And now it has been 36 months!

Well today marks three years that we have been LID with Ch*na. I can't believe that we have been waiting this long. Who would have ever thought the 6 months we were told would turn into 12, then 24 and now 36 months! But now we are so close. It is hard to sleep at night because I think about the fact that half way around the world our daughter is waiting for us. I also think about the workers at CC*A who may be at this very moment looking at our passport pictures and looking for a baby that matches our family! Our file could be sitting on someones desk right beside Jaden's file. They could be making our family complete!
Last night we decided to go out and celebrate for two reasons. Of course we were celebrating our three year LID! This is our last year to celebrate and it feels great! We had a wonderful time, and it was even better knowing that the next thing we will celebrate will be the referral of Jaden!!! I cant wait!

Almost doing the Happy Dance!!!

Well as most of you who are "in the know" about adoption know due to the LOOOOONG wait for China we have had to update our immigration papers now for the third time! And of course our fingerprints also. Who knew they changed? So a few of you also know that we had a couple of snafus with our homestudy.(Dont get me started) So I finally got my application of for our third, final and FREE renewal last Thursday. So today I went to the mail and shock of all shocks there it was the coveted letter from USCIS! After only one week, what??? When we started this process we lived in Nashville and had to go through the Memphis office and it took them 3 months the first time and 2 1/2 the second time(I want go into the fact that this caused us to have an LID 2 1/2 months later then we had hoped and also added about 2 years to our wait!) But the Columbus office got the same thing done in one week!!!
So was I shocked or what when I got it in the mail. But I had this nagging feeling it was too good to be true. And guess what? My feeling was right! I emailed the Columbus office for them to please let me know if this was my extension or just a copy of the old one correcting my address. Well it was the second option. But I am happy to say they see their error and I will have a correct extended copy of our approval next week! So you know what Columbus office still ROCKS! Another office I know needs to take some notes!

From 294 down to 9!

So what does that heading mean? Well when we finally got logged in to China on 3/15/2006 Ch*na was on the log in date of 5/26/2005! So if you had a lot of time on your hand and you counted the LID's between that day(included) and our LID you would get 294 days. Whoo that is alot of days I have been marking off calendars for 3 years. Well I am happy to say that we are FINALLY in single digits!!! There are only 9 days left to refer, that is including our LID of 3/15/2006!!! Whoo hooo! Today people are getting their referrals for the LID of 3/3/2006-3/06/06! Congrats to all those new families! So now we wait for Ch*na to refer babies to those of us who are LID in the next 9 days(well as my good friend in NC says only 7 days cause there are two weekend days in there!) There are two BIG days before our date, 7th and 14th so I have no guess as to when we will get our referral except that surely June would be the latest!(but I would love April or May) We are finally so close!

Now I have to keep myself busy so I dont stress and check the RQ every five minutes. Last week was a busy week because we had a very sick puppy! Poor Kayleigh was sick all week. She is only 5 pounds so her losing weight is not a good thing. But she finally turned the corner this weekend with alot of TLC. She even had me handfeeding her! Boy these dogs are fixin to have their world rocked!!!
I will try to keep yall more up to date now that we are closer!

You might be adopting from China if.......

Ok this was on one of my DTC yahoo groups and I just had to share it. It is soooo true for those of us who are adopting from China!

- you've been expecting a baby for over 3 years.
- you know that I-600 & I-171 aren't highways.
- you understand that it's 2006 in some parts of the world.
- you've "paid for" 3 citizenships, but never brought anyone into the U.S.
- you know that waiting for China has nothing to do with Dillards or dishes.
- your homestudy is followed by a number(i.e. #3 or #4, or in our case #6!)
- you never know how many days are in the next month.
- you've been fingerprinted four times, but never committed a crime.
- you automatically assume everyone who is expecting is having a girl.
- you own new clothing in 3 little sizes for all 4 seasons(because you dont know when or how big)
- you look twice when you see a ladybug.
- you're more interested in what will happen in March 2006 than in March 2009.
- you know people who understand when you talk about 2 day months & 5 day months.
- your due date hasn't changed by days, but by years.
- you know who the Rumor Queen is...AND...you dont know who she is.
- you know that forecast doesn't have anything to do with the weather.
- you've waited so long, they checked your fingerprints to see if they changed.
- trying to understand why they're printing you again, you study your own fingerprints and wonder if fingerprints grow wrinkles.
- when you speak of "that time of the month" you're talking about CCAA updates and referrals.
- you know that babies come in batches.

You might be adopting from China if you love someone you've never met with all your heart.

Nothing much to say and a big thanks for the new blog design!

I have to start off by giving a big thanks to Melissa for redoing our blog. I love the new design. The laterns are too cute. She is so talented and I am hoping she will show me how to come up with these designs! Melissa C. you are the best!

Well I haven't updated in a while because there has really been nothing to say. Ch*na has now referred up to 3/2/2006. If your counting that is only 2 more days then last time. Who hoo! I guess I wasn't surprised that it happened but I would have rather 7 days or something even better. Our agency was saying we had a good chance for referral in February, worse case March. That has now changed to possible referral in March, worse case April or May. Next month will mark 3 years that we have been LID with Ch*na, after being told our wait would be 6 months! So for the past 2 weeks I have been pretty mad at the whole thing. I know there is no reason to be mad(well there is) but it helped me to deal with my frustrations for those 2 weeks. I have now moved on from being mad, it wasn't getting me anywhere. So here I am blogging because people have been asking me what is going on.
So here is what has been up with us. We will sum up January with one word, SNOW. Lots of it. I am so tired of seeing that white stuff I could scream! Thank goodness February has been better so far. We spent Chinese New Year with our friends Melissa and Bill and their too beautiful children Lily and Andrew. We all went to the local FCC New Year celebration and we had a great time. We cant wait to bring Jaden next year.
Of course I have spent some of my time buying cute stuff for Jaden. I bought her first tutus and her very own workbench so she can work with her daddy in the basement. So there you have it. That is what is up with us. We are still waiting and we are getting oh so close.
I always thought the last few months would fly by while we were waiting but these last 2 months have really dragged by slowly. These have been the hardest months since this started which is crazy since I know that we are so close to bringing her home! I am just ready to see her face! I want to know who my daughter is.
Enjoy the pictures!