The Real Blair Family » school

School Is Out

April — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:16:33 +0000

This is the part where the waiting might get really old, fast. I have been finished with school for a few weeks now. April will probably finish tomorrow. We will then both have no homework to occupy our nights, so we’re already wondering what to do.

We have thought about volunteering at the temple, going on more hikes, and getting part time jobs, but who knows what we’ll do. Right now I’m not terribly motivated to work at night, though it would be a good way to save up for the adoption. We could try out new hobbies, or something along those lines.

I’m sure April will want some time to just relax, as I’ve been doing for a couple weeks. Then I guess we’ll see what happens. In the meantime, we’re waiting on our August numbers, which we hope will take us down into the thirties on both lists. We’ve only had two sets of numbers so far, and they were so close together that we couldn’t really gauge how fast this will go. I think the timeline the agency gave us sounds about right (8-12 months).

So I guess it’s back to waiting…….

Why Ethiopia?

April — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:23:28 +0000

We have decided to adopt a boy from Ethiopia. I have always been intrigued by international adoption but I thought more and more about it during my graduate studies in public health. In one of my courses I was assigned to work in a group to develop a pseudo-business and apply our management knowledge. My group decided to develop an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. As I researched the country and the need for adoption, I realized that it was something I would want to do. I talked to Nate about it and he also started to get excited about adoption.

Nate and I were in the process of saving our money for IVF. We both did not like the fact that less than half of IVF procedures were successful. As we weighed the options (IVF vs. adoption) we tried to look at the decision objectively. We could create a life through IFV or we could find a child (who would otherwise not have a family) through adoption. If we were to choose IVF, a child would still be out there without a family and opportunities that we could offer. We could have chosen to adopt through LDS Social Services, but we know there are numerous families on the waiting list, and the children who are placed will go into good, loving homes. But in Ethiopia, there are millions of children who will not have that opportunity. The disparities between the US and Ethiopia are alarming. Here are a few Ethiopian statistics:

4.8 million orphans
12.3% of children die before their 5^th birthday
50% of all children in Ethiopia will never attend school
88% of all children in Ethiopia will never attend secondary school
Highest HIV/AIDS population in the world
Doctor to child ratio: 1 per 24,000
Life expectancy: 41
Only 24% of households have access to safe drinking water
GDP: $630

We are confident in our choice to adopt from Ethiopia (while also respecting other people’s decisions such as IVF, domestic adoption, foster care, etc). We know there is a long wait ahead of us, but we know it will be worth it.

First Post Ever

April — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:47:37 +0000

Well we’ve decided to join the world of blogging. The main purpose of the blog right now will be to document the process of adoption. We recently selected the agency and have contacted the social worker who will conduct our home study. Nate and I worked on some of the paperwork over the break and hope to get the process rolling asap. Today I will be submitting our background check documents (which we had to do twice since we used black ink the first time).

Other than that we are doing really well. We recently finished our fourth semester of school and have two more to go. We both enjoy learning and are happy we chose to go back to school, but we admit that we’ll be glad when it’ all over. We have enjoyed the holidays. We spent Thanksgiving with the Hoopers in Blairsden, CA (thus the sign) and spent Christmas with the Blairs. We’ve enjoyed spending time with family.