Spooky Night!

Here's our family, trick or treating at a friend's home.

This was after we went to church for the "Great Pumpkin Party" and totally got way to much candy. Our candy bowl over-floweth. Greatly.

To amaze you with my "pitcher" taking skills, here's a photo of my witch's shadow...it was dark, so I let the flash light it up some. I think that was like using a hole punch to put "holes" in your hair.* I knew you would all be amazed at the very cool shadow of the witch on the concrete.



In downloading these photos, I found evidence of the boys playing with my camera. They took videos, they took photos, and they did things are not allowed in this house (like jumping off the top bunk bed). As we're watching these I'm thinking to myself, "Why didn't they erase the evidence?" It's quite humorous to see, but I'm not happy. We counted 4 times the camera was dropped. We counted at least 5 times a finger was put on the lens. I saw how nasty the old carpet REALLY was.**




awww, and here's the little camera snatcher now.*** Look, by the mess in the background I know this was the week before our carpet was replaced. Why? Because the boxes in the hall that were lining the hall while we sorted toys from the boys room.


*Yes someone did this for Halloween one year in high school. It was not me, despite my lack of thinking displayed tonight.

**I am refusing to show how nasty that carpet was, and trust, you will will thank for it. It was beyond redemption. I will, at some point in the future show you our lovely NEW carpet.

***That's "gi-gi" and the colors on the wall behind him - Atomic Vomit Green and Stuperpendous Blue. I know you were just dying to know that. Yes, it took quite a long time to do. Yes, I painted it. No, Katie's room isn't that...ummm...creative.

Prepare yourself for overwhelming cuteness!

Since we officially have that PA now, and I asked about it, we can post photos to our personal sites. I'm still nervous. I feel like I'm jinxing ourselves, but I want to show off our little princess. Our baby girl. The sister the boys are thrilled and excited to have. I get asked almost daily by Samuel, "Are you going to get Katie tomorrow?"

I'm getting the post ready, the one with the photos of her adorable cheeks, hair standing straight up, and the sad little frown.



That's a "preview" and as they say, the eyes are the window into the soul.

Change in procedures with our agency

Got an email this morning about how our agency was going to start sending out the actual Pre-Approvals that they get for every family now.

The CCAA has processed the Pre-Approval (PA) for your family’s request to adopt Xi Xiao Lan. The PA is issued once the information from the electronic acceptance has been reviewed and approved. Once the CCAA has fully reviewed your Dossier and application to adopt a specific child, they will issue the Referral Acceptance (RA). As a reminder, this step is currently taking anywhere from 2-5 months from the date of your electronic acceptance. There is no guaranteed timeframe from the CCAA on when your RA will arrive.

This means, that the SN department got our LOI (electronic acceptance) and processed it and reviewed the information.

Our PA date? 7/19/2007!!!

Now, if we could only get that LOA to come!!!!

NOTE: This PA is not the piece of paper we have been waiting on, it's just a piece of paper saying that we initially passed and have been "locked in" with Katie's paperwork. I do believe this gives us the ability to post photos of Katie to our blog though!!! :)

Katie's Christmas Outfit

Do a search for Tralala French Holiday Swing Set...that should get you there.

I just wanted to show off what I found for Katie's Christmas outfit...isn't it the most adorable thing you have ever seen?

I have faith that she will get to wear this for Christmas. Her brothers (oh how I love saying that) both have Christmas red polo shirts to wear (I guess with khaki pants). The good thing about this is that she will also get to wear it for Valentine's Day as well. :)

I survived 120 days

I was not sure I would survive 120 days, but I did. It helped that we spent the time with my parents and the kids. Mom and Dad did great at distracting me, and the kids made me smile. We ended up going to an amusement park on Saturday, and Samuel (being newly just over 42" in height) can now ride lots of "big kid" rides. We got to experience his excitement over each and every ride. He turned those big brown eyes upon Grandma and Grandpa and got them to ride a few with him as well.

