Meet a couple of our newest little angels: Kain and Henry

KAIN: 

DOB: January 2013

This handsome little guy is Kain. He just turned a year old. He is considered a smart and cute little boy. He likes bathing and beating the water. He is interested in colorful toys that make noise. He is out going and not scared of strangers. He is babbling and making sounds like "baba" and "mama". He loves music and needs it sometimes before bed because it helps calm him to sleep. He is in a Foster home and loves playing with his older brother.

His special need is Post-Operative CHD (VSD & ASD) and, according to his hospital discharge records, has a left oblique inguinal hernia. He can not walk yet but he can stand up while holding on to something. They say he even likes to get in the walker and run around.

Could you be his forever family?

Kain's file is only available for families who have an active LID in China.

HENRY: 

DOB October 2012

This little guy is Henry and he is a year and a half old. He is a typical baby, loving to to be cuddled and tickled. He likes to play with toys, especially his rattle and musical toys.

His special need is inversion of both ankles and is going through occupational therapy. We do have updates on his sessions and a video of this little guy.

Henry's file is only available for review by families who have an LID in China.

Could you be this little one's forever family?

If you would like more information about these two little guys, please fill out the preliminary application. Please mention the child's name in the comments section and when your LID is. The application fee is waived for all Waiting Child inquiries.

Feel free to contact our office by phone at 970-532-3576 or email at info@aacadoption.com .

AAC Fall Festival 2013

Happy Halloween! Happy Fall! Happy Happy Joy Joy. :)

The staff and families had such an amazing time a couple of weekends back at our annual Fall Festival. We wanted to share a couple of the photos from the day with you.

Red took some of the photos but she also swiped some from family pages on Facebook. hehe . We were having so much fun with the kiddos and running from the Big Bad Wolf that we forgot to pull out our camera and snap shots. Sorry.....

Okay so here is what you have been waiting for!

 Click HERE to check out more photos!

Friday's Special Feature: Updates on AAC's Programs

Happy Friday!
We thought we would give you some updates on how AAC's China and Korea Programs are going. We haven't done an update in a long time. Soooooo here we go:

China

The new China system (CPIS) is up and running and seems to be working great. It took us a little bit to get a good handle on the new procedures but we are fast learners and have caught on quick. We still can't accurately predict timelines yet since the process is still new. I am hoping that by the first of the year we will be able to say, "on average it has been taking this long for blah blah", and "our families have been able to get their blah blah in blah average days".
We did get some children for our agency list at the end of August. We have been able to place over half the kiddos with their Forever families. We still have 6 little cuties waiting for their forever families. If you would like to view their photos just click HERE.

Korea

The trip to Korea at the beginning of the week went great. AAC was able to get videos and photos of all of our children there. They are all sooooo adorable. If you are matched with a child in the Korea program, your video and photos are being mailed out today and should arrive sometime next week. If you haven't received them by next Friday, call us and let us know. Wahoooo! 

We were able to sit down and talk with Eastern about some of our concerns and expectations and were pleased at how open and communicative they were. 

If there is one thing we want everyone to know it is that the Korea Program is still a viable program. Even though it has gone through numerous changes over the last year we want to confirm that it is a stable program and is still a good option for families. 

Things to note: 

• Korea is a toddler adoption program, children are typically coming home at about 2 years old
• Both the boy and the girl wait lists are open to families
• All children are in a loving foster care home
• Foster Parents receive extensive training and ongoing support
• All children receive regular medical care
• Yes, Parents do have to travel to finalize the adoption in Korea, but Seoul is a great place to visit! Learn about your child's heritage, eat something you didn't ever think you would eat, take a subway trip to the four corners of the city and explore.

Eastern has an amazing reputation and we have worked great with them these last 20 years and we look forward to many more years of this partnership. 

I think that is all the updates I have for right now. 

Keep up-to-date with AAC by following our blog, Tweet with us on Twitter or find us on Facebook. 

Friday Features: Willow, Tessa and Reid

Yesterday we introduced you to our four waiting children from Korea. Today we wanted you to meet three of our waiting children from the China program. 

Meet TESSA

DOB: February 2012

This little beauty is Tessa and she is a year and a half. She enjoys babbling and playing games. She can sit alone, stand with holding a hand, roll over and pass a toy.

Her special need is mild mal-development of bilateral frontal lobe. We are not sure at this time how delayed she is but at the time of the last report in May she was behind. We are working on getting an update.

Meet WILLOW

DOB: March 2012

This little sweetie is Willow and she is a year and a half. She likes to giggle and play games. She loves her Foster Mother. She is said to be "quiet, pretty and adored".

Her special need is development delay. We are not sure at this time how delayed she is but at the time of the last report in May she was behind in all areas. We are working on getting an update. We found out on Sept. 18th that she has a hemangioma on her back (2x2 in measurement).

Meet REID

DOB: August 2011

This fair haired and rosy cheeked cutie is Reid. He is two years old. He is said to be "a clever and lovely baby".  He is walking and talking. He likes music and gets excited when you turn it on.

