We're Next!

The CCAA just matched families with Log-In-Dates up to November 1st. We're November 2nd so we're next! I can't even begin to tell you how excited we are! This is it. We can finally say that we are next! We can safely begin to count down the days until we see our daughter's face!
This month is going to fly by. We are so busy! Beginning of June we should know. That makes such perfect sense to us that it will be June, June is a special month for us. What a wonderful anniversary gift! So happy, so happy, so happy...
Our heads are spinning, who is she, what will she be like, what will she look like, how old will she be, where is she?! I think she was born last fall, September, October, November, or December! We will be in China during the heat of the summer! We will have her home long enough to enjoy the lakehouse with her, still warm enough for walks, and swimming. I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Lilah

I went to visit Mary, Tim, & Lilah this weekend while George was in Florida. I had such a nice time seeing them. Lilah is such a doll, so sweet, so good, and she's talking so much! We went to the new mall to shop and have lunch. They had a little quad of green grass where we stopped to play for a bit.

Spring has Arrived

Next week is May and we're just now getting buds on the trees but still not in bloom. Who cares, we'll take it. It's been a long and cold winter.
We had to stay at home this weekend because we had a benefit to go to with George's work. It was a dinner and auction for the local Catholic high school. We didn't dare bid on anything, we were way out of our league, there were some big spenders there! We were happy to duck out early.
Lots of yard work and cleaning, the weather was gorgeous. George is completely revamping his workshop. This is the before picture, what a mess. No after picture yet...this project will take some time.
Wish I had more exciting pictures to post but this is it...nothing exciting happening around here.
Rumor Queen is back and is saying that referrals might be out as early as first week in May. We're not holding our breath nor are we thinking we're even close to being included. At least this month has flown by. It will be very interesting to see how far they get in this next batch. Stay tuned.

Home Away From Home

With no hope of a referral anytime soon we have distracted ourselves with the lakehouse once again. We arrived this weekend to some snow but the rest of the weekend was gorgeous and sunny. We worked like crazy outside. Saturday we had HUGE bonfires on the shore. It was such hard work dragging branches on the rocks and the fires were HOT, we were exhausted. I took this picture of the smoldering fire on Sunday morning as we drank our coffee on the shore.

Perry came and chipped all of our brush and logs and cut down some big trees. It's giving us a lot more sun around the house. We're going to use all the chips to lay pathways around the property.

While the trees were getting cut, I cleaned out the gutters. George is trying to figure out how we are going to unclog those downspouts!

The Adirondacks George built look great, we tucked them in the woods to watch the sunset.
The sewer light went on! Excitement early Sat. morning was to watch them drain it!

Everyone that we've had come to do things for us is related one way or another, all sharing the same last name. The sewer guy comes out and says it looks like my uncle has been out clearing brush. When a cord of wood has been delivered he tells us his father-in-law can do the chipping for us. The chipping guy says he can take our cedar trees to his brother to get milled so George can build furniture with it. We find all of this completely charming. The island is a wonderful community and we're getting to know some pretty neat people. It will be a whole month until we can return. We really hope spring arrives while we are gone.

One Child Law

I came across the actual One Child Law and found it interesting. There are between 10,000 to 13,000 babies adopted out of China each year (at least in the past 5 years) and half of those numbers are babies adopted into the United States alone. These numbers are staggering to me because these are only showing the number of babies abandoned each year...not the babies who are actually born and killed or those aborted once the sex is determined by an illegal ultrasound.


In December 2002 the one-child policy became a LAW (versus a policy).
The new version of the law is:
1. Families may have only 1 child if they are Han or of a minority group with 100,000 or more members in the group.
2. Families who live in rural China on farms may have a second child if the first child is a girl.
3. Infertile couples may have the husband's brother & brother's wife bear a child for the infertile couple to raise as their own.
4. Families living in Beijing and Shanghai can have 2 children if they openly pay the required fee to the government.
5. Couples who marry and are only children themselves may have two children.
6. Couples who have only one child may adopt a second child without penalty (though they still have to pay the adoption fees which are greater than the penalty for having a second child through birth).
7. Families who exceed the one-child policy or above exceptions, are fined and must pay for the over-quota children's schooling, medical and any other services normally provided by the government. Usually people to not register these children anyway - they are like non-citizens.

It's Been Confirmed

Our agency is not receiving any referrals this month. The cut-off date is Oct. 26th. The CCAA has set an all time record low of matching only 2 days. We were only 9 days away. So close yet so far away. If they continue to match only 2 days worth, we could be looking at another 3 months of waiting. Simply unbelievable and utterly devastating. Trying to figure out why we continue to be tested in having a family is pointless, it has just become a cruel reality for us. We don't know how it is any other way at this point. The scary thoughts that run through my head is what if we don't get our baby at the end of this? What if they halt all adoptions because they simply don't have enough "paper ready" babies? It's a real fear. We know what it's like to be so close to our dream only to have it snatched right out from under us in the blink of an eye. It can and does happen. So, another month we have to wait and see what will happen. I don't see us being included in the next batch because the last days of October are bigger than the ones that were just matched. I predict it will be another season we have to go without our baby, I just know it.