The favorite though? I think it has to be the bumper cars. Yes, all 6 of us got on the bumper cars ride (Samuel with Grandma and JM with Dh). Due to low attendance we stayed on the bumper cars through 4 rides. Samuel was laughing the entire time, and who can't smile at that? JM was thrilled at being able to crash into Mommy. JM's ear to ear grin was great to see as well, and the two of them together. Well, who could be down around that? To make it even better, Samuel did a victory jump/dance leaving the bumper cars while saying "I loved that ride!"

Then, after that fun-filled day we played games that night. JM played with us adults, hung in there, and did GREAT. I won, which made it fun for me. I beat my father and Dh at a strategy/luck game. Good times. Next time we play, I'm sure I will lose. They will gang up on me. I just know it. It happens all the time in Risk.

Can you believe it? I did not cry a single tear the entire day. Nor did I cry on day 121. That's proof that all those prayers are working!!! Now, if we could only hear those magic words "Your LOA is here."

Haven't I learned the lesson of patience yet?!

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8

It's hard to remember that at the end of this horrid wait, we will have Katie. We will. The agency has told us that our file is locked in with her file. The CCAA KNOWS we want to adopt her. We even have Pre-Approval. Found that out today, we got it a LOOOONG time ago. Basically it doesn't mean a whole lot for us, but it does mean that we are officially connected to Katie's file.

September 2006 is still officially in review, and I know of someone who was questioned recently (something minor that will not cause them to be kicked out...just a paperwork correction). Their LID is at the end of September. This means, that we should be through review. GREAT news is that there were no questions (well so far and assuming that CCAA did go in date order like they typically do). As of Wednesday they were within 5 LID days of finishing September (and it's possible some of those were weekend days).

Soon. We have to have good news soon.

Anyone who has ever known me, knows that I am not very patient. I like to make a decision, then act on it. I like for things to fall into place and proceed according to plan. My plan. Ever since I started college, I have been learning patience. I have been learning that my plans are not always going to work out. I've learned that I can not control everything, but some things I want answers to.

When we first started this process I remember our homestudy agency telling me that in International Adoption things often go awry, that things don't happen logically, that I must have patience and be willing to go with the flow. I understood mentally. I really did. I know that I am at the mercy of others who are in charge of this process. I had a major problem with accepting the length of time to get official word on my denied fingerprints for our state background check. The homestudy agency reminded me of things not going to a set scheduled plan. When the USCIS office became so backed up during our paperchase, I was reminded again by the agency that things don't run smoothly.

This waiting for the LOA is much like that waiting for the 171h approval. We needed that "golden ticket" that allowed us to send our dossier to China...to get our place in line. I knew I would calm down once we were there, once we were DTC. I was right. I did. I had done all I could and it was now in the hands of the CCAA. I had my LID. I had my place in line. All was well in my logical world. :)

When we accepted a SN referral I was prepared for a 4-5 month wait to travel. I really was. Only I started seeing others, with similar statistics as my own get LOA in 55 days. I started dreaming. Dreaming that I would have her in my arms for Halloween. Hmmm...what could I dress her in for Halloween? She would be almost 15 months old. Still quite a baby. I anxiously watched for that LOA, but I wasn't stressed about it. I was hopeful. I was excited.

Then, we were skipped. It is such a cruel blow to dreams. I had to come to terms with the fact that I would not have her in my arms for Halloween. But I thought for sure it would be resolved within a week or two. We could still possibly travel Nov 1 or really Nov 15th. I got to the point where I was okay with Nov 15th, she would be 15.5 months olds. What's an additional 2 weeks?

Here it is, Thursday October 25th. The day that I had planned on traveling, since July. I thought this would be THE day I could travel. That it was easily understood we would have her home by Thanksgiving. I had a baby shower planned for October 18th and one for Thanksgiving weekend. Both were rescheduled after we were skipped. I want that official word that Katie is indeed ours.

I am now trying to resolve myself that it has been 3.5 weeks since we were skipped. 3.5 weeks of trying to live during a time that I need to be able to go with the flow. Those words from my homestudy agency almost 2 years ago come back to me. I understand them in my heart now. I get what she was trying to explain. I'm better at going with this flow because I know I have done all I can on my end.

