Aug 2006 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM & CHRIS

My mom and Chris share the same birthday. August 22nd. Someone has been a good boy this year and got a new toy!!!!

May 16th - 2006 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

We are celebrating our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. Hopefully next year we'll be doing all our celebrating in China with our daughter!!! This year we celebrate in Marco Island at Marriot Resort & Spa. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

We are GROUP 122!!!!

We are officially paper pregnant!!! We received our group number today. The agency says our wait can be between 11 -14 mos. Wait times have gotten longer due to some delays in China and more domestic adoptions there. We're on the ride now!! Yippeee!

May 2006 - We made the MAY batch!!!

I spoke with Tracy at our agency and she confirmed that our Dossier will be sent to China in the next couple of days. I can't wait for the next milestone...our group number. If it all works out we may be in China next summer to meet our daughter!!!

The Paperchase is over!!! We have our I-171H.

We had our homestudy sent to INS on March 15th. I prayed that it wouldn't take 2 months to receive our final approval, the I-171H form. Well last Friday I get a letter in the mail requesting more info. I almost cried because I thought we were done. Well I gathered everything and ran to FedEx and sent it out that same day to be received the Monday after Easter. I prayed that we would still get the final approval this month but thought "fat chance". On Wednesday there was another letter in the mailbox from INS. I thought "What do they want now?" so I hesitated then ripped it open. It was the final approval I-171H form. I was so excited I couldn't get the words out when I called Chris. It's finally off to our agency and hopefully we'll make the May batch to China.

Chile 2006

Chris has gotten a wonderful opportunity to go to Chile with is his job & renew his Chile passport. So, Chris' Mom and I jumped on the bandwagon and we're going with Robert (Chris' stepdad) and Soledad to Chile. I can't wait. I'm nervous and excited. Chris has not been back in 22 years. What an event. Once we have his passport all we will need is the INS approval and our docs can go to China.

We traveled to Chile for business and pleasure. His passport was done in 5 days. We spent 7 days in Chile and had a great time. It will be a story to tell our daughter and we will be able to share his culture with her as well.

Viu Manent Vineyard

Viu Manent Vineyard

Bisquertt Vineyard

Chile wines are delicious. We were able to sample a couple on a tour to these two vineyards. The climate and ambiance are perfect for an afternoon at the vineyards. We had lunch at an old hotel in San Fernado Valley and visited a museum there too. It was truly amazing to see the country.

Viu Manent Vineyard

Preliminary Dossier Mailed!!!

We mailed our preliminary Dossier to the agency today. What a huge step!!! We are soooo excited. I hope it gets to China in May's batch. If that happens then we'll get to be in China by next May, hopefully!!!!

Homestudy at INS

Our homestudy was received at INS on March 15th. Now the wait begins. I hope they are fast. Chris also has to work on getting his passport from Chile done. This has been a fun challenge (not!). Our cut-off to be DTC in May is April 5th. I think we may not make it. I know it's in God's hands so I'm not going to worry.

March 2006 Homestudy Complete!!!

Our homestudy is complete and it should be on it's way to INS next week. Thanks to our wonderful Social Worker Jeannie Balfour with Florida Home Studies and Adoptions. Thank you Jeannie. I'm praying that we can have our 171-H Approval by mid-April so that we can be DTC by May 2006. I would love to mark our 2 Year Anniversary with this wonderful event. We're so excited!!! Oh and I'm trying to learn conversational Chinese.

1st Day of Class for MBA

I went back to school at the University of Phoenix for Master's Degree in Human Resources Management. I'm very excited to get on the road with another one of my life goals.

Our 1st Homestudy visit

2/12/06 - Today was our 1st homestudy visit. Our social worker was very nice and it appeared to go pretty well. She asked us all about our lives and family. She asked us how we would discipline our child and our child care options. It was pretty interesting to see it all on paper. We gave her 3/4 of the documents she requested. Just a few more and then we'll be done with that part so we can focus on our next goal, Dossier to China (DTC).Thank you for reading and sharing in our journey.

February 2006

A few more steps...
1/30/06 - I600A Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition mailed & filed 2/3/06 - Homestudy Agency selected - Florida Homestudy and Adoptions
2/7/06 - Received receipt for I600A & Fingerprint Appt
2/10/06 - Completed Fingerprints & Got background check from City of Davie.

I re-registered in school to complete my Master's Degree in Human Resources Management!! Am I crazy?!!! Next step... Homestudy starts Sunday 2/12/06

So we're on our way

After many discussions about starting a family, Chris and I decided we would grow our family through adoption. We have a home big enough and we are at that place in life when you know it's time to make some additions. So here we are holding hands and jumping in head first into this journey called ADOPTION. We're so thrilled to be able to give a child a home. There are so many children out there that deserve a comfortable bed in a secure home, with warm food and a nice bath. We want to be the parents that give that and more to them. We feel lucky to have each other and we have a lot of love to share. We can't wait to meet our child.

Catching Up!

Please pardon our dust while I play catch up. I'm trying to move all my postings from my personal web page to this blog. Sorry if it causes a little confusion. I'll try to preserve the order so please don't look at the dates for now.

Our Journey Begins... Feb 2006

We created our blog to keep our friends and family informed of each of the milestones in our life. We've decided to take on adoption as a way to grow our family and we are so excited! Chris and I have always talked about adoption and now it's coming true. This decision has brought us closer than ever before. We look forward to sharing our story with you every step of the way and finally sharing the result. A daughter!!!

We're thrilled to share with everyone that we have decided to adopt a child from China. We hope to have a daughter in the next 18 months or so. (Some of you thought pregnancy was bad. Ha!) For those of you who are not familiar with international adoption. China places thousands of children, primarily females, in foster care or orphanages every year because they are abandoned. We have chosen China for their culture, their history, their beauty and most of all we'd love to have a little girl.

It's not an easy process. It's an emotional and financial rollercoaster that you don't know when it will end. We are up for the ride and we're thrilled. We'll keep you posted.

We ask our family and friends for your support and prayers during the process. Thank you for sharing, caring and praying for us.

Love,

The Muñoz Family