Weekend in KY!

We had a great time with our friends, the Millers at our weekend get-away at the Kentucky Lake. We rented a house (thankfully, because at times, it got a little loud) and cooked a few breakfasts and dinners. We had lots of tasty treats and the kids even improvised with some $ store costumes and we went to a Halloween "festival" at one of the state parks. It was pretty lame, but we had fun anyway.

The top pic is of Sara, Lauren and Abby in their bargain $ Store costumes -- not too bad, huh?

The next pic is of Josh, Noah, Lauren, Abby and Sara down at the marina.

The 3rd pic is of the kids. And the last picture is of Doug, Lucy (that's us) and Melissa and Chad. Won't we all (9 of us) be quite a sight arriving in China (someday) and then all 11 of us on the way home! They are very dear friends - we miss them, but are glad to have had some time with them to just relax and have fun. We ate at a great place, Patti's 1880 settlement - the restaurant was decorated beautifully, some Christmas (my fav) and some Halloween and fall. There were gift shops and animals!

Getting Away

We are excited to see this weekend draw near. It is the only football-free weekend for Doug's school, so we are meeting our friends, The Millers, at a lake cabin in KY. They are in IL and waiting for their daughter, Sarah Beth. We will very likely travel together! I think we all need some time away to just have fun.

Our home study update has been postponed. I am seriously realizing the possibility that a full year may pass and we will still be waiting. So, I don't really see any point in doing an update twice (and paying twice). I'm sure we will soon find ourselves in the whirlwind of having to re-do fingerprints and some of the immigration forms. Oh well - it's what we have to do! What are our alternatives? Pulling out? NO WAY! Ally is there and we need her here!

When Asked about "The Wait"

One of the Yahoo groups of which I am member, asked for feedback about the wait and how we "really felt". All I saw were these "textbook/Sunday School" answers that we are "supposed" to say. Maybe these people really feel that; but I don't, and that is why I posted the following:

I have thought a lot about posting and telling you how I really feel, as opposed to how I think I should say that I feel. Let me preface MY OPINION with saying that I firmly believe that this adoption is in God's hands and fully trust that His timing is perfect for our family and daughter. The "seed" was planted in my heart for China over 5 years ago, so when we made the FINAL decision to go forward, we were, at that point, very ready for this. When we began the process, the wait was 6-8 months. When we were LID, we were told the wait was 8-10 months. So, with officially 9 months of the wait behind us (from our LID) I am very frustrated with the wait. I don't like it, but I realize that I can't sit around and feel sorry for myself by letting life pass me by. I'm not miserable, just frustrated! We thought we would have her by now, and we are still most likely a year away from referral (if things continue to progress at the current rate). I do find comfort in knowing that this is in God's hands; but the human/planner/mom in me is READY to get my (our) new daughter. Of course, there is plenty to "do". But that will still be true after we have her! I realized long ago that we will never get "it all" done, so I choose not to stress about it (at least in theory). So, like it or not, I'm giving you my opinion. Please don't rake me over the coals for this. I'm not a pessimistic, just a realist! It may not be the PC answer or what any of us like to admit, but it is honest. I'm speaking only for myself and no one else. I think the wait stinks!

A Dream Awaits

This is a Christmas ad for The Children's Place. Take a close look at the little girl that the mom is holding! It's just so sweet. Can't wait to dress Ally in her flannel jammies after a bath! Maybe next Christmas...

Our Hope for the Update

OK -- Of course, I'm hoping that our calculated average improves when the CCAA updates sometimes this week. The prediction is that it will be from Aug 10-Aug 24. That is 15 days, which does improve our average slightly. What we hope to also see in the update is all of January 2006 being moved out of the review room. This will mean that our dossier has been approved by China and will officially begin to wait (here we go again) until it is pulled into the matching room. Step...step...step - one at a time! People with Aug LID's are staying up all night to watch for the update. Sometimes they update early (before referrals arrive) sometimes not (after referrals have arrived), so we'll see!

Hope for Children Picnic

What a fun afternoon we had yesterday! Our agency, Hope for Children, hosted a picnic for adoptive families and waiting families. We spent the day following our girls as they played with lots of new little friends.

A quick description of the pics...