Reid has been diagnosed with Albinism. Children affected with Albinism have higher sensitivity in their eyes. They may require sunglasses while outside and sometimes inside as well. A lot of the children will require reading glasses for poor eyesight.  He was also diagnosed with Pulmonary stenosis of the heart (CHD). He has not had surgery for the heart defect yet. He was abandoned at 6 months.

If you would like more information about these beautiful girls and handsome little guy, please fill out the preliminary application. Please mention the child's name in the comments section. The application fee is waived for all Waiting Child inquiries.

Friday Double Feature: Xavier & Uriah

Xavier

DOB: January 2012

This happy little 1 1/2 year old guy ix Xavier. 

Xavier is said to be a smart baby. He loves babbling and being talked to by Foster Mother. He likes music and loves to touch things. He can be sensitive to loud sounds. He likes to touch Foster Mother's face and hands. 

He was abandoned at the age of 6 months. His special need is that he has congenital nubecula and mal-development of both eyes. This could mean that he is blind but at this time we do not know.  He is going to be housed at Bethel soon that will give us more information about his development. 

Uriah

DOB: August 2009

 This sweet little guy is Uriah, and he is 4 years old. He is fond of playing games, singing and clapping hands. He loves to ask questions and is said to be a very curious boy. He is in Pre-School.


Uriah was abandoned at the age of 3 years old. He is blind and has Nystagmus (which is rapid movement of the eyes).  He is currently being homed at Bethel. They will be helping him with his special need.





If you would like any information on either child, please fill out a Preliminary Application at AACAdoption.com. Make sure you mention the child's name in the comments and the $25 pre-app fee will be waived.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact Erin at info@aacadoption.com or call the office.

My Story Monday: The Hunt Family

It is sometimes hard for me to believe that just 5 years ago, our family consisted of just two of us.  My husband and I were so eager to have children, but after two years of struggling with infertility we wondered if this would ever be a possibility.  Our hearts had always been open to adoption, but the prospect of actually starting that journey seemed scary and uncertain.  There were so many options, so many choices, so many unknowns.  The length and cost of international adoption seemed almost impossible to us at the beginning, but as we prayed about our decision we found ourselves coming back to this option over and over again.  In January 2008, we took the plunge and began the journey to our son, Matthew, who was born in South Korea.

The moment we held Matthew in our arms, our fears and anxieties about adoption fell away.  He was ours, totally and completely!  We were so in love with our sweet little boy and knew without a doubt that we would be adding to our family through adoption again in the future.  I must admit, even I was surprised to find myself talking about another little one only a few months after Matthew came home!  When he had been home about a year, we started our second adoption. 

This time as we started the process, we started wondering if we might be more open to special needs than we had been the first time around.  We started learning about different medical conditions and prayed that the Lord would lead us to our child.  I spent many evenings reading about waiting children on different websites, and one day I saw a little face that instantly made me smile.  Our Nathan was listed on AAC’s waiting children website and he had the best chubby cheeks and spikey hair I had ever seen!  It did take a while for us to research his special needs and honestly the unknowns were pretty scary for us at times, but we knew he was to be our son and I’m so thankful that we didn’t let our fears get in the way of bringing him home.  We met Nathan in June 2011 and he is an absolute blessing to us!

In December of that year, I told Brad not to worry, I wouldn’t be bringing up adoption for quite a while as I knew our hands were full with two active little boys.

Then in January, I got this strange feeling that the Lord had another child for us.  We started talking about adopting a boy older than Matthew, but in the end the Lord made it very clear that our next little one would be a girl younger than Nathan!  We were thrilled to begin the journey to Hannah last February.  Hannah has the same special need as Nathan (they both have bilateral Microtia, a congenital ear deformity, and hearing loss) and we were so excited to travel to China in January to bring her home! 

Everything about our trip went more smoothly than we could have even hoped. With this being our third adoption, we knew that it might be an easy transition (we’d had one of those) or it might be a really difficult transition (we’d had one of those, too!).  We were amazed at how quickly Hannah took to us and began bonding with both of us.  The moment we arrived home, her two older brothers welcomed her with open arms into our family and they never looked back!

When she was first home, we had Hannah evaluated as it was obvious that she was delayed in her physical development.  At 18-months-old, she couldn’t get into a sitting position on her own, and couldn’t crawl or stand alone.  She had very low muscle tone and was assessed to be at a 6-9 month old level for her gross motor skills.  She is a very determined little one, though, and now just six months later, she is running around chasing her brothers, climbing on things, and she has been discharged from physical therapy!  This week she received her hearing aid and she has once again shocked us with her adaptability and resiliency.  We are so thankful for all of the progress she has made in the last few months and it has been a joy to see her personality emerge as she continues to settle into our family.  Hannah is a cuddly, kind, spunky, sweet, smart little girl and we are so glad that she is ours!

Life is very busy these days with a 4-year-old, 3-year-old, and 2-year-old, but we really wouldn’t have it any other way!  Hannah has fit seamlessly into our family and we can hardly remember life without her here.  We all love her so much!

I never could have imagined 5 years ago the incredible plan God had for our family.  We are blessed beyond words!