Childrens books and rumors!

Apparently several agencies are reporting that referrals will be sent. its hard not to read the rumors but when actual agencies are reporting these things, its hard not believe.

It looks like a few more days were matched this month which is great! I am so not going to report what I read just in case I disappoint someone.

My next obsession: children's books. I can not believe how many there are! My first thought is getting as many Chinese related books as possible. I don't want to do that. I want a variety. Of course I want books that our daughter can relate to and I think thats important; but she is also going to be a young little girl and will probably love all books the same! Cant wait to get the classics!

What are you favorite books? Our first gift was Love you like CrazyCakes and its just precious!!!


Come on referrals!!!!!

Today

Well today was an Amy and Michael day. I am so glad we were both home when I got the email.

Michael and I went grocery shopping but I wanted to buy something today, just because. A lot of adopting moms go and "buy pink" but as our wait may be long and I am not sure what our tastes would be, and finances are tight, we chose a book! We have a few books now, but here is the one we chose today

Ladies and gentlemen

We have a Log in Date!!! April 23rd! Woohoo..More details to follow!

Oh where oh where is our LID? Oh where oh where can it be?

Dude, where is my patience? Im checking my email at least 50 times a day and the CCAI website..DTC with dates of 4/9 were logged in last week so I was hoping to have a date early this week..Hopefully its on its way..We need to be logged in by May 1st!

Amy

Does anyone have a 100 Good wishes quilt letter example I could use? I want something that some sort of picture or frame around to mail to friends and family once we are logged in.!!!!!!
I know that several people have their original posts on their blogs but wanted suggestions on
a)what letter to mail and b)is it the same thing you post?

Scavenger HUnt and other blog

If you are looking for the scavenger hunt over at Amys Random thoughts, you picked the wrong blog..Go here for that..

Yes, Amys Random Thoughts is having a Scavenger Hunt starting May 1st. Didnt want you to miss out!

the wait

Today I had lunch with Kathy, who will be a mommy very soon. She is getting close to the finish line and I hope she is home with her baby before Christmas! We had a great time and it was nice to hear whats been going on with her. She gave me a lot of information and I am very appreciative. I have lots of things to do while we wait for baby Christopher to come home.

Its official. The wait is lengthened but its okay. It gives Michael and I more time to prepare ourselves and our home for our baby. I am blessed that Michael has no problems with this wait. He has become very patient and I can not wait for our LID!


For family and friends, please pray for us as we begin the long wait..For you pregnant moms, you thought 9 months was a long time..Ha! Pray for those whose wait is almost over.So many people are so close to referrals and I can not wait to hear about them!!!!

Stay Positive!!

Another Great email

Congratulations! Your dossier has been delivered to the China Center of Adoption Affairs.

Changes to the blog

You may notice I changed a few things here and there will a bigger change to the header in a few weeks. I have added blogs that I read to the side and categorized them by the Log In Dates.

We are hoping for ours in a few weeks and we shall be celebrating when we get it. Nothing else is really going on. I took a few moments at work and explained dossiers, LID, referrals and GOTCHA day to a few girls at work. It was nice that they were so interested in it all..

If you do not see your name on the side, its either because I haven't gotten to it yet or I do not know your LID!!!!


Amy

Adoption thoughts

I spent some time talking tonight with some coworker about adoption. They had questions.. Their age, infertility,costs, risks, spouses. A lot of questions. Some I could not answer but I hope they find their own.

6 years I ago I would never have thought we would be on this journey. Now, here we are awaiting our LID and we will start preparing our home and ourselves for this amazing experience. My family thinks this blogging thing has been good for me. Its easier for me to write my thoughts on here than to share them with people.

I was able to visit a patient and family who I took care of in December. Their child is from China. HE will face many surgeries. This family gave me hope and encouragement then and now.

I do feel like my friends and family are on this journey with us. I have felt peace that can only be from my Heavenly Father and for that I am eternally grateful!


Exciting stuff is going to happen, SOON! We will come up with a name, start our quilt (for those who are not familiar with it, details to soon follow), get our home ready, and learn more our daughter's origin. Thats a lot of stuff. It could get overwhelming. I hope so!

Question regarding CCAA

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before October 26, 2005.

What does this first part me? Reviewd applications before March 31, 2006? Is that another review? I know thats not the match but what is it?

Thanks

want an update????

Just got an email that said, Congratulations Michael and Amy, your dossier has been sent to China! WooHoo! Translation did not take long at all! here is to a really quick LID! (we can always hope)

Perseverance

I think I am going to post this on both of my blogs. I am involved in several adoption yahoo groups, including a few specifically with my agency. I get them sent in digests and a few with individual emails. Yesterday I think there over 75 emails sent to the groups and half of them were negative! I understand that these groups are for people to vent, express their fears and other feelings. These are such an encouragement to me and I am learning so much and meeting the neatest people!

I know this wait is long, and I know it could be longer. I am going to enjoy this wait and the time it takes God to prepare Michael and I to be the best parents to our daughter.

There may be a time when I do get down, but right now I am ready for the long wait !We are going to need prayer for family and friends and I hope that their enthusiasm for us continues.

On a happy note, our dossier has been in Colorado for 2 days now!

Im just venting, so I am sorry. There are a lot of us whose wait is just beginning. I pray we stay strong and encourage each other.

