Today marks 4 months since we have been ICAB approved to adopt from the Philippines. My my, how the time has flown by so far! It definitely helps that we didn't know we were approved for the first two months of the wait. With Christmas and my brother's wedding we stayed so busy that I didn't really have time to dwell on the wait.
I'm still not freaking out about the wait. This is a good thing because I can tend to dwell and obsess about these kinds of things! Instead, I've been doing a little nesting. Currently I've been very focused on getting books for our kids. I ordered the following books on Amazo.n, and I'm very excited to get them in the mail this weekend!!!
My Filipino Word Book
By: Robin Lyn Fancy
Filipino Friends
By: Liana Romulo, Corazon Dandan-albano
Filipino Children's Favorite Stories
By: Liana Elena Romulo, Joanne de Leon
My First Book of Tagalog Words: Filipino Rhymes And Verses
By: Liana Romulo, Jaime M. Laurel
The Turtle and the Monkey (Philippine Tale)
By: Joanna C. Galdone, Paul Galdone
Adoption Is a Family Affair!: What Relatives and Friends Must Know
By: Patricia Irwin Johnston
Cross Cultural Adoption: How To Answer Questions from Family, Friends & Community
By: Amy Coughlin, Caryn Abramowitz
The last two books on this list we are going to be using to conduct a family training for both Dave's and my family regarding our adoption. We want them to know what to expect through the process, as well as what to expect after we get home with our child/ren. I'm so excited for this training, I've gotten so many good ideas already, and we just keep coming up with more. Karin (from Hand in Hand) has given us great ideas, as well, and we're pretty much using everything we learned from her to do this training :) I'm still trying to figure out when I want to do the training, before or after our referral comes... I may need to get some advice from my Ya.hoo adoption group.
So here is the next question we are pondering... Dave and I want to take a vacation, but can't afford it with saving for the adoption. So we are thinking that maybe we will take a little extra time during the adoption trip and visit a resort on the ocean in the Philippines (they are typically very inexpensive). But do we do this before we pick up our child/ren or after? I can think of pros and cons of both sides. I think we've made our decision, I'm just curious to hear what other people think.
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4 comments:
Hi,
I found you on another international adoption blogroll and stopped by your site for a visit. I'm also adopting, but from Uzbekistan. Good luck on your journey and I look forward to following your progress.
Tasha
Two things: First I'm reading a good book called "Attaching in Adoption" by Deborah Gray, you might want to check it out from the library and give it a scan.
Second: I vote you go on vacation pre-kids. I have heard that is better (but I could see both sides) and it is your LAST vacation with just the two of you for a while. :) Julie
We think hitting the beach is a fantastic idea! We recommend Puerto Galera, because it's close to Manila, very cheap, and it's just about as beautiful as it gets! You would just take a 90 min bus ride from Manila to Batangas City ($6/ticket), then a boat to Puerto ($4/ticket). At Tamarraw you can get a cabin for $15 or a hotel-type room for a little more. Amazing snorkeling trips for $30 for a half-day. We celebrated our 3-yr marriage anniversary there and we loved it so much we went back a few weeks after that when Ty's sis came to visit!
Or, if you want another option for Puerto Galera, ask Calah about Coco Beach. This is an all-inclusive package thing- easier to arrange, just a little more expensive. Calah would have all the details! Ask her also about Palawan- she did scuba there!
GREAT idea to hit the beach, if we were in your shoes we'd go before picking up baby, esp if it's a vacation you're putting off right now. Might seem hard to wait, but if you relax and adjust from jetlag you might be more ready to get your baby, and you might be more relaxed in your time at the beach. Tyler says- "best part of it is- after you get your baby, you have it the rest of your life!" Hey, why not go before and after?!
I have also been looking into purchasing some of the books that you mentioned above. Did you order them from the Asia for Kids catalogue? Let me know which ones are your favorite. I am hoping to find some at my library and then once I decide which are my favorites, I will order them.
Has it been 4 months already?? We are just over the 1 month mark and month 1 seemed to fly by, but I bet that my feelings on this start changing about month 8. :)
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