Right now we are not even sure if we will have Katie in our arms for Thanksgiving, it's looking like we might not even be on our way to China by Thanksgiving. We have had the talk with our oldest son, and he's showing great maturity by being flexible with his birthday plans.

Will we have Katie home by Christmas? It seems like it should be a foregone conclusion. But time is really running short on making it. The processing time for paperwork is what will slow us down.

I feel like I need to explain that paperwork again...

We are currently waiting on LOA or RA (same thing). Once we get that paper, which is in Chinese and is the official document that asks us if we want to continue with the adoption of Xi Xiao Lan. Of course we do. It's really a formality, but paperwork is important. Because we have to sign this, our agency will Fed Ex (priority) this letter to us. We will then Fed Ex it back to them. This will take 2-3 days. They will then turn around and Fed Ex it to China, priority overnight which takes roughly 2 days to get there (international dateline and all). Once China gets that LOA/RA paper back, they then have to contact the orphanage to make sure that the child is still available (again a formality, but in a few rare instances things have happened...mostly in the NSN line I think). Once the orphanage responds, then the CCAA will issue TA (Travel Approval). Once our agency gets this (and I think it might be electronic now). They will then call us, give us possible travel dates and then immediately contact the US Consulate and request a consulate appointment (CA). Once we get that CA we will then book tickets (well pay and get them officially as the agency puts them on 24 hour hold while they wait on the CA).

The time from when our LOA/RA gets to China until we get that TA can take as little as 2 weeks or as much as 6 weeks. Normal, average time is 2-3 weeks.

So, go out 4 weeks from NOW, and that is the earliest we will probably be traveling.

See why patience is needed? I want to go at my pace. I want to have Katie in my arms now. But it's not working out that way. We are very near the end of our adoption paperchasing part, and very close to traveling to China. Honestly, we should be getting that LOA any day (well as soon as September leaves review room).

I just need to remember that Katie is the end result of all this paperwork and we all know she is more than worth any stress I am currently feeling. Patience. Faith. Hope.

Today is 119 days. Will Katie smile for us that first day?

I just love his smile!

Just had to share this one of Samuel. I just LOVE his smile. It makes me want to smile. I can hear his little giggle.

Fall is definitely here!

It's amazing to me to see how much the trees have changed, how cool it is outside, how I see signs of fall and the approaching winter everywhere. It's amazing to think that next week is Halloween.

That in typical years I am all done with Christmas shopping. Have my tree all planned out. Typically I'm going through all the Christmas decorations and getting them out and ready to put up. Usually the 2nd week of November since we typically visit relatives for Thanksgiving.

This year? It's all snuck up on me. I was planning to go Christmas shopping tomorrow, but Fed Ex is coming (not for adoption stuff). So, I guess I'll be cleaning. It does need to be done. I've not thought of Christmas at all. I don't even have my card planned, and it's typically done by Halloween.

I feel all out of sorts. I know it's because my focus has been on the adoption. I'm making a to-do list for my Christmas planning! I'm going to get it done, and hopefully before we ever make it to China.

I did make my first purchase last night...an outfit for Katie. But does that really count?

Today is 118 days. What is our thought for today? I wonder how Katie will look in her Christmas outfit? Will it fit?

day 117...still waiting!

today's thought comes from the kids "I wonder what Katie's face will look like when she sees her toys?"

with us not getting that elusive LOA today, that means we have pretty much lost all chance of travel by November 15th. I'm tired of guessing when we may travel. If you are curious, take each of the next weeks and if we get LOA by Wednesday then we have a chance to travel 4 weeks later (that's if everything processes smoothly).

day 116

I wonder how long her eye lashes are? What do they look like when her eyes are shut and she's sleeping? How far on her cheek do they fall?

Still no news, and we've not left the review room officially yet. What is good is that we have company on this long wait, and as they say, misery LOVES company. It's nice to have someone who understands to vent and complain to. We know there is nothing we can do but wait, but it helps to talk to others who are in the same position.

