Deeeeeeeeeelays Galore!

Jon and I have decided that if either our new furniture doesn't arrive or we don't get the call with the words "you're in the pool" uttered in the next few days, we are both going to go Postal.  Like you may see us on the 5 O'clock News and our neighbors will say the very predictable "they were very quiet and nice and kept to themselves.  We never would have expected them to do something like that." 

Seriously though, it doesn't seem fair!  We have done everything we needed to do and now we have to leave the timeline in the hands of individuals who don't see us the same priority as we see ourselves.  That sounds like a very selfish statement, but I don't mean it that way.  As Jon reminded me, our MN Homestudy is already 33% expired and we aren't even in the pool of candidates yet.  We very likely will have to have our MN Homestudy redone at a whopping $2,500 in roughly 9 months.

Anywho, our West Coast counselor who told us that she saw no reason why we shouldn't be in the pool by mid-January, has now drastically altered her statement after Jon asked for a friendly update after mid-January came and went.  We were both flabbergasted to learn that she hadn't even started "finalizing" us to be entered into the pool due to her own family issues and some office reorganizations.  We are now feeling lucky if we will even be in the pool by the end of February.

I hope that my next post has exponentially happier news or I may be in an orange jumpsuit and orange is definitely not my color!

Liam Gregory Giera

I am so proud to announce the birth of my nephew Liam Gregory Giera!!  He was born at 6:52 pm on January 16th, 2011.  He was 7 lbs 2 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Both my sister and Liam are doing great!!

We hope and pray that someday Liam will have a cousin and they will be the best of friends!  And my brother-in-law is an only child so Jon and I are Liam's only hope at having a cousin!!

Statistics

Some of the most common questions we receive are regarding statistics, time lines, etc.  Some of the statistics are great for doing your best to "prepare," but the bad thing about statistics is that there is always an exception to the rule.  For example, the average wait time for a same-sex couple is 15 months.  But what really does that mean:

• Some same-sex couples get chosen on Day 1 while other couples get chosen at the 3 year mark (of waiting to be selected) which averages to 15 months.  
• Or do most couples actually wait approximately 15 months? 

This is what scares Jon and I about statistics.  The sad truth is we use then to our advantage when we need a bit of a pick me up, but we use them to our disadvantage if we ever feel like we are getting ourselves too excited. 

Regardless, here are some interesting statistics from our agency:

• Avg. of 12 month wait for heterosexual couples.
• Avg. of 15 month wait for same-sex couples.
• 40 -60 children placed per year on average from a pool of around 70 "waiting" families (like us). 
• 98% of children placed are newborn children. 
• 7% of birth mothers change their mind after planning an adoption.  This statistic is a terrifying reality that Jon and I try not to think of regularly.