Well, we are almost off! Amazing how fast time goes! No, we still haven’t got our 171-h yet, but are going to send a large check to Crossroads (our adoption agency) because I guess when they send the 171-h to us, they too get a copy. So, even if we are gone, they can send our dossier to Nepal as long as they have the check! Keep your fingers crossed that it gets out by the time we get back… if not- I am going to be quite agitated!
Anyway, I am going to try and keep you updated on my other website when traveling (since it was made for that purpose) so please refer to that one these next few weeks, and hopefully I’ll be able to update that lots.

Here is the address:
http://carsonadventures.weebly.com/

Once we get that letter though, I WILL let you know!

Ok- So it has been around 4 months since we sent in our fingerprints to INS/Homeland security to get our 171-H form- the ONLY thing left so we can send our dossier over to Nepal. And still NOTHING. We leave for our summer plans in around a week and really want to send it off! I knew that once it got to Nepal things would take awhile, but this??? I have been reading many other blogs where it took as little as 11 days to get the form. I don’t know what is going on!

Ah, sorry to vent. Anyway, we are very excited for the next month. Off to Cleavland next friday and then Paris on Sunday! River’s first international trip! We even got him a passport which is mighty cute. After that Kyle and River are heading back to the states/New York for some R&R at the Adirondacks with lots of fam. I on the other hand am heading to South Africa for my last elective class with St. Thomas. Lots of excitement! So, look for picts and fun information on here! Hopefully, next time I write I will be in France, have our dossier completed, and having some fun!!!

Well, a lot has happened in this last few months, but also so very little.

We have been lucky to have some wonderful spring break trip to Colorado and NYC, spend time with grandparents, and enjoy the outdoors! How how wonderful that is! River is doing an amazing job now of putting 3 words together (sad thing is, the most common phrase is “dada (or) mama go work”, and say’s “I love you mama” (which makes up for the work thing:) jumping, stairs (he can almost do all of them by himself!) River is a fabulous dribbler, hiker (with a football) among many other things!

I will try and keep you updated on all of his amazing progress!

As for our Nepal adoption- it is very slow. We are STILL waiting on homeland security (3 months now!) for out 171-h. Also there is some political turmoil in Nepal which is making us question things. Below I will paste some info I just got from a website written by Nepalese lawyers. It is all frustrating now, since we are wanting to get our dossier in a country soon!
Ministry embassies meet

Kathmandu:  A meeting was held today between the consulates, embassies of various countries in Nepal and the Ministry of Women Children and Social Welfare to discuss and update International Adoption of Nepal.  The meeting was coordinated by the German Embassy here in Nepal.  The Ministry briefed the international offices about a Code of Conduct which the government is planning to introduce to stake holders of international adoption which would include the orphanages, representatives and agencies.  A participant of the meeting said that this Code of Conduct however did not speak about anything for the Ministry  themselves who with the centralization of process has become the key players of adoption.

The ministry also updated in the meeting that almost two hundred fifty dossiers have been registered, however the ministry did not openly state about the matching status said a participant.  He added that several important questions raised by the embassies and consulates were not clarified by the Nepal officials, the counsels were not satisfied with govt. response to their questions.

Meanwhile according to a reliable source the Ministry has matched children from three families of American Agency Holt International.  The ministry has directly mailed the referral package to these three families.  This has taken the representatives here and adoption agencies abroad by surprise.  Nepal has just ratified the Hague and according to Hague communication with the family has to be through the Agency said one of the representative from the Adoption Agencies Representative Forum Nepal (AARFN)  We representatives are confused and surprised by Ministrys step of sending the child referral directly to the families, there is a system which the New Terms and Conditions have laid down and the government should walk on those lines.  The new rules states of families going through an approved agency.

The government had last year invited application from agencies abroad and approved and accredited 68 adoption agencies earlier to work for international Adoption from Nepal.  

