The 2 day referral batch was depressing. This months 6 day referral batch is semi-depressing because it is still so low, but SO MUCH BETTER than the 2 day.
I did my math, and I think we have 317 days of Log In Dates to wait now.
If they do 6 days a month from here on out, it's over 50 months MORE to wait.
15 days a month, it's 22 MORE months.
In other words, it's still a LONG way off.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
I can not believe it is the end of April already, well I can, but wow this month flew by. I know part of it is because we have been so busy. Samuel was in swimming lessons this month, and finished up "almost" swimming. I know if I could continue for the next 2 months he'd be swimming great. Unfortunately, swimming lessons are full where I take him. Not to mention we are so busy with other things, that I am not sure I can continue at the same pace we had this month.
JM is playing baseball and has 2 games a week plus practices. While they are doing great, it's tiring to always be at the ball field. LOL He has started catching, and in his last game actually caught a foul ball and got someone out. It was a huge moment for him, and I'm so proud of him.
Karate is going great still, Samuel has almost gotten the first kata down. JM is ready to test for his Orange belt. I have been so pleased by the changes Karate has made in the boys, and I would highly recommend it to others. :) I do in fact!
Let's see...what else. LOL We're obviously STILL waiting on that referral from China. We're just going to keep on trudging down this path. I'm reminded of "Just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo.
JM is playing baseball and has 2 games a week plus practices. While they are doing great, it's tiring to always be at the ball field. LOL He has started catching, and in his last game actually caught a foul ball and got someone out. It was a huge moment for him, and I'm so proud of him.
Karate is going great still, Samuel has almost gotten the first kata down. JM is ready to test for his Orange belt. I have been so pleased by the changes Karate has made in the boys, and I would highly recommend it to others. :) I do in fact!
Let's see...what else. LOL We're obviously STILL waiting on that referral from China. We're just going to keep on trudging down this path. I'm reminded of "Just keep swimming" from Finding Nemo.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The Shoe Container
Works for me Wednesday!
Having 2 little boys means that I end up with shoes all over the house. Being little (and boys) their observation skills when looking for lost items (such as a left shoe) are lacking. I finally gave in, and put a large box in the bottom of our coat closet. This is our "shoe box" and all shoes that are being used at this time go in this box for easy finding. Crocs, tennis shoes, dress shoes, etc. go here. The cleats go on the floor next to the box (due to the large quantities of mud/dirt that collect on them). I keep my dress shoes out of the box because I can normally find my own shoes.
This has really helped us in getting out the door faster, and helped us to keep from tripping over various loose shoes laying on the floor.
Having 2 little boys means that I end up with shoes all over the house. Being little (and boys) their observation skills when looking for lost items (such as a left shoe) are lacking. I finally gave in, and put a large box in the bottom of our coat closet. This is our "shoe box" and all shoes that are being used at this time go in this box for easy finding. Crocs, tennis shoes, dress shoes, etc. go here. The cleats go on the floor next to the box (due to the large quantities of mud/dirt that collect on them). I keep my dress shoes out of the box because I can normally find my own shoes.
This has really helped us in getting out the door faster, and helped us to keep from tripping over various loose shoes laying on the floor.
Spring Reading Thing! Update
Okay, I've been bad about updating what I've read. Honestly, though, I've not been very good about reading the ones on my list. You know, the books that are supposed to "enlighten" me. ;)
I have, however, read 5 more FRN books (FRN is Fluffy Romance Novel). At least I think it was 5. Let's see, there were the 3 Highland romance novels, the 1 modern one by Judith McNaught, then the 2 Regency ones and I'm in the midst of the 3rd...or is it that I've read 3 and in the midst of the 4th? I can't remember. Oh well, it's not like it's important or anything. I did have 3 boxes arrive in the past couple of weeks from my "book exchange" friends. 3 boxes of FRN books. I just wish I had time to actually read some of them.
JM has read through chapter 4 of Bridge to Terabithia. He is not too enthusiastic so far, but today he asked me where his Terabithia book was because he wanted to read some more. SUCCESS!
I have started Kitchen God's Wife (it's a little hard to get into for me right now). I did pull out the China adoption stories book, but with the depressing news about referrals I just did not want to read it. The church library had a book on adoption, so I checked it out. I'll let you know how it is (and add it to my list). They also had 3 FRN about pirates. I'm sure I'll get those read.
