Another small step towards Adoption #2

 Well last week I had a strange feeling that I would hear from my agency.

 When I got home, in my mailbox I found an envelope with a receipt from a donation I had made, so I thought that must have been it.

   However, today I decided to write to my agency as this feeling was still nagging me. I got a quick reply back asking me to call them....

    I discovered that my file was making some movement so they were discussing it.  So this was it.

While my dossier was in Vietnam already, from what I understood in the fall,  I was told that it would now be deposited at the Department of Adoptions (DA) in Vietnam.  So now we are even closer to the top of the list and depending on the children that are proposed to the agency the next time around, and the special needs I'm approved for, we may get a referral sooner than later.... also the other good news is some problems that developed in the fall have also been dealt with so there should be no more difficulties in that regard!...that was so good to hear!! and now I'm feeling a bit more positive......

    What is also interesting is that tomorrow would have been my dad's 100th birthday had he still been alive. Matteo's birthday is in May which is the same month where my mom's birthday was....so all to say it is nice to think that in a spiritual way, my adoptions are tied to my parents.

    So excited and nervous....however before I get too excited...the process was explained and now I understand a few more things......and for the special needs files once I get a "verbal referral"....this is only the beginning....the investigation on the child's dossier will only take place after this verbal referral,  (like it was with Matteo's file) and the investigations from what I was told, on average are taking longer...anywhere from 6-12 months...it is only after this investigation where the DA in Vietnam will issue Article 16 which is the "Official" referral and then I meet with my social worker and then she "approves" the match and sends the paperwork to the Ministry of Children here in Ontario, who then "approves" and issues an Article 17, a copy of which gets sent to Vietnam.  It is only after Articles 16 and 17 are issued where travel can be planned soon after...perhaps one to one and a half months later.......so so so so.....who knows we might be travelling in November on the anniversary of Matteo's adoption? or maybe 2015, though of course I'm hoping we don't have to wait until 2015!!!

  For now leaving you with some funny faces of my sweet boy and eating his first beaver tail.  Recently during our nightly prayers that we say on some of our nights, has now been asking God for a brother instead of the sister that he had been asking for. When I ask him why he's changed this. He has no reason. When I ask him if he'd be disappointed if he had a sister, he tells me he's okay with that too!

An important topic....

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Family day first....

Matteo has been asking for a few weeks to go skating, really he is asking to learn how to skate. He is being influenced by some of his friends in preschool so not sure if this will be a short interest or something he is really interested in. We have been taking a second music class and it is hit and miss with his concentration and interest, though not sure the time we go is helping?

Anyhow over the past month we have been preparing and then were delayed when we were both sick. Additionally had trouble finding a proper helmet for him.  So today, on family day, I decided if it wasn't too cold and if Matteo was willing, we'd try it out....and he did!!

Chuc Mung Nam Moi and...

a happy Valentine's day and Family day too !

We finally were able to reschedule our Tet party and everyone had a great time, though we are all tired today.  Tomorrow is family day here in Ontario (and I think in a few other provinces too) and Friday was Valentine's day so we thought sandwiching our Tet party in-between both was a great way to enjoy the spirit of all three.  And of course we were both feeling better though really not totally free of whatever bugs we've been battling.

Here are a few photos to remember our day and to bring in the New Year! Here's hoping that the year of the Horse is wonderful for everyone. The horse in the photos actually belonged to my mom and it was wonderful to pull it off our shelf and have it at the centre of our celebrations.

TDH Ontario January 2014 Newsletter

If you're interested in an update on International adoption and a few great family stories, click here.

Yum.....not bad at all!

Plan B for Tet celebrating falling into place...

As I write this the snow is falling and Banh Chung is boiling in our pot, 5 squares (well not exact but square-like).....Matteo and I both had a great night's sleep for the most part (though we've both been really cranky with each other all morning) though Matteo still had a fever at 2 in the morning but otherwise has been fever free since waking up.  I, on the other hand, still have symptoms, but am feeling better so with a little better health on our sides I decided to try to assemble the banh chung, otherwise it too would head to the freezer.

The following are photos of Matteo helping out at the start....of course I did the folding and tying etc...I learned an awful lot and definitely a little mould would help - but we managed. There is an Italian expression that says something about the first time you make something, don't expect it to be great, so I wanted to just go through the process to understand all its parts. For now, I'm happy with the results...and of course, hope it tastes good too!!

So once again Happy New Year!