115 days of waiting

1. Katie is so beautiful.
2. Look at her big eyes.
3. What does her smile look like?
4. How firm is her grip when she holds your finger?
5. Which toy is her favorite?
6. Was she held a lot as a baby?
7. Attached to Foster Mom? really attached or slightly attached?
8. Does she have foster siblings?
9. Where is she living while in foster care?
10. Is she getting enough to eat?
11. Is she picked up when she cries?
12. WOW look how much she's grown!
13. Is her hair more filled in now?
14. How big are her feet?
15. What do her toes look like?
16. Does she have any teeth?
17. Is she crawling?
18. What is her favorite toy now?
19. What is the building she's in for the photo?
20. Does she like hair bows in her hair?
21. Is she trying to talk?
22. What is her sad cry?
23. What is her whining tired cry?
24. What is her angry cry?
25. What does her laugh sound like?
26. What does her hair feel like when you lay your cheek on her head?
27. What does she smell like?
28. Does she like baths?
29. Does she like to be outside?
30. Does she have any pets in her foster home?
31. Do her foster parents smoke?
32. Does she like to listen to music?
33. Is she celebrating her 1st birthday?
34. Can she walk?
35. Does she like her foster Mom or her foster Dad best?
36. What does she like to the most?
37. Does she like to play with balls?
38. Does she like baby dolls?
39. Are her feet ticklish?
40. What does her belly laugh sound like?
41. Does she have that baby fat roll on her wrist?
42. Does she have baby fat rolls on her legs?
43. What does her heart beat sound like?
44. Does she have dimples?
45. Is her hair all grown out now?
46. What color is her hair in the sun?
47. Does she have any friends?
48. What does she do all day?
49. Does she go out to the fields with her foster parents?
50. Do her foster parents even farm?
51. Does she have mosquito bites?
52. What about getting any scratches?
53. Do her foster parents know about endocarditis?
54. How much does she weigh now?
55. How tall is she now?
56. Does she like flowers?
57. What do her ears look like?
58. What does her belly button look like?
59. Are her feet skinny or fat?
60. What color looks best on her?
61. Has her foster Mom been informed she's being adopted?
62. What is she eating now?
63. What is her favorite food?
64. Does she have a favorite color?
65. Does she have a television in her foster home?
66. Is she being read to?
67. Is she being played with?
68. Where does she sleep?
69. Is she attached to anything?
70. How does she soothe herself?
71. Does she throw temper tantrums?
72. Is she spoiled?
73. Is she neglected?
74. Is she loved?
75. Do her eyes light up when she sees her foster Mom?
76. Does her foster Mom sing her lullabies?
77. Is she protected from the sun when outside?
78. Is she happy most of the time?
79. What illnesses has she had?
80. Is she mostly healthy?
81. What size clothes does she wear
82. How does she feel to the person holding her?
83. Does she cuddle with her foster parents?
84. Is she affectionate?
85. Does she like playing tickle games?
86. Does she like playing games on the floor with her parents?
87. Can she feed herself?
88. Is she still on a bottle?
89. How much is she eating each day?
90. How long does she sleep at night?
91. How long does she nap for during the day?
92. Does she like to go shopping?
93. Does she squeal when she sees an animal?
94. What does her voice sound like?
95. What does her squeal of excitement sound like?
96. What words is she saying?
97. How did she spend the Chinese holiday?
98. Does she have big brothers around her?
99. Is her heart okay?
100. What does her giggle sound like?
101. Does she get car sick?
102. Will she tolerate wearing a bracelet?
103. Is she being taught any English?
104. Is she being potty trained?
105. Is she smart?
106. Does she have toys at her foster home?
107. What are her favorite toys now?
108. How often has she seen the doctors?
109. Have they checked her heart again?
110. Has she completely lost her baby smell?
111. Does she have any marks on her body?
112. Is she scared of thunderstorms?
113. Is she cold or warm natured?
114. What noises scare her?
115. How many more days will I wait until I hold her?

Karate Tournament!

Here is JM doing his Kata. He placed 2nd in his division (all those kids standing on the side of the blue box where he is doing the kata). It's 10M. I've got to figure out how to make these things smaller!



This is Samuel doing his Kata (same division as JM). He placed 3rