The first update is a good one. According to our agency, the blip in the processing in ET will not likely affect us. This is a temporary situation while they investigate one agency (not ours!) and the statements made by officials were exaggerated. In fact, the man who reported the "only 5 case loads per day" has lost his job for giving mass misinformation. I am grateful that ET takes allegations of child trafficking seriously, so all-in-all, this is good news. I'll post more updates as I hear them. Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.
Next update: My DC trip was a fun one (although a bit exhausting!) Seems like I've just been going going going. (but update #4 seems to be helping with a slow down). I really like DC, with great food, cozy bars, great public transportation, cute neighborhoods, H&M, and my office headquarters. On this trip, I was able to get to the Hill, making visits to our Senators and House Representatives to tell them about Colorado's badly run school and summer meals programs for low-income children, as well as SNAP participation. Colorado ranks 51st in the nation- this is bad news and means Colorado is missing out on hundreds of thousands of dollars that are already set aside for these programs. ANYWAY, off my soap box... I think anyone who gets a chance should go to Capitol Hill at some point in their lives. Its a pretty great experience.
Update 3 is that we completed 8 hours out of 16 of our core adoption training yesterday. We learned a lot about child trauma and attachment disorders, as well as disciplining an internationally adopted child which is actually quite different than what most families do or what you find in a typical parenting book. This will all be a challenge, but the bright side is that we can reverse effects of any trauma and neglect the child may have been exposed to, and our baby can grow up to be a happy healthy person. Overall it was sobering, yet empowering. We also met families going through similar processes, although no one from Denver!! Families came from Durango, Grand Junction, Greeley, Lamar and other remote areas. We were hoping to make some friends closer to home, but we have met some great families none the less.
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| Tough Guy with Busted Kneecap |
Update 4 is that we
only completed 8 hours of 16 of our core adoption training. After our training last night, Lucas was asked to be an alternate on our friends' indoor soccer team. He gladly accepted... but about 10 minutes into the game, Lucas made an unfortunate movement which literally snapped his patella in half. He was ambulanced to Swedish Hospital where I met him and waited to get results. In extreme pain, we were sent home with Vicodin and surgery scheduled for this coming Monday. He is doing well, considering the pain, and Lucas's sister Audrey is helping find a good orthopedic surgeon. We had to cancel our next day of adoption training, but our social worker assured us this won't affect our process. More than anything, I think Lucas is just bummed about what this will mean for driving, work, music, sports, and everyday life in the coming months. Send good thoughts.