This first little girl is LiLi (pronounced Lee Lee), daughter of our friends Debbie and Dan. She has been home since late May. She and Sara had fun playing peek-a-boo under the table. Sara is holding her in the bottom picture.

Lauren is on the slides with her 2 new friends (not sure of their names). They played most of the afternoon on the playground. For a few moments, Lauren had her face painted like a butterfly, but she wasn't thrilled with all of the attention that it attracted, so she quickly washed it off. She said the scary clown "made" her do it.


We had so much fun seeing all of the girls and talking to Debbie and Dan (and Ian, who was busy with friends, too), meeting Christy and Sophie (who's blog I read), as well as seeing Karen, our SW, and several of the others at HFC.

Speaking of Karen, she will be coming to our house this Wed for our follow-up home study. I think we have all of our paperwork ready, but need to tidy-up some! We will be glad to show her that Ally will have a room to herself now!

We are hearing rumors of a CCAA update coming soon and the referrals for Oct being mailed. I'll post once it is "official". Going to functions, like the picnic, helps make it real, but also makes it somewhat more frustrating with this wait. 

Lauren the Goalie

Yesterday was Lauren's first attempt at goalie. She had 3 great stops and nothing got by her. She wasn't too thrilled at my "action" shot, but I love the intensity in her expression! The coach put her in when the team had a "comfortable" lead, since it was her first try. She liked it, but I think prefers her usual defender position. I could tell she was nervous, but she really paid attention, which is good! 

Some Pretty Ugly Numbers

If memory serves me right, that title is an oxymoron.

Anyway, even though it isn't pretty, the math person that is buried deep inside of me has gotten to a point that I must look at the realistic and mathematical possibilities of what kind of time frame we are facing (anyone reading this, realize that this is MY calculation -- take it or leave it, but I think it's realistic - not optimistic, not pessimistic, just realistic). For what it's worth...

I looked at the number of days that have to be processed by the CCAA to get to our dossier's log in date. Our date is Jan 27, 2006 and they have processed paperwork through Aug 9, 2005. That is a simple one -- there are 170 days of dossiers ahead of us - yuck. So, with that, here goes...

I looked back to the number of days the CCAA progressed each month (9) since our dossier was logged-in. I thought about doing 2 "averages" - one of all the numbers in the last 9 months, and the other dropping the high and low months and averaging from there. However, the numbers were so close (11.85 and 11.77 days of dossiers processed per month) that I'll go with an approximate average of these two and call it 11.8 days.

Since we have 170 days to go, divide that by 11.8 and that gives us 14.4 months to go.... :( (with a tear in my eye).

I'll say it again ... that is an estimated 14.4 MORE months YET TO WAIT for our referral. Pretty BLEAK outlook, worse than I initially thought. That would mean a referral NEXT DECEMBER (I'm talking end of 2007). Maybe I should not have done the math. That would mean travel in Feb of 2008. (Which translates into a 2 year wait!!) The even worse news is that this is a realistic outlook based on the numbers they have put up -- it could slow down even more. Yes, I know, I know, but it can speed up. Yes, that is a possibility.

The WORST case scenario (based on one month in the last 9 months that they only processed 5 days of dossiers) is waiting 34 more months (that is 3 more years). I KNOW that cannot happen, so moving on...

To the BEST case scenario (based on 2 months in the last 9 months that they processed 18 days of dossiers) is waiting 9.4 more months. This MIGHT happen, but it's not likely. That would mean referral (remember, best case) in Sept next year and travel in early Nov? THat still stinks - seriously, if that is the best case, I wish I had never started analyzing this!

Bejing is hosting the 2008 Olympics, so maybe we should try to get tickets! Now there's something to look forward to -- JK....

Anyway, on to more YUCK. We both had our physicals today (girls had theirs last week) and also got our flu shots. The physicals were uneventful; however, I am apparently one of the few that "might possibly" develop flu-like symptoms after receiving the vaccine. I have a low grade fever, and I hurt all over - achy. Cold, hot, cold, hot. I'm thinking I'll be OK once I sleep - don't want to miss work tomorrow - that is a pain to reschedule! Everyone has deadlines.

I sound really depressed; however, I'm not. I have to look at this realistically to get a grasp of the possibilities. Next week will change our numbers as the referrals arrive for the month (usually between the 25th and 30th). We'll see how many more days into Aug 2005 that the CCAA progresses.

