THEY DID IT!!!

It appears that the the CCAA has finished matching the February 2006 families!!!

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS????? IT MEANS......

THE NEXT BATCH OF REFERRALS WILL BE FOR MARCH 2006 FAMILIES!!!

To be honest, this news is coming off the rumor boards....my agency has not confirmed anything yet. It will probably take them a day or two to be able to do that. Children's Hope was not expecting any referrals in this batch since we don't have families logged in again until 3/2/06, so, they will have to wait for the CCAA to update their website with the official cut off date before they can make a formal annoucement. BUT, ASK ME IF I CARE??!!

I'm making a formal announcment right now.......MARCH IS NEXT, AND THERE ARE ONLY 10 LID DAYS LEFT TO GET TO US!!!!!

This batch of referrals came quickly, but that's not that unusual for this time of year. The CCAA is getting ready to break for the Chinese New Year and they typically try to get a batch or two out before they leave. This batch can technically be considered the "January" batch of referrals even though they arrived in December. Chances are, the CCAA will send another batch right before they close for the New Year break. That batch will most likely arrive around the middle of January, but will be viewed as the "February" batch. After they return from their break they will get back to work and probably send another batch out around the first of March. Of course, this is all speculation on my part.....I'm just going off what I've seen happen over the past three years.

Who cares about any of that right now. All that matters is that MARCH IS NEXT!!

15 more LID days to go!!!

Referrals arrived last week and matched families with LID's of February 18 thru February 23. It was a six day batch, which is good because it's in keeping with the average! For us, this means that there are now only 15 LID days left to be matched before we see our sugarplum's face for the first time. I can't believe we've made into the "teens"!

Speaking of making it into the teens....my nephew, Taylor (pictured about), turned 13 this month!! It's shocking to think about. Why do kids have to grow up so fast??!! I remember the day Taylor was born like it was yesterday. I remember the day he started walking (Doug and I somewhat taught him while Norah was at work...we thought we would suprise her when she got home, but instead we made her cry...oooops). I remember when he and Jacob were in pre-school together. It just doesn't seem that long ago. But, a lot changes in 13 years. The one thing that hasn't changed is that Taylor is a sweet, loving person...who happens to have the softest skin on the planet!!! Sorry to announce that publicly Taylor, but it oh so true! So....I'm sending a big shout out to Taylor, who I've been blessed to have in my life for the last 13 years.

Along with the announcement of the referrals came the announcement that our agency, Children's Hope International, has finally received their Hague Accreditation! This is great news for the many, many families that are working with them. Personally, for us, it doesn't change much. We are not going to need to renew anymore documents that would require that they be accredited, and are not trying to adopt through the "Waiting Children's" program (special needs). But, it's still good to know that CHI meets all the current requirements to work in the China program. To me, it makes things feel more secure (not that security exists in the world of international adoption). I'm very happy for our agency and even more happy for the families and children that this will help to unite!

So, as far as I'm concerned, it's been a good month for the adoption. It won't be long now. The next few months will probably be some of the most exciting, amazing, emotional....non-boring months of my life!

Our four day weekend

Well, our four day weekend is slowly coming to an end. We've had a great couple of days. The weather has been awesome...we even got a little rain which is always exciting. We've been sleeping in, playing football, golfing, hiking, running, shopping...we even went to the Wild Animal Park with our friends. Lots of fun! Doug braved Walmart on "Black Friday" and bought me a new camera. I've been without a camera (courtesy of Jacob...don't ask) for months now, so I was pretty excited to be able to take pictures again.

It's days like the ones we just had when we are all home, relaxing, doing things together that I think about our sugarplum non-stop. We spent a lot of time talking about her this weekend, which felt great. She's so much a part of our life already. In fact, sometimes it feels like she's already here. It's the strangest thing. I swear, I feel like I could walk in the living room right now and see her sitting on Doug's lap while he's watching football. I wish so badly that was the case. As we enter the last few months of our wait, she is on the other side of the world experiencing the first few months of her life. The four of us are together, enjoying our life. Feeling so much joy and excitement as we prepare to bring her home. We have each other to hug and hold, play with, laugh with, eat with...just be with. Our little girl, on the other hand, is experiencing a much different reality. In the months ahead she will experience so much emptiness, loneliness and fear. She will have to suffer through the horrible loss of her birth parents. She will go from the warmth and safety of her birth mom's womb to the harsh, cold world of orphanage life. I hope and pray that someone, whether it be a nanny or a foster parent...or anyone, takes the time to hold her and tell her that she is loved and wanted. I hope they tell her that everything is going to be OK, and that we are coming for her. I hope that somehow, in depths of her sweet little soul, she can feel the love that we have for her. I hope, I hope, I hope....

I also hope that everyone had as nice a weekend as we did! And, I also hope that referrals come in soon....and I hope that it's a "big" batch!

