Our Wait is Moving Along. . . .

News of referrals for this month are arriving and families are being informed of their little ones. It looks like CCAA has referred all of May 2006 CER families. It's great news! Now...I'm wondering if CCAA will be splitting the CER families who logged in June 2006 into 1/2 months referral batches again. Since "hubbie" & I are logged July 10, 2006, we've got to figure out how we're going to proceed with projects at work for the rest of 2007.

May is here. No new CER progress : (

Initially when referrals came in at the beginning of May, mixed news of CER were reported. I didn't know what to think. But as the referrals were reported towards the end of the week, the positive CER news of referrals received for families logged in during the first half of May 2006 were misreported after all. And so...We're left to wonder about how CCAA will progress for CER families next month at referral time. We can only hope that they'll catch up to the speed that has been for this year so far. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping they'll do all of May 2006 next month. But...This is only wishful thinking.

Over the weekend, Hubbie & I went shopping at Crate & Barrel. We can say that we not only have a new furniture piece but also have added a new prospective girl name to our list. The sales girl who sold us the furniture piece has this name and I thought it is a pretty name. Also, this name isn't on the baby name book we have at home. It could be a combination of different names we have thought of in the past. We'll see if this one will stand the test of time.

9 Months since LID

As of today, Hubbie & I have been logged in 9 months. The wait is longer and growing. I know, eventually, our daughter will be with us. Since the wait is long, we have laid off from purchasing anything more for the baby. I've only inquired with other parents about pediatricians and day care centers for future consideration.

Now that we've waited a while now, Hubbie & I wonder every so often what our daily lives will be with a young child. Hubbie will say, "What kind of parents will we be?" and "How do we handle..." There are parenting books/magazines to read but I don't think we'll know until we're actually parents. I think we've been more conscientious that she grows up to be a "good person" (In Cantonese: "ho yen"). What is a "ho yen?" I envision, generally, it's a person who cares about their community, respectful to others, a person who looks at life with "the glass 1/2 full." What else? I'm sure there's more. I hope that our daughter will look back and say that overall she had a positive childhood with us. Anyways, these are some of the things we've been considering off and on.

As far as referral news, there really is not very much. There will be more news about which dates were covered in this April's referal batch in the upcoming days. So far, one agency has informed that they received C.E.R. for the end of April of last year. Familes who were logged in but had been called for updated or more information in CCAA's review room process were delayed in the "matching" process.

On to the next month!

Yes...March is finally here.

February seemed like the longest month of the year. There were too many things happening. My office site moved in mid-February, a few days prior to Chinese New Year. My co-workers and I didn't realize how complicated moving from one site to another would be until we were in the midst of it all. A lot of the time, we literally felt like "chickens running with no heads." Once we were moved in, there were other technical problems. We were without internet coverage for 2 weeks. We didn't realize how much we rely on computers until then. Meanwhile, my own office wasn't ready until the 1st week of March. I was sharing an office space with one of my co-workers. It was nice but a bit cramped. After moving into my own office 2 days ago, I feel productive again. I'm catching up with what was held up in the "adjustment phase." The light is finally shining through the clouds.

Hubbie & I have been debating whether our daughter a dog or a "golden piggie." I certainly think that we'll be receiving our referral earlier than what he thinks it will be. Only time will tell. I have been following when other Chinese families have received their referrals closely. It looks like the CCAA is doing something different than last year's expedited referral time line. Another blogger's agency just informed them of CCAA's current expedited referral pattern.

"It is getting very difficult to guess when our Chinese descent families might be matched as it has not been very consistent with the CCAA. Right now, ...they continue to match at least two weeks of Chinese descent LIDs every month. We just received matches for Chinese descent families who were logged into the CCAA between April 1 and April 15, 2006."

Hubbie & I will just have to wait a little longer. Friends have said that they are frustrated for us but I don't feel as emotional about waiting a bit longer because I know "the person up there" has matched us to the daughter that's meant to be with us. The waiting is testing our patience but, also, giving us more time to get ready for our little girl. We're enjoying whatever last months of being a couple. Although we haven't had much time to go on trips/vacation this year, just spending the together time and knowing that sometime in 2007 we'll be united with our daughter is a comfort to me (at least for now).

February Update

January passed by so quickly. Hubbie & I have been busy with work and getting our home ready for an addition to the family. We've been "nesting." And so, we've been spending our weekends cleaning and getting certain home maintenance projects completed.

