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!