straight from the horse's mouth

Today I spoke with Katie at the Dillon corporate offices. She's an absolutely charming woman and I highly recommend calling her with questions. I wanted to know the current waiting times for referrals, and the difference between boys and girls. This is the scoop, straight from her lips to this page.

Wait time from dossier log-in in Vietnam:
BOYS 1-3 months
GIRLS 6-9 months

Average travel time after referral: 3-6 months

There you have it. Straight to you from the folks who know.

So, what does this mean to us? I have no idea. We continue to waffle on the girl vs. boy question. We said girl at the beginning. Then we agreed on a name. Then we started using the name. Then it all became real, and I am going to have a difficult time switching gears. (A note to those of you suddenly feeling offended because you don't know the name... stop feeling bad. The name is a secret and will remain such until we have a referral.) Our goal is to have our dossier in Vietnam by year end. That would mean that if we stayed with the girl plan, it would likely be mid 2008 before we managed to bring her home. If we decide on a boy, he would likely be home by this time next year. A friend of mine had a good point, she said that when she had her first child she was convinced it would be a girl. The clothes were purchased, the room was ready, and then she gave birth to a boy. What's my point? Change is natural. Becoming a parent requires constant gear shifting, in some cases, from the very beginning. The fact that mindset will have to change shouldn't keep us from switching plans. The question is whether or not it will, and how long we are willing to wait to bring our little one home.