How about updates?

Indy, Ideally, I would like a 5-9 yo boy. I want him to be intelligent (or at least have the capacity to be with love and attention), Caucasian or a Caucasian-Hispanic, or a Caucasian-Asian. If I sound too picky, I'm sorry. I simply want a child that's as close to my family as possible. They're already going to look down on me because I didn't wait till I'm married. I also have weight preferences, but those are not an issue. most foster or adoptable kids I have seen aren't overweight. David

I have decided to do it! I'm back in Mali, where I live, and in the very beginning stages of scoping out the paperwork for the adoption process. I'm trying to work out how to do the chain authentication for the documents the Malian government needs, how to deal with accurate HIV testing before a certain age, and how flexible the lawyer's fees are going to end up being. I'd like a newborn girl, but we'll have to see about that, given the HIV testing thing. It's all in flux! I know for sure I could not handle getting attached to a baby and then finding out she's HIV+. I'm confident it will all work out, though!

Hey Indy! Great thread.Tomorrow I am back to school - I'm a substitute teacher for a large school district, and this year I'm doing 2 (possibly 3) long-term subs for women having babies. So I'm starting the first one tomorrow - with 2 prep days, Friday off and then students on Tuesday (after Labor Day). I'll be teaching Math, English and Computers, grades 7-12. On Friday, J starts kindergarten - without an aide. :eek: I went to his 504 meeting yesterday (it's like a pre-IEP plan) and I think they've done an okay job of trying to set him for success. We will see, though, we will see. In 3 weeks, Q starts Head Start (preschool). Academically he'll do fine, and his main behavior issue is that he's quite a crybaby and somewhat of a mama's boy. :rolleyes: Personally his really big issue is wiping his own behind and pulling up his underwear without crying about them being bunchy! ;) :p So........that should be interesting as well. As for child #3 or #3 and #4.......................Well.......that's NOT going well at all. Due to some unpleasant (yet honest and factual) emails between my SW and I, we're not really speaking except on very polite, extremely short answers/comments. That of course, has hindered things. No, unfortunately, she's a 1-woman branch office of my adoption agency and there is no one else to be my worker. And I refuse to leave the agency as I've already paid $800 in fees!!!!! (nonrefundable, of course)Anyhoo-I've got a few apps out there for kids, but not much luck as I'm looking for 0-1 girls or 0-3 boys or sibs; AA, Hispanic or biracial; accept many issues/disabilities but NOT FAS/E, autism, wheelchair-bound, life-shortening or Downs. My big caveat is that my child can live independently as an adult, without being in a group home, as the nearest one to where we live are 2 hours away.I know, I know, it's a tall order............but I know my child(ren) are out there somewhere. Am also struggling at times to deal with not being chosen for such a long time (close to 1-1/2 years now) and the seeming explosion around me of women having babies or adopting them. But soon I'll be busy at school (after having the summer off and home with the boys) and that will help tremendously. And my friends here, of course. :D I'll happily keep my eyes out for kids for everyone, I do it for a couple people already and will happily add more to my list!!! Sandy

Three of my four are back in school - the last year I have them all in elementary school! We are back to our routines with dance and scouts. While we had a great summer, it went by so very fast. Little O's case is up for review so I know that reunification is looming. I am just unsure about the timing. As for more kids...It's amazing how many placement calls I have received over the past month, including one for a sibling group of four (oldest was 7 years). Only thing stopping me is my vehicle - we only have two empty seats and somehow DCFS frows on using a trailer :eek: While our latest vehicle is only two years old, the boys have been eyeing the Dodge Sprinter. I'm pretty sure I need a CDL again for that! So for now, we are just living as a happy family of five! Of course, that could always change with a phone call! Sam

C started high school this morning - oh, my! As I was driving away I realized I'd forgotten to take a first day of school picture. It's a huge school, and I worry about him falling through the cracks. I hope he ends up with some good teachers. Oh, my! He's ready, I'm not quite. As to adding to our family, I guess not in the forseeable future. We're in a really tiny place right now, without much hope of moving, so we'd not really have room for another. We'll see what happens! (We're just back from a Midwest vacation, and there's such a difference between living there - with actual space! - and here in crowded cramped SoCal. Ugh.)

Well, this is the fourth week of school here. We started on Aug 8, earlier than a lot of places. My boys are back into a routine and things are going well. If I could just get my 8th grader to work more on his school work instead of talking and socializing so much while in school, it would be even better. Ive already received reports/phone calls from two of his teachers about his socializing too much. In fact he had in school detention all day today because one teacher had called him down so many times lately, but he wouldnҒt stop talking. I am hoping to adopt again soon. I am looking for a son 5-12 years old. I think I have a match with a 9 year old boy. The staffing is on the 15th of September. I guess you could say our family has been unofficially selected. The childs case worker has been out to meet me and see our house and has told me to start preparing our family scrapbook that she will share with the child before he meets our family. Still it seems like things are moving so slow҅we have been talking a while, but I had to get a home study update and the agency had to do get some things together also. Ill be glad when they have their staffing and we are officially chosen and can proceed with the presentation and visits. We were matched in May with a 10 year old boy but right after the presentation meeting he had some setbacks and his case was put on hold and it just wasnҒt a good fit for our family anyway. Hopefully, everything will work out this timeso far everything sounds real good.

