WE'RE NEXT!!!!

I stopped by our agency today to drop off some paperwork and talked to our Family Advocate and he said that we will not get our referral in this month's batch expected out any day now, but we'll be getting our referral next month. Whoo hoo. At least we know that this is the last batch before us. We're really almost done with the wait. I can handle anything for a month.

I finished painting the kitchen this past weekend so all I've got left is the front room/stairwell/upstairs hallway. So I'm going to get that done this month so the entire interior of our house will be painted before we get our referral...and then we can be completely focused on getting things ready for the baby. Yippie!

7 days of people in front of us...

Referrals are coming out for the early January batch and it looks like China only referred 5 days worth of log in dates. This is not good news. It's looking like they got through 12/19/05 and 12/20 is a HUGE day with lots of families logged in. China only sends out referrals when they've completed a day so it's possible that they got through matching part of the 12/20 families but didn't have enough paper ready babies to complete that day. This is what I'm hoping. They would have to get through 8 days of referrals for us to get ours next month. They haven't gotten through that many days for quite a while and with the 12/20 group being so big I'm just not feeling optimistic. It's anyone's guess. I'm so tired of thinking we're just about there and then having the rug pulled out from under us. In 2007 China only referred three months worth of families. That's insane!!! I can't even believe there are two years worth of people waiting after us. I wonder if they understand how many years that could possibly take. So...never thought I'd say this (which is my mantra these days)...but it could be early March before we get a referral now. I know, I know, I'm hearing your collective sigh. Please continue to pray for our wait. With each month we grow wearier. If we weren't so close I think we'd say forget it. But then I think of that little girl at the end of the journey and I know that in God's timing all of these extra months are just a drop in the eternal bucket. Soon....we're almost to the front of the line.

Only 12 more days until us!!!

China got through 12/14/05...only six days this months. We had hoped for a couple more days...but we're excited that there's only 12 days worth of people in front of us. It's not impossible that we'll get a January referral, but not really likely. BUT WE LOOK SOLID FOR AN EARLY FEBRUARY REFERRAL...I think that we are NEXT NEXT. Hopefully only one more month of people getting their babies before us. I can't believe it. Okay, I think we need to start the nursery now. We'll be in China sometime in the next four months....YIPPEE!!

Thankful for the holidays

I've decided that I'm a little sad that Katelyn is not home this year for the holidays and at the same time I'm really thrilled that our last couple of months of waiting are falling over holiday months because they are speeding right by. I can't believe the first week of December is just about through. I have no idea where November went. Although I can't wait for our referral, I'm starting to get a bit panicy. We've done nothing but wait for so long and the reality that there will be a buzz of activity soon is a little daunting. What do we need for the baby? What do we need to bring to China with us? How are all of the travel arrangements made? How much notice will we really have before we actually know our travel dates (Some people get the okay and they are flying out within the week...yikes). What if I'm not a good mom? What if we mess up our kid? Will she adjust quickly? Will she resent us later for taking her from her country and moving her around the world? Will we ever get our carpets clean enough so she's not constantly putting dog hair in her mouth? How often does she need to eat? What kind of bottle will she like? Will the dog jump all over her and knock her down (he's still a puppy)? How will Brandon and Ashley feel about her? Will they feel threatened? What if we can't keep all the plates spinning? What needs to be child proofed? How old will she be? Do I need psychotherapy? (Don't answer that...) So you see, I'm getting a bit manic!

We're waiting for this months referrals to come out. Rumor has it that they are going to get through December 14th or 15th...we were hoping for a bit farther. If they only get through 6-7 days, it looks like we will in fact get an early February referral. Spring in China sounds good to me. Hold on tight folks...the new year's going to be exciting....and not another Mother's Day without my baby!!! Whooo hoooo I say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally referring December, '05!!!

People who are logged in the same month as us are getting referrals!!! It's so exciting to finally see other people from our month getting their babies. The China Center of Adoption Affairs has gotten through December 8th. That means....there are only 18 days worth of people before us!!!!!!!!!!! I think that means we have two more months....I'm banking on a very precious New Years present.

So I'm going to keep painting our family room/dining room/kitchen this weekend and hopefully bust that out. We need to get the nursery painted soon. (We means I need to....just in case you were wondering.)

Here's to the holiday season being busy and full so that it speeds right by. (Usually I'm not one to wish away a season of time...but give me a break...let's go already!!!)

22 months...

Well, today is 22 months. There's a rumor that they'll get through December 12th sometime next week...but I just can't even get excited at this point until it actually happens. We've been on this rollercoaster too long to fall for those kinds of tricks. If they can get that far, I will feel confident in an early January referral. Two more months...can it really be true?

This weekend I'm attending a Children in Crisis seminar down in Wilmore at Asbury College. I'll have more to write about that after the weekend is over and I have a chance to process what I'm hearing. The speakers are focusing on the despair and then the hope surrounding children around the world and then what our response as the Church needs to be.

They talked tonight about children of war, exploitation, children on the street and child labor. God sees each child as his creation...fearfully and wonderfully made. Much of the world sees children as expendable. This is despair. Fortunately, in Jesus, there is hope.

The speaker tonight gave us an important question to ask ourselves. She said that with so many children in need throughout the world, we obviously cannot help each child. But she did ask us to ask ourselves, "Who are the children that I am responsible for?" This is obviously a big quesiton for me ministry-wise but also personally as we adopt Katelyn and prayerfully consider what our next steps will be in growing our family.

I feel really blessed that we get to adopt a child. I know that many people will look at this and think that adoption is second to conceiving our own child...but I know I will never feel that way. There are so many children in this world in need of a loving family...and we so desperately want to add children to our home. What a win-win situation. I'm so thankful that God's plan is again...so perfect. It makes every moment of the wait worth it...what's a couple of years within the context of eternity....just a drop of rain really.

I'm growing bitter...

So China got through 5 more days of people....two of those days were a weekend when there was no one logged in and the other few days weren't all that big. I'm so confused. I really don't understand why they only got through 1/2 the number of people they did last month. I really believe they have a quota and it's just not a published number and China is trying to stay underneath some kind of ceiling. Lucky us.

So they are finished through 11/30/05. At least they are officially done with November 05. I just can't believe they didn't get into December....So sad. So this basically means that we won't see Katelyn's face until 2008. Another Christmas without our kid. At least we should be getting a referral at the beginning of January...we hope.

On a positive note, traveling to China the end of February, beginning of March should be nice. There's no holidays then and it is off season so travel should be less expensive (I'm grasping at positive straws here...humor me.) Maybe we'll be there for my birthday (March 13th), that would be pretty cool.

The thing that kills me is that the main form that we needed from our government to send our packet to China back in the fall of 2005 got lost in the mail (yeah for real) and set us back a month so we were logged in at the end of Decemeber instead of November. Little did we know that would mean it would take six months longer to bring our child home. I just keep thinking that will all make sense when we have the child with us that is perfect for our family. That's the only thing that keeps me from truly growing bitter.

Please pray for Josh and I, we're growing very weary of the wait.

Doesn't sound big...but it is...31 more days until us!

So China just referred 4 days worth of people. They are done referring up to families logged in on 11/25/05. The four days that they just did were huge days and represent hundreds of families. So that was the final hurdle for the huge October and November numbers. They should be able to get 10-12 days done next month which will take us up through the first week of December. I think that we will be right on the line for an early December referral still...with the possibility of an early January referral. I'm telling myself that Katelyn will be the greatest way to start the new year just so I'm not disappointed if we don't get our referral in December. (But who's kidding who? We'd still be disappointed not to know who she is and have a picture before Christmas.)

So the reality that we only have 3-4 months FOR REAL has sunk in and I'm getting a bit panicy! I have this overwhelming desire to take everything out of every closet and cabinet and clean. I have been working on painting our bedroom all weekend and I should have that done today. We still have to paint the nursery and all of downstairs so I have a lot more to go. I'm nesting and Josh is just quietly trying to stay out of my way so he doesn't get put to work. I've already dropped the hint that the garage needs to be cleaned out.... :)

Slow and steady...

