So those packages showed up but did NOT contain referrals. It was information related to special needs (SN) adoptions. We didn't know for sure but we hoped!
Our date, 11/21/05, is still looking good to be included when they do come. It is hard to wait what will hopefully be these last few days but honestly, at this point, hardly anything phases us. We're old pros now!
This last bit here is going to be a little bumpy. Everyone keep your hands and feet inside the car at all times and do NOT stand up until the ride comes to a complete stop.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Packages En Route
Apparently, multiple packages left Beijing yesterday and are headed to agencies! Not 100% sure yet if those packages contain referrals but it's looking good. If it turns out to be referrals and if it turns out that we're included, we could get THE CALL as soon as Tuesday! I know that's a couple of pretty big "if's" but like I said, it's looking good so we're going with it at our house. What the heck?!
When I imagined this moment, I figured we'd be COMPLETELY freaking out but we're not completely freaking out. We're just really, really happy.
It's been such a long haul and WE ARE READY!
Bring on that babe!
(fingers and toes crossed, please)
When I imagined this moment, I figured we'd be COMPLETELY freaking out but we're not completely freaking out. We're just really, really happy.
It's been such a long haul and WE ARE READY!
Bring on that babe!
(fingers and toes crossed, please)
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Pin drop
It's so quiet out there in Rumor Mill-ville, you could hear a pin drop. Nothing new to report about whether we will be included in the next batch of referrals but thought I'd post so you wouldn't wonder if I'd forgotten aboutcha.
I did get a new question I'd like to answer:
Will you bring toilet paper?
Yes, we will bring toilet paper. Speaking of toilets, I should start doing wall squats so I'm prepared for the squat toilets found in public restrooms in China. Reminds me of my days back in Iowa, detassling corn for the fine men (and women?) of Mellowdent Seed Corn. Doesn't take ya long to figure out how to do your thing in a corn field, that's for sure. Looks to me like wearing a skirt would be a good idea...
Nothing like a little bathroom humor to pass the time, huh?
I did get a new question I'd like to answer:
Will you bring toilet paper?
Yes, we will bring toilet paper. Speaking of toilets, I should start doing wall squats so I'm prepared for the squat toilets found in public restrooms in China. Reminds me of my days back in Iowa, detassling corn for the fine men (and women?) of Mellowdent Seed Corn. Doesn't take ya long to figure out how to do your thing in a corn field, that's for sure. Looks to me like wearing a skirt would be a good idea...
Nothing like a little bathroom humor to pass the time, huh?
Monday, July 23, 2007
Frequently Asked Questions
First things first; online rumors over the weekend are a bit less rosy than they were last week. I'm not going to go into the details because I don't like putting negative stuff out into the universe. Stewart and I are still very optimistic about August. Please keep the positive energy flowing as we move closer to our daughter and she to us.
As a distraction, I thought it might be fun and helpful if I answered some of the common questions I get asked. I imagine other friends and family must be wondering the same sorts of things, so here goes:
When is the next batch of referrals going to arrive?
They should be mailed anytime between July 30 and August 13, with the most likely day for them to show up in the U.S. being August 6th.
When will you know if you are included?
The day the referrals arrive at our agency, they begin making calls to their clients who were matched. We won't know anything until we know pretty much everything. We'll get THE CALL out-of-the-blueish, meaning the agency won't call ahead to tell us they'll be calling.
Do you know you will have a daughter for sure? How old will she be?
No, we don't know for sure/sure if we'll be matched with a girl but most of the children available from China are girls. My impression is that there are a couple of boys in every 600-700 girls matched. Those parents are very surprised, exchange their pinks for blues, and are very excited. We'll do the same! I've seen children, at the time of referral, as young as 6 months and as old as 17 months. Most likely, she'll be around 9-10 months.
When you get THE CALL, what will they say?
They'll say something like "You have a daughter!" and then give us basic info like name, age, weight, and what Province she's in. We'll go to the agency a couple of days later to pick up the translated packet of info which includes more detailed information.
