Devastated

There is no other word to explain how I feel right now other than devastated. Exhausted would be a close second.
I have tried to stay positive during all the ups and down of the past 8 months of this journey, but the past two days everything has come crashing down. First came THIS article from the AP. Then THIS from the embassy. Both are terrible news about corruption in the VN program. I knew things like this went on, but I guess I never understood how common it could be.
Adoptions in Vietnam will cease on Sept. 1st. Prior to the news we got yesterday, we believed our paperwork would be grandfathered in with all of the others who are logged into VN. We have now learned that will not happen, and all paperwork that is logged in but without a refferal by Sept. 1st will be sent back.
I don't feel like this is the end for us. I NEED to come full circle on this adoption, no matter how long it takes. My heart knows that Jasey will come to us someday, and she will come from Vietnam. I am allowing myself to be sad for the moment, but I have faith that things will work out in the end. Both countries will come together, fix the wrongs, set in place an agreement that will work FOR THE CHILDREN. This may take months, it may take years, but it will happen. And our arms will still be wide open, ready to hold our Jasey James.
All I can do is believe right?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Jake has been home for a week, and we are loving every minute of it! He is 11 months old now, it has taken us this long to get all of his paperwork done so he could avoid quarantine once he got to Hawaii. It was stressful, but worth it, and it all worked out in the end. Hmmm, sounds a lot like something else that is going on in our lives... No news on the adoption front, so I guess you will be seeing lots of pics of me torturing Jake with costumes like the one above for now!

Guess what??? We have a NUMBER!!!

We are so happy to officially be on our agency's waiting list! Everything that can be done with our paperwork is done now, so the wait begins...

Thanks to Wikipedia, I have some facts about the wonderful number 42-

-42 is one of The Numbers on the television show Lost, along with 4, 8, 15, 16 and 23.

-The eight digits of pi beginning from 242,422 places after the decimal point are 42424242.

-The jersey number of Jackie Robinson, which is the first and only number retired by all Major League Baseball teams.

-The first digit (4) taken to the power of the second digit (2) is equal to the second digit (2) taken to the power of the first digit (4): 42 = 24 = 16.

- The jersey number of Pat Tillman, which was retired on November 13, 2004 by Arizona State University.

- Messier object M42, a magnitude 5.0 diffuse nebula in the constellation Orion, also known as the Orion Nebula. (pictured below, isn't it BEAUTIFUL!?!)

No longer lost!

In translation that is:) We just got the news that we are officially out of translation, now we are just waiting to get assigned our all imporant number!

Our entire agency just spent a week in Vietnam working on their humanitarian projects. They took a group of all sorts of specialists over to help train caretakers in caring for special needs children. I hope they come back with LOTS of good news, everyone in our agency family sure could use some right about now!

I hope everyone is having a great Monday! I am in Washington right now, I'm here to pick up Jake finally! Here is a recent pic of my handsome little devil;)

I've been tagged!

SEVEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME:

1. I am scared to death of sharks and spiders.
2. I can't stop biting my nails, no matter how hard I try.
3. I talk to my cats WAY more than most people would consider normal.
4. I love the smell of new shower curtains.
5. I hate olives with a passion.
6. I get hooked on cheesy reality shows very easily.
7. I always drink Ginger Ale on airplanes, yet rarely in regular life.

I was tagged by my friend Anna

I'm cheating and not tagging anyone! I think all af the bloggers I know have been tagged:)

I am feeling like the gecko...

My Mom took this picture a few days ago, right outside my front door. I have been thinking about that tiny gecko trying to catch that huge moth ever since... I think because I can relate to him in more than one way-
First off, the task in front of him is pretty much impossible. He is so hungry for something he just can't get. I hate to be negative, but this adoption has been feeling that way to me lately. I feel totally helpless, our paperwork is there in Vietnam, but we are lost in translation for who knows how long. I am trying to stay upbeat, but sometimes it is just too hard.
In a more positive way, the gecko is obviously a big dreamer. I dream of Jasey all the time, and it warms my heart. I know once this is all said and done it will all be worth it, my dream will have come true, our baby girl will be home, and the wait and turmoil will be forgotten.
Can't blame the little guy for trying!

Hahahahahaha!

DTV!

Let me clear the cobwebs and dust bunnies off my blog before I begin...
So, it has been a month since I last posted, the holidays have come and gone. We had a nice Christmas at home, my sister Jen and her boys were visiting Hawaii, so we got to spend time with them. New Years was quiet, just the two of us. We lit off some fire crackers in the street in front of our house, then had to fight off sleep until midnight. PARTY ANIMALS!!
But, I finally have some good news to share... WE ARE DTV!!! For those of you not in the adoption community, that means Dossier to Vietnam (I think!). In other words, everything that can be done with out paperwork here in the U.S. has been done. It is officially in the country of Vietnam, currently being translated. The translation can take up to 8 weeks, but once it comes out we will finally be issued our number on our agency waiting list. I am anticipating we will be around #45, which sucks because our agency is optimistically anticipating 40 referrals in 2008. Yes, that means we most likely won't be meeting our baby girl this year. We are staying positive though, we will get her when the time is right.
The Director of our agency and his wife picked up and moved to VN last week. He hand carried a group of dossiers (ours included) over there himself. It makes me feel good to know that one of the heads of our agency is actually living over there, and overseeing things first hand. I admire his dedication to this program, and adoption in general.
Happy 2008 everyone! I hope we all have an awesome year!