Will Tomorrow be the Day?

I have been on pins and needles all weekend. Will tomorrow be the day that we will finally know who our child is? Will we see a picture? Only time will tell. I can tell you that this weekend has seemed so long.

Rumor that Referrals have been MAILED!

The latest rumor, which has been confirmed by 2 agencies is that referrals have been mailed! I hope that means that Livi's picture and information is in that envelope working it's way here. Maybe, hopefully, possibly, we will hear something on Monday. Wow, it's going to be really long, painful weekend.

Xin Nian Kuai Le and Gung Hai Fat Choi!!! Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year and I believe it will be a happy one. This will be the year that our child will come home. This is the year of the Tiger and those of us with April LID's were nicknamed the Flying Tigers when we first began this journey almost four years ago. What a coincidence...

Happy Chinese New Year to all of my family and friends. May this year be the best ever.

Waiting, Waiting and Even More Waiting

This past Sunday was our 46th LID anniversary. I really hope whoever matches us doesn't have dust allergies because after all that time sitting on a shelf, I am sure our dossier has a lot of dust. I hope after CNY they come back to work and start matching. Probably wishful thinking on my part, but who knows.

Candi has been gone for over a month now and I still miss her so much. I catch myself looking for her and then I remember. It has been hard.

Referrals!

Referrals arrived today for families logged in on April 4 and 5, 2006. I am so excited to see more of my friends finally receive their referrals.

What this means for us and for Olivia is that there is a possibility that we will finally get our referral in March! They have to refer 2 days next time for it to be our turn, but I am praying that will happen. Until then, we keep holding on to hope and waiting.

Home Study...Again

Tonight we had another home study, which I hope will be the final one before Olivia comes home. We had a new Social Worker come and she was awesome! I'm not just saying that because she is possibly reading this post (Thank you Pam!) Actually, she was the first person I spoke to over 4 years ago when I was searching for an agency in our state to do our home study.

We are still waiting, not so patiently, for referrals to arrive or at least rumors of referrals. Please, please, please let them come soon.

Alyssa's Story

A friend of mine left for Pakistan some months ago to adopt a beautiful little girl who she named Alyssa. Unfortunately, Ally did not get to come home with her mama. Please visit Linda's blog to read Alyssa's story.



There is a chip-in area on the blog to raise money for an international adoption attorney to help Linda possibly bring Ally home. Even if you can't donate, please read Ally's story and keep Linda and Ally in your prayers.

Candi...May she Rest in Peace

My wonderful standard poodle, Candi, passed away this morning. Last night she wasn't doing well and this morning she was even worse. Unfortunately, we had to make that final trip to the vet. I wish she and Livi could have met and been friends.

45 Months and Counting

Wow, 45 months ago our dossier was logged in with the CCAA. At that time, the wait was supposed to be 9-12 months.

We were supposed to have our home study update tonight, but because of the snow we got today it was canceled. Now we are trying to reschedule the visit before our home study expires.

On a totally non-adoption note, I have a friend, Lisa, who really needs a lot of prayers. Lisa is the mom of a beautiful 5 year old girl and a breast cancer survivor. Today, she found out that the cancer has spread to her hip and lung. Lisa is such a wonderful, strong and courageous woman. Please remember her in your prayers.

April Referrals have Started!

On Christmas Eve day the CCAA changed their box to indicate that they had referred families through April 3, 2006. Today, calls started arriving to families with those LID's. I am so excited for the families who are finally receiving those long awaited calls!

According to the China Adoption Forecast site...

Our prediction for LID 2006-04-07

China has 4 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 2.8 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2010-01-24

This means we could have our referral NEXT month! I am not counting on this, but it would be wonderful.

Good-bye March, Hello April!

I have been waiting a long time to see March, 2006 go away and today was finally the day! The CCAA has referred LID's through March 31, 2006. Up next, April, 2006...our LID month! There are now only 6, yes count them, 6 LID's to go until it is FINALLY our turn.

The China Adoption Forecast site gives this prediction for when we might see our referral.

Our prediction for LID 2006-04-07

China has 7 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 2.9 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2010-01-20

Oh my gosh, we might see Olivia's picture in January!

43 months and Counting

Today marks 43 months that our dossier has been in China and we are getting ready to complete another home study since our expires in January. I really hoped that we wouldn't have to complete another one, but that just isn't going to happen.

Hopefully we will hear some news about referrals coming this week.

Please say a prayer for a little girl named Alyssa in a country far away. She had found her forever family but through no fault of her new momma or her, she is now back in an orphanage. This is not my story to tell, but Alyssa and her momma really need a lot of prayers right now as they are both hurting.

Another Approved I -171H

We finally received our new I-171H today. It doesn't expire until April 12, 2011 and our fingerprints are good until September 13, 2010. Do you think we will have Olivia home by then???

Referrals

After skipping the month of September, referrals began arriving yesterday. A lot of us in the adoption community, including me, thought that there would be more days referred since referrals were not sent in September. We were WRONG! The CCAA sent referrals for LID's through March 28, 2006.

According to the China Adoption Forecast site:

China has 10 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 2.9 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2009-12-22

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

RQ has also done her predictions for the next group of referrals which are:

As always, congratulations to all of the families who are finally seeing their child's face for the first time. Selfishly, I wish it was my turn already!!!

Three and a Half Years and Still Waiting

Tomorrow marks three and a half years that our dossier has been sitting in the CCAA's office. That is approximately 1260 days and 75, 600 hours that it has just been sitting there. We are currently waiting on our third I 171H renewal and in January we have to update our home study for the third time. Infertility was painful for me, but this is even worse. I think about our daughter who is in China somewhere and my heart breaks knowing that we may not ever get a chance to meet her.

To top it all off, we received a letter from our agency today wanting $900 for a non-special needs assessment fee. What is that and why do I need to pay them more money for doing nothing? I update all of my own paperwork, keep track of when documents expire and everything else that is required for me to someday, hopefully bring our daughter home. According to the letter we have a couple of options (I am paraphrasing this of course). Option 1 is to pay them or option 2 is to drop out. We have invested so much to bringing our daughter home that really there is only one option.

I am emotionally exhausted with this wait and I cannot believe that Livi is still not in our arms.

Not Much Going On

There is not much going on in the adoption world right now. Last Friday, September 7, we "celebrated" our 41 month LID anniversary of waiting for Olivia to come home to us. Today, we mailed out what will hopefully be our last renewal for our I-171H. China is still moving slowly so who knows how much longer we will wait.

Referrals

Referrals arrived on Friday for LID's on March 23 and March 24, 2006. Yep, only 2 days, but that does bring us a little closer. There are now only 13 LID's until it is our turn.

15 LID's to Go!!!!

Referrals arrived yesterday for people with LID's on March 21 and 22, 2006. Congratulations to all of the families who are FINALLY seeing their child's face about this long, long wait.

Only 15 LID's to go until it will be our turn to receive that picture and information.

Referrals and More!

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!

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.