November referrals

Children’s Hope International is proud to announce the arrival of 8 referrals for our 02/17/06 LID families. All of the referrals were beautiful little girls from the Jiangxi Province that ranged in age from 8 to 13 months, with one referral being 3 years, 5 months old. The referrals also included one set of twins. The family that received the 3 year old requested 0-18 months though the referral fell with the CCAA age guidelines. These families waited 33 long months from log in date to referral. We expect these families to travel in about 8 weeks.

Congratulations to these families and all our China families who have moved up in line!

Children’s Hope International’s next log in date is 03/02/06.

I received the announcement above last week. This batch of referrals started with February 16th and went through February 17th. A two day batch. It's discouraging, to say the least, but it also "is what it is". So, there are now 21 days left to match to get to us! I don't know if the CCAA will be able to maintain their 6 day average as they finish matching February and start March, but if they did we would probably receive our referral in the March 2009 batch . That's only 4 batches away! That's exciting. It is also exciting to think that the next time our agency receives referrals, it will be for March families. What a thrill that will be!

Did I mention the 1/2 marathon?

Have I mentioned that I've decided to train for a half marathon? It's January 18th, and today marked my first official week of training. I've been conditioning myself for the past month or so to build up my endurance for the 12 week training schedule I'm going to follow (you have to be able to run about 3 miles without having to walk...I'm at around 3 1/2 to 4). It's going to be a huge commitment for me to train for this, but I'm so determined to do this.....I've even cut out alcohol until after the marathon (about 5 seconds after).

So how did my first week of training go? Well, I'll tell you. I haven't been able to run ONCE this week. Wanna know why? Because my freaking ankles has been swollen since last Saturday when I went jogging with the boys (they road their bikes). Why is my ankle swollen (and my shins killing me)? Because I have a pronation problem with my feet. I discovered this last year when I first starting running and my knees swelled up and wouldn't go back down. Two trips to the orthopedic, a pair of custom orthodics ($$), new running shoes (more $$) and more ice packs than I care to mention and all seemed well. I was back running and with no swelling! I ran my first 8K ever and decided then that, after summer (It's too hot for me to run in the summer), I was going to train for the half. So, I started running again a few weeks ago. All was going well when, rather unexpectedly, my ankles went south. Back to the orthopedic. Same diagnosis as the first 2 times ("you're pronated...probably shouldn't run, but since your going to anyway I recommend new running shoes, plenty of stretching, some strength training and possibly physical therapy....(oh yeah) and a cortisone shot"). I passed on the cortisone shot. Something about a needle going into my ankle wasn't appealing to me....AT ALL!

So, I just purchased my newest pair of running shoes. Say hello to my new Brooks, Adrenaline GTS 8's. I really, truly hope these do the trick. I already feel like I've worked so hard for this. I really want to be able to do it. It's such a stress reliever for me and I feel so good about myself after I complete a run. Especially when I want so badly to quick a mile or two into it and I push myself to keep going!!

I have to get this swelling to go down. I need to be able to start running again in the next few days or I am going to fall way too far behind on my training.

Anyway, that's my running saga. I'm excited about the new shoes and hope I can break them in soon.....real soon!!

Report cards and such

The first quarter of the 2008/2009 school year end a week or so ago, so we just had our first parent/teacher conferences of the year. Report cards were presented at the conferences (teacher's have finally wised up and stopped sending them home with the students). For my boys, it was A's and B's across the board. As far as behavior....they are both considered "a pleasure to have in class". I don't think those words have ever meant more to me than they do this year. I think it's because I'm working at the school now and deal with the students all day long and, let me tell you, my kids are SAINTS compared to a lot of them. They truly are a pleasure...a breath of fresh air, for their teachers. I'm so proud of them for that. Academically this year has been a challenge for both of them, but they are doing great! Homework is overwhelming at times, but we seem to get through it night after night. From talking to other parents, I have been told that 6th thru 8th grade are some of the hardest years of school. The pressure to get these kids ready for High School is intense. Sadly, most of the students don't have the maturity to handle the pressure or the speed at which new concepts are introduced. It makes for a lot of stress and a lot of work on the part of the parents to help their child stay on top of things. I really feel for the kids who don't have much support from their parents (and believe me there are a lot of them). Seeing how well my boys are doing at school, as reflected in their grades, reassures me that all of the sacrifices we have made to make it so that I can be available to them is well worth it.

As far as our sugarplum goes, I haven't heard anything as to when to expect the next batch referrals. But I can tell you that she has been on mind everyday. Everything I do, I do with her in mind. I'm constantly wondering what life will be like when she is here. Even these parent/teacher conferences get me wondering. "What will life be like next year." "What will doing homework be like?" "What will getting the kids out the door for school every morning be like?" "What will she be like?" "What will she look like?" "How old will she be?"....I could go on and on and on. I am absolutely filled with emotion when it comes to the adoption. Over flowing with it. I feel everything from fear and uncertainty to joy and elation. You name it. Pick any day of the week and it will have an emotion attached to it. Each day is different. The only thing that changes from one day to the next is the intensity of what I'm feeling. The closer we get, the more intense the feelings. At some point, I may actually explode from emotion! My favorite emotion of them all is the one where I actually miss her. I miss this child that I have yet to meet. That one makes me laugh at myself. I'm that crazy! How can you miss something you've never had?! My heart aches to see her face and to hold her. Maybe it's not missing her...maybe it's just a longing for her. That would make more sense. Maybe I'm not as crazy as I feel at times....or maybe I am.