Heartsent hosted a China adoption information meeting this weekend. The adoption agency wanted to keep their families informed about the changes that will happen effective May 1st. Hubbie & I mainly attended to find out first hand from our agency of the changes in person. It is pretty much the same as their letter that had been sent out in December to all of the China adoptive parents. It was nice to hear from the Heartsent staff in person. The Heartsent's CEO/Director came down from No. CA. to speak with us on what she anticipates for the future of China adoption and where she wants to expand with other international adoption avenues for singles now that China has closed it for singles. I finally was able to speak with her this morning after the meeting. I felt that she is truly passionate about making us, adoptive families, feel well-supported. She had started this adoption agency after her negative adoption experiences years ago. She, also, gave us her "ideas" in regards to why China has slowed down with referral times.

On the expedited referral front: There's news of some families who logged in at the end of March 2006 who received their referrals on February 1st. Let's hope CCAA will move onto LIDs of April 2006 next month. I was hoping that CCAA would've been able to move onto April in this month's expedited referrals but they did not. With Chinese New Year coming up in a couple of weeks, I'm not sure how long we'll have to wait until the news of the next referrals.

Hubbie had gotten his "ladybug sighting" finally while he was outside observing the window contractors. He noticed a ladybug on the back of his hand on Thursday, January 25th.

News of Referrals

Happy New Year! It's 2007. This is just an update on the expedited referral front. News of March 2006 LID families are arriving. However, I'm wondering how long April LID expedited families will wait until their referrals will arrive for them. In the past, CCAA has done expedited referrals with a 2 month span (i.e. January & February expedited families referrals arrive at the same time). I'm just wondering what the pattern is or if there will be any pattern at all now. Hubbie hopes that we'll be united with our baby by the end of 2007. I'm more of the optimist of the two of us. I hope that it'll be earlier than that.
Lately, Hubbie & I have started list of baby names posted on our refrigerator door. We have about 12-13 names written down. However, I don't think we'll settle on a definite name until we receive our picture and initial information about our baby. We want to feel that the name we choose "fits" the baby and so it is an ever evolving list of names for now. I'm thinking that baby will have a Chinese name which the family will call her but, however, will not be included in her official name documents. (Just a little rambling about what we've been thinking about while waiting amongst other things to think about.)

Is this a "sign"?

This morning, while walking back from running an errand, I discovered a little "pink binkie" (aka: pacifier) in front of the walkway leading to our house. I thought...Is this a "sign" (refering to one my favorite movies, "Fool's Rush In") that our daughter will be with us soon? I hope. Who knows? I thought I'll just note this on my blog just in case it is truly a sign that our baby's coming and not to be so anxious about our wait.

China Adoption Criteria Changes

Our adoption agency sent us a letter informing us about the changes for families wishing to adopt from China. Since "hubbie" & I are already logged in at the CCAA, we think it will not affect us and that we would have qualified with the new guidelines anyways.

For anyone else wishing to know what the new criteria for China adoption is, this is a summary of what was stated:

"We wanted to take a moment to inform you of changes and let you know that we will keep you updated as we receive confirmed information form the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) and our China coordinator.

The following guidelines will be in effect (still to be confirmed by CCAA) for dossiers received by CCAA on or after May 1, 2007:

• Married couples only; no singles allowed.
• Married couples must be married for at least 2 years if there are no previous marriages. If there are previous marriages then the present marriage must be over 5 years. However, no more than 2 previous marriages will be allowed (it is unclear if this is per person or per couple).
• Each parent must be 30 to 50 years old. No parent can be outside of this range.
• Healthy parents - no infectious disease, no mental disease (including depression or anxiety), no blindness, and no serious disease or disability. Each adoptive parent must also have a BMI (Body Mass Index) under 40. BMI calculator
• At least one parent must have a stable job. Income requirements is $10,000 per family member including the child to be adopted.
• Family's net worth must be over $80,000.
• Each parent must have a high school education or higher.
• No more than 5 children in the home including the child to be adopted. The youngest child in the home must be over 1 year old.
• No criminal record.

We will be holding an information meeting this winter, on a to be determined Saturday. The meeting will be open to families in the paperwork process as well as families currently waiting for a referral. We encourage ALL CHINA FAMILIES to attend this meeting to familarize yourselves with changes and how they might affect you."

There has been news coverage of these changes and the following is a link from China Daily about the upcoming changes to China adoptions:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-12/25/content_766420.htm

There has been talk about who would now qualify as "expedited" status in my Yahoo! China expedited referral group. Some couples who normally would be qualified for "expedited" status due to at least one parent being of Chinese descent is now being informed that they are not "expedited." What can we anticipate in the new year? I do not know. Only time will tell.

Christmas 2006

No Christmas tree this year because it is just the two of us. Our Christmas spirit is small but present. The stocking in the middle is for our little one.

We hope that our little one will be with us by Christmas 2007.

Adoption status: waiting. waiting. waiting. I have a feeling that we will be in the review room at the CCAA fairly soon. I'm hoping that our review process will go smoothly.