Referrals just came out from China for this month and they got through another week...so they have referred through 11/21/05....There are only 35 days worth of people ahead of us now!!!! I'm seeing the light. I'm actually letting myself get a little excited. I'm believing we'll get an early December referral. Only four more months. We can do it. Even Josh was looking at the pictures on other people's blogs who just got a referral. He's been angry about this whole wait....But once we get the picture and know that a child is ours, the anger will quickly turn to joy and excitement. I might actually think about starting to paint the nursery. Thank God we didn't get it all decorated when we started all of this two years ago. I know I couldn't have walked past it everyday. Soon it will be Lazy Daisy Yellow....

Elephants

An elephant has a 22 month gestation period...the longest of any mammal. I can relate to the woes of these mamas. I think I've about got the elephants beat.

Only 43 days worth of people in front of us

Well referrals came out from the China Center of Adoption Affairs and they have referred babies for people logged in from Nov. 8-14th, 2005. We are 12/27/05...so we are getting closer now. I feel confident in saying that we should have a referral sometime before the end of the year. We're in the home stretch...rounding the bend. It's only been 18 1/2 months. I'm not sure why I would be getting referrals. Our agency got 8 referrals in the last batch and the babies were 6-16 months old.

That's all we know for now. Fortunately, it does look like we will travel before we have to renew our paperwork again. We've already done that once and once was enough!

The wait is so long, we got a puppy

I swore I wouldn't cave. I swore we wouldn't get a dog. Josh has wanted one so bad. Yesterday was a BEAUTIFUL day...73 degrees, no humidity. (See the list of my favorite things to the right). I let my guard down....I fell in love with a 4 1/2 month old golden retriever.

We brought him home this morning and named him Brody. He is so cute and has the best little temperment. He really doesn't bark. He's pretty calm. He already knows some tricks and has only used the bathroom outside (knock on wood.)

We took a picnic dinner out to the park tonight and after we ate we took Brody into the dog run area. This is a great park and he was able to run and play with other dogs. So now he's really tired and is knocked out on the floor.

I think we found a great dog! This adoption need to be completed soon. We keep adding pets...we already had two cats...

By the way....18 months down...

There's a Veggie Tales song called "Where is my Hairbrush?" (Yeah, some of you know it and are now singing it in your head. Hee hee.) My song is "Where is my baby?"

On Wednesday we hit the 18 month mark. (SO much for the 6-7 month wait we originally expected...we've now TRIPLED that.) I feel pretty confident that we'll get a referral in 4-5 months. I think we might be on the home stretch. (For real this time.) Not looking great for being home by Christmas though. (We won't travel until 6-8 weeks after referral and then we'll be in China for 2 weeks.) SO LAME!!!!! (Just had to share.)

17 Months down...

On an adoption note, we have now been logged in for 17 months. I'm glad that the summer will be busy...maybe the time will pass by faster. We are praying for a fall referral and travel before the end of the year. I know...it's ridiculous. Thank God our baby will be worth every minute of the wait.

All Consuming

Througout this adoption process, I feel like I've done a pretty good job of keeping things in perspective and going with the flow. I mean really, what else can we do? I really believe that God has given me peace that at the end of this journey there is a little girl who will be just the right fit for our family.

But I must admit that in the last couple of months I think I've let my guard down a bit and the wait has just become all consuming and almost unbearable. There are a ton of people who had their paperwork logged-in in China in October and November of 2005 (we're December 27th) so it took four months to get through all of the October people (They've gotten through November 1st so far) and it's projected to take three or four months to get through the rest of November. So we're thinking October or November of this year for our referral now...But really, how many times have we moved that "projected" date out already? It takes 6-8 weeks to travel after getting a referral so is it possible that the adoption won't be complete before Christmas? I can hardly think of that possibility.

My heart is tired of waiting. At this point our baby really is born already and I know that she's in an orphanage somewhere half a world away and my heart aches to bring her home. I've discovered that adoption is not for the faint of heart. We thought that at this point we'd be getting ready to turn in paperwork for a second child already....But no...we still wait. It just doesn't seem like it should take so long. So many children in orphanages...hundreds of thousands and we just want one.

It's such a strange thing. I don't think an hour goes by where I don't think about the baby in some capacity. And really how do you share that with other people, because there's virtually no information that I have to report.

Josh and I have decided that we'll paint the nursery this summer but we won't get all of the furniture put together and decorations up until after we get a referral. We just don't want everything done until we know for sure that there's a child coming soon.

Okay...we can do this....16 1/2 months down!