Well, it’s finally acting a little like spring around here… River is OBSESSED with being outside with his balls, bikes and crucks (car/trucks) and in the meantime the outlook for our baby girl slows down. A few weeks ago kyle and I went up to St. Paul and got our fingerprints done for the FBI (an incredible people watching experience) and are waiting back from homeland security to confirm that we are indeed US citizens. (I think this form will be the 171-H?) So now we have our dossier done except for that last piece. Once that gets mailed to us and then to our adoption agency, we will be able to send all our hard work and a good amount of money to the country of Nepal. Then, we wait some more.

Otherwise things are going ok in the Carson household. I (erin) am keeping busy at school and working on my classes when River naps, and Kyle is in his full work mode with lots of shows in the dance department this spring. There has been lots of various health problems with our many beloved family and friends these past few weeks which has made things quite hard, but we are thankful River is able to enjoy the outside again. He obviously is at home when he plays in nice weather!

So some new things river is doing are:

lots of 2 word sentences, he puts them together quite nicely.

He is learning colors and loving puzzles

the past few weeks we have given in to the tv watching a little bit with movies on saturday nights like “Muppets” and “Cars” (or crucks, whatever) and then last night we thought it would be fitting that we watch “Madagascar” after taking him to the zoo in the morning. (picture of River looking into the dolphin tank above.) He loves it. (I hope zoo more than the movie!)

So tomorrow morning Kyle and River get a week off to go to Colorado and enjoy a relaxing spring break with the Carson’s. Mama will sure miss them but am also looking forward to sleeping in a little. (This weekend we have had some early mornings-I don’t do well with a 6:30am start time on Saturdays). I’m not quite sure what I’ll do with all my extra time, but hopefully I can use it for something productive! Then in a couple weeks River and I head off to NY to see Grammy and Paps new place in Manhattan!  We (well, at least I) am very excited!

So back to the adoption process– below is a report on some of the adoption happenings in Nepal. I found it pretty informative!

*********************************

Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, March 17 – With the government expediting the selection process for inter-country adoption, Nepali orphans and children abandoned by their families are only a few months away from their new homes abroad. A list of Nepali children available for inter-country adoption is under scrutiny at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare.

The central matching committee under the ministry has been assigned to go ahead with the process. Of late, a total of 115 prospective foreign parents have applied seeking Nepali children for adoption.

It is mandatory for prospective adoptive parents to present a document from their home country permitting adoption.

“The matching process could take two to three months before the children are handed over to foreign adoptive parents,” says Toya Nath Adhikari, legal officer at the ministry. “However, the process could be delayed because all registered orphanage homes have not submitted the list of children for adoption,” he says.

Out of 38 registered orphanage homes, only a few have submitted lists of a total of 45 children. Owing to strict new regulations and lack of fund, the homes took a long time to submit their reports.

For the first time, the ministry has adopted new measures to maintain transparency in the entire selection process and also tried to maintain secrecy to ensure that no one influences the process, say ministry officials.

“We are closely watching the whole process,” says Manoj Kumar Kandel, a representative of Canada-based international adoption agency — Choice Adoption.
“We hope the ministry will not be partial while handing over the children.”

After media exposed corruption and rampant exploitation of children, the ministry decided to hold the process for 18 months until effective laws were enacted to plug loopholes.

Back then, there were cases where agents bypassed regulations to illegally procure babies for potential parents for large amounts.

Following pressure from the international community, the government eased the ban and came up with new rules to systematize the process.

Under the new regulations, prospective parents have to deal with registered adoption agencies from their home country or Nepal-based embassies. Earlier, they used to deal with orphanage homes.

Since the amount for adoption was not determined, prospective parents often ended up paying huge amounts for the baby of their choice.

Now, the adoption fee for each child has been fixed at 8,000 dollars, with 5,000 dollars going to children’s homes and 3,000 dollars to the state.

The government has registered 62 international adoption agencies, and they have been asked to spend certain amount on the welfare of children in Nepal. Records at the ministry show that 2,244 Nepali children have been adopted since 2000 till date.

