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| April | Posted: Aug 15, 2006 02:38:18 PM
Hi ladies! I just wanted to see how everyone is doing. I would love to share a picture of Jonathan with you. Please email me at Aprilislovinglife@comcast.net and I can share with you the wonderful result at the end of all the waiting! I hope to hear from you soon!
April :)
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| Toni | Posted: Aug 10, 2006 01:07:49 PM
Hi everyone! I'm new to the chat and to the process. My husband and I are just beginning, we're in the home study stage. I have become completely engulfed in the process, reading blogs, viewing situations, and looking forward to when our day will come. The posts are very uplifting. I look forward to getting to know some of you through further posts....as we wait together.
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| Dianne | Posted: Aug 08, 2006 09:12:28 PM
Hi Colleen! My name is Dianne and I am also from NJ. We recently adopted our son through AA (our adoption story is posted on this website under "Dianne, Tom and Eric"). Our friends had a picnic in July for families in the area that have recently adopted from AA - would you be interested in knowing if/when we have another one? It has helped us so much (before, during and after our adoption) to talk to other adoptive parents and those who were also 'waiting'. We all feel strongly about 'paying it forward' as we all feel so blessed with our beautiful children!!
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| Colleen | Posted: Aug 04, 2006 12:26:41 PM
Hi - I'm new to the chat - and was hoping to join if you don't mind. We (Kevin & Colleen) have been active for almost 3 months now and it has certainly flown by. Our experience has been wonderful so far and everyone at American Adoptions has been wonderful to deal with. Of course, as the days and weeks go by, we are getting anxious for that phone call - but as one of you mentioned - it still seems so far away. Although we haven't been part of the NJ support group, we are definately interested in participating in one. I've been in touch with several NJ families who have had wonderful experiences with AA and we are hoping to pull something together later this year. If any of you have any suggestions or advice, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks for letting me "eavesdrop" on your chats - it's certainly been encouraging and great to hear how wonderful everyone's experiences have been so far.
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| Wendy | Posted: Aug 04, 2006 12:08:04 PM
Jenn,
Wow!! A cruise?! Hadn't even thought that far. Sounds amazing though. I am feeling the same way you described about this being a distant dream. We have waited for so long that I just cannot even imagine what I will do when the call finally comes. Afraid I might be in shock for several days/weeks. We have tried to just move forward with our lives and stay very busy. We have been able to do that very well, but of course are always hoping for that call. Glad the waiting hasn't been to hard for you so far.
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| Jenn | Posted: Aug 02, 2006 01:48:44 PM
Hi Wendy! Yes, it would be neat to get together with other adoptive families. In fact, I just emailed Megan inquiring whether she thought adoptive families might be interested in going on a cruise together as a group. If there's any interest, I'd be happy to organize it and make sure everyone got a good deal and some extra perks.
We're doing fine ... staying busy. We're just about to month 4 now in the official wait time. It really hasn't been bad at all -- I hope that continues. It's going to hit me like a ton of bricks when we finally get the call. When we initially signed up, everytime the phone rang it would catch my breath for a moment. Not that I really thought we'd get a call that quick, but there was suddenly this excitement and mystery around the phone ringing. Now, I never give it any thought when the phone rings. It's begun to feel like something far off in the distance. So when it finally does happen, I hope I don't faint! LOL
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| Jen | Posted: Aug 01, 2006 09:13:25 AM
Thanks girls. It really nice to know that there are other people in same situation. That helps though. I'm doing good otherwise. Just taking it day by day.
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| Wendy | Posted: Jul 31, 2006 12:11:24 PM
Jen,
We are in Trad 1 and our budget is right around 20K, which probably has something to do with our longer wait time. It is really hard to know where to set the budget!! How are you doing??
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| Whitney | Posted: Jul 31, 2006 10:54:01 AM
Which program are you in? We are in the Traditional I program and our budget is ~ in the middle of the range given on the website ($20,700-27,500). I cannot remember how much our first adoption was, maybe in the low 20K area.