Hopefully we'll have referral news soon!!

Extra, Extra!!

I have no idea what is going on, or what this means, but it looks as if an "extra" batch of referrals just arrived yesterday. People with February 16th LID's got phone calls yesterday from their agencies saying that they just received their referrals in the mail. It's the strangest thing ever. Nobody knows why this is happening! Is it an extra batch? Is the CCAA changing their method of sending referrals? Was the 16th supposed to be included in the last batch and somehow got left behind? WHAT THE DAISIES IS GOING ON????

I haven't heard boo from my agency about it. I've asked, others have asked, but they haven't reponded yet. I guess they'll let us know what's going on when they find out themselves. They are probably just as surprised and confused as the rest of us.

Whatever the reason, it appears that we just moved forward one more day!!!! I'll take it!

Back Home from Cali

California was awesome. It was a short but sweet visit with our friends and family. We pretty much just went to the beach everyday and played in the sand and surf. The weather was perfect and the boys had a blast. Jacob got his surfing lesson with Chris and did great! The picture above shows him holding the board he learned on. He looks so little in comparison the board....too funny! I have to get a new camera...this picture was taken on a cell phone and forwarded to my email address. How pathetic is that?!

Doug made it home safe and sound from his canoe trip, so all is well in the Schneider home.

California here we come!!

Doug is away on a canoe trip and tomorrow marks the start of the boys "Fall break", so I'm taking them to the beach for a few days!!! We've already got the car packed and we're ready to go. I'm tempted to let them ditch school, but I'm working there tomorrow so I guess we better go.

I miss the ocean sooooo much. I can't wait to see it, smell it, feel the sand between my toes, listen to waves crashing, watch the boys run in and out of the water.....you know what I mean. Aaaahhhh, I love the beach! We're staying with our very good friends, the Searls. I'm also hoping to see my brother, Chris, who moved to Oceanside last fall. He's promised Jacob surfing lessons, so let's hope we are able to hook up.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

We still haven't heard the official cut-off date from the last batch of referrals, but I'm 99% sure it was the 15th!

October referrals!

It appears that the October referrals have landed!! Although our agency has yet to release any official word, it appears that the cut-off date for this batch was February 15th! There is a possibility that the 16th was included as well, but we won't know until our agency informs us.

Our agency does not have families logged in again until February 17th.

So, for now, it looks like this was a 6 day batch! Not bad...not bad, at all.

23 days left to match for us!!

"Hang in there baby girl, you feel so close!"

Hi everyone...I'm not dead, just busy

I just thought I would pop in on my own blog and say hello to my friends, to my family and to my baby girl (who I will read all of these messages to some day)! It's been such a busy month...my schedule is hectic and the boys homework is sucking the life out of me. It's all I can do to survive having a 4th grader and 6th grader!

On a very happy note, we finished our application for our "free" I 600A and were approved and fingerprinted earlier this month. Seven days after our fingerprinting appointment, we received our new I 171H! This is the third time we have renewed this document and, thankfully, it will be the last!!! This one doesn't expire until March of 2010. I think it's safe to say that we are officially done with our adoption paperwork. Thats is, of course, until we land in China. It's just a waiting game now....what else is new, huh?! Thank goodness I've learned to wait, I'm good at it now (I'm also done with it)! I guess I better finish up the nursery...I think there's actually going to be a baby in it soon!!!

On a sadder, and somewhat distressing note, our agency is being forced to do some restructuring. As a result of many factors, not the least of which is the current economy, they are having to shut down all of their branch offices. The only office that will remain open is their corporate headquaters in St. Louis. All of our files of being transferred there. What this means for us personally is that we will no longer have our agent, Marianne Adams, at our side. She runs the Arizona branch and has worked for CHI for 14 years. I can't express how much Marianne has meant to me personally over the past three years. I don't think I could have made it through all the paperwork and this dreaded wait without her. I have spent countless hours with her on the phone and corresponding thru emails. She has helped to keep me strong and on track from the very begining of our journey. It brings me to tears to think that she won't be with us when we receive our referral. Her last day with CHI will be September 30th. Although I've tried to express my appreciation to her, I don't think she will ever fully understand what she has meant to me and to all the families she has helped to unite. She's truly an amazing woman (and a mother to two adoptive daughters...one of which is from China)!

I'll post again soon....hopefully with referral news!!!!

September referrals are in!!

We received the following announcement from our agency today! Reading the announcement gave me goosbumps...with this batch of referrals we are now only 29 LID days away from being matched. Finally, finally, finally there are less than 30 days ahead of us in line! There are only 19 days left to match in February and then they will start March! It feels like it's right around the corner....