“We however need to monitor the government process,” says Tulasa Kharel, a representative of an adoption agency based in Italy. A UNICEF study released last September had said that an “industry” had grown up around adoption in which profit rather than the best interest of the child took centre stage. The study also found instances of children who were not orphans being given away for adoption by parents as well as orphanages.

Posted on: 2009-03-17 22:26:08 (Server Time) News CapsulesNational

to get to River’s little sister…

This weekend, we have our final fingerprints to do before INS approves that we are good people and a-ok to adopt a little girl from Nepal. We are very excited to get that done so we can start the dossier to send to the actual country of Nepal. It is amazing how much work adoption is, but we are so exited to someday meet our new baby girl!

River has been doing great with all of his lessons and activities every week. (Monday- music, Tuesday- swimming, Friday- gymnastics, and some Wednesdays are spent with our “new mom’s friends and babes eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s toys!) We are finally getting the last 2 of 3 teeth before his 2 year molars, so some nights he gets pretty fussy when he is nawing on his fingers!

Otherwise, with Kyle working all the time I (erin) am working hard to keep River occupied. Needless to say, if I am home alone with him he can get kinda bored (since he seems to always have so many different people and things to occupy him!) . That’s okay, even if it’s a quiet night we find our fun in puzzles, balls, and looking at still pictures on my computer. We had a grand ol’ time watching the video of Colin and Beth’s wedding on facebook the other night. Maybe I should make River a page ? Ha, he’ll make plenty of internet pages in his life, so I guess I shouldn’t start now!
Other than that, River’s new room is slowly getting together, and we are thinking of moving him early summer. I can’t imagine it, but this getting big thing is happening fast… way too fast.

Here are some things that River has currently been up to:

*Loving any kind of ball- he is completly obsessed. I can pull up google images and type in “football” and he can sit there for at least 30 minutes pointing and saying”football, football…” Is he REALLY my child???

*Swim lessons- he loves them! Now he is starting to blow bubbles (except when the instructor is there) and jumping into the pool to mama and dada . Its so much fun to see how happy he is in the water!

*This also goes for bath time too. He now screams and cries when he has to get out. I think he’d live in there if he could! Actually the first time he said “no” to me was when I was trying to take him out.

*River is really starting to repeat everything! He knows almost all sounds (still has a hard time with the eee sound) but loves to repeat and do everything we do. It’s pretty cute! All except for now we need to be much more cautious about what we say around him…

*He is a HAM. In music class every monday his favorite part is when he runs into the middle of the circle during the songs and starts to dance. He LOVES it when everyone is looking at him! Sometimes though, we step outside of music class for a minute because he likes to take the instruments and throw them. No River, not everything is a ball…

*Unless he is around way too many people (like the week of Colin and Beth’s wedding) River is a lover. He loves running up to me so  can pick him up where he will hug me hard and kiss me on the lips. I know all of this will end eventually so I am eating up every moment!

*Except for when he is sick, he is an amazing sleeper. When with us on the weekends, he goes to bed somewhere around 7:30 very happily, then wakes up around 7-7:30 in the morning, then has around a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon after lunch. He loves sleep… thank goodness!

*His new room is together with his new big boy bed. He is not quite ready to be in there yet (I don’t know, am I not ready or him?) so he is still in his crib. We need to change him somtime soon, probably around May since baby girl could be arriving anytime after August (we think!) For those of you that don’t know, River’s baby sister will be arriving from Nepal sometime in the near future! (Homestudy done! Waiting on INS and soon to send dossier over to Nepal).

*Daycare is Great, sicknesses not so much. Just like last year he has been a little off because of all the kids. In a strange way I am very happy to get this sickness over with! It happens now, or when they start school, or so I’ve been told.

*River Hates getting stuff on his hands (dirty, etc.) It kinda started with the sand in Hawaii (which he always refused to step foot on) and now when his hands are dirty from eating, he wants me to clean them or he goes nuts. Pretty cute.

*Also with the clean freak thing, he IS a good cleaner! If he spills a little milk, I give him a washcloth or paper towel and he cleans it. Thanks for teaching him that one Grammy and Pap!

River is a dear sweet boy! He is such a lover, I couldn’t ask for anyone more amazing!

Thanks for keeping up! I will try and get more info posted soon, but in the meantime, keep checking my flickr account!

This past holiday season has been wonderful time spent with great friends and family. River is in the process of learning tons of words and starting to begin his phrases- his first one being “kick the ball” – what a surprise! Uncle Colin thinks that someday 25 years from now, River will be starting a soccer camp called “kick the ball soccer camp with River Carson!” Okay, sounds cheesy and stupid here, but when you hear Colin you see how it could work!
Otherwise River is loving daycare- now he’s moved up to toddlers! There are so many fun toys for him to play with there I think he is quite occupied all day! He had his first school holiday program with daycare and he proudly jingled his bells and sat down most of the time.
Otherwise, after a thanksgiving at the Carson’s in Vail (with great skiing and lots of family fun!) we went to the Carson’s for an early Christmas in Fort Collins and then to Maui with the Laughery side. We are having tons of fun playing in the pool and beach (even though river can’t stand his feet on the sand- weird boy) and playing with his many Christmas presents- which consisted of balls. Pure heaven for my little boy!
This year has been so much fun watching him grow and play and become his own little person. I can’t wait for the next years adventures and fun ahead!
Happy new year to all of you! We love and miss you!

This Halloween was one of great fun!

Yesterday we had a great time enjoying friends and one of Kyle and Erin’s favorite holiday’s. After some weeks busy times,(with uncle colin and aunt beth’s wedding shower a couple weeks ago!)

we found some time to unwind by going to St. Olaf and enjoying some free activities for kids with Brett, Emily and Ella and then trick or treating at some of kyle’s student workers rooms.

We then went back to our house and visited some neighbors before heading in for drinks and dinner where Hillary, Rich and Aurelia, and Alan, Heidi and Addie joined us.

It was, all in all, a great Halloween with great friends and yummy candy!

River has been having a lot of fun these past few months and weeks playing with new and old friends. When he goes into daycare, everyday he gets so excited that he jumps up and down in Kyle’s arms. He is also taking a music and swim class this “semester” and loves them both because he gets to be around other little kids. He likes to follow around the older kids which is quite cute. He is such a social little boy it’s fun to watch him around others. He does have some issues sometimes with sharing, which hopefully will get better instead of worse!

So along with his “socialness” he is also getting more cuddly towards kyle and I. Every night right before he goes to sleep he and I have a good cuddle session; it is so special.

Playing on the playground near our house. He loves the park!

This evening we got to hang out with River’s new friend Ella. She was so cute! He also was very sweet giving her kisses.

Annie and River had a lot of fun the other weekend playing at the children’s museum!

Playing at a friends house!

Checking out Obama at the state fair!

Well, we are back to the world of the working. Kyle and I came back to Minnesota a week or so ago and have been preparing for and beginning to get back to work. I had surgery last Thursday for my umbilical hernia and began work this Monday. Might as well “rip the band aid off” quickly I guess. So River started back at daycare this last Friday. He seems to love it, but of course, the second day of daycare, he comes home with a runny nose! Ahhhhh…. I guess it’s never ending!

So although he has a small cold, he is now one of the oldest babies in the room and I think is enjoying being the “big boy”. They said that he is good with other babies and playing with kids that are close to his age. He is walking all the time now and figuring out the whole shoe thing, especially when they have velcro. His favorite thing to do is take off the shoes after I just put them on, which is not so nice to his mama.

Anyway, this last month or two has come with LOTS of change, and both Kyle and I are so happy that we were able to be home to experience them with him! So now, we are back to the grind, which I truly believe is good for all of us!