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| Jen | Posted: Jul 31, 2006 09:41:45 AM
Hello again! I know each family has a budget but does anyone know from experience what the average is or what they have spent? This may be a personal question so if no one wants to answer I understand. I just talked to AA and asked how our exposure has been and they said it's average but other families have had more exposure do to the race, budget & medical. Thanks.
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| Wendy | Posted: Jul 27, 2006 08:10:22 AM
Jenn,
I noticed to too! Wouldn't it be great to someday get a group together that has adopted through AA. I know that there was just one in NJ the other weekend. How are you doing?
Love
Wendy
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| Jenn | Posted: Jul 26, 2006 11:07:38 PM
Hey Wendy, I just realized you and I are in the same state ... small world.:)
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| Jenn | Posted: Jul 26, 2006 11:02:10 PM
Hi Jen T! We have never been to Iceland. In fact, a few months ago I probably couldn't have told you exactly where it was and I certainly didn't know there was anything there to see. On a whim, I looked it up and found this amazing country! We both decided that we really wanted to go. We already had an 11-night trip planned for November, so we swapped our plans around a bit and are going to Iceland for a week at the end of August. We're definitely looking forward to it! The scenery looks amazing ... and very unique.
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| April | Posted: Jul 25, 2006 03:55:59 PM
Jen, Thank you! I don't think I am allowed to put official names of referral agencies on here but I can tell you what I searched on the internet and found the referral agencies I signed up with. Search "Available adoption situations" and that will bring up some referral agencies for you. I am so excited for you! I will be checking your postings for any questions. I get so excited about this because now that I have my son and we didn't have to wait very long, I want to help as many people as I can to get their little ones faster too! :)
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| Jen | Posted: Jul 25, 2006 01:45:25 PM
April, thanks so much for the information. I will defintely start looking for some referral agencies. I didn't even think about that. That's great. Thanks again. And I'm sure I'll have more questions. Glad to hear that you got a son that quick. Congratulations!!
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| April | Posted: Jul 23, 2006 11:36:29 PM
Jen, I recommend signing up with referral agencies instead of two adoption agencies. You can be signed up with American Adoptions and then with however many referral agencies you want to. That way you don't have to two adoption agencies for their up front fees. My husband and I were signed up with an agency and then I signed up for free with two different referral agencies. We matched with one of the referral agencies and not our adoption agency. We waited for 4 months with our agency and then I found the referral agencies and after I signed up to be on their email list of available adoption situations (birthmothers), we matched with our son Jonathan within 2 months. We considered other situations before that through the referral service such as a set of twins but decided it wouldn't have been right for us and then Jonathan came along. He was due within 3 weeks of us being matched with his birthmother. You don't pay the referral service anything until you have matched with a birthmother and then their fee ranges between $200-$2,000. But, we negotiated with the agency that had the birthmother and they lowered the adoption fees to where we didn't even have to pay the referral fee, they paid the referral service themselves. I felt very in control of how fast we could get our little angel because I was receiving emails at least every other day of available birthmothers and it was up to us if we wanted to be considered for any of the situations. I think it is the BEST way to go to have a greater chance of speeding up your wait and possibly finding your son or daughter that God has waiting for you. We truely believe that all things happen for a reason and it is so amazing how everything just fell into place when we decided to have the conference call to just see about this little baby that was due in Florida. My husband and I had agreed to at least talk to the birth mom just to get more details. You may have read my earlier posts and saw that after that conference call we were matched with her within 10 mintues of hanging up the phone. We had our sweet little boy in our arms exactly 3 weeks after that phone call. He was 2 months old as of this past Friday and he is the LOVE of our lives! I can't picture our lives not having him or even what it was like before him. He is so much a part of us and who we are. I am the type of person that can't just sit back and wait! HA! I had to do someting about finding a baby that needed us. I knew as many babies as there are out there that are about to be born and need a mommy and daddy, that there had to be a way of finding them without just sitting and waiting for them to come to me. I have been in your shoes and I know how you feel. Please ask me any questions that you want and I would be glad to help you along your journey. It will happen! I promise! :)
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| Jen | Posted: Jul 21, 2006 09:14:45 AM
Hey girls! Are any of you activated with two agencies and if so could you recommend any? We are considering that but not sure if we should. Maybe that will greater our chances on getting a baby sooner rather than later.
