CATCH UP TIME

Ok I have not posted in a while for many reasons. The main one being that I forgot my password and could not get on the site! But I finally got on and we have alot to catch up on.
Referrals have been issued twice since I posted last. on 4/5/07 referrals were sent for those people LID 10/25/05-10/26/05. Yhea you read that right, that would be two days! Thats CRAZY! Here are the excuses for that, there were so many people LID in those two days, there are not enough paper ready babies, they had closed earlier for Chinese New Year........ Whatever! It was a very down time for us all that month. You kinda have to laugh about it now just so you can make it through another month. So that is what we did, we started joking that maybe CCAA would issue one day the next time, because you know October is sooo BIG! Well on 4/30/07 they surprised us by sending out referrals for 10/27/05-11/1/05. What, they made it into November! What a gift from CCAA! And wait, they sent out two batches in one month, Oh happy days! Well dont get excited because you know CCAA was due a vacation so they wanted to get out the May referrals before they took a week off at the first of May. Well at least they sent them out before they went on vacation. Thanks CCAA!
Now we are into the month of November LIDs. And guess what, November is HUGE!!! So who knows when they will even get to those of us who are LID in 2006! Some people are saying it will take 4 months just to get all of November referred. Hey and guess what the last batch doesnt count towards that guess because hey, it was only one day of November.
Now at the present time we are hearing that December, January and February are small months while March is another big month. Luckily we are LID 3/15/06 and the big days seem to be after us. Now who knows what will happen but if I were a guessing kinda person who had charts up at my house and at my office with all the LIDS and referrals on them(can you tell that I have all this at home and at my office) then I would say November will take 4 months June, July, August, & September. December will be done with October and November, January would be done in December and January(looks like someone is hitting the 24 month mark), February would be done in February and March, and March would be done in April, May, June and July! With us most likely getting our referral in May. This sucks in my opinion. But what can we do, nothing but wait. Of course my agency is saying we should get our referral in December-February, I just dont see that happening unless there is a speed up.
There are 134 days left between the last LID that was referred and our LID. If CCAI did 15 days each month it would take 8.9333 months for us to get our referral. So we would get it in February. I just dont see them doing 15 days each month.
Now you ask why the slow down because you said it would only take 6 months to get the referral. Well that is what we were told but I now know the reason that why it suddenly went to such a slow down, you ready....
We got in line! It never fails no matter what line I get in it is going to slow down. So I am now going to apologize to all those people whose life we have put on hold because they are now having to wait in a line to bring their baby home. But here is good news for you, when we are no longer in line it will speed right back up!!! Or just maybe it is not my fault and it has nothing at all to do with our being in line, maybe, just maybe it has something to do with the fact that China is hosting the Olympics in 2008!!! Hmmm, maybe I am on to something!

