Update

Sorry for being absent for so long - the past few months were very difficult. In October, Drew left his job unexpectedly. We hoped he would find something new quickly, but as weeks wore on it soon became clear that he was in for a long haul.

We had applied to the Special Needs program in February, 2008 and were told we'd have a referral in 10-12 months. So by December I was worried that we would get a referral but not be able to go get our baby. We had to use a lot of our savings making ends meet and covering unexpected costs like new tires on my car. On Christmas Eve, I e-mailed CCAI and asked them to put our SN application on hold. The original dossier would remain in line since referrals in the traditional program are taking so long (people getting referrals now have waited 3 years!) It was hard to make that decision but we knew it was the safest thing to do.

Drew found a new job in February as a teacher's aide in a special education class. He loves the work - he has an autistic boy, a developmentally disabled boy, and another boy with multiple disabilities. It's so rewarding for him to be "hands on" again after being in administration so long. But it pays only about 40% of what he was making so we haven't been able to replenish our savings. I don't know how long that will take. We can leave our SN app on hold until June, but then we need to come to a decision on what we do. Do we take a leap of faith that we'll find the money and go forward with the SN adoption knowing we'd probably have a referral by the end of summer? Do we go back to waiting years before getting a Non-SN child? Do we just try to accept that we may never be parents? Sigh..... at nearly 38 and going on 46, how long do we have to be parents - at least so we have the energy and drive to do all the tough parenting work. It makes my head spin sometimes.

On the bright side, April 2007 dossiers are being reviewed currently - that's when we were logged in. It will probably take a long time for the CCAA to get through the entire month, but that will be one hurdle cleared. Keep your fingers crossed that we get through this ok!

Happy spring to everyone - Love, Jen Drew & Charlotte