May 2008

Mother's Day its approaching.... We also have my Mom's Birthday this month. Right after Mother's Day. My future Brother-In-Law's Birthday (Donnie) its coming too.....

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!!!!

Happy Birth Donnie!!!!!!!!!

We took Mom to a nice restaurant here in Miami. The name is: 94th Aero Escuadron. They have a very nice and extensive Sunday Brunch. My sister Ana, her husband Nelson, my sister-in-law Patricia, Mauricio, Mom and I went to Brunch... We had a great time!!

For Mom's Birthday we took Mom to Bahama Breeze. We also had a great time!!! It is always so nice to spend time with the family you love and adore. It was just sad that my sister Claudia and Donnie could not be here with us to celebrate :( We really miss them! They are planning a vacation in July, so I guess we have to wait to see them....

We got the great news that American Airlines will start traveling nonstop from Chicago (ORD) to Moscow (DME), starting June 2008. To us this are GREAT news, since we always try to fly with AA. We have earned some miles during our travels. My Mom also told us that she is going to gift us her miles so we can use them for the second trip and we could fly Business/First class. That way we would be more comfortable with the baby. We also bought extra miles through American Airlines. We are hoping to gather enough miles so we can both travel comfortable with the baby.

On a different note, we are going on a mini vacation, Mauricio and I will be traveling to Acapulco, Mexico. We are very excited since we have never been there. We will be going for Memorial Day Weekend (yeahh). We really deserve a break, even if it is for a few days, I am sure we are going to enjoy it to the max!!

I am also registered for my last class at Florida International University. By the end of the summer I will be finished with the Capstone Seminar, and I will be eligible to receive my Master's in Public Administration. It has been a very hard road, with one full time job, a part-time job, and with school... Now that I look back, I am not sure how I have been able to do it all. If it hadn't been for my dear husband and my Mom, I am not sure how I would have done it. THANK YOU BOTH!!! I LOVE YOU ALWAYS!

On a sad note, we received an email from Dwyatt, the Gantt, the Executive Director at Children's Hope... This has to do with all the structural and financial changes that CHI is currently experiencing. For example, and I quote:

"There have always been changes and cycles in the ‘adoption world’ but probably never have there been so many as in this last year – and continuing right up to this moment. China has more restrictions and fewer referrals, Russia continues to invent new ways to make adoptions more complex and expensive, Vietnam and the U.S. are now in a tug of war over how not to work together. Kazakhstan is s-l-o-w. Colombia is stable and steady and Ethiopia is splendid. Hague Accreditation has inserted itself at this fragile moment of history to add complexity to whatever other changes are taking place. It is a good thing but not well instituted, and we and a hundred plus other agencies have experienced delay in getting approved. We expect it in August. It does not affect adoptions in process but we can’t take applications for China and Colombia until we are approved. (Hold on ! We’re coming.)

So all these things have added weight to your wait.


"For ‘your agency’, it has meant that we had to get ‘lean’. We have restructured our agency completely and are very pleased with what is resulting – and wondering why we didn’t do it years ago. The St. Louis office is now the location for adoption program consultants for all branches (SE excepted). That means this. YOUR adoption consultant, while located in St. Louis is an extension of whatever branch office you might be working with. They are up to date every day about what is going on in your country and will give you that information directly. Your branch office will still be very much involved with you in giving moral support and help for home studies, CIS and local questions and post-adoption issues. With a smaller staff in your branch and a larger staff in St. Louis, you will get better service – and that’s just the simple truth"

Mauricio and I, and I am sure most of the waiting families appreciated Dwyatt's honesty. It is better to be informed of what it's "really" going on than to be led to believe that everything its going "peachy" when actual reality its actually soo different. We just have to pray and hope that things will get for CHI and for all the families who are so eagerly waiting to receive a referral and/or to receive their child.