1 YEAR LATER..........

OK SO IT IS 1 YEAR AFTER OUR LID AND WHAT DO WE HAVE TO SHOW FOR IT YOU ASK? NOTHING. EXCEPT A ROOM FULL OF CLOTHES AND TOYS AND A FEW GRAY HAIRS ON BOTH OF OUR HEADS! I COULD NEVER HAVE IMAGINED WHEN WE STARTED THAT WE WOULD STILL BE WAITING TODAY. I JUST KNEW THAT SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN HOME WITH HER FAMILY. BUT I WAS WRONG. I DONT KNOW WHERE SHE IS(WELL OK I KNOW SHE IS IN CHINA) I DONT KNOW IF SHE HAS EVEN BEEN BORN YET. ONE GOOD THING THAT I DO KNOW IS THAT WE MADE IT THROUGH THE REVIEW ROOM! SO OUR DOSSIER PASSED THE REVIEW OF THE CHINESE. THANK GOODNESS THAT IS OVER. NOW OUR DOSSIER WAS MOVED TO THE MATCHING ROOM. NOW DONT GET ALL EXCITED THINKING WE ARE GOING TO GET MATCHED SOON, WE ARE NOT. THE WAY I PICTURE IT IN MY HEAD IS THAT THERE IS A VERY LOOOONG HALL WAY THAT LEADS TO THE MATCHING ROOM AND THERE IS A BIG LINE OF DOSSIERS WAITING TO GET IN AND WE ARE AT THE END OF THAT LINE. MAYBE SOMETIME BETWEEN NOW AND THIS TIME NEXT YEAR WE WILL BE AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE! OH HOW I WISH I COULD BUTT INFRONT OF PEOPLE!
SO FAR CCAA HAS MATCHED THOSE PEOPLE WHO WERE LOGGED IN ON AND BEFORE 10/24/05. NOW IF YOU FIGURE UP THE DAYS LEFT TO OUR LID OF 3/15/06 YOU GET 142 DAYS LEFT ( I KNOW THIS BECAUSE OF THE BIG CALENDAR I HAVE MADE FOR MY OFFICE AND OH YHEA FOR THE ONE I HAVE MADE AT HOME FOR RUSTY SO WE CAN MARK OFF THE DAYS MATCHED). NOW IN THE PAST YEAR CHINA HAS AVERAGED 14 DAYS PER EACH MONTH THEY SEND OUT REFERRALS. SO TAKE 142 AND DIVIDE IT BY 14 AND YOU GET 10.142857. THAT IS POSSIBLY HOW MANY MONTHS WE HAVE BEFORE WE SEE JADEN'S FACE. SO JANUARY! BUT YOU ALSO HAVE TO FACTOR IN THAT OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER ARE HUGE MONTHS FOR DOSSIERS, WHEREAS DECEMBER, JANUARY, AND FEBRUARY WERE NOT SO BIG. SO MAYBE WE WILL SEE A SMALL SPEEDUP. IF THEY WOULD JUST DO 20 DAYS PER BATCH I WOULD BE HAPPY, WE WOULD ONLY HAVE 7.1 MORE MONTHS SO OCT-NOV. NOTICE HOW WE JUST MISSED THE CUTOFF BY A DAY OR TWO SINCE IT WAS .1 OR .142857. WELL I WILL GO NUTS IF WE MISS THE CUTOFF OF GETTING REFERRALS BY ONE DAY!!! OF COURSE I GUESS THEY HAVE TO STOP SOMEWHERE. AT LEAST THEN WE WOULD KNOW WE WERE NEXT. AT THIS POINT I WOULD BE HAPPY TO HAVE HER PICTURE BY CHRISTMAS OR WHAT WOULD BE VERY GOOD IS TO SPEND CHRISTMAS IN CHINA!!!

WE ARE FINALLY ON THE MOVE!

WELL WE ARE NOT MOVING FAST BUT AT LEAST WE HAVE HAD SOME MOVEMENT IN THE ADOPTION. THE CCAA FINALLY UPDATED THEIR SITE THAT THEY HAVE REVIEWED ALL DOSSIERS THAT WERE LOGGED IN BEFORE 3/22/2006! OUR LOG IN DATE IS 3/15/2006 SO THAT MEANS WE ARE THROUGH. AND WE WERE NOT ASKED ANY QUESTIONS. WE WERE SO WORRIED BECAUSE ALOT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE ASKED QUESTIONS WHILE IN REVIEW DO NOT GET THE REFERRAL WITH THE LID GROUP, IT MAY BE A MONTH OR MORE AFTER THERE LID GROUP GETS THROUGH BEFORE THEY GET IT! AND A FEW PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TURNED DOWN IN REVIEW. BUT WE ARE THROUGH!!! SO WHERE TO WE GO FROM THE REVIEW ROOM? WE ARE SUPPOSED TO GO TO THE MATCHING ROOM BUT I HAVE A FEELING THERE IS THIS REALLY LONG HALL THAT THE DOSSIERS WAIT IN BEFORE THEY GET TO MATCHING.(AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT I HAVE PICTURED IN MY MIND)
CCAA HAS ISSUED REFERRALS NOW FOR ALL PEOPLE THAT WERE LOGGED IN BY 10/13/2005. SO THERE ARE 5 MONTHS AND 2 DAYS OF LIDS BEFORE US OR 153 DAYS BUT HEY WHO IS COUNTING? :-) I HAVE STOPPED TRYING TO GUESS WHEN WE WILL GET OUR REFERRAL. SOME PEOPLE SAY BY DECEMBER. AT THIS POINT I AM OK WITH THAT. I JUST WANT HER PICTURE IN THE YEAR 2007! THEY SAY THAT OCTOBER IS A BIG MONTH AND NOVEMBER IS HUGE, BUT THAT DECEMBER, JANUARY AND FEBRUARY ARE SMALL. MARCH IS BIG AT THE END BUT WE ARE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE. SO MAYBE THE NEXT TWO MONTHS WILL TAKE A WHILE AND THEN THE REST WILL FLY BY? WHO KNOWS, I HAVE STOPPED THINKING THERE WILL BE A SPEED UP.
BUT AT LEAST WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS.
ITS WEIRD TO THINK THAT MAYBE RIGHT NOW JADEN'S DOSSIER IS BEING COLLECTED AND HER FINDING AD BEING PLACED IN THE PAPER IN CHINA TO SEE IF HER BIO PARENTS WANT TO RECLAIM HER. AND THEN HER DOSSIER WILL BE MATCHED WITH OUR DOSSIER, THEY WILL LOOK AT OUR PASSPORT PHOTOS AND FIND THE PERFECT LITTLE REDHEADED, BLUE EYED CHINESE BABY! (OF COURSE IF THAT IS THE CASE WE WILL NEVER GET OUR REFERRAL, SO I GUESS SHE CAN LOOK LIKE HER DADDY!) :-)

