Happy Update

Today  we received our bi-weekly update from our agency (well Matt did – for some reason I didn’t get one) … and sadly there were no updates about the South Korea program… however… I know of an update!  One of the lovely people I have met through this blog received her referral… TODAY!  They received a referral for a little boy, and their dossier went to Korea in mid July … just one month before ours!  Congratulations Barbara and Andy!  I look forward to meeting you at the upcoming Adopt Talk (we have the same agenacy). 

I am trying not to get my hopes up… but knowing that so many referrals are happening so quickly makes me very excited at the prospect of getting a referral soon.   If the trend continues, it could be as early as in a couple of weeks, but we know it averages at 6-8 months… if that is the case we obviously still have a while to wait. 

This weekend I’m hoping to finish some Christmas projects and get a real start on the nursery… just in case!

Referrals

Today we received a new Children’s Bridge update.  In the last 2 weeks there have been three referrals received - a 5 month-old baby girl, and two 5 month-old baby boys – waits were 3 to 4 months.  But this past week there have been referrals for five boys (5-7 months old) and the wait for referral was 2 to 4 months!  Congratulations everyone!!

Referrals

In the last 2 weeks there have been 5 referrals to families through Children’s Bridge!  While that is quite amazing itself, what is really amazing is that the referrals took 3 – 5 months to receive!!  3 Months!  The average that we have been told are 6-8 months.  How very exciting for all of those families.

Picnic

The picnic for families who have adopted from South Korea through Children’s Bridge was great!  Matt and I were a little unsure if we should really go since we have not adopted yet – but I’m so glad we did.  Everyone there was extremely friendly and welcoming.  They answered so many questions and were very open about their experiences.  And my goodness – the children!  What adorable little ones!!  There was a very nice family with a little girl they just brought home 3 weeks ago – just a little doll!! 

We learned lots about travelling to Korea, what to expect etc.  We also learned about other events that are held in the area thoughout the year.  There is a Christmas party in Toronto each year and a culture camp just north of Toronto.  There also is going to be the Jeng Yi Korean Drummers performing at Stratford Summer Music on August 3rd that we found out about – we will be there for sure!  We also learned about some grocery stores that sell Korean food in Kitchener that we plan to explore.

We thought we would stay about 30-45 minutes, but we were there over 3 hours.  I’m so glad we now have a couple of families we know in the area who have gone through the same experiences, and hopefully we will be able to socialize with a bit once we get our baby!!

I know – too many exclamation marks…  but hey – I’m excited!