There are now only 17 LID's to go until it is finally our turn. The CCAA has matched people with LID's through March 20, 2006. Hang in there Livi, we are getting closer.
Last Saturday we made the trip to Columbus to get fingerprinted...again. Fingerprints are only good for 15 months, so I really hope and pray this is the final time that we have to make that trip.
Referrals have finally arrived this month and the CCAA has finished with LID's through March 14, 2006. There are now 23 more LID's to go before it is finally our turn. The China Adoption Forecast site now predicts our referral will arrive approximately November 7, 2009. I really hope it is earlier because I really can't imagine another Christmas without Olivia.
A couple of weeks ago I mailed out our request to be re-fingerprinted by the USCIS. Before we started this journey I would have never imagined that fingerprints expired, but they do. For the adoption, our fingerprints are only good for 15 months.
Well, yesterday marked 3 years and 1 month that we have been waiting to be parents. It is getting close to the time to renew all of our paperwork for the USCIS for the THIRD time. Please everyone, pray for our daughter to come home this year.
Today marks 3 years since our dossier was logged in. 3 years of waiting to see the first picture of our daughter, 3 years of empty arms, 3 years of endless waiting. I am very sad today and I am having a difficult time with the wait.
Referrals began arriving yesterday for people who were logged in on March 7 and March 8, 2006. There are now 30 more LID's before it is finally our turn. If the CCAA was matching like they were when we first started this process, we would receive our referral in the next month or two. Now, with them matching only a few days at time, who knows when we will finally see Olivia's face.
Congratulations to all of the families who received their referrals this month!
Referrals began arriving last night in Australia and today in the U.S. Today, families whose LID's were through March 6, 2006 received the first information about their sons and daughters. Congratulations to all of those families.
There are now 32 days left before the CCAA will get to us. Please pray that a speed up happens and that Olivia comes home to us in 2009.
What is it like to wait for a child who you already love, to wait for a child who you have pictured in your mind a thousand times, who you long to hold in your arms? It is painful, dreadfully painful. In September 2005 my husband and I decided to adopt our child from China. At that time the wait was expected to be six to nine months until we would receive our child. By the time we jumped through all of the bureaucratic hoops, the wait had increased to nine to twelve months. That was in April 2006. I have been waiting over three years to bring my daughter home. Yes, she is my daughter even though we have never met. She is in my thoughts every hour of every day even though we have never met. My heart breaks knowing that we still will not meet soon, maybe not even this year. People who have not gone through this never ending wait cannot understand the agony that I go through every day, knowing that my daughter is still not home in my arms. Even my husband does not quite understand the agony and pain I feel because he is able to distance himself from the adoption process and will just tell me that our daughter will come home when the time is right. I am lucky to have wonderful co-workers that understand when I break down and cry because my daughter is still not home with me. I am lucky that my mom is so supportive and cry's right along with me when the wait just gets too much to handle at the moment. I am lucky that I have found many supportive friends in the adoption community who are struggling with this wait right along with me.
If for some reason my daughter could not come home, I would be devastated. I would grieve for my daughter who was never really mine. I would be in agony and would do anything to keep that from happening. I cannot describe how even the thought of this happening makes me feel. Just thinking about the possibility brings tears into my eyes and my stomach is in knots. Although my daughter is not home with me, she is in my heart and she is my daughter.
There is not much going on in the world of adoption right now. This month the CCAA only referred 2 days, March 1 and March 2, 2006. I am hoping that is because of Chinese New Year, but we can only wait and see.
36 more LID's to go.
When we started the process to adopt from China I never thought we would be waiting this long. However, now 33 months have passed and right now I can't even guess when we will finally hold Livi in our arms.
Congratulations to all of the families who are seeing their child's face for the first time!!! China has referred through February 28, 2006!
According to China Adoption Forecast: China has 38 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 6.1 days of dossiers each month.
Our best guess: 2009-07-16
This actually moved up our approximate date from the last time referrals arrived!!!!!!!!!!!
It is that time again and referrals began arriving yesterday for families logged in through February 23, 2006. Congratulations to all of the families who are seeing their child's face for the first time.
The China Adoption Forecast site gives this information.
China has 43 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 5.3 days of dossiers each month.
Our best guess: 2009-07-24
Of course, this estimate changes every month depending on the number of days of referrals.
Today marks the 32nd month that our dossier has been logged in. This year we will be struggling with our 4th Christmas without our daughter. Sometimes I feel like a very cruel trick has been played on me and there will not be our daughter here when all this is over. Then other times I just know that Olivia will come home to us. Today, I just feel lost and sad that our daughter is not in our arms.
Referrals began arriving yesterday and I still have no idea what the cut-off date is. However, it looks like China may have only referred 2 days this month which would still leave us with 49 LID's in front of us. At this rate, God and the CCAA are the only ones who know when we will finally get to meet our daughter.
Yesterday J and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary and tomorrow is our 31st month waiting for Olivia to come. It is getting more and more difficult to be positive about this wait and I sometimes wonder if Olivia will ever come home to us.
I never thought we would have been waiting for Olivia this long, but 30 months have passed since our dossier was logged in with China.
Any guesses how much longer we will wait?
Referrals have arrived for LID's from February 10-15, 2006. Now there are only 50 LID's left before it is finally our turn. It has been a long 3 years since we began the process to bring Olivia home.
Congratulations to all of the families who are finally seeing their children for the first time.
Our ship, the Adventure of the Seas.
When we arrived in Aruba some of the streets were closed and there were camera crews everywhere. We found out that Parliament was returning that day. These are the soldiers waiting for the members of Parliament.
Curacao is a beautiful island and the houses are beautiful with so many different colors.
J and I climbing the Rock Wall on the ship. We both made it to the top and rang the bell.
Saint Marteen is divided in half. One side is owned by the French and the other by the Dutch. The island, especially the beaches, were beautiful.
This is St. Thomas from the ship. We spent a lot of time walking around the shops and at the Coki Beach.
Tomorrow marks 29 months of waiting for our daughter to finally come home. I am really hoping that we will finally meet Olivia next year.
Congratulations to all of the families whose LID's were through February 9, 2006. I know that they are excited about seeing their child's face for the first time.
Now there are only 56 LID's until it is our turn. That doesn't sound like much, but it could take another year to get to us.
Referrals are arriving for LID's through January 31, 2006! This means that there are only 65 LID's left before it is our turn!
Congratulations to all of the families who are receiving their referrals!
Our dossier has now been in China for 28 months! How is that even possible? On the referral side of things, rumor has it that the CCAA is only referring 2 days of LID's this month.
Tomorrow evening our oldest niece, Jennifer is getting married. Wow, it is hard to believe that she is old enough.