A LONG AWAITED UPDATE

OK I KNOW IT HAS BEEN ALONG TIME! ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO BE EXACT. SORRY! AS MOST OF YOU KNOW WE HAD DECIDED TO ACCEPT A REFERRAL FOR A LITTLE GIRL FROM ANOTHER AGENCIES WAITING CHILD LIST. WE WERE SO EXCITED AS WAS EVERYONE IN OUR FAMILY. TO MAKE A VERY LONG STORY SHORT WE FOUND OUT THAT SHE HAD ANOTHER NEED THAT WE ARE UNABLE TO HANDLE RIGHT NOW. THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST CHILD SO WE DIDN'T WANT TO TAKE ON TOO MUCH. IT WOULD NOT BE FAIR TO HER. I STILL CHECK ON HER EVERYDAY THROUGH THE OTHER AGENCY WEBSITE AND I AM HAPPY TO SAY THAT SHE IS FINALLY BEING REVIEWED BY ANOTHER FAMILY. SO MAYBE SHE WILL BE ABLE TO COME HOME AND GET THE CARE SHE NEEDS! THIS HAS BEEN A ROUGH FEW MONTHS FULL OF UPS AND DOWNS. I THINK WE ARE FINALLY BACK TO NORMAL AND HAVE DECIDED TO STICK IT OUT AND WAIT FOR JADEN!
SO HERE IS OUR UPDATE.(I HAVE CAUGHT ALOT OF SLACK FOR NOT UPDATING) WE SPENT THANKSGIVING IN OHIO WITH RUSTY'S FAMILY. WE HAD A GREAT TIME AND IT WAS SO NICE TO SEE EVERYONE. THEN FOR CHRISTMAS WE WENT TO MISSISSIPPI TO SEE MY FAMILY. IT WAS GREAT SEEING ALL MY FAMILY AND SEEING ALL THE BABIES THAT I DONT GET TO SEE MUCH! FOR NEW YEAR'S WE DECIDED TO GO OUT EARLY AND EAT AND GET BACK HOME BEFORE THE CRAZIES GOT OUT. MAN WE ARE GETTING OLD. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE OUR LAST NEW YEAR WITH JUST THE TWO OF US AND THE DOGS! AND SORRY EVERYONE I DID NOT SEND OUT A CHRISTMAS CARD THIS YEAR, I HAD IT ALL PLANNED OUT BUT WHEN WE DECLINED THE REFERRAL I JUST COULDN'T SEND ONE. MAYBE NEXT YEAR.
SO WHERE ARE WE ON REFERRALS? NOT VERY FAR. THE LATEST REFERRALS JUST CAME OUT AND IT LOOKS LIKE THEY GO TO 9/27/05. THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE THAT 9/28/05 IS COVERED BUT I HAVENT SEEN ANY REFERRALS FOR THAT DAY SO I AM THINKING IT WAS NOT COVERED. SO WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US? WE ARE LOGGED IN 3/15/2006 SO THERE ARE 169 DAYS BETWEEN THE LAST DATE THAT WAS COVERED AND OUR DATE. SO IF CHINA DID 19 DAYS EVERY TIME NOW (WHICH IS THE # OF DAYS IN THE LAST BATCH) WE WOULD GET OUR REFERRAL IN 8.89 MONTHS. THIS IS VERY DOABLE TO ME. WE HAVE ALREADY WAITED 9 1/2 WHATS ANOTHER 9 MONTHS? WE JUST WANT HER REFERRAL BEFORE CHRISTMAS. PLEASE CHINA!
ALSO AS MOST OF YOU KNOW CHINA HAS DECIDED TO CHANGE THERE RULES FOR ADOPTION. LUCKILY WE HAVE BEEN ASSURED THAT WE ARE NOT AFFECTED SINCE WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN LOGGED IN. ANYONE THAT IS LOGGED IN AFTER 5/1/2007 WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE NEW RULES. I FEEL SO SORRY FOR ALL THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAD THERE HEART SET ON ADOPTING FROM CHINA AND NOW HAVE HAD THE DOOR CLOSED IN THE FACES.
WE WILL BE SO GLAD WHEN WE HAVE JADEN AND THIS ROLLER COASTER IS OVER. I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SUCH A ROUGH RIDE. BUT WE KNOW THE OUTCOME WILL BE WELL WORTH IT. AND THE NEXT TIME A PREGNANT PERSON TELLS ME THAT IT IS SO MUCH HARDER TO BE PREGNANT THEN TO ADOPT, BOY ARE THEY GONNA CATCH AN EARFUL!!! :-)