On a much lighter note, we had a wonderful weekend up on the island. We find complete peace and happiness there, it's always a much needed break from our reality. We stopped at our favorite restaurant in Fish Creek, The Whistling Swan Inn before we caught the 9:30pm ferry ride over to the island. It was one of the best nights out we've had in a long time. Roaring fire, great local beer, dynamite food. In the dining room an older couple came over and asked if we were celebrating an anniversary because she saw our camera, we said no but we'd love our picture taken. We were totally grubby in our lakehouse clothes not to mention we realized we had on matching shirts... a positive mistake but an honest one with us...it happens more and more the longer we're married. So embarrassing, oh well. It was snowing when we walked out. The ferry ride over was, well I'll quote the captain of the boat, "one to tell your kids about." Blowing snow and ice, high winds, and very very dark going across "Death's Door" with the boat tilting completely left and completely right at what seemed to be full speed. We landed safely, opened a bottle of wine and watched a movie on our new Epson Movie Mate. The toilet and shower are in, what a relief. We had someone come out to see about chipping all of the brush and trees we've cut down. He's going to do it this week! We rushed around Sunday to add more and tagged the big trees we want down. Thank God for this house, we live for the weekends to return to it. It's definitely a bright spot for us.

(just learning to insert hyperlinks, no need to click on them unless interested, just practicing)

Not so good

What a draining week this has been! Rumors now are saying that the cut-off will be Oct. 26, not even close to us (Nov.2)! That's only 2 days of matching in one month! It would certainly make a new record for the CCAA. Our agency notified us today that they have a package scheduled to arrive next Monday or Tuesday and likely THESE are referrals. So we will just have to wait and see. We really don't expect to be included in this batch afterall. It will be interesting to see if these rumors hold true. Monday or Tuesday will tell all.

It will be snowing with high winds on the island this weekend. How's that for spring? We're going anyway. It's the only place we can imagine being right now, truly a place for some solitude.
Hopefully I will have some pictures to add after the weekend...this blog is looking pretty dull.

False Alarm

Referrals didn't arrive yesterday, won't arrive today, and probably won't arrive tomorrow.
Our agency stated today that it doesn't see any packages (referrals) scheduled to arrive as of yet from the CCAA. Even if they were sent today from China then our agency wouldn't receive them until Friday of which they are closed for the holiday. SO, I think it is safe to say that we won't see referrals until next week. Even so, we don't even know if we will be in this batch. This is so much harder then we ever thought. I am going to stop here because I just erased an entire paragraph of me going off on all of this and it really isn't necessary to broadcast how I really feel right now. So, I hope you'll keep following along because it will get better and more exciting, I promise. After all, our baby is out there somewhere.

Monday UPDATE

UPDATE
Our agency just informed us that the package that arrived today DID NOT contain referrals. I have no idea when they'll arrive. Maybe tomorrow? I just don't know. I'm getting out of the house. I'll post what I know later.

*************************************


It is now the afternoon in Europe and we've heard nothing from them. Does this mean referrals won't arrive until tomorrow or later??? They are usually the first to receive them, it's making everyone wonder what and the heck is going on. Our agency told us specifically that they expect a package to arrive today. They couldn't be completely positive the package is referrals so we'll have to wait and see. They expect DHL between 10 and noon.

I'm glued to the computer right now...afraid if I leave for one second I'll miss something. I'm dressed and ready for the day. George went to work this morning and should be home before noon. This is simply crazy. Are we in? Are we out? Are referrals even arriving today? Will they arrive tomorrow? Will they arrive at the end of the week? I would like to clean the house but I can't move, it's like I'm frozen in a state of anticipation. I just need to print out a list of questions to ask if we do get the call and I need to make sure I have the video camera positioned next to the phone... Better do all that just in case. More later.

We made it through the weekend

We were surprised how fast the weekend flew by. We had so much to do up at the lakehouse and without having a computer, t.v., or movies, we got A LOT done. George installed the shower and put trim in the bathroom. I painted the bunkhouse (kelly green!) and today we decorated it...it's totally for kids. Turned out pretty cute. The weather was dreary but the sun came out briefly today and the water was coming in with a little surf. It sounded like we were at the ocean!

It was wonderful being away for the weekend which could have otherwise been pretty miserable. Now we're home and exhausted and not sure how tomorrow will go. We really hope we've been matched and that we will get "the call." It's going to be a long day. George will work from home and I'm not going anywhere. I want to go to bed so tomorrow will come faster. It's like Christmas Eve but times 500. More tomorrow.