My best friend from high school is waiting to see if she and her hubby will make the cut this time. They are logged in on Aug 30, 2005. So maybe, maybe not. One "rumor" says they won't make it to the 30th, but everyone hopes they will (for the rest of the Aug people and for their own sakes!). I can't imagine how it must feel to be so close. One day, I'll know. I hope to be so very thankful at that point! Maybe I won't be too old to do the math then!

Sara's Party

Here is "The Gang" - Audrey, Sara, Hannah, Frederique, and Bryce (Lauren slipped into the "stop sign" pic). We started this tradition of a pic last year - I think I like the stop sign one best! I like how they are just being themselves. We went to Mellow Mushroom (where the 2 man band sang "Happy B'day" to Sara), Kohl's, and for a Hay-ride being pulled by the Gator, and then presents and smores on the deck. Hopefully, sleep will come shortly (I'm posting about 12:30 AM and they are still "chatting" upstairs). They are such fun girls - we hope they will all stay close friends so we can do a similar pic each year!
 

Ally's Ornament

I ordered this on-line! I thought it was so cute - the baby is wrapped in a Chinese flag and she has black hair! I saw this on one of my Yahoo groups and found out how to order it. The site was so cool - you could specify the country and boy/girl, the year, and the message! I wish it said "Ally's first Christmas"... Hopefully, next Christmas! 

First Friday Fun

We celebrated the passing of another month at the local FF gathering. This is Ella Kate "looking" with Sara as they look at a photo album! Lauren is hanging out in the background. She is just so cute -- she walked around kicking her leg, watching her leg as she walked and not paying attention to where she was walking. We all watched as she kicked and walked right into the counter - but she didn't cry one bit! Sara and Lauren can't get enough of these little girls; wonder how different it will be when ours is around all the time!

AWANA Campout

Sara and Bill celebrating Sara's 13th and Bill's ??th b'days! They were both good sports and put up with my silliness - they had signs on the front that said "B'day Girl/Boy" and this is the "rear view"!
I finally found my camera cord! This pic of Lauren, Amelia, Sara, Audrey and Stephanie was taken 2 weeks ago at the cold and "dew-y" campout near our church. We had fun and were grateful to have taken the down comforters! It was cold and wet when we woke up. Thankfully, the girls slept better than I did. It was Sara's b'day as well as Bill's (Amelia and Steph's dad) so they each wore a few homemade signs! Unfortunately, they ran out of hot chocolate!

Nothing Much to Report

Well, maybe that isn't really the case for us, but for China news, it is true.

Anyway, we enjoyed another First Friday gathering at the end of last week. It is always so nice to see other families with their little girls. It reminds me of how our lives will change - for the better! I also remember how much we have forgotten about having a toddler! I'm sure we don't really realize how much we have forgotten about that. But it's nice to see the little ones. I'll drop in a pic once I find my camera cable!!!! OOPS!

We look forward to all the little things in our lives - a Hope for Children picnic in a few weeks, a day off of school next week, and Halloween!

Work is getting really busy, which makes me nervous thinking ahead to next fall (I'm assuming I'll be chasing around a cute little toddler with black hair by then!).

China is on some sort of vacation this week - they celebrate a Harvest Moon Festival to honor their families. Families of adopted Chinese children celebrate this as well, taking it as an opportunity to talk about adoption with the kids. I'm sure that will be a tough conversation (many) for us one day.

2 Quotes or Sayings

I can't believe that I haven't put this first one in my blog, as it is a "central theme" in the China adoption "community".

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."
- An Ancient Chinese saying

Another one is from some random "feel good" email I received. I may have modified the wording and I don't know who said the original, so there is no real credit to give for this one.

"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."

I love both of these. I know that the moment that Doug looked at me (in Aug 2005) and said, "I'm ready," was one of those moments that took my breath away - literally!

We have a Teen!

That is right. We have a teenager living in our house! Sara turned 13 this past Saturday. No big celebration yet. She is having a couple of her long-time best friends over to "christen" her new room in a few weekends. They may do some "American Idol" (a favorite of b'days past).

We have scheduled our Home Study update for later this month. Although, I am looking forward to seeing Karen again, I wish it was on other terms! The original HS was valid for one year. We completed that at the end of last October, so it's time to update that (and pay again...).