What a Weekend!

Unfortunately, not in a good way. Friday night we got a call that my great-nephew, Drew (almost 1 year old) had had a seizure, very high fever and had stopped breathing. Will and Amy (his parents) were driving from their home in SW Ga over to Augusta and stopped for a quick break, when they found him hot with fever in the car seat and not breathing. Amy, who is a pediatric nurse, could not revive him. They got an ambulance there who took him to the hospital. He was not admitted, but after several hours of observation and tests, he was sent home. He is (so thankfully) doing OK and according to Will, playing like usual, but still not feeling 100% as this fever is lingering. Crisis #1....

Since I put a number by the first crisis, that is to imply that there is another crisis... Yes, crisis #2 involves my nephew Phillip in KY. He was driving on Sat PM from Louisville to Lexington (he will be a college Senior at Asbury this fall) to visit some friends for the weekend when he came upon a sudden rain storm and hydroplaned. His Jeep rolled about 5.5 times and landed upside down into a mountain and skidded (still upside down) along the interstate. A man behind him saw the whole thing happen and expected the worse; however, when he got to Phillip's car he found him OK -- quite shaken and in shock, but not injured. Phillip is in pre-med and is an EMT and paramedic, so he has seen his share of bad accidents, and according to him, he should not have survived by the looks of his car. He climbed out of the shattered window with only a few scrapes on his hands.

Amazing that we made it out of the weekend without a real tragedy. We are thankful that God was watching over these two fellas. We hate to think "What if..." but when 2 things like that happen so closely together, it's hard not to think that. Lot's of reasons to be thankful.

On a much happier note, Tara (we work together) gave me her daughter's car seat that she has outgrown, as well as an umbrella stroller and buggy cover! How nice is that! I was so excited, but realized that in the years since I've had a carseat, they have changed! I may need an owner's manual or at least a lesson on how to install it. Crazy!

Officially 6 Months

Today marks our 6 month point since our January 27 LID with China. As with most things, in some ways the time has gone quickly and in other ways it seems like so long ago! Also, looking back it seems fast and looking forward it seems slow! It's all perspective. There has not been an update to the CCAA site yet - hoping to see some movement soon. I have tracked it for 4 months now. Pretty soon we will get to our 1 year mark from our "big decision" date!

Wonder what little Ally is doing these days. As I mentioned in one of my first posts on this blog, I'm guessing she has been born already. I wonder if she's in a foster home or an orphanage. If she has her black hair yet! If she is playing and learning. Lot's of our swim team friends have told us to request a child that loves her bath!

We have contacted Karen about updating our home study. Since it will pass the one year mark in October, we have to have an update. I'm pretty sure this is only a one-time meeting with Karen, our social worker. The main thing that has changed is the fact that Sara will soon be in her new room, which means that Lauren and Ally will be able to have their own rooms. Other than that, we are still our boring selves!

Explanation

Here is a good way of explaining how the process in China (the CCAA) works... Not sure if this is totally accurate, but it sounds logical!

First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. Parent dossiers were reviewed months before, baby dossiers are reviewed when they arrive and then immediately matched.

So, now they have a stack of baby dossiers. They look to see how far this stack will go in the month without sending out a partial day and they pull all of those files. That is the likely cut-off date. Sometimes something happens and they don’t get this far. Sometimes something happens and they get farther.

Next, they match orphanages up with agencies. This orphanage has six babies, this agency has six families. These two orphanages are in the same province and have a total of 12 babies, this agency has 12 families. When they are through with this is when (I believe) some agencies start to get information about the cut-off date.

Then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies hear from their person in the matching room to let them know how many referrals they will be receiving and from what province(s). Some agencies share this information with their clients. Some choose not to.

Update coming?

I'm expecting to see an update on the CCAA site this week. They typically (at least for the last 4 months) have posted the update around the 23rd of each month. "Rumor" has it that the update will move to July 13, 2005 (only 2 weeks of progress).

First BIG Purchase

We bought Ally a stroller today! We had a coupon for $10 off and since they rarely go on sale, we went ahead and bought it. It felt a little strange, but good. It went straight up to the attic. Hopefully, we will need it soon! It was one of those "realization moments" for me -- another reminder of what's to come.

Folly pic

Sara and Lauren enjoying the beach!

Folly Beach!

Following our Disney vacation, we headed to our annual week at Folly Beach with my family. We have gone every summer since 1993 (the summer before Sara was born). I went there as a little girl several times with my family. We had a great time – maybe the most yet! Sara and Lauren had so much fun in the water – they can handle the boogie boards and body surf on their own. The water was unusually warm this summer, which was a big plus in my book. We took lots of walks, did a little shopping, ate lots of yummy food and just relaxed. Our house included the 4 of us, my mom, my 3 sisters and 2 of their husbands, 2 nieces and their husbands, and one baby – a total of 15 people. We always have such a great time together.

I thought of Ally a lot during the week. We kept thinking about how it will be next summer (again, assuming we have her by then). We pictured her playing on the beach (of course wearing a pink bikini) as it will very likely be her first time to see the ocean. I imagined pushing her stroller on the beach as Lauren and I walked to the pier. I remembered that we will have to take a break during the day for her to nap. We just HAVE to have her by then. I’m a little sad knowing it is still so many months away, but encouraged each month that we are closer. Sounds crazy, huh?

We have “officially” (since our Jan LID) waited 5.5 months, “unofficially” (since we made the decision) we have waited 11 months. It was about this time last year that we met the Millers for dinner at Chastain and began seriously considering this. She (Ally) is so real to me now. I hope to see an improvement in the referral time on the CCAA website later this month. According to the “Rumor Queen” site, the next few months should show a little faster progress. June of last summer took 3 months to process, but they are hoping that it will get back to a month for a month. Their update will most likely occur around the 25th of July, so I’ll be watching to see if they are able to process an entire month. “She” also says that the months following should also go quicker. I don’t know how accurate her predictions are, but she has been right on for the last few months, so we’ll see. I don’t check it daily, but it is interesting to take a peek occasionally.

In the mean time, we enjoy the occasional ‘sighting’ as we call it. Seeing families with their daughters (rarely do we know them) makes it all a little more “real” as we wait. Waiting is what we continue to do…