Children's Hope International received 22 referrals today, September 2, 2008. There were 21 beautiful girls and one handsome little boy in this group of referrals. The families that received referrals had LID's of February 9, 2006 and there was one Chinese expedited family with a LID of January 22, 2007. The children are from Beijing and the Jiangxi , Shaanxi , and the Guangdong Provinces . These beautiful children ranged in ages of 5 months to 9 months old. In addition there was a 29 month old, a 3 year one month old, 3 year 2 month old, 3 year 11 month old, and a 4 year 1 month. The parents that received the children over 24 months fell within the range of what the families requested or the parents were with in the age guidelines for a toddler. Congratulations to all of these families!

Families waited 31 months for their referrals and the Chinese expedited families waited 19 months. The CCAA sent referrals out for families with LID's of 2/1/06 through 2/9/06. The next LID for Children's Hope families is 2/17/06.

We have a tween!!!

My Jacob turned 12 today!! I just can't believe it. First thing this morning he asked what time it was, then he asked what time he was born. It hit me like a ton of bricks...OMG you're 12! !! I welled up with tears (don't ask me why) and told him he was born sometime between 8:00 and 8:30 in the morning. Seeing as how I was flat on my back in the middle of an O.R. I can't really say for sure what time he was born....the time was the last thing on my mind.

Jacob has come so far since his rough start in life. He's a strong, brave, kind, patient, active, bright young man. Although I'm nervous about the whole teenage thing, I have so much confidence in Jacob. I'm really excited to see what the next few years will hold for him.

I told Jacob I would put his favorite song on the blog this week....he can't seem to decide on one, so Sheryl Crow will have to remain for now.

The picture above was taken off my cell phone, so it's not the greatest, but Jacob sure is!!!

We love you Jacob!

Bye Bye Bird's Nest

Well, the Olympics have officially come and gone. We have really enjoyed tuning in each evening and catching some of the events. The boys have become little Olympic addicts. I, of course, have mostly just enjoyed all the coverage of China. It's been so nice to turn on the TV, almost anytime of the day, and hear talk of China. For that, I will miss the Olympics. There is, however, another side of me that is excited to see it all end. Although I don't personally believe the hosting of the games in China has had anything to do with the "slowdown", I feel peace of mind in knowing that soon things will return to "business as usual" in Beijing. I don't expect some big speed up, I just desire to see them continue to move forward with their 6/5 day average. Knowing that the Olympics are behind them makes me feel all the more confident that they will do just that.

Other than that, life is moving right along. The boys are doing great in school and I am really enjoying my work there. It's been a busy couple of weeks, but that's OK. I love it when time flies...well, kind of. Jacob will be turning 12 on Friday...I'm not loving that so much! He's a great kid and I love watching him grow, but 12..really?! That's 1 year away from 13!! Where did that time go?!

I went ahead and took the Olympic theme song off the blog....I know you're all going to miss it, but the games are over and it's time for us all to move on. (tee hee) I've added a Sheryl Crow song for now. Since everyday that passes is shortening this winding road to our baby girl, I thought this one would be fitting. Benji has been begging me to put Sheryl Crow on the blog, so he'll be thrilled!

Can I hear a hallelujah?!

We were notified today by our agency that the CCAA has finally finished matching the January 2006 families!!!! Referrals arrived today and included the families logged in from January 26th thru January 31st 2006!! It has taken 6 months for them to match the January families and I am thrilled that they are finally done!

Now it's on to February, and then MARCH!!!! I can't believe there is only ONE month in front of us to be matched...ONE!!!

We are 38 LID days away from seeing our daughter's face for the first time! If the CCAA continues with their 6 day average per batch, we would probably see a referral in the March 2009 batch! That is only 7 months away!!!

Champagne anyone?!!

First day of school for the boys...and me!

Today was the first day of school for Jacob and Benjamin. Jacob is in 6th grade and Benji is in 4th (boo hoo)! I don't remember telling them they could grow up so fast. I'm actually joining the boys at school this year. I'm going to be working there as a teacher's aid 2 1/2 days a week. Surprisingly enough, the boys are very excited about it. I asked Jacob before I accepted the job whether or not he cared if his mom worked at the school. He response, "Why would I care?" To which I said, "Because I'll be at your school during the day, working with some of your classmates and everyone knows I'm your mom." Jacobs response, "So...I think it's cool, now I can see you whenever I want." Alrighty then! Had my mom asked me the same question at his age my response would have been a resounding, "H%*L NO!!" I guess Jacob is just a nicer person than me. Benjamin is excited as well, but that didn't surprise me in the least.

Anyway, summer is over (well, at least the break is)! It's back to a routine and a schedule...GROSS!

The picture above isn't very good because I took it off my cell phone. I'm back to not having a camera. Sorry about the Olympic theme song....I'll change it later!

