So when are you going to get Hokey Pokey Gocke??

I've had several people (actually more like 20-30) ask me that question this week, so I thought it might be a good idea to update my blog!

We've done a lot over the last several months; here's a little summation of what the process has been like so far. In February, we started looking into adopting from Taiwan. Soon after we started working with ABC Counseling towards our international home study. In March, I had a discussion with the orphanage in Taiwan. They informed us that, with the laws changing in Taiwan, they were going to halt their adoption program until they further understood how the new laws would affect them. So we decided to switch to a domestic adoption.

We then went through the home study process for a domestic adoption, getting medical evaluations, background clearances, references, training, etc. In August our home study was almost done when I received contact from the orphanage in Taiwan. They informed us that the new laws had taken affect, and they were going to be processing several cases under the new laws. They wanted to know if they could process our paperwork and have us be one of those families. At this point, we were pretty much done with our domestic home study and on their waiting list for a domestic adoption.

I immediately called Steve, because after all, he is the clear-headed rational one in our relationship. I expected him to tell me that it would be silly to switch programs now since we had come so far with domestic adoption. However, as soon as I told him everything, he said that he felt we needed to switch back to Taiwan because that is where are hearts are. That's all the confirmation I needed! We of course prayed about it and discussed it more that evening, but we both knew we wanted Taiwan more than anything!

So we got a hold of our caseworker at ABC Counseling and had her change our home study from a domestic to an international. Our home study is now at the orphanage in Taiwan, and now we are playing the waiting game. We will wait to hear that we have been referred a little baby. Once we have received a referral of a little baby, then there is more waiting as the legal documents and process is completed in Taiwan. We will then travel to Taiwan and meet our child. This trip will be about a week long. A couple of months after that we will return to Taiwan to bring our child home!

We are so excited to learn who our little one will be. We know so many people are praying for us and little Hokey Pokey Gocke, and we appreciate your prayers so much! God bless you all!