IAC 180 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 180 which was held on 04/15/11:

1) German dossier from 2008 referred a child aged 2 years and 9 months, female

2) Greek dossier from 2008 referred a child aged 4 years and 2 months, male

3) Italian dossier from 2008 referred a child aged 4 years and 6 months, female

4) U.S. dossier from 2008 referred a child aged 4 years and 9 months, female, with features in health status

5) Italian dossier from 2009 referred a child aged 4 years and 10 months, female, with features in health status

6) Italian dossier from 2009 referred a child aged 5 years and 9 months, male

7) Dutch dossier from 2009 referred a child aged 5 years, male

8) Italian dossier from 2009 referred a two female children, aged 6 years and 3 months and 3 years and 9 months

9) Italian dossier from 2010 referred a child aged 8 years and 3 months, male

10) Italian dossier from 2010 referred a child aged 9 years and 1 month, female

11) Italian dossier from 2010 referred two children, female and male, aged 7 years and 5 months and 9 years

12) Italian dossier from 2011 referred a waiting child (# 18) with a profile on the MOJ site

Our Daughter's Birth City

Our daughter’s birth city is located on the eastern side of Bulgaria, not far from the shores of the Black Sea. It has about 90,000 inhabitants and its earliest settlement goes back to a few centuries BC. We had a wonderful time there and were especially impressed and affected by the atmosphere of content, purposeful activity and happy interest that seemed to permeate the entire place and its population.

Our hotel was located on the edge of a large and beautiful park, one of many green spaces we enjoyed while in Bulgaria. More often than not, we chose to walk from the hotel to the orphanage as most of the way led through this park, then through a complex of apartment buildings. The park includes tennis courts, soccer fields, walking/jogging/biking paths, and exercise equipment open to the public. One night we heard a spirited soccer game last until nearly midnight. The park is well maintained and heavily frequented by locals which makes for a great combination.

Our daughter’s city also showcases statues, monuments, and public art from big to small:

Here’s a tribute to Saints Cyril and Methodius, the inventors of the Cyrillic alphabet:

We spent a lot of time exploring the immensely long and wide shopping promenade of this city and still never quite made it to the end. Trees, shops, banks, apartments, businesses, and restaurants line this pedestrian-only zone which is currently being improved with new pavement:

There’s even a church tucked into the middle of this bustling area:

We saw a great mixture of old, new and everything in-between as we took in the city. Cars from the communist period to brand-new luxury automobiles zipped along the roads while old ladies with kerchiefs tied around their heads carrying baskets of groceries shared the sidewalks with teens listening to music on their i-pods. Homes ranged from newly constructed to barely holding together:

For me, having grown up in East Germany, so much of what I saw in this town was familiar. I felt very much at home in the atmosphere there and it almost seemed to my mom and me like we’d been transported back in time to the very best of an era that ended over 20 years ago.

Another Baby Shower

I know I am woefully late in writing this entry, but I did not want to leave this chronicle of our adoption journey without a note about the wonderful baby shower my friends had for me a month ago. These women know me so well that they catered the entire shower to two of my favorite things: desserts and books.

The shower was held at The Burr House Bed & Breakfast which is owned and operated by my dear friend Cheryl and her husband. It’s a beautiful place and the Grand Kitchen was all set up for the shower:

Look at this scrumptious dessert bar to which all of the guests contributed one sweet treat. Of course, I tried them all from the snicker doodles to the lemon squares to the strawberry mousse torte. NomNomNom.

I had so much fun playing shower games and opening all the cards and gifts from my friends. Craig and I were richly blessed with provisions for our little ones, including a great variety of children’s books. If you know me, you know how much I enjoy reading and how much I am looking forward to sharing this life-long love of literature with my son and daughter. Here are the books we received which are now awaiting our children’s arrival in their room:

I am so lucky to have such caring, thoughtful women as my friends. I cannot thank them enough for this baby shower or, more importantly, for the support they and their husbands have given us throughout this adoption journey. It means so much to Craig and me that everyone is excited to meet our children and ready to welcome them into the fold of love, help, discussions, encouragement, laughter, challenges, and celebrations that we share with our friends.

Giveaway Fundraiser Success

Our final orphanage fundraiser has come to a close and Craig and I are simply amazed at the generosity we experienced from 26 donors including family, friends, and even strangers. The chip-in through Paypal met our goal of $440. I have also received an additional $135 in checks/cash and verbal commitments for yet another $80. All these funds combined add up to $655. Our sincerest thanks go out to everyone who contributed and spread the word and to those who donated items for the giveaway, making this fundraiser successful beyond our wildest expectations.