8-8-08, All eye's are on China

Tonight marks the start of the 2008 Olympics, hosted by China. The opening ceremonies, I'm sure will be impressive. It's been interesting, endearing and at times heart wrenching to hear and see all the news coverage of China over the past few weeks. Trying to put the adoption out of mind has been near to impossible. But thats OK, I love to think about it...and her!

Referrals should be arriving soon, although the rumors say that this may be a very small batch.

Doug and Jacob leave tonight for a two day canoe trip!! Scary for me, fun for them.

Monday is the first day of school.....UUUGGGHHH! Wish us luck getting up on time.

Gotta run....I'm getting ready to curl up on the couch with Benji (my snuggle bunny) and watch the opening ceremonies.

Spaaah!

My spa weekend was fantastic. We spent the entire weekend pampering ourselves, going to movies (we saw Mama Mia and laughed till we cried), eating out, lounging in the pool..more pampering! I'm such a sucker for the spa (who isn't?!)! The four of us decided, however, that 2 days just isn't quite enough. Next year we're pushing for three days!!

The photo above was taken as we were getting ready to leave the spa. If you look close enough you may notice a tear in each of our eyes. Just kidding!

Breathing again!

After many, many emails and phone calls, I feel I can state with a measure of confidence that our adoption is going to be OK... at least with regards to our agency being denied Hague accreditation. This is due in part to the fact that we have not allowed ANY of our documents to expire and, as such, qualify to extend our current I 171H (which doesn't expire until 1/9/09). After the extension if filed, a new I 171H will be issued which will be good for an additional 18 months. China has a informed our agency that they will allow them to continue to facilitate the adoptions of their families who expect to receive a referral (and complete their travel) before their current I 171H expires. That's us! In fact, after we file for our extension, we....and I say this with a measure of confidence as well...should be done with our paper work!!! Done being fingerprinted and re-fingerprinted, done with medical exams, done with home studies and notaries, done with court certificates....DONE...until, of course, we get to China.

So, for now I am breathing again. For the first time in a long time I am starting to let myself really think about her. I am allowing myself to believe that the crib, pictured above, will not remain empty forever! I'm enjoying picturing her with us instead of wanting to cry everytime I do. It feels so good. It's amazing how close to my heart this child has remained these past 3 years!

Tomorrow I'm off to enjoy my "girlfriends weekend". Checking into the spa for 2 days. Aaahhh! I'm glad that I get to do so with peace of mind. This week has been stressful and rather high in emotion. It's going to feel so good to put all of that behind me for a few days, relax and enjoy the company of my wonderful friends!

"Thank you" to all our friends and family for all of the loving support we have received from you over the course of the past 3 years (we started our paperchase 3 years ago this month)! It's been a journey fulls of highs and lows and so many unexpected twists and turns. We couldn't have made it this far without you!

Big hugs to everyone!

Fear, Sadness, Anger....and Tears

I just received the following email from my agency. They "kindly" sent it to all of their waiting families on Friday night and then closed the office for the weekend so as not to be available to answer any of our questions....and believe me there are many.

Why? Why? Why? How much change, pain and uncertainty can we be asked to endure????


On July 9th, 2008 CHI was reviewed by COA for our Hague accreditation. Yesterday, July 17, 2008 we were informed by COA that our Hague application has been denied. Our denial was based on being non-compliant in one state where we are licensed. This was not brought to our attention until last week after the Hague review was already underway. We are currently working to resolve this issue and will be requesting from COA re-consideration to our approval.


Specific information on how this affects you - or if it will affect you will be coming in the near future from your specific program.

We are going forward in the faith that this will soon be resolved. We are committed to you and your adoption.


Thank you for your patience and prayers during this time.”
Dwyatt Gantt

The Countdown is on!

9 days left until I check into here.....

For some of this.......

AAAWWW!!!

Our Flagstaff Trip!

We just returned from a week in Flagstaff. We went on hikes, slept in (my favorite thing to do), played games (Doug's favorite thing to do..Scrabble was the game of choice once again), built forts (Jacob's favorite thing to do), went to the Grand Canyon, watched movies, golfed, got pedicures....you name it! We even had some live entertainment at the house one night (the kids put on a play for us...too cute!). We had 4 families (8 kids, 8 adults) in one house and still managed to have a great time! We have some of the greatest friends (and family, of course) in the world!

July 2008 Referrals!

I've been out of town and slightly out of touch! We headed up to Flagstaff for a few days and while we were away, referrals came in. This batch matched families with log in dates of January 21- January 25th of 2006. A 5 day batch. It may not be much, but it is a step closer! There are now 44 days left to be matched before we see a referral. We are included in day 44!

Congratulations to all the families who are seeing their child's face for the first time!!!

Referral Update

My agency just informed me that cut-off date for this batch was the 20th. It was an 8 day batch!!! I'll take that! If it had made it to the 22nd it would have been the first double digit (10 day) batch since March of 2006. How crazy is that?!


There are now 49 days left to match to get to us. We are included in day 49.

