentile for height and the 75th percentile for weight. So, he appears to be doing well.

I started washing Kai's clothes for the trip. When I washed the little socks, it finally hit me - we are going to have a baby!! We are so excited!

New Pics and FINAL RULING!!

First, the really big news!!! We received our Final Ruling today! The agency called and said they will let us know travel dates on Monday. We were told we could be traveling in anywhere from 2 - 4 weeks! We may actually be home before my birthday/our 5 year anniversary (Oct. 18th) or we may be spending it in Taiwan.

We also received new photos yesterday. He has grown so much just in a few weeks. Check out the scary alien on the outfit. We need to get him home fast, before permanent damage is done!! Kent noted he is still on a pink blanket (although a different blanket than in the past, still pink, nonetheless!)

Kai is looking a bit like a sumo wrestler these days...


Kai's latest "report card" said that he "Recognizes Feeding Bottle"....I don't think we needed a piece of paper to tell us that!!!


The great news is that Kai is now giving us a full smile - he looks so happy - poor guy doesn't know what's about to hit him!!!


And finally, the latest video, where you can see the smile in motion!

First Ruling!

We got a surprise email yesterday, receiving notice of the "first ruling". What does this mean? Well, according to most other adoption time lines, it is about a month before the "second ruling", at which time we should receive notice to make travel plans! Yikes!!!

What's been going on

Sorry, no new pictures or updates on Kai, but I do have a few other related things I wanted to share. First, we had a conference call with our new agency about 10 days ago. Both Kent and I were impressed with what we heard. They were very professional and really seem to have their act together. The good news is that there will be no additional fees for us to pay! In addition, they do not believe that the switch of agencies should have any impact whatsoever on our time line. Things should continue to move as they have been. I am thankful to God that we seem to have ended up in a "best case scenario" situation. Thanks for all your prayers.

The other exciting bit of news is that I have spent the last several weeks putting together a business case for my company to consider offering adoption benefits. The company currently offers adoption "assistance", which consists of an outdated book on adoption and a number to call where they can tell you which agencies are in your area. In my proposal, I requested both paid time off, as well as financial assistance, in an effort to provide equity with the benefits provided to birth mothers. I sent the proposal to the VP of Compensation and Benefits and was told that I had a compelling business case and he would look into it! Not sure where this will go, but it really makes me feel good that I may have a hand in helping future adoptive parents receive the benefits they deserve!

Latest Video Of Kai

This is latest video we received last week. If you listen very closely, on two separate occasions, it sounds like they are saying Kai Wen-Yao (somewhere around 34 seconds and 56 seconds - I guess we've seen this a few times : ). If we are right, this means that a). the care package did, in fact, arrive, since we asked in the letter to the family to start calling him Kai and b). they are actually doing as we have asked. I would like to add that this also means he is in foster care, but it could still be the women from TWCA.

New Kai Photos!

We received new pictures of Kai today, what a nice surprise!











Check out those chubby cheeks!













There's a nice smile!

and... the "old man" pants!

Oh yeah... we finally "fixed" the comments, so now anyone should be able to leave a comment without having to log in!