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| April | Posted: Jul 20, 2006 11:47:10 AM
Hi Kerri! :) Thank you very much! He is so sweet and loves to be cuddled!!! Since you have adopted before I am sure you know what I am saying when I say "I feel like I gave birth to him myself! It doesn't feel like he is adopted AT ALL!" To answer your question, we actually live in Tennessee. We were signed up with an adoption agency but I was a little impatient! :) We were on the waiting list with them but I also decided to signed up with a referral agency that emailed me every new adoption situation and I got emails sometimes daily on new available birthmoms. Well, I saw one that was due within the next 3 weeks at the time and she just happened to be in Florida. I inquired with the referral agency about her and they set up a conference call with me, her and her sister-in-law the next day! I talked with them for about an hour and the social worker called me back within 10 minutes after the phone call and said that they picked us for her baby!!! She didn't even talk to any other couples but said that she knew we were the parents for her son. It all just fell into place like God intended for it to! :) We had inquired about a set of twin about a week before through the same referral agency but decided that twins might be too much for us too handle financially. After having a newborn I laugh now and say "God deffinatly knew I wouldn't have been able to handle two at the same time! That's why he gave us that voice in our heads to say no to twins" HA!
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| Kerri | Posted: Jul 19, 2006 07:27:18 PM
Hey April,
This is Kerri.... we are in the process of adopting again. :) Congrats on your little man.... are you from Florida?
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| Jen T | Posted: Jul 18, 2006 08:56:32 PM
Hi Laides - I was hoping to join your little chat. My husband and I have been active for about a month (we are under Alex & Jen). We started our homestudy back in January so it feel really good to be active and finished with the paperwork for now. I can't believe how quickly the month has gone by so I am hoping that the rest of the wait goes as quickly.
Jenn - a trip to Iceland? That is so cool...I am jealous. Have you been before or did you just decide it would be a neat place to visit? We have a trip planned for the end of September for our anniversary, we are going to do a driving trip up the coast of Maine.
JenT
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| April | Posted: Jul 10, 2006 06:27:34 PM
Hi ladies! I just wanted to let you guys know that I still check on you to see how things are going. You all are still in my thoughts and prayers. Jonathan is growing like a weed and getting fatter by the minute! He is 7 weeks old as of yesterday and wearing size 3 months in clothes!!! He is finally sleeping much better. He only gets up one time during the night which is allowing me to get a lot more sleep and feel like I have some sanity! HA! I can't wait to see your updates of good news when your little one arrives. Talk to you soon! April :)
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| Jenn | Posted: Jul 09, 2006 10:43:13 PM
Welcome, Dennise! Hang in there and stay busy and the wait shouldn't be so bad. Honestly, we've been activated for over 3 mths now and it has flown by. We've had great success with taking trips to avoid focusing on the waiting ... it gives us something else to look forward to. If the call doesn't come by a certain time, we get to go some place great. If it does, then we don't take the trip but we get something else great!!;) We're in the process of planning a trip to Iceland for August. Planning the trip and the excursions has kept us very busy lately and we're really excited to go! If we don't get the call by November, we're going back to the Riviera Maya for a week. Lots to look forward to this year!! (this is our biggest travel year ever):) By the way, to clear up any confusion, there are two Jennifers on the forum lately -- me and Jen -- the "n"s should help to keep it straight.:)
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| Heather B. | Posted: Jul 08, 2006 07:45:10 AM
Hello Girls,
I have so many congrats to send out. Congrats Mary and Jen I wish you sleep, lots of time for pictures, and lots of love on your newest members of the family. Sean and I are closer to activation and the medical problems have been resolved. Good luck to those who have just gone active, those waiting, and those who get the call tomorrow.
Heather B.
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| mary | Posted: Jul 07, 2006 05:34:16 PM
Welcome Dennise. We have been gone just over 2 weeks now getting to know our little man while he grew big and strong in the NICU. We're all on our way home now (20 plus hours to drive in all); he was well worth the wait. The Ronald McDonald House put us up so that we could be with him at the hospital (what a blessing they have been too). Keep strong during your wait and God bless!
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