baby steps

OK, so we have made some progress, well, that is what I call it to remain positive.  There are a few steps along the adoption route that help you keep track of just where you are"in line."  First there is the LID, that is when your packet of info actually gets to China.  Then there is the review room, which is where your packet of info is reviewed and any questions regarding forms are asked and fixed if necessary.  Finally there is the matching room where your packet of info gets matched with your child. 

As you know, our LID is Feb 13, 2007.  That is basically our ID#.  Everything from here on out is in reference to that date.  So we watch the boards and see just who is getting referrals.  The latest referrals were given to people with LIDs between Feb 9-15, 2006.  So we are a year away as far as LIDs go, so probably a couple of years of waiting time.  However, we just learned that we are out of the review room.  This is the progress I was talking about.  This means our packet of official documents has been reviewed and approved!  We did not receive a phone call from our agency indicating that there were questions about our info, and that is a good thing.  Technically, it doesn't really mean we are any closer to meeting our little girl, but it is one more step.

We are still years away from getting a referral.  The people who just received their referrals waited 31 months.  There was a time when I thought we may wait 36 months, but it looks like that will not happen.  As of right now we have been waiting 20 months, and I am guessing we have about 24 months of waiting left.  I still believe it's all in God's timing, so we will wait patiently!

as good a news as I can find

Well, let me take this time to explain a little more about the adoption process, at least in China. Some of this I have already said, but maybe you need a review! We submitted our dossier (all the crazy paperwork we were required to fill out) in February 2007. When it arrived in China it was given an LID (log in date), ours is February 13, 2007. That is the date everything will be referenced to as long as we are waiting. Well, once your dossier gets logged in it basically sits in a filing cabinet until someone can review it. They are reviewed in the order they are received. SO...we think they have finished reviewing all dossiers through January 2007. Which means, ours will be reviewed shortly.

What does that mean? Well, not a whole lot. If they have questions about your dossier, i.e. with the homestudy, physicals or financial statement, they will call you to get it cleared up. If you do not give them the information they want or need you will be removed. Now, that might sounds scarey, but we totally trust our agency. They compiled our dossier for us (not all agencies do that) and made sure all i's were dotted and t's were crossed. We actually had to fill out a few of the forms numerous times because they found small errors. And now that I think about it, I had to have our Dr fill out another physical form for each of us because it was filled out in black ink and signed in blue ink. They are picky, but we are confident we got in right.

The dossier goes into the review room, and if everything checks out you don't hear a word from them until they post that February 2007 has been reviewed. At that point our dossier will not be looked at again until the match us with our daughter. In know it is a small step, but any step in that direction is great.

On another note, with the recent devastation from the huge earthquake in China I ask that you pray for the country as a whole. From reading some info sites it appears that all the major orphanages are ok. Some sustained damage, but so far there have been no reports of injuries from orphanages. I do not know if this will have any impact on the length of our wait. We don't really know why it is so long in the first place, so it is hard to know what will affect it and what will not. Regardless, the people in China need prayer!

nothing exciting

Well, there isn't any exciting news. People should be expecting referrals this week, which is very exciting for those families! The families receiving referrals have been waiting 2 years and 3 months. Now if that wait time would remain constant I would be able to guess when we might receive our referral, but it just doesn't work that way. Referrals are only sent out once a month, but they do not do a month at a time. In fact this month they only did 5 days of referrals. So, it could take about 4 months to get through one month of referral dates. WOW! Folks, more than ever before I have realized that this wait has only just begun!

cute item of the month

WOW! I can hardly believe it. 1 whole year. A year ago today the CCAA looked over our folder full of official documents, gave it a stamp and put us in the longest line we may ever have to wait in. Unbelievable. In some ways this year went fast, and I'm glad, because the number of years ahead of us is unknown. We'll just keep on keepin' on, because we know it will be pure joy when we are finally introduced to our daughter!!!

I have a very special cute item this month, it features two of the most special girls in my life. For Christmas Kevin and I were given the most precious gift for our daughter. Our nieces, Kymberli and Cari made our daughter a blanket and a pillow. As you can see the fabric is pink with pandas, there isn't a more perfect choice of our daughter. They spent time together making this so they could give it to us on Christmas, and sent with it a sweet little note about how they couldn't wait to meet their newest cousin. Talk about bringing and Auntie to tears, I was sobbing out loud.

I have said this before, but I cannot say it enough, our daughter is so lucky to have a family that loves her even before they have met her. Do you know how much it warms my heart to be able to tell her some day that people were praying for her, thinking about her and buying things for her years before they even knew her? It brings me to tears even now.

So I wanted to say a huge thank you to Kymberli and Cari for their kind hearts, and to their mothers for knowing how special little girls are.

All that being said, I think I am going to put the cute items on hold. I think I have said this before, the thought of coming up with roughly 18 items (when we thought our wait would be 18 months) wasn't too bad. However, now that our wait could reach 2-3 years from now that seems like a lot of stuff. I am not doubting that my family could keep up with it, but I think I'll put it on hold for a while. I may occasionally add any new information that we find out about our journey, but there isn't typically much to talk about. Thank you for being interested and for caring about our little family. Our daughter is so blessed!!!

*sidenote: I had a better picture, but for some reason I couldn't post it.

cute item of the month

Well, I am actually on time...barely!  I have quite a few items waiting to be posted, so the next few months should be pretty good. 

Ok, so today is Kevin's 35th birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!  He received his annual "bird package" from Stephanie.  I think I have explained this before, so I won't go into detail.  Just like our daughter has "her" animal, we all have a bird (all of us who are over 30).  Kevin's bird is a penguin, so he got his box full of penguins.  

This month's cute item is actually part of hi birthday gift.  It was, of course, given to him to be used by out daughter and it is quite cute!

It's a cute little baby towel with a hood, a wash cloth, a finger puppet (I think), a stuffed animal that I assume can get wet, and a washing mit (you know, you put it on your hand like a puppet, but it is used like a wash cloth).  Thanks Stephanie!