Almost there!

The last set of referrals from China covered through January 4! This is very exciting for us because it means we are almost there. In fact, we are the very next group of referrals for our agency...meaning the next time our agency receives referrals, one of them will be ours!!!!

Realistically, we are still looking at a referral in May with travel in June. I know I have been speculating for over 2 years about when we will travel, but I can FINALLY say with almost absolute certainty that we will travel no later than June. Our paperwork expires (for the 3rd time!) in July and I have talked with our agency several times about this. Our coordinator has told us to wait on renewing it as she is almost certain we will be home from China by July.

I am finally allowing myself to believe that the end is near. I have always known that we will someday have our daughter, but I have tried to guard my heart with the realities of the long wait. Now I'm so excited I'm about to bust. Matt is equally anxious to bring her home. For the last year or so we would only occasionally talk about the baby with Alex & Tara (even though we thought about her constantly), but it seems like now we talk about her all the time...when we will get her, what she will look like, smell like, sound like. Where will she sleep, play, eat? Will she walk, crawl, take a bottle? And the BIG question...what will we name her??????

We are currently trying to work through the details of when to travel to Oklahoma. We know we have to bring the baby directly back to the U.S. from China, so we have decided to fly to Oklahoma first and then do a round trip from there to China. After a few weeks in Oklahoma with the baby we will fly back to Italy. That's LOTS of flying and LOTS of money, but something we have to do. As it stands right now, Alex & Tara will NOT go to China with us. This has been one of the most difficult decisions to make throughout this process, and I'm not sure it is a done deal. There are definitely pros and cons about taking them and we waver back and forth on which is best decision for all of us. We may not make the final decision until the very last minute.

Stay tuned.....

Still here

It's been awhile since I have posted anything. It seems with every passing month we are getting closer, but still nothing official on when we will receive our referral and travel to China to get our daughter. The lastest referrals from China have covered through 12-27-05, so we only have 16 days of LIDS in front of us. All of the latest rumors and speculation puts us at either receiving our referral in April with travel in May OR referral in May with travel in June.

So once again, nothing official on WHEN....but keep checking this blog because as the day gets closer I will be posting more details.

Two years of waiting

Yesterday was our 2 year anniversary of the day our paperwork was officially logged in with the China Center for Adoption Affairs. Two years ago we were told our wait would be 6-8 months. Now, two years later, we are still looking at a 6-8 month wait. It's as though time has stood still in regards to our adoption. But in those two years of waiting I have thought about our daughter every single day. I have periods of time that she is ALL I think about. I have tried to stay active with our adoption plans: in the two years of waiting I have tried to read every book I can about adoption, I have started an adoption support group here in Naples, I have made friends with other adoptive families, I have joined internet groups with other adoptive parents, and I scan the internet daily looking for all the latest information on Chinese adoptions. I have learned a lot, and know that I still have much to learn.

This wait has been difficult in so many ways. I struggle with it everyday and often find myself questioning and worrying about the details of when it will all happen. But I do know with absolute certainty that with every passing day our desire to finally meet and hold our baby does not diminish, instead it grows stronger and stronger. We feel more certain about our decision to adopt today than we did two years ago. We want her, we love her, and we know that she is part of God's plan for our lives. We know that our family will not be complete until we bring her home. So we wait for as long as it takes.

December referrals

This time every month we get notice of the latest referrals that have been sent from China. A referral is what we will receive when we have finally been matched with a child. It will list all the known information about our daughter. This months referrals went through December 14, 2005 (yes, the backlog is officially 2 years, and growing!). That means we now have 28 days of LIDS ahead of us (we are Jan. 12, 2006). That sounds like we are getting really close, and we are making progress, but unfortunately it will still take several months to get through those 28 days. The CCAA matches about 5-8 days of LIDS per month.

Here is my "guess" on referrals for the coming months:
Dec.'07 - matched through Dec. 14, 2005 (confirmed)
Jan.'08- matched through Dec. 20, 2005
Feb. '08- matched through Dec. 26, 2005
March '08- matched through Dec. 31, 2005
April '08- matched through Jan. 6, 2006
May '08 - matched through Jan. 12, 2006 (that's us)

As you can see, we still have several months to wait. In some earlier posts I said I thought we would get a referral in February or March. Well, I no longer think that will happen. It has been pushed back every single month since we started this long process. But we are finally getting close enough that we can at least narrow it down to a 2 month window (assuming the CCAA continues at the same pace). I'm guessing April/May now. And who knows, it could be longer.

Thanksgiving in a Tuscan Castle

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I truly do NOT enjoy cooking. So when I saw an opportunity to spend Thanksgiving in a castle in Tuscany I thought WHY NOT? We decided to take a USO tour that will drive us very early in the morning to a castle in Tuscany where they will serve us an Italian version of thanksgiving dinner. WOW! Now that's something to be thankful for!! The tour includes one overnight in the castle, the Italian dinner, and guided tours of two cities in Tuscany--Siena and San Gimignano. Also, we will stop at a winery in Tuscany for a wine tasting (with the option to buy the wine, of course!!!!) I am so excited about this trip. Nothing to plan, no getting lost, no worries about the language. All we have to do is show up at the appointed time and let them do all the work.

It's been a long week for us...everyone in our family has been really sick with the flu. It started with Tara (hers turned into pneumonia) and then we all passed it around. Alex has missed school all this week, and he is still not feeling great, but I told him we have to take this trip because it's already paid for and non-refundable!! I think he will be ok though...he is feeling better. Now we all have really bad coughs, but I think the worst is over. (I HOPE!!)

Last year at our Thanksgiving meal we prayed for all that we were thankful for, and I remember praying that I was thankful that this would be our last Thanksgiving without our daughter. NEVER did I dream that a year later we would still be waiting to bring her home. This year we will pray again and be thankful that THIS is the last Thanksgiving we will have without our daughter. We have so very many things we are thankful for, and we will forever be thankful that God led us down this path and opened our hearts to adoption.

November referrals

The latest set of referrals arrived from China a few weeks ago. The cutoff date for this month was December 8. We are getting so close now, and remain hopeful that we will receive our referral in February or March with travel to China in April or May.

Happy Halloween!

Tara wanted to be a Chinese princess this year for Halloween....I wonder where she came up with this idea??? She wanted to wear a kimono. I told her that a kimono was really a Japanese dress, but she still insisted on being a Chinese princess. So a Chinese princess she is. She is certainly beautiful. A big thank you to GeeGee for sending the costume. She absolutely loved it.

It rained here all afternoon and then stopped for exactly two hours--just in time for trick-or-treating. I had purchased 12 bags of candy and started passing it out at 5:30. I was out by 6:15!! We have LOTS of kids that live on the base. Tara had a great time and came home with quite a load of candy!

Alex wore a mask of Freddy Kruger, so I didn't even take his picture. Imagine Freddy Kruger, and you have Alex. He also scored big in the candy, but I think he also enjoyed scaring all of the little kids. He is such a 12 year old boy!!