An update:
Our little girl's room is filling up with so many colorful toys and books. Some of the items will have to go into the play room downstairs later. We added a couple of pieces of furnishings to accent the room.

We will see what the new year will bring us.

News of Expedited Referrals!

Good news! Families in my yahoo group have forwarded news of expedited families with log in dates from January-February 2006 who have received their referrals. CCAA is finally moving on into 2006 log in dates! It's still a wait for our log in date of 07/10/2006 but I'm just happy that they've moved on into 2006.

Quilt for Baby!

Adoption Status: Still Waiting and we do not know exactly how long the wait will be.

The following are a couple of photos of a quilt I've made for "Baby."

I just recently began a scrapbook for baby. My scrapbook will be a "Life Book." However, it starts with an introduction of what we did to prepare for baby's arrival and, subsequently, her joining the family. By definition an adoption "Life Book" is a record of an adoptee’s life that uses words, photos, graphics, the child’s artwork, and memorabilia. An adoption life book provides: (1) A concrete tool for meaningful conversation,(2) An adoption security blanket,(3) Attachment rituals, and (4) Opportunities to create positive identity. I am really enjoying being creative with paper and photos.
“Little Miss Ladybug”, always following her Magical Red Thread, flutters with great excitement to match loving parents to their special baby far away.

-- Karen Acres, Author of Little Miss Lady Bug & Her Magical Red Thread.

Note: Ladybug sighting on Thursday, 10/19/2006. I'm just wondering if "Baby" is born yet...

More on the Baby Room Decor

It's just 2.5 months into the waiting for a referral of our daughter from China. From what I've heard via "rumors," our waiting time for expedited families may be 8-10 months before we'll receive our referrals. I'm "crossing my fingers"that the China Center of Adoptions Affairs (CCAA) will process faster than they have in the past months. Oh well...We can only hope!

The following are the latest updates to the baby's room:

Below is a photo we took the morning after we finished painting:


Lastly, thanks to the family & friends who have contributed in donating the baby necessities, toys, and furniture pieces so far. You know who you all are. Thank you. Xie xie.

Update on the Baby Room

Here's an update to what we've done to the baby's room. It's still "work in progress" status.

This is the "before" shot:
Here is "the latest:"
Please excuse the lighting to the above photos. They were taken in the evening.
Now it's time to work on the little details, "the embellishments." The fun stuff!

Log in Date Confirmed

We've got a log in date (LID)! Maggie called and said CCAA logged us in on 07/10/2006. LID is considered when we are "paper pregnant." Here's our "ultrasound."

Curtains for the Baby's Room

This previous weekend, we started "decorating" the baby's room. My husband began stripping off the wallpapered border. Stripping off the border was harder than we originally thought.

As for me, I began and finished sewing the curtains for the room within a week. At least during the wait for our daughter's arrival, we have the time to slowly get the room decorated.

Another sign of adoption progress

We received a letter from our adoption agency letting us know that our dossier was received in Beijing on Monday, July 3rd. Either Kerry or Maggie from Heartsent will let us know when we have our official log in date (LID) from CCAA. This is another step closer for our daughter in China.

Dossier to China (DTC) Day!

We have our DTC date! Kerry from HAI called at about 3:30pm to let us know our DTC has left the US and is heading to China now. We should be receiving a letter soon to let us know when our dossier arrives in China. A log in date (LID) should be soon following. It's exciting news.

We couldn't walk away...

Awhile ago, we decided to purchase a convertible crib for our daughter's nursery room. Over the last few months, we've read Denise & Alan Field's "Baby Bargains" latest edition, researched online, and went to the stores that sell baby furniture to check out the actual quality and know what's the $$$. Well...today, we walked into the store and decided that this is the crib furniture we want for our daughter. Since the color we wanted wasn't in stock, we placed the order and expect its arrival sometime after we've painted the nursery room.

Certification & Authentication is complete! : )

Good news! We heard from HAI's Social Worker, Maggie, today. She says our dossier has been certified and authenticated. Kerry or Maggie will call us when we'll have the official dossier DTC date, either Monday or Tuesday next week.

Waiting for our Certified & Authenticated Dossier

We received our I-171H last Thursday, June 1st from USCIS. The documents were to be sent to the California Secretary of State to be certified by our adoption agency. Once the document certification is sent back from Sacramento, the adoption agency will then forward the documents to the Chinese Consulate in L.A. for authentication. We're hoping for DTC (Document To China) by end of June and LID (Log In Date) sometime in mid-July. We're patiently waiting for now. It's a good thing that it's been so busy the last 2 months. At least, it makes waiting somewhat bearable. We look forward to getting our DTC. We'll, then, start planning for our house for our daughter's pending arrival.