"Buddies for Life"

Hi Kim, Our two from Vietnam turned three in October. Are yours both one years old? I remember from 12-15 months was hard at times because they were getting into everything but not really communicating by talking too much yet. MLRJ

We are right there too! Eli is almost 15 months and Nic is 13 1/2 months. Definitely mobile but not talking yet :) This is a fun age, but they are certainly high maintenance :). MLRJ: Where are you in the Guatemalan adoption process? Jen

Londy is 13 months and Jeremy is 11.5 months. Londy has been walking all over and into everything for a couple months, but just this week Jeremy has started crawling...and exploring! :) It's a whole new world with them both moving and in opposite directions....or each getting into something different. Most days I just have to laugh. Especially when I realize, it's only been a week of this! :) Good luck with your Guatemalan process(es). How old are they? Jen....I can't even imagine two boys at this age! Lol what a riot you must have your house!! Kim

I was a new Mommy too and we adopted two little girls, 14 months apart. They came home on the same day and were 4 and 18 months old. They have been home almost 4 months and are they joy of my life. Daddy has a huge grin on his face too! I love this "new section" on the forums too. Nice to meet everyone!

Hi jen-What adorable boys! We received two referrals mid-December- we are waiting on DNA- Our coordinator has been in Guatemala for the last week and I am so desperate for news on our cases. Our hopefully baby girl was born December 1st, our hopefully little boy, born December 10th. I am proceeding cautiously because this process is so different for us than Vietnam. We waited 15 months for referrals in VN but once we got them- they were ours and we traveled in two months- I am so scared we will lose a referral- if we do I am just praying that it is because the ** changed her mind and not for a medical reason. Wow- the ages of your two were some of the tough ages for me- but once mine were about 16 months-things started getting much easier! And now at three I think it is almost easier to have two because they are playmates for each other. Your boys are so cute! MLRJ

Resa-They are so beautiful! I bet your four year old just loves her little sister! MLRJ

MLRJ - I realized how I posted that... actually they were 4 months and 18 months, not 4 years... sorry, but yes, my 18 month old adores her little sister!! She is the other "mommy" to her. Thank you!

That is so funny- I was thinking- she looks so young! MLRJ

So glad to see this thread :D My husband and I have been home with our 13 mos. and 16 mos. old babies for 5 months now. We are so happy to have two at once as we felt they would have a common bond together for life! We so enjoy them. They are complete opposites!!!!!! It is fun to see their personalities blossom. It is very difficult at times. I have alot of help between my husband, mom and sister but when i am alone with the babies it can get challenging. Looking forward to the support and ideas of this thread ;)

HiEveryone, I have a question for those of you who have adopted two at the same time from Guatemala: Did you visit? We are considering this and at first I thought we definitely would - but then I realized that there is a chance that our pick-up times will be two different ones ( of course the 2nd child could get a visit) and since we will be leaving our two three year olds at home I only want to leave them once ( that will be traumatic enough for them) So if we both went along onthe visit we are looking at possibly three trips to Guatemala. Those of you with two home from Guatemala- what did you do? I need to really think carefully about this. Thanks for any thoughts you can give me! MLRJ

MLRJ (can I just call you M? :)) We visited our two boys in April '04. LOVED IT!!!! Both our boys had the same attorney, and even though we had to submit separate dossiers, from looking at the Family Court and PGN paperwork, they both went thru as one case. Do your babies have the same attorney? What does your agency say? My agency never promised they would come home at the same time, but they always said they would try their best to have them come home at the same time. They also said that they would give us a two week window of time... meaning you had two weeks or so to get your child upon issuance of the pink slip. That would have helped had one child received the Pink Slip up to 2 weeks before the other did. Does that make sense? But anyhow.... I really could never say NOT to visit. We had such a blast. My vote is for visiting if you can :) Jen

Hi Toria, Welcome aboard! Where is Orenburg? My two boys are complete opposites too! It is such a hoot watching them interact. Eli is such the dominant personality, but Nic is starting to hold his own these days. Eli seems to really love interacting with the guys (Dad, Gramps, Uncle Luke), and Nic seems to love being with the ladies (me, Gammie, and every waitress he has ever encountered). I hope that they will be lifelong friends, too. Anyhow... thanks for posting. Jen

Hi Jen- yes, please call me M- My real name is Margie. Yes, our babies do have the same attorney and they are in the same fostercare which I am literally thrilled about! I requested this but was not sure if they could do it and I just found out they did! So that is great news! our agency is saying the same thing yours did- They will try to have it be one pick-up trip for us but say they cannot promise- which I completely understand. Gosh I just looked at your timeline and you sure had a fast stay in PGN!!!! That is great- and cases in and out of PGn on same date! That is what we are hoping for. WE are not yet sure on the visit because if it is not one pick-up trip- then we are looking at three trips to Guatemala- and we have the issue of leaving our three year olds- Maybe just one of us can go and do a visit- Of course we won't get the benefit of the automatic COC but I don't think that is such a deal anyway if you have to file it anyway for a name change- At least that way we would get to see how they are doing. We too have two separate dossiers but I know they have tried to file everything together- Like she waited on submitting for DNA until we had the 2nd referral- So I sure hope our process goes as smoothly as yours! hey, where do you live? We live in Cleveland, OHIO. Margie

Toria, Welcome to the board! You brought your little ones home the same time we brought our youngest home. Isn't it amazing how fast 5 months can fly by and yet seem like they've been with you forever? Amazing! Margie, Our adoptions went through completely seperately. Mainly because we didn't even know we were adopting two at the same time until after Jeremy was born! :) He was our little surprise baby. We had his referral before we even had our dossier together. We did indeed go and visit in March and were lucky to have been able to have both of them in the hotel with us. I loved every tiring moment of it!!! Our attorney (our agency has just one) did not expect us to come for two separate pick up trips. She assumed we would just wait to pick up Londy until Jeremy's case was complete. I am SO glad we made three trips, even with having to find friends and family to watch our 3 at home. Londy's case was done in May but Jeremy's case wasn't complete until August. It was also nice adjusting to and getting to know Londy before we brought Jeremy home. Especially since Jeremy ended up needing more appointments for doctors and therapists when he came home. It was good knowing we had Londy adjusted and taken care of by a sitter while we were with Jeremy for his appointments. Either way...if they come home separate or together has it's benefits. I would say if you can at all possibly visit...do. It will be something you never regret. Kim

Hi Margie, I live in Ohio too! In Dublin right now but we are moving soon. I hope that at least one of you will be able to visit your babies. You will not regret it. I know though that not everyone is able to visit though... I bet your cases will go thru as one case and you will only have to travel for the gotcha trip once. What agency are you using? You can pm me if you want. Good Luck and keep us posted. :) Jen