July 29th is the twins’ birth mom’s birthday. I don’t know her, never got to meet her, only have two pictures of her – one with each twin at their DNA tests during the adoption process. But I do know her birthdate, the town in which she was born, and the reasons she gave for placing the twins with us. I’m happy to answer the boys’ questions any time, of course, but it occurred to me last year that if I set up a time to celebrate her, it communicates to them that they are free to ask and wonder and want to see her again.
And so in our household, we celebrate P’s birthday.
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Since we’ve hit a lull in our home projects (I think of it as the eye of the “just wait till the kitchen cabinets come and we have THAT to do” storm), I’ve been trying to get to the pool every afternoon. Want to 1) justify the membership dues, and 2) keep the boys progressing in the water.
Our first summer with them, they were terrified of getting IN (they “came with” an enormous water phobia when we adopted them), so we spent a lot of time on the stairs at first.
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I got a long-awaited piece of paper in the mail yesterday – our appointment date for our next fingerprinting appointment with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
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I checked in with our adoption agency today (All Blessings International - in-process of converting from it’s original name: Kentucky Adoption Services), and we have tiny good news! Our file has [FINALLY!] worked it’s way through the Oficina Para las Adopciones (OPA… “The Office for Adoptions” in English) and is eligible for consideration at the next Reunion Conjunta (Joint Meeting) at the Procuraduria’s (Attorney General’s) office.
Now having thrown all those terms out there, what does it mean? Read the rest of this entry
I wrote a month ago about my first Hispanic baby shower. (And then went virtually blog-silent … home renovations have consumed almost all my time – sorry!)
Well last night after our service, the Hispanic church headed over to visit Manuel, Ana, big sister Nicole, Tío (Uncle) Noe and the new baby, Alisson. What a cutie!
Her middle name is Sohat (pronounced “soe-ahht,” the “h” is silent) which means “joy” or “blessing.” Which, of course, the whole experience of getting to be friends with her family has been for me and mine!
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I read this post today, and it struck me how differently we deal with death with our children here in the U.S. With some exceptions, we think we can somehow shelter them from it. We’re blessed that those exceptions are so few and far between that many parents can pull it off. I have friends whose kids don’t even know a pet has died – they’ve “gone to a farm” or some similar thing.
Not so in El Salvador where the author Linda is living.
Worth the read: “We are Going to the Tree“
It was another cultural learning experience for me this weekend as Nancy and I threw the Hispanic Ministry’s first baby shower. Nancy is married to Mario, the ministry leader, but like me, she’s a “Gringa” – frequently the only other one there on Sunday nights. So, yes, we’ve sorta bonded. Read the rest of this entry
Just one week ago, I was chuckling at another blogger’s humorous list of “You Know You’ve Adopted Internationally When…” and her item #4:
“you stop and pay attention whenever you hear your child’s birth country mentioned on the television or in a public place,
even if they’re just talking about the weather there.”
It’s the truth in our house! I even have Guatemala City programed into my iPhone’s weather app, and the twins check the weather there every day, right after checking our local weather to see if they can wear shorts or not. But this last week takes all the humor out of ”just talking about the weather there.” Read the rest of this entry
As El Salvador begins to implement the Children’s Law that went into effect on April 16th of this year, there have been some adjustments to the way adoptions are processed. Having gotten clarification through our agency from our attorney and facilitator there in E.S., here’s my understanding of the processes – both from the Prospective Adoptive Parents’ and the Children’s experiences. Read the rest of this entry
The twins and I just fulfilled one of our favorite annual traditions, yesterday: going to watch the Blue Angels’ air show at the U.S. Naval Academy.
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