After you get THE CALL, what happens next?
We have one week to accept. During that week, most parents send off the baby's health information to the University of Minnesota International Adoption Clinic for their input. We're so lucky to have such an amazing clinic right here in our own backyard.
When do you leave for China?
After we accept our match, we'll wait (again!) to be assigned an appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. Once we have that date, all the other business we need to do in China gets back-dated from that appointment. The Chinese business is at the beginning and the U.S. Consulate business is at the end. After referral, we'll travel anywhere from 5-6 weeks to 8 weeks later.
How long will you be in China? Who will you be traveling with?
We plan to do a bit of sight-seeing, hopefully in Beijing, before we travel to the Province where we'll meet our daughter. All together, we'll most likely be in China for about 3 weeks. We'll travel with the other families from our agency with the same log-in date (11/21/05). Additionally, our agency's China staff will be with us, acting as guides and letting us know what to do and when. I'm not sure at this point if another group from our agency will travel with us.
If anybody has any other burning questions, feel free to post a comment and I'll try to answer.
As a distraction, I thought it might be fun and helpful if I answered some of the common questions I get asked. I imagine other friends and family must be wondering the same sorts of things, so here goes:
When is the next batch of referrals going to arrive?
They should be mailed anytime between July 30 and August 13, with the most likely day for them to show up in the U.S. being August 6th.
When will you know if you are included?
The day the referrals arrive at our agency, they begin making calls to their clients who were matched. We won't know anything until we know pretty much everything. We'll get THE CALL out-of-the-blueish, meaning the agency won't call ahead to tell us they'll be calling.
Do you know you will have a daughter for sure? How old will she be?
No, we don't know for sure/sure if we'll be matched with a girl but most of the children available from China are girls. My impression is that there are a couple of boys in every 600-700 girls matched. Those parents are very surprised, exchange their pinks for blues, and are very excited. We'll do the same! I've seen children, at the time of referral, as young as 6 months and as old as 17 months. Most likely, she'll be around 9-10 months.
When you get THE CALL, what will they say?
They'll say something like "You have a daughter!" and then give us basic info like name, age, weight, and what Province she's in. We'll go to the agency a couple of days later to pick up the translated packet of info which includes more detailed information.
After you get THE CALL, what happens next?
We have one week to accept. During that week, most parents send off the baby's health information to the University of Minnesota International Adoption Clinic for their input. We're so lucky to have such an amazing clinic right here in our own backyard.
When do you leave for China?
After we accept our match, we'll wait (again!) to be assigned an appointment at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. Once we have that date, all the other business we need to do in China gets back-dated from that appointment. The Chinese business is at the beginning and the U.S. Consulate business is at the end. After referral, we'll travel anywhere from 5-6 weeks to 8 weeks later.
How long will you be in China? Who will you be traveling with?
We plan to do a bit of sight-seeing, hopefully in Beijing, before we travel to the Province where we'll meet our daughter. All together, we'll most likely be in China for about 3 weeks. We'll travel with the other families from our agency with the same log-in date (11/21/05). Additionally, our agency's China staff will be with us, acting as guides and letting us know what to do and when. I'm not sure at this point if another group from our agency will travel with us.
If anybody has any other burning questions, feel free to post a comment and I'll try to answer.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
We're looking good
Online indicators continue to predict (though it's still very early in the rumor cycle) we'll be within the range of dates matched for August!
It's getting very, very exciting!
Special shout-out to friends Lisa and Mike who really helped Stewart and me this past weekend with baby stuff. Crib scouting and installing a chair rail/crown molding in the nursery - two projects not for the faint of heart. Thank-you Sahr's!!!
I'll update the blog as info continues to roll in, so stay tuned...