Now for some number crunching....

Here's the number of days each batch covered for the last six months:

June 2008 = 8
May 2008 = 3
April 2008 = 5
Mar 2008 = 8
Feb 2008 = 8
Jan 2008 = 5

Total = 37

Average days covered in each batch for the last six months = 6.1

Here's the number of days each batch covered six months prior to that:

Dec 2007 = 6
Nov 2007 = 8
Oct 2007 = 5
Sept 2007 = 4
Aug 2007 = 7
July 2007 = 7

Total for the last 12 months = 74 days

Average days covered in each batch for the last 12 months = 6.1 days

If that average holds we could expect a referral in.......8 months!!!! That would be the February 2009 batch! Just one month shy of our 3 year LID anniversary!

Of course....we'll just have to WAIT and see!

June Referrals Are In!

June referrals have arrived in the U.S. Below is the announcement from our agency. The only problem with this announcement is that it doesn't state the official cut-off date for this batch. Our agency had families logged in on the 13th and the 16th, and then not again until 2/9. The rumors boards are saying that the cut-off could be the 22nd. Here's hoping! I'll post the official cut-off date when I get a confirmation from our agency. Until then I will enjoy reading the referral announcements and checking out the cute pictures from the 15 families who received "the call" today! Congratulations to all of them!

Today has been a wonderful day. We received 15 referrals!! 10 werefor LID's 1/13/06 and 1/16/06 and 5 Chinese expedited with LID's of11/06. There were 2 boys and 13 girls. The ages ranged from 8 monthsto 22 months all within what the families were requesting. Our nextlog in date is 2/9/06. We also received 3 seeking confirmationletters for waiting children families.

Snakes, snails and puppy dog tails!

I swear I have got to get a camera. My camera is "missing"! Jacob took it in the backyard a few weeks ago to make videos of himself and his friends jumping on the trampoline and wouldn't you know it....it's now gone. So, I have no pictures of my own to post, but if I did, today would have been a true Kodak day!

It's my cleaning day....I took me double the time it normally takes me because the boys are home and I was cleaning and talking on the phone most of the day (I LOVED talking to you today, Stephanie....sooooo excited). Anyway, here's how the day went.....

I kicked the boys out of the living room so I could mop the floors. I went down to my room for what felt like 30 seconds and when I came back down the hallway they had these two giant cardboard boxes from the garage sitting on their area rug (which I had just vacuumed) and they where making "secret hideouts" out of them. No big deal, except they didn't bother to knock all the leaves and junk off the bottom of them before they put them on the rug, so needless to say I had to bust the vacuum out again (this time they did the vacuuming). But, you should have seen how funny they looked sitting in their "hideouts" playing their Game cube. After a while I sent them outside to play.

The next thing I know I look out the front window and what do I see??? The boys had this broken scooter thing (it runs on batteries, has a seat and looks like a Lark) that my Dad brought over yesterday bunji corded to a bike. Jacob was peddling the bike and pulling Benji down the street on the scooter. It looked like something strait out of Napoleon Dynamite. I was dying laughing. It looked a little dangerous, but they were having fun. Fast forward two minutes....in comes Jacob carrying Benji with scraped up knees. He had apparently hit the brakes on the bike and the scooter went crashing into it.....bit shocker there!

After I nursed Benji's knees back to "working order" (he acted like he couldn't even hop let alone walk) I went back to my cleaning. I walked into the boys room to put away some folded laundry and feel something squish between my toes. I froze...said a quick prayer..and looked down to see what in the world I could have just stepped on. It was one of the many, many, many caterpillars Jacob had collected a few days ago. He had them in this bug collector thing that was supposed to be in the backyard. Apparently since it "got windy the other night" and he was afraid something would happen to them he moved them inside. Yeah something happened.....THEY GOT OUT!!!

Then I went to fridge to get myself something to drink (just water, in case you're wondering). I opened the freezer to get out some ice and found not one but two exploded cans of Coke inside. "Jacob" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He comes barreling out of his room where both him and Benjamin where frantically "cleaning up" the caterpillars. I held open the freezer door and just pointed at the mess. "Oh yeah...I put those in there last night so Benji and I could make slushies".

Seriously, I think this going to be a long summer. Doug came home a few minutes later and got them out of my hair. They went to the store to get a new battery for the scooter thing....more injuries to come I'm sure! Give me strength!

What will this summer bring?

I haven't been much for blogging lately, so I thought I should post a small update on our life. To be honest, not a lot has changed with us. The boys just got out of school for the summer and they couldn't be happier about it. They both did great this year...A's and B's on everything!

The weather here in Phoenix has actually been really nice. We've had a few hot days, but the evenings are still cool. We've been eating dinner out on the patio as often as we can.....soon it will be indoor dining only!! Jacob is outside right now with my Dad flying a kite (that's like heaven to him) and Benjamin is chasing them up and down the street on his new bike. So, needless to say their summer is off to a pretty good start. We are hoping to make it over to San Diego in July, but other than that we have no major plans! We'll just have to wait and see!