PS. I WILL TRY TO ATTACH SOME PHOTOS OF JADEN'S LATEST GIFTS FROM FAMILY AS SOON AS I GET A CHANCE.

UPDATE

OK I KNOW I HAVE NOT UPDATED IN FOREVER. SORRY. TO TELL THE TRUTH I JUST REALLY HAVENT BEEN IN THE MOOD TO UPDATE. REFERRALS CAME OUT AND THEY COVERED 7/23/05-8/9/05, THAT IS THE MOST DAYS THEY HAVE COVERED SINCE LAST YEAR BUT STILL NOT A WHOLE MONTH. OUR 6 MONTH LID CAME AND WENT WITH NO JADEN. IT WAS A VERY ROUGH DAY FOR ME BECAUSE IN THE BEGINNING WE WERE TOLD IT WOULD TAKE SIX MONTHS NOW WE KNOW THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN SO I WAS VERY DOWN. THIS IS THE HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER BEEN THROUGH. I AM SO READY FOR THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY TO BE OVER AND TO FINALLY HAVE THAT PICTURE OF JADEN AND THEN TO FINALLY GO TO CHINA TO HOLD HER IN MY ARMS! ANYWAY ENOUGH MUSHY STUFF. WE FINALLY STARTED OUR SHOTS TODAY FOR OUR TRIP TO CHINA! WE WENT TO THE VANDERBILT TRAVEL CLINIC. WE LEARNED ALOT ABOUT WHAT WE CAN AND CANT EAT AND DRINK IN CHINA, KINDA SCARY! WE CANT EVEN BRUSH OUR TEETH WITH THEIR WATER BECAUSE WE WILL GET SICK, WE HAVE TO USE BOTTLED WATER THAT WE HAVE TO OPEN OURSELVES! I WILL BRING ABOUT 20 EXTRA TOOTHBRUSHES BECAUSE I AM SURE I WILL FORGET THAT RULE. NO ICE, NO MILK, NO GRAPES, PEEL YOUR FRUITS, AND NO SUSHI(NO PROBLEM WITH THAT). SO FOR THE LOW LOW PRICE TODAY OF $395.00 RUSTY AND I BOTH GOT A HEPATITIS A&B SHOT AND RUSTY GOT THE TETNUS(I PUT MINE OFF TILL NEXT TIME). WE HAVE TO GO BACK NEXT MONTH AND GET THE 2ND SHOT AND THEN 6 MONTHS LATER TO GET THE LAST. WE ALSO GOT PRESCRIPTIONS FOR THE TYPHOID PILL TO TAKE BEFORE WE GO! AND IF WE FIND OUT THAT JADEN IS FROM ONE OF THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES SHE RECOMMENDS WE TAKE THE MALARIA MEDICINE TOO! BUT THE WAY I FIGURE IT IS THAT I HAVE LIVED THE MAJORITY OF MY LIFE IN MISSISSIPPI AND IF I DIDNT GET MALARIA FROM THE SKEETERS THERE THEN THE CHINESE SKEETERS SHOULD BE A BREEZE!!!