Oops, I did it again!

I'm calling this my "OOPS adoption!" I always felt like I'd have a bigger family, but I came to accept that wasn't what was in the stars for me and was completely happy with my family of 3. Until the evening of June 24th when the sweetest face smiled at me across the computer screen. I spent the next few days emailing back and forth with an adoption agency, an orphanage director, and an amazing agency (Hope Station) that was interacting with this little guy. My mind was rationalizing why this was a crazy thing to do, how my family was stable and happy as is, how it would be hard to raise 3 kids on my own, how he was older and it could be a really hard adjustment, but my heart just kept going back to him. Finally on July 9, I decided to listen to my heart and be courageous. I took a leap of faith and submitted a Letter of Intent to adopt Min Haijun. On July 12, I received my pre-approval to adopt and was official "matched" to Jay Haijun Baker!

Audrey and Sam are beside themselves excited! Audrey remembers going to China and adopting Sam and can't wait to do it again. She's been working on getting our office converted into a 3rd bedroom that will be "just perfect" for Jay! Sam cannot get rid of his smile - he's so excited to be a BIG BROTHER!

Just like how Audrey named Sam (she was really into Dr Seuss's Sam-I-am at the time), I wanted Audrey and Sam to name their brother. On his orphanage paperwork, his Chinese name was listed as Min Haijun. There were two American agencies working with him - Bay Area Adoption Services who named him "Jonathan" and Hope Station who named him "Josiah." So his paperwork, had one of those two "J" names all over it. In the two weeks we were considering the adoption, Audrey, Sam, and I were referring to him as "J" and the name stuck! We decided a 1-letter name was a bit pretentious :) So we went with "Jay!"

We immediately started the Home Study process which has become a bit more cumbersome than it was a few years ago. Audrey and Sam both were individually interviewed by a social worker, we went through two family interviews, I was interviewed several times by a social worker, I completed educational modules, a fireman inspected our house, we had a home safety audit completed, the dog's vet wrote a letter that our pets were well cared for (seriously!), I had blood and urine samples collected, my physician wrote a letter supporting my physical and mental health, and the kids' pediatrician wrote a letter about their health. And, FINALLY, our home study was approved on October 15 and I submitted all of our documents to US Immigration asking for permission to adopt!

We're one step closer, little man!