"Older Child": A Matter of Perspective

Our request to the Kyrgyz government is for a female child under 3 years old. We hope they view us favorably and grant our request. We are aware that very few people request a child this old, and we will therefore be near the top of the "older child list". Most families adopting from Kyrgyzstan are hoping to adopt infants. Some referrals are so young that PAPs cannot go to court to adopt them because they must be 3 months old.

Ukraine Still on Our Mind

Our now five year old son, Aiden accompanied us to Ukraine. He loved it and there was not a moment that we wished that we had left him behind. He asks almost daily about going back to Ukraine. I ask him what he liked about it. He says he liked the apartment. I liked the apartment too. It had good bones, and I feel as though it had some stories to tell. We spent five weeks, give or take a few days, in that one-bedroom apartment. I think I liked experiencing the basics of life in that one-bedroom apartment. It had a very slow washing machine, and no dryer. We didn't miss the dryer. We didn't miss an oversized refrigerator and freezer stuffed full of food. We didn't miss too many clothes from which to chose to wear that day. We did not miss the excesses we live with on a daily basis. I surely don't want to say that life was simpler because I can see many obstacles to overcome living in Ukraine. Yet too many choices can also disturb the mind.

I am sorry we won't spend a great deal of time in Kyrgyzstan when our time comes.

What Happens to a Dossier Anyway?

This is our process as far as we know. Dossier goes to Kyrgyzstan for approval and registration. Dossier comes back to the US and is kept by the agency or the Foundation. At some point it will be translated, and probably authenticated but it isn't clear where this happens in the process yet. We may or may not have to get it state certified. We don't have to keep updating the documents like for Ukraine. We will have to update some if not all documents just before getting our referral or at least prior to traveling on trip #1 to meet our referred child. As more recent adoptions are completed with our agency we will have more details.

I read that the new adoption committee in Bishkek has been created and should be meeting soon. Things should be picking up shortly in Krygyzstan. I am very grateful to the folks on the KyrgyzstanAdoptionGroup for posting what they are finding out.

Dossiers and Mindful Consumption

Our dossier was received and approved this week by our adoption agency. I received an email last night that our dossier is ready to be shipped to Kyrgyzstan. I'm not sure what happens with it when it gets there, but I've asked the question and I'm waiting for the answer.

Since things are moving along on the adoption path I focus again on funding. I found this wonderful meditation group that meets on Wednesday evening. August is the month that participants may wish to consider their consumption, which isn't necessarily defined by just that which costs money. I have personally given this some attention in recent months and feel as though I made some personal progress reducing my personal consumption of "stuff" (the money factor)and hope to realize more opportunities to reduce my financial consumption. I still have a lot of work to do with regard to consumption of information and knowledge, as well as of time.