I have, however, read 5 more FRN books (FRN is Fluffy Romance Novel). At least I think it was 5. Let's see, there were the 3 Highland romance novels, the 1 modern one by Judith McNaught, then the 2 Regency ones and I'm in the midst of the 3rd...or is it that I've read 3 and in the midst of the 4th? I can't remember. Oh well, it's not like it's important or anything. I did have 3 boxes arrive in the past couple of weeks from my "book exchange" friends. 3 boxes of FRN books. I just wish I had time to actually read some of them.
JM has read through chapter 4 of Bridge to Terabithia. He is not too enthusiastic so far, but today he asked me where his Terabithia book was because he wanted to read some more. SUCCESS!
I have started Kitchen God's Wife (it's a little hard to get into for me right now). I did pull out the China adoption stories book, but with the depressing news about referrals I just did not want to read it. The church library had a book on adoption, so I checked it out. I'll let you know how it is (and add it to my list). They also had 3 FRN about pirates. I'm sure I'll get those read.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Been waiting to post about referrals
Why? Because it's just so dismal. I know there is nothing I can do about it, I know I need to be patient, but the news this month was really discouraging. After I eat my share of the Easter chocolate, eat some good ice cream, and read a nice fluffy romance novel I know I'll be more upbeat again.
So, the news...ugh...for those not involved in China adoption, it's 2 days of Log In Dates. This means that China got through October 26, 2005 this month (last month they got through October 24, 2006). Yeah. What does this mean exactly?
Well, we're not really sure. Less paper ready babies or were there a TON of families logged in on those days. One of the two is correct. What this means for us, is well, we're not sure.
Oct 27-31, 2005 = 4 days
Nov 1-30, 2005 = 30 days
Dec 1-31, 2005 = 31 days
Jan 2006 = 31 days
Feb 2006 = 28 days
Mar 2006 = 31 days
April 2006 = 30 days (this is when I hoped to be DTC by the way)
May 2006 = 31 days
June 2006 = 30 days
July 2006 = 31 days
August 2006 = 31 days (when we finally made it DTC after excruciating waits for fingerprints and USCIS approval)
Sept 1-14, 2006 = 14 days (we're LID Sept 14,2006)
See those days listed, China MUST get through all of those days for us to get our Non-Special Needs referral. If they continue at 2 days of LID, well, it's going to be LONG time. Days really don't mean a whole lot, because it all depends on how many families are logged in each day and how many paper ready children are available. If I've done my math correctly, we have 322 days worth to wait. Rumor Queen posted at one point that each month of LIDs will take an average of 2.3 months to get through based on recent statistics. There are still 12 months up there, and since I know Oct 31 is HUGE, it's possible next month will make it through Oct. 31,2005 only. This means, 12*2.3 = 27.6 (or 28). That means from TODAY, we have roughly 28 more months to wait. I sort of feel like things will speed up and it will be only 18-24 more months though because many of the 2006 months are quite a bit smaller than Oct 2005 and Nov 2005 months.
On the Special Needs front, we did not get a call with the latest batch. I have no idea when the next batch is due, sometime in the next 3-4 months (average for the past 9 months has been 2 months...but 3-4 months is normal). I have no idea if Katie will even be in that batch, nor do I know where we are on the list with our agency.
So, the news...ugh...for those not involved in China adoption, it's 2 days of Log In Dates. This means that China got through October 26, 2005 this month (last month they got through October 24, 2006). Yeah. What does this mean exactly?
Well, we're not really sure. Less paper ready babies or were there a TON of families logged in on those days. One of the two is correct. What this means for us, is well, we're not sure.
Oct 27-31, 2005 = 4 days
Nov 1-30, 2005 = 30 days
Dec 1-31, 2005 = 31 days
Jan 2006 = 31 days
Feb 2006 = 28 days
Mar 2006 = 31 days
April 2006 = 30 days (this is when I hoped to be DTC by the way)
May 2006 = 31 days
June 2006 = 30 days
July 2006 = 31 days
August 2006 = 31 days (when we finally made it DTC after excruciating waits for fingerprints and USCIS approval)
Sept 1-14, 2006 = 14 days (we're LID Sept 14,2006)
See those days listed, China MUST get through all of those days for us to get our Non-Special Needs referral. If they continue at 2 days of LID, well, it's going to be LONG time. Days really don't mean a whole lot, because it all depends on how many families are logged in each day and how many paper ready children are available. If I've done my math correctly, we have 322 days worth to wait. Rumor Queen posted at one point that each month of LIDs will take an average of 2.3 months to get through based on recent statistics. There are still 12 months up there, and since I know Oct 31 is HUGE, it's possible next month will make it through Oct. 31,2005 only. This means, 12*2.3 = 27.6 (or 28). That means from TODAY, we have roughly 28 more months to wait. I sort of feel like things will speed up and it will be only 18-24 more months though because many of the 2006 months are quite a bit smaller than Oct 2005 and Nov 2005 months.
