Guess what? No, we didn't get a new puppy or rat! And noo, I'm not pregnant!
We are adopting a beautiful little girl from China! Her name is Yang Heng Yun, or "Yun", she is 5 years old. She is described as being sweet, kind and quiet, strong willed and very loyal to her friends that she is closest too. She has Achondroplasia dwarfism like all 4 of us and she has Hydrocephalus (also commonly known as "water on the brain") like I do.
I'm sure you may be asking, "How did this come about?" Well, Brian and I had been talking about adopting for a few months. We knew we wanted to adopt a little person, so I joined LPA's (Little People of America) adoption email group. One day, another mom posted about a little dwarf girl living at the same orphanage that her little dwarf girl was at. That mom was advocating for the 2nd little girl, hoping she could find a home in the US and that maybe both girls would be able to keep in touch. Well, as it turns out, we only live about 2 hours away from each other!! I emailed her for more information and then a picture. Once we saw her picture, we knew there was no turning back. And so the process began...
We really had no idea where to start. All we knew is that we wanted this little girl to be ours. With the guidance of a few friends who had experience with adoption, I contacted the adoption agency handling Yun's file, WACAP out of the state of Washington. Within days, we received an adoption application in the mail. As we began filling it out, we came across China's requirements for adoptive parents. We met the age requirements and income guidelines, but there was one requirement we didn't meet. When we realized that, our hearts sank. China requires that for people who have been married for a 2nd time (that's me...) that you must be married for 5 years. Brian and I have been married for just under two. I contacted our social worker and she suggested we submit a pre-application to China anyway. So, we did that and then held our breath. Then on June 29th, we got the news that China had pre-approved us to adopt Yun!!!
And so now you maybe wondering where we are in this process... Well, we needed to have a Homestudy completed since this is an international adoption. With help from another friend, I contacted an agency here near us and began working with a wonderful social worker. We set the dates for our 2 homestudy appointments and have completed them both already. Next, we needed to obtain a bunch of paperwork for the homestudy. Mostly done (we are just missing 1 or 2 pieces) and delivered just yesterday. What's next? Our social worker here needs to finish writing up the study and then it's sent to WACAP for approval. Once the homestudy is approved by WACAP, we move on to the U.S. Immigration paperwork. Plus we have been working on collecting even more paperwork for our dossier. We are almost finished with that as well.
So, that's our news!! We are all so excited here! To prepare for our newest addition, we have decided to add another bedroom and a bathroom to the house. Brian's wonderful brother Bob has that project all under control and his daughter Nicky has been a huge help to him and us as well as we clear out the clutter and make room.
