Candice's Letter

One of the best parts about the homestudy process was getting the reference letters from my friends. They all said such kind things, and reading them made me realize even more how many people Jordyn already has in her life. So many of our friends and family are waiting for her -- we're very lucky!

One letter, however, was a big surprise. My friend Candice, who is 11 years old, and the daughter of my good friends Rochelle and David, sent me a letter. I was thrilled, and amazed, because at that point, I hadn't even talked to any of my 'kid friends' about the adoption. Needless to say, I was touched to read this letter, and included it in my homestudy.


May 31, 2006

To Whom it May Concern,


Re: Cari

My name is Candice and I am 11 years old. I have known Cari almost my whole life. Here are the top 5 reasons that Cari would make a great mom:

1. She’s patient - she never minds waiting if we don’t understand.
2. She’s kind - she’s always really nice to my brother and I.
3. She’s helpful - she came to my house to help me prepare for an audition with only one days notice.
4. She’s caring - she cares about our opinions.
5. She’s fun - she came and made muffins with my brother and I, just because we told her we liked her muffins she made and sent to us.

My brother and I love Cari and can’t wait for her to be a mom. I even took the baby-sitting course so I can help her take care of her baby.

Thank you for helping Cari get her baby,


Candice

Little Pink Shoes...

In celebration of my homestudy being sent to the Ministry, I went shopping! I bought little pink Keds running shoes ($1.00 -- how can you beat that??), a cute pair of denim overalls, and a fun long sleeved t-shirt, with a pumpkin on the front. It's the cutest outfit in the history of cute outfits (until the next one that I get...) Photos to follow, once I figure out how to get them onto the blog!(update -- I figured it out! Yay for me, and thanks to Michael who is a great teacher, and Rob, who took the photo.)

Some might think it's strange to buy clothing for a child who isn't even born yet, but to me it's the most natural thing. I bought the shoes for Jordyn, who will one day exist in China, and then will one day come home to me in Canada. Jordyn has things that are hers : a room, a dresser, a Fisher-Price stacking toy, and little pink shoes. She also has a mother in Canada, who already loves her very much, and can't wait until these shoes are properly muddied from splashing in puddles.

Milestone #2!!!!

This is an excerpt from the email that I've just received from the adoption agency:

Dear Cari;

Your application to adopt a child from China has been sent to the Adoption Unit, Ministry of Children & Youth Services (MCYS) for review.

Yay!!! This is SO exciting. Okay, okay...so it will be from 4-7 weeks (according to further info in the email), but hey, this process takes forever, so every little thing is cause for celebration. I'd love to go and party, but it's late and I'm tired - a bowl of cereal for me and a cookie for the cat will have to do it for now.

A Mystery no Longer!

So...the package never arrived, due to some addressing errors, but Dad finally caved and told me what he was trying to send me!
It's a copy of "I Love You Like Crazy Cakes", which is the story of a mom adopting a little girl from China. He picked it up at Winners, and decided that it would be the perfect gift for me -- he's right!
Dad now has the book in his possession (I don't think he'll EVER send anything again -- this was a very frustrating experience for him) and will keep it for me. My friends are travelling to Montreal in late August, and have promised to connect with Dad to bring the book home to me. Much advance thanks to Mario and David, of the Viva Italia Courier Service (offshoot of the Viva Italia Taxi Service).
I think it's so great that my dad is being supportive of this experience...so much so that he went to the trouble of sending a gift to me. Today he used Jordyn's name for the first time in conversation with me, which I love. I love when people talk about her using the name I've given her --it makes her much more real, for me, and for everyone else who will be in her life.

Dad's mystery

The big mystery of the week is that my dad has sent something to me in the mail. It's gotten lost, returned to him, and re-sent (should arrive tomorrow), but he won't tell me what it is, and he's REALLY excited about it. It's just the cutest thing -- my dad is not one to send gifts in the post, but he assures me that I'll really love whatever this thing is, and I think he's more excited by sending it than I will be to receive it. Of course, after all the difficulties he had in sending the thing, I don't think he'll ever send another package, ever, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow's mail!

Always interesting...

So...I got the email from Bob (at FOI) that I had been waiting for, and he wanted me to call him right away -- panic! (also, this was at 9:30 p.m. -- how late do these guys work?). When we spoke, he told me that I had never filled out a 'service contract' and that he would courier one right away. When it arrived, there were other forms to fill out, such as my medical form and my financial statement! Yikes! Weren't these already in my homestudy that I had sent? After a somewhat confused phone call, it turns out that these pages were merely overlooked, and that my panic was somewhat premature. (Mind you, this whole process seems to lend itself to panic. There's so much that I have no control over...the one thing I can control is my own panic!)
Anyway, I sent the necessary forms back to Bob right away, and I'm off to the bank tomorrow to 'move' some money around from account to account, so that I can start paying FOI their money. I'm starting to panic (there's that word again!) about money, but I'm hoping that it'll work itself out. These things always seem to, but in the moment it's no fun at all.

Homestudy to FOI!!

Today was a 'milestone' day in this crazy adoption process. Ok...it's a teensy-tiny milestone, but a milestone nevertheless. My homestudy is now in the capable hands of Canada Post, and on its way to FOI in Ottawa! From there, it will go to the Ministry for Provincial approval, a process which I've heard can take up to 3 months here in good old Ontario. Let's hope this part goes quickly!

Ottawa

Yesterday I went to the FOI Annual Get-Together in Ottawa -- so many people! It was at the Science and Technology Museum, which is a pretty cool place. My mission yesterday, though, was to meet some people with the agency. Mission accomplished!

I met Bob, who's always been so helpful on the phone and via email. He spent some time with me and my mom, explaning aspects of the trip. Some of Mom's concerns were allayed, such as 'how does one order in a restaurant?' Bob assures us that there is always someone with us in China and that they often do a big 'group order', knowing what kinds of food the western palate is used to.

I also met Jamie who was very nice, and gave impeccible directions back to Toronto. ( I realized that I knew how to get from Montreal, where I was visiting, to Ottawa, but not home again! A teensy oversight...)

We had a chat with Barb and her granddaughter Sadie (so cute!). Barb's daughter Jackie adopted Sadie as a single mom, and the grandparents went along for the journey. I think my mother was relieved to meet another grandparent who had gone on the trip! Barb said she spent lots of time babysitting, as Jackie was busy with lots of paperwork.

One potentially positive piece of news is that if my homestudy gets approved and ready before December (when my dossier is supposed to go to China), then it will go to China earlier! Mind you, it might only be one month early, but still, in this long process, everything helps! I'm likely still looking at an 18 month wait.

It was great to see so many people and their kids. I love that FOI does this annual event, and that so many people attend. It will be way more fun with Jordyn there.