On the Special Needs front, we did not get a call with the latest batch. I have no idea when the next batch is due, sometime in the next 3-4 months (average for the past 9 months has been 2 months...but 3-4 months is normal). I have no idea if Katie will even be in that batch, nor do I know where we are on the list with our agency.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Boys and artwork
Sitting during worship with my boys is an interesting experience, and not always the most worshipful. I was helping Samuel with his paper and pens when the sermon started, and after he was done with dot to dots, he started drawing. Dh, who was sitting on the other side of Samuel, noticed after a few minutes that Samuel was drawing and because markers can be incredibly loud in a quiet room told him to write slower and quieter.
I watched Samuel for a few minutes and I thought about my own childhood drawings. I remember drawing trees, flowers, stick people, houses, rainbows, and other such girly things. I distinctly remember creating a full picture that could proudly be displayed on the refrigerator at home. Samuel, I noticed drew just like JM had done, his drawings are not static pictures. They are a process, and the end result really does not do the picture justice.
The final result of the drawing is a glimpse into Samuel's imagination. It's still proudly displayed on the refrigerator, but others can not make out what it is. To them it looks like a bunch of colors scribbled all together.
I see the ship. Inside the ship I see the people, and that green person is JM. I'm the purple dot-person. The red line going to the ship is the enemy firing something at the ship. The window filled with red is because the enemy shot that window out and that area is on fire now. The blue lines are us firing back at the enemy, the other red lines are the enemy firing back at us. The big blue scribble is the enemy ship exploding (underneath all those scribbles is a fairly cool little spaceship with red aliens). Then we can not forget the smoke from our ship. Nor can we forget the lifeboats that the aliens escaped in, and see, they are floating down to the planet. Oops, that one crashed.
Then, Samuel turns the page and starts a new "drawing" that is just as involved. Very rarely does he continue his story.
I've tried very hard not to correct either of my boys and make them draw a static scene. Why is a static scene correct? Is it really? What if, their drawings are the more correct? I don't know. I know the final products will never win art awards, but to me, they are priceless. They are priceless because they show their imaginations. Drawing, to my boys (especially when they are younger) is all about the process. As JM has gotten older he has made some drawings that are more static. Samuel is really good at tracing his hand. Both boys will color in pictures (Samuel's is always solid blue and JM's is always green).
I watched Samuel for a few minutes and I thought about my own childhood drawings. I remember drawing trees, flowers, stick people, houses, rainbows, and other such girly things. I distinctly remember creating a full picture that could proudly be displayed on the refrigerator at home. Samuel, I noticed drew just like JM had done, his drawings are not static pictures. They are a process, and the end result really does not do the picture justice.
The final result of the drawing is a glimpse into Samuel's imagination. It's still proudly displayed on the refrigerator, but others can not make out what it is. To them it looks like a bunch of colors scribbled all together.
I see the ship. Inside the ship I see the people, and that green person is JM. I'm the purple dot-person. The red line going to the ship is the enemy firing something at the ship. The window filled with red is because the enemy shot that window out and that area is on fire now. The blue lines are us firing back at the enemy, the other red lines are the enemy firing back at us. The big blue scribble is the enemy ship exploding (underneath all those scribbles is a fairly cool little spaceship with red aliens). Then we can not forget the smoke from our ship. Nor can we forget the lifeboats that the aliens escaped in, and see, they are floating down to the planet. Oops, that one crashed.
Then, Samuel turns the page and starts a new "drawing" that is just as involved. Very rarely does he continue his story.
I've tried very hard not to correct either of my boys and make them draw a static scene. Why is a static scene correct? Is it really? What if, their drawings are the more correct? I don't know. I know the final products will never win art awards, but to me, they are priceless. They are priceless because they show their imaginations. Drawing, to my boys (especially when they are younger) is all about the process. As JM has gotten older he has made some drawings that are more static. Samuel is really good at tracing his hand. Both boys will color in pictures (Samuel's is always solid blue and JM's is always green).
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