Dora

I'm sitting on my couch for the first time today, emotionally and physically fried from a week that has been busy, exciting, nerve-wracking and draining. I'm dying to share our story with everyone and yet I'm struggling to find the energy to type!

This Monday I was at pump it up with Cinderella, the Froisland "twins" and Julie and I went to check on my phone. I know that sounds lake, but I'm more worried about my phone being stolen then my wallet. When I looked down at the screen my heart started beating quickly as I recognized the phone number as that of our social worker! I anxiously looked to see if she left a message and she didn't. There was no way I could return her phone call at that point so I focused my attention back on the task at hand and called her back when I got home. I nervously dialed her number but she didn't keep ms hanging. She told me right away that we'd been matched with a Laotian-African American girl who she said was 16 months old. She told me more information about the mom than the child and I realized soon after we got off the phone that I didn't even know her name! I was told that mom had a diagnosis of schitzophrenia and had been using drugs since she was 13. Interestingly enough the mom was adopted in Thailand by a Thai or maybe Hmoung couple and they later immigrated to the U.S.A. It ended up that she grew up American by culture and her parents were still living their Asian culture. She has two other children quite a bit older than Dora who have been removed from her care and adopted by her parents. As the situation stands right now the mom is trying to get Dora back but because of her history in the system and the fact that her services have been terminated by the County things don't look promising for mom. The next court hearing is April 20th where the county will attempt to terminate her parental rights.

Dora looks much more Asain than African American. When we first set out on our adoption journey, before Cinderella I always wanted to adopt from China. I think Asain babies are SOOOO cute! So needless to say I am on cloud nine! She is older than we were first told. She was born July 2009 so Cinderella and Dora are about 8 months apart. So we now we will join some of our friends who have "twins" through adoption. I'm excited to have a playmate for Cinderella. She's a short little thing. She's only in the 20th percentile for height! She isn't really talking yet so she has some speech delays and she has had some problems with affection. I guess she is finally ok and enjoying affection but that she isn't good with change. There's a lot of unknowns. Both parents have mental health issues and she's too young to know how or if this will affect her later in life. She is still needing to be tested for hearing and they aren't confident that she has 100% hearing. She was born with traces of amphetamines and opiates and again, we don't know how it will affect her long term. We'll just take it as it comes knowing that God is sufficient in our weakness and will give us the wisdom and grace to handle whatever comes our way. We are in love with her already and can't wait to meet her next Monday or Tuesday! If things go well we may have her living with us by the end of April. We're not sure exactly how long it will take to make the transition. But in the meantime we'll be able to spend lots of time with her at her foster family's house and eventually have her for days and then weekends at a time at our house and will gradually take over the role of primary caretaker until she's comfortable enough with us to move in without trauma.

The timing is great since we're getting close to summer. Once we transition her I may have a month left of work before summer break. We're seeing all the pieces gradually come together and are so excited to see where God takes us on this journey.