It's been a bit of an emotional week for me. At first I thought it was just PMS. Then last night Benjamin said something that pushed me right over the edge. I should have seen it coming, but....

It started with us selling my Expedition (you know you're getting close to loosing it when you want to cry over a car). The thing is, I've been picturing her, in her cute little car seat, in that car for two years. I know it sounds crazy, but that's the car I owned when we started the adoption and I just assumed it would be the one I would be driving when she came home. It's not, and that's OK, but something about the fact that she never even drove in it with us makes me so sad.

Then the last day of school came and I realized that we are facing yet another summer without our sugarplum. The worst of it is, I'm not convinced that it's going to be our last summer without her....next summer could very well be more of the same.

Then last night, Doug and I were enjoying some relaxing (and slightly romantic) time in the jacuzzi together when Jacob and Benjamin decided to hop on in and join us. So, there the four of us were..talking and laughing and hanging out when Benjamin looks over at me and says, "Mom I can totally picture you holding our baby sister right now." I instantly felt a pain in my heart and asked him, "Really...what does she look like?" He said, "She's cute and she's just a little bit bigger than Vienna." Then he laughed and reached for Jacob and the two of them started wrestling around in the water. I, on the other hand, did anything but laugh. In fact, I had to get out as quickly as possible so the boys wouldn't see me crying. It's like he read my mind. I picture her with us all time, but to hear him say it just broke my heart. It was "the straw that broke the camels back". I've been two blinks away from tears since then. Maybe it is just PMS...let's hope so.

I posted a picture of my niece, Vienna, because if that doesn't put a smile on your face I don't know what will!!

Referrals should be arriving any day now. I'll post the news as soon as I hear.

Please Keep China in Your Thoughts

So, Monday morning I'm driving home from dropping the boys off at school when Norah calls and asks me if I heard about the earthquake in China. "What earthquake?"

Sichuan province had just been hit with an earthquake. If you look on the map of China I have on the blog (right side) you can see where it is located. Chengdu is it's capital city. Sichuan is home to the famous Panda. It's a beautiful province and has many orphanages within it's bounderies.

The images on the news and the internet are almost too much to bear. The photo above is of some newborn babies who were being transported from one hospital to another.

There are reports coming in from many of the orphanges, but not all. From what I've read, there has not been any loss of life in any of them. Some have sustained considerable damage to their buildings and have had to move the children to temporary shelters such as tents, etc. But, most seem to have faired rather well. Many are in need of water, diapers and formula. Relief efforts are under way to assists these orphanages.

Some of the families who are in China right now completing their adoptions have emailed to report that they did feel the earthquake, but are OK. I can't imagine being over there with all of this going on.

Our 26th month LID anniversary came and went this weekend without much notice. The families who received referrals this month waited 28 months from their LID. Lucky them!!! I wish our wait would end at 28 months!

Please keep China, especially it's children, in your thoughts!

To see some of the relief work that Children's Hope International is doing in China right now, you can click on the link to the right under the heading "CHI's projects in China".

May Referrals!

Dear China Families,

The CCAA updated their information system on Sunday, May 4th with the following information about referrals.

The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before January 12, 2006.

Children's Hope did not have any log in dates for the 10th, 11th and 12th. Our next log in date is January 13, 2006.

This batch of referrals started with January 9, 2006. It was a three day batch. I had been checking in with the rumor boards last week, so I was pretty much expecting this. It's discouraging, to say the least. But, then again, three days is three days. It's better than two! There are 57 days left to match to get to us (we're the 57th day).

Referrals!!

Life has been busy, so I'm late in reporting the newest batch of referrals. They arrived last Friday! This batch of referrals matched families with log in dates of January 5th thru January 9th of 2005. A 5 day batch! Our agency had families logged in on January 6th, and the good news is they DID receive their referrals. This was a relief to all of us given the situation with our agency's "pending" Hague accreditation.

With all the anxiety this month has thrown at us, it was so nice to read the referrals announcements from these families. As always, we feel great joy for these families and for ourselves for having moved up in line!

Letting go...

Well, tomorrow marks the day that will change International Adoption (at least for many countries..China and the U.S. included) in a pretty significant way. After tomorrow any seeking to adopt a child from a country who signed the Hague Treaty, oh so many years ago, will need to be working with a Hague accredited adoption agency. Anyone who is already in the process of adopting will need to be working with an accredited agency in order to complete their adoption.

Towards the end of February a list of approved Hague adoption service providers was released and surprisingly our agency, Children's Hope International, was not on it. They had apparently been placed in a "pending" status by the COA (Council on Accreditation). Although they have been working, and will continue to work, diligently to become accredited it is appears that it will be months (maybe as late as early fall) before they will be in a position to request that the "pending" status be removed and approval given. If, at that time, they are not approved, we will be "transfer ed" to an agency that has already been approved in order to complete the adoption. At least that's what we are being told at this time. Many, many things are still up in the air...including whether or not our agency will continue to receive referrals for their clients while they are "pending". There is also the issue of families being able to renew necessary documents while their agency is pending. Only time will tell how all of this will be worked out and how it will effect our adoption, if at all.

