September 9, 2009, 9 a.m.- The girls are now LEGALLY named Werners! Today the judge signed the decree that legally re-adopted the girls in the state of Oklahoma and to change their names to Evie Quynh Werner and Emma Song Werner. What a great day!
January 2009- Jen and Wayne left to get the girls and came back two weeks later with the newest monkeys!! Jen officially received the monkeys on Jan 12th, their first first birthday. There is a lot of significance with this date: it is Wayne's birthday as well, and also, 41 years ago that day, Wayne was on a plane flying to Vietnam to serve our country! As some of you may also know, I run a marathon for each of the kids and the 12th was also the day I ran the marathon for the girls!! What a day!
July 2008- The entire paperwork process is completed. Now we wait for the email telling us the dates to go get dem' babies!
April to July 2008- Although I was deployed, Jen was still working hard getting the entire adoption process squared away...What a lady!
4 February 2008- Well, still no word on those twins, but we did get word that we are at the top of the list for two non-related children. The race is on to see which children will come available first!! Place your bets, please.
January 2008- We received word that two female twins MIGHT come available in the next few weeks. Nothing is certain, but we are keeping our fingers crossed!
December 2007- Well we received word that we are at the top of the list for twins, but still about 4th on the list for two unrelated children. We will take whichever comes available first!
October 23, 2007- Ms. Cindy- Thank you for checking in every so often and thank you for the awesome book! Jen and I absolutely love it!!
October 20, 2007- All of the papers have been sent out to be certified and authenticated...In the next couple days the papers should come back to us, then they are off to the adoption agency! We are expecting our referral around Christmas time. Stay tuned!
September 18, 2007- Jen and I sat down and worked our numbers and budget...We decided that 1 child from Vietnam isn't for us. However, 2 children from Vietnam IS for us. It is a little cheaper to do it all at once so we are going to try to get a "top-off" on our original loan to cover the amount for the second child. This week we should get the answers to our questions from the adoption agency and if the answers are what we are hoping for, we are going to go ahead and get that second baby...If there are any long-lost millionaire relatives reading this that want to kick in some money, now is the time to speak up!
September 7, 2007- The paperwork trail is nearing an end. Our packet has been sent to the Vietnam embassy and we expect to hear from them in about a week. After that, our dossier will be complete and sent to Vietnam for referral. Once we are referred, a picture of our baby girl will be sent to us along with a medical profile. From that point, it will be a few months before we can go get her! We should expect to get her in late winter or early spring. Keep checking in!
May 29, 2007- Today was our first Home Study. Our social worker came over and gave us interviews, talked with the kids and looked around the house. She also sat us down and explained some topics that most parents don't think about and helped us understand the specifics of what to expect in the next few months. Needless to say, Jen and I broke out the champagne...
May 21, 2007- Thanks for checking up on us! A lot has happened in the last week. First off, we just jumped over the first hurdle, securing a loan for the adoption. I told Jen that we should take the money and head to Vegas so we can double or perhaps triple it. She said "no". Oh well, maybe next time. Secondly, we have completed the huuuge stack of paperwork needed to adopt a child. You would think it would be as easy as ordering a happy meal at McDonalds...