On another note, I found a neat website one someone elses blog that sells things for adopting parents..Check it out here!

and a question for your adoptive parents..On some of your blogs, things break down into smaller blogs like your quilt making, nursery, registries. Do you just make several posts or they different blogs and you just link them to your main blog?

Dossier

According to FedEx, our dossier made it to Colarado this morning at 5:38! Woo...Here is to a quick DTC and finally a LID!!! Yippee!


Michael and I talked and I think we are going to come up with a name soon. Mostly, I want to be able to pray for her by name and pray for what impact she will make on people in China.

That's it for now!

First Friday

Last night was the April First Friday group meeting. I have been looking forward to this all week. It began with dinner at TGIFridays with Karen, who is farther into the process than we are. She is a stinkin funny chick and we always enjoy our time with her. We never have to worry about where our conversation is going.

Then, we headed to the Chapmans where we saw uhm The Chapmans. Then our friends Tim and Laura arrived and I just love them. They are our age and Laura and I get along famously.Our log in dates will just be a few weeks apart and its just neat to have another friend who understands. We met more friends last night. Actually, some of them have blogs I have been reading for a while and didn't even recongnize them. I am afraid that people do not think I am that friendly there, but thats probably my paranoia kicking in.

Topics included log in dates, referrals and baby names.. So then there was the question, HAVE YOU PICKED A NAME? Someone suggested we go ahead and pick one before someone claims it. Well, let me just say that the names Michael and I like are a bit popular and we will have fun choosing the right one..More on that later

The gathering was informative and met a new baby who has been with her new family for a month and we met another family who is leaving later this month to and get their new baby.
It was such a time of encouragement and fellowship and I have enjoyed meeting new people and talking to people who have been there. Michael was able to talk to a lot of people as well and I think he enjoyed himself too!

don't you.....

Don't you love it when you are in the middle of cleaning your kitchen, concentrating, wishing the phone would quit ringing and then, lo and behold, you get a great phone call??


OUR DOSSIER IS OUT OF CRITICAL REVIEW AND OFF TO TRANSLATION IN COLORADO!!!

Major Announcement!

As of 3pm today, Wednesday, April 4, 2007, we are DTC (kinda).

Most people know of DTC to mean "Dossier To China" but in our case it is first "Dossier to Colorado" for the critical review (which is simply the final double/triple/quadrupal check) and translation, and THEN it will be off to China!

We only had one last hurdle today and that was the production of copies of our certified, testified, corrugated, litigated, notarized, martinized, legalized, and any other -ized or -ed they could be documents. We needed a photocopy of every page of each document and that meant a trip from the agency office to Kinko's.

Have I mentioned my distaste for Kinko's? About 3 years ago they eliminated the policy of picking up a counter, plugging it into the copier and going from there. You know have to pre-purchase a copy-card with money loaded on it to use the copiers (nothing like being treated like a college Freshman again). After you make your copies you then have to engage in a battle to get your money back off the card.

I first encountered this while making copies for work, which I needed to do a paid-out for and had no desire to keep store funds locked in a Kinko's copy card. Today we had to buy $20 worth of credit (the only cash I had on me) to make $5.00 worth of copies. The trained response from the associate when we were done and asked for our refund was "The card is reusable."

Obviously the plan is for you to take the card (while they keep the money) and let them hope you lose the card or forget about it because honestly you visit Kinko's about once every 4 years.

I digress....

So back to the CCAI office and by the time I am done visting the restroom Amy and Jamie have got everything set. The documents are ready, the checks are written, the pictures are collected (including one of us with my favorite cousin, who has no idea we are adopting because she does not use the internet!). Now for the wait, and the prep. We have a lot to do around the house including cleaning out and preparing the baby room and organizing the garage, but we'll have fun.

It's a week of new life and growth as today is Maundy Wednesday. Monday I planted some new azaleas and other flowers, and in 5 days we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, so if this week isn't about life and love, I don't know what is!

-Michael

May we introduce you to

may we introduce you to: OUR DOSSIER! That's right! Everything is here. Passports (copies of passports), group photos, couple photos, birth certificates, 1 marriage license, employment verification, home study, financial statement, adoption petition, health forms, letters from doctors, etc. WOOHOO! This is what we have been working on since October of 2006!!!! We will certainly make the May 1st deadline and then the waiting really begins. I have never been more excited to wait in my entire life. Once we are logger in, we will begin some special projects, one which will include you, our friends and family. We are very very excited and can not wait to learn more of the Chinese culture, prepare our home and hearts for this most magnificent journey!!
God's hand has been on us this entire journey and we are so thankful. Please pray that He will continue to guide us on this journey. More prayer requests are listed on an entry below!! No need to read below, let me post them again


Please pray
1)our agency encounters no problems with reviewing or translating and our dossier gets to China before May 1
2)Pray that as we begin the wait that God will prepare us and that we will be open for changes
3)for our friends and family who will be a HUGE support to us when we get home
4)pray that we find a home church and become actively involved
5)pray for the people in China who are caring for these babies and for the birth moms.
6)pray that we will use this time wisely
7)pray that we fund raise and save money


Praises
1) my passport is in Atlanta
2)agency payment has been taken care of
3) The Hoffmans have a LID
4)i have met some sweet ladies because of this process
5)this process has brought out a new side of Michael and I


We shall be turning this in on Wednesday because Jamie has jury duty today and I am working tomorrow! How excited are we? Totally excited!!!!!