I'd like to adopt an older child with very little to mild problems...AA or biracial...no gender preference at this point...I am single so I will be limited in the type of "issues" I can handle (I have a great support system in place but it's really not fair to expect a lot of help from them on issues they aren't familiar with).I currently have no children and I do a lot of community service work so they will need to be pretty active like me!!! I plan to adopt through the state!:)

As the special ed summer school person, let's hear it for September! The sight of school buses headed back to their regular school brings a song to my heart. :D I have just gotten back from vacation and I am excited to actively begin searching for my forever child. I am looking for an infant who is as healthy as possible, with at least one AA parent (again, like Dhewco/David, I just want to match my family). Please PM me any advice on networking, I am considering :confused: a lot of options (webpage, 800 #, etc) but I am concerned about having personal info made public in this era of idenity theft. I would appreciate any advice or feedback. My support system is varied and a lot of people have offered to help, support, babysit, etc., but I am a realist and I am not counting on those offers of support until they ring the front door bell. I am very fortunate that my family is 200% in my corner and my dad has even volunteered to fly to my house and babysite once or twice a month to babysit if I need him.

O.k. I really new here. I read a lot more than I post. I'm trying to "come out and play" more often. So here's my story! I am a single woman who has been in the process of adopting a healthy infant (domestically). I've been with my agency for a little over two years now. The waiting is the hardest part! The room is all ready and all that is needed is the baby. So I'm trying to keep positive thoughts in that area.Recently, I've been considering adopting an older child through our local DHS office. I have just learned that there will be an adoption picnic in my area in about a month. It will give everyone a chance to interact with the children and then talk to their case workers at the end of the day. While this was not my first choice for building my family, there have been too many "signs" pointing toward me attending this picnic to ignore! [I had orignally decided to follow thourgh with the domestic infant adoption and then a few years later work through DHS. But now it seems that maybe I will just be reversing the order. Who knows it could take another two years for the domestic adoption to go through.] So needless to say, I'm starting to get more and more excited as the time gets closer to the picnic. So if I go and find a child I'm interested in then it's back home to start all the paperwork and get another room ready! My hope is that I'm going to need that other room done soon!I also just wanted to add how much I enjoy reading everyone's posts! I am learning so much through you all!j2l

I am waiting for a son or possibly 2 sons aged around 2-8 but could go upto 9 if the other was younger. Don't really care too much about race...I do have some narrow minded people in my family that might not understand if I come home with an AA boy but that's something I've told them they will have to learn to accept if they want to be in my life so basically I've left the race option completely open. I think they will love him no matter what, once they get to know him or them. I told my worker I can handle mild issues (dyslexia, controlled ADHD, and things like that) but not major issues like RAD or ODD or things like that. Basically I expect my child to have some emotional stuff to deal with after what he's been through but I want him to be capable of getting to a point where he can live a normal happy life and possibly go to college if he chooses and do well. I've said I will take legal risk but at least on the adoption path. I am going through the state DSS system. The classes and Homestudy were great and I didn't have any problems at all. Since I finished though I havn't heard much. I'm really into sports and outdoor things so I'm hopeful that the child that they choose for me will be active also. I just can't wait to finally be a Mom.

The adoption of my 9 yr old daughter will be finalized next month (yippee!). She wants a sister or brother and I had originally intended to adopt twice, but for a long time after getting my little Miss Defiance I decided two was unthinkable. But this year she has become much more mellow and so we plan after the finalization to inform the social worker that we are interested in becoming a family of three. I am still wobbling a bit back and forth on the idea, because whenever my daughter has a friend over her defiance gets much worse, especially with one of her friends who is also defiant. I don't know if a younger sister (unless we move to a bigger house before we get matched, in which case it might be a younger brother) will be too much of a competitor for them to join forces against me or not. I expect when I get a second child I will have to start a thread begging for ways to handle two kids. What I'm looking for in a child is no dirt or animal allergies (live on a farmette with horses, chickens, ducks, geese, dog, cats, and lots of dirt, dust, hay), kind to animals, kind to people (particularly mothers), physically and mentally "able". I'd like to find a late 6 yr old or early 7 yr old (1st grader). And they absolutely must be cautious, there are too many dangerous things around to have a child who takes intentional risks. I thought it would be hard to find that kind of child, but both the fds I've had fit the description, and although the foster son I had for a week actually expected to be allowed to climb up the tree to the treehouse (too risky in my aging opinion) I think he was basically a safety conscious child (tho I'm sure he would have forced me to expand my boundaries of acceptable risks).

oh that just reminded me, my child or children have to be ok with animals too :) I have a Pembroke Welsch Corgi and a Black Lab plus two kitties and they are my furry children whom I love very much.

My boys said they would LOVE your animals! We only have two cats, as that gives us the ability to "run" away for a couple of days. With dogs, we could not be gone more than a couple of hours! AND the cats are cleaner, as long as the boys keep the litter out. You should see those cats "chase" the laser lights! :D I will keep an eye out for some possible matches! Good luck in your endeavors.

FINALLY........................Quay's adoption was finalized on Tuesday, Sept. 20!!!It has been a LOOOOOOOONG and fitful series of court battles, and I am extremely happy it's over.YIPPEEE!!!!!!!!!! :) :D :p Before we went to court, the boys and I went to lunch with my brother and my mom. It was a bit.......:( stressful to say the least, but is done and overwith now. My family is just NOT tuned into reality with special needs kids!!!! (Especially mine)I'm having a party/open house to celebrate on October 1 in the afternoon for a couple hours. Going to order a couple of meat/cheese, fruit/veggie trays, get a cake, and voila! Instant party!!! (if anyone's in northern MN, feel free to drop by!!! ;) ) Sandy

(((((((((HUGS))))))))))) to you Sandy. Sorry I will miss the party! Virginia is a little far for the commute. :D