Thursday, July 12, 2007
You people are the best
Ever since I put up my last post saying that August is looking pretty good for us to get our referral, friends and loved ones have been expressing so much excitement and anticipation for the arrival of our daughter. I've also received tons of offers of cribs and highchairs and pack-n-plays and exersaucers and safety equipment and so on.
You people are the best - thank you SO much!
You people are the best - thank you SO much!
Friday, July 06, 2007
July Referrals Are Coming!
It's official - referrals are headed to agencies around the world and the cut-off for this batch is November 14th, 2005!
I talked with the other couples from our agency with the same log-in date as ours (11/21) and we all agree that it's looking good for August, September on the outside.
Today is going to be one of those days when I laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry and so on. Or maybe both at once. Goofy grin with tears.
P.S. To get a good idea of how excruciating just the past six months of this wait has been, check this out: since January 3, 2007 until July, 2007 - only 1 month and 18 days of log-ins have been matched. When we started this journey, they were matching a month of log-ins every month. Can you believe that? Seriously, wow.
I talked with the other couples from our agency with the same log-in date as ours (11/21) and we all agree that it's looking good for August, September on the outside.
Today is going to be one of those days when I laugh, cry, laugh, cry, laugh, cry and so on. Or maybe both at once. Goofy grin with tears.
P.S. To get a good idea of how excruciating just the past six months of this wait has been, check this out: since January 3, 2007 until July, 2007 - only 1 month and 18 days of log-ins have been matched. When we started this journey, they were matching a month of log-ins every month. Can you believe that? Seriously, wow.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Kitchen Remodel Photos
Sink area, before - yes, the sink is green.
Sink area, after - new light fixture pending.
Range, before - green to match the sink. Border came with the house.
Range, after - love the built-in microwave.
Breakfast table, before - first of three layers of wall paper down.
Lots of storage, after - pull-out pantry next to fridge is genius.
Roll-away dishwasher, catch-all corner, before - ack!
There's a little bench below the upper cabinets for sitting and taking your boots off, after.
Fridge, before - green to match the range and sink.
Breakfast bar, after - lots of good storage underneath.
Monday, July 02, 2007
July Rumors
We've been hearing that the cut off for July may be November 14. That's only 7 days away from us! AND a few of the days between the 14th and the 21st (our date) have very light numbers or no one was logged-in (weekend?) at all. What that means is and hold on to your seat here...if we see matches through November 14 this month, our chances to see peanut's face in August are excellent!
I woke up hours before I had to get up this morning, going over/over/over my mental lists of all the things we still need to do. It went something like this:
"If we get our match in August, that's let's say 6 weeks away. That's only 6 weekends. If we leave for China 4 to 6 weeks after that, that's only 10 to 12 weekends..." Funny (not funny) how in the dead of winter, it never occurred to me to clean out and organize closets but at 5:30 this morning, there it was - top of my list.
Stew's response when he wandered into the kitchen this morning for his bowl of cereal and found me bug-eyed and talking 100 mph? He said we'll sit down with our to-do list and formulate a plan, actually come up with a timeline, a schedule of when we're going to do each item so that's it's not just a random list of things keeping me up at night but A Concrete Plan of Action.
Ahhhhhh, the voice of reason...
How I do lurv that man.
I woke up hours before I had to get up this morning, going over/over/over my mental lists of all the things we still need to do. It went something like this:
"If we get our match in August, that's let's say 6 weeks away. That's only 6 weekends. If we leave for China 4 to 6 weeks after that, that's only 10 to 12 weekends..." Funny (not funny) how in the dead of winter, it never occurred to me to clean out and organize closets but at 5:30 this morning, there it was - top of my list.
Stew's response when he wandered into the kitchen this morning for his bowl of cereal and found me bug-eyed and talking 100 mph? He said we'll sit down with our to-do list and formulate a plan, actually come up with a timeline, a schedule of when we're going to do each item so that's it's not just a random list of things keeping me up at night but A Concrete Plan of Action.
Ahhhhhh, the voice of reason...
How I do lurv that man.
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