I spent a great deal of time last week researching all that I could think to research, making tons of phone calls, sending tons of emails...trying to do anything I could to secure our position. Sadly, there's was little, in fact nothing, I could do to help our situation. So, I am forced to just "let go" for now. I have to trust that the Hague committee, USCIS and the CCAA will come up with a plan that will be in the best interest of all the children who are waiting for their family to come get them and the families who want so desperately to bring their child home. There has been so much change in the world of international adoption in the past few years that it is hard, almost impossible, to feel confident that all will OK. But, we are not alone and the chances that the adoption of so many people (our agency alone has 800 families logged in in China) will be ruined by policy changes, or the like, is probably pretty small. So, for now, it's time to sit back and see where all the cards will fall. We were told 2 1/2 years ago at our required course on adoption that, "International Adoption is very rewarding, but IT IS NOT EASY". The "not easy" part I get...I can't wait to see the reward!

P.S. On a funnier note...the boys and I were over at my sister-in-law's house on Saturday night and her daughter wanted to watch Annie the movie....so needless to say we were all sitting around watching it. I totally got emotional watching it!!! You know you are going through a bad spell when "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" song gets you misty!! I'm still laughing at myself about it....Hopefully it was just the wine, otherwise I'm turning into a total sap!

What a difference a few days can make!

Last week was full of good things. We celebrated our two year LID anniversary, had a visit from our social worker to update our home study report, and had our 14th wedding anniversary! Doug and I spent the weekend celebrating our anniversary by eating out, going shopping, giving gifts to each other, going to the movies, laying by the pool...all of our favorite things! Life felt good!

This week, however, it feels as if the rug has been pulled out from under us. Due to circumstance beyond our control, our adoption has been placed in jeopardy. We are doing everything in our power to try to secure our position, but are uncertain as to how much of a positive effect our efforts will have on the fate of our family.

My heart goes out to all those families who, like us, are being faced with this uncertainty.

Our TWO YEAR LID anniversary

Well, yesterday was our two year LID anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been that long since we were told we were officially logged into the program with the CCAA. In some ways it hasn't felt like two years, and in some ways it feels like we've been doing this forever. When I look back and see how far we've come, I realize that this last leg of the wait will be over before we know it as well.

We celebrated by gathering with our family at the Chinese Cultural Center. Sadly, Doug wasn't feeling well and had to leave dinner early, but the rest of us enjoyed ourselves. We ate at the Golden Buddha (pictured above) and then walked through the Asian grocery store. I'm always so grateful for the support of my family. They are so excited about the adoption. At times I think the wait is almost harder on them than on us. It's nice to know our little sugarplum is loved already!

Thanks for celebrating with us everyone! And, thanks for the balloons...who knows, maybe one of them will float it's way to China (at least that's what Benji was hoping)

They did it again!!!

I just received notification from our agency that referrals have arrived for the month of March! ANOTHER 8 DAY BATCH!!! It seems almost silly to rejoice over an 8 day batch, but given what the CCAA has been able to do recently, it's an improvement...a step in the right direction. I'm still hoping to get one, maybe two, 10 batches here in the next few months! It would make a huge difference in our wait time.

The other things about this batch of referrals that I feel like shouting from my rooftop is that...."THEY ARE FINALLY MATCHING 2006 FAMILIES"!!!! I can't believe it. Our year is officially in the works. I'm so thrilled! With so little to rejoice over, with regards to the adoption, this past year this is making me so totally excited!

Below is the announcement from our agency:

Document Processing

The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documentsregistered with our office before October 31, 2006. The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whoseadoption application documents were registered with our office beforeJanuary 04, 2006. This group of referrals covered the 12/28/05 through 1/4/06 log indates. Unfortunately, Children's Hope did not have any log in datesduring this period, so we did not receive any referrals or Chinese expedited referrals. Our next log in dates are 1/6/06, 1/13/06 and1/16/06.

Congratulations to all the families who are seeing their child's face for the first time!!!

Vienna Elizabeth has arrived!!

I am thrilled to announce the arrival of my new niece, Vienna Elizabeth Lossing!!! She was born on Monday, February 25th (her due date) at 2:30 in the afternoon!!! She weighs 8 lbs 8 ozs and is 18 3/4" inches long. She is absolutely adorable!!!

The labor and delivery went great. Sarah was calm, cool and collected throughout the entire experience. This was one of the funnest births I've ever been on. We were all so excited about welcoming this little girl into the world we could hardly handle it. We managed, however, to wait until after she was born to pop the champange.

Here's how we give birth "Lossing style"...

And, while all this excitement was going on, my cousin was in Florida giving birth to her son!! His name is Anthony and he is one cute little guy! Our family has much to be grateful for!