We have held four fundraisers in the last 13 months and have collected a total of $1215 for our children’s orphanages. As you can imagine, this money goes a long way in buying supplies. With the success of this last event, we will even be able now to ask each orphanage director if she has any larger, more expensive item(s) she would like us to purchase for the children in her care.

Yesterday my little nephews helped me by drawing the winners from our entry jar. As you can see, no cheating allowed:

Congratulations to these lucky thirteen:

1) $15 Coldstone Creamery gift card – Casie S. of NC

2) Home Made Simple: Fresh Ideas to Make Your Own – Jessica & John S. of IN

3) Handmade greeting cards by Josie Virgin-Crowe – Marcy L. of AL

4) Sauces of Cincinnati Sampler – Amie H. of NC

5) Handmade glass paperweight by Yuri Okamoto – Dimitrina P. of OH

6) $10 Graeter’s Ice-cream gift card – Mary Beth M. of OH

7) P&G Beauty Sampler – Jason M. of IN

8) The Connected Child & Raising Adopted Children – Ann P. of MN

9) Photograph Where the Rocks Gather by Josie Virgin-Crowe – Sue S. of AL

10) P&G Home Sampler – Kathy K. of IN

11) Handmade greeting cards by LitBit Greetings – Robin S. of NC

12) Scrapbooking kit from Colorbok – Lucy C. of NJ

13) Photograph Linger by Josie Virgin-Crowe – Elizabeth S. of OH

Expect to see your prizes in your mailboxes soon!

Last Day For The Giveaway

We have reached the final hours of our last orphanage fundraiser. Donations have been steadily trickling in and I want to thank everyone who has so generously contributed already. Craig and are simply amazed at the willingness to help of family, friends, and even strangers.

As soon as all the checks I have been told to expect have arrived, my little nephews will draw the prize winners from our entry jar. Hopefully we will be ready for the drawing on Thursday, but may have to postpone until Friday.

If you’d still like a chance at winning any of these great prizes, please make your donation by midnight tomorrow, May 18. Every dollar raised will go directly to our children’s orphanages.

Orphanage Fundraiser Update

We are half way through our last orphanage fundraiser and have thus far collected $65 in donations (the chip-in counter does not yet reflect money that has come via checks). Many thanks to those of you who have so generously contributed.

We’ve still got quite a way to go to reach our goal of raising $440 for our children’s orphanages in Eastern Europe, so if you would like to help, please chip in via the button on the right. You can also help by spreading the word. I know I had over 300 hits to this blog yesterday alone, so if you’re reading this right now, please be a part of this fundraiser in any way you can.

Remember, it only takes one dollar to be entered into the drawing for the giveaway with prizes valued at over $300.

Thank you. I know we can make this happen.

A Little One Lost

A dear friend of mine shared some very sad news with me this morning. She and her husband have been trying to adopt their little boy from Eastern Europe since last fall. They are experienced adopters and have worked diligently at the tasks required to bring him home, nonetheless encountering red tape and bureaucratic delays at every bend. Today, they received word that their son has passed away.

My heart breaks for my friend and her family and for the little boy who will never know he had parents and brothers and sisters who loved him from half way around the world. He died alone without ever experiencing the joy, comfort and care of a family. And not just any potential family maybe if ever… no, a specific family who was impatiently excited to meet him and more than ready to bring him home.

This is the sad, horrifying reality for orphans around the world. They are expendable. Their deaths go largely unnoticed and no one mourns them. We don’t like to think about what could happen to any child in an orphanage and especially not about what could happen to our very own child, a child we already love and cherish from afar, while two governments take months and months to complete endless paperwork. My son has waited for me for over a year. He is alive and I am thankful. But I am utterly disappointed and deeply angry at a state government that takes over four months to provide child abuse clearance checks, at lockbox personnel that returns applications without looking and seeing that all the documentation is, in fact, included and… well, at everyone who thinks orphans have nothing but time and that there’s no urgency to unite them with their parents. These children are not numbers, they’re not a list of diagnoses. They are fragile human beings who deserve the full attention and the best effort from everyone involved in their care and in their adoptions. Instead, sometimes it seems as if those in power are casually gambling with the little lives whose destinies have been placed in the realm of their responsibility.

To my friend, I am grieving with you, I am hurting for you. I am futilely wishing I could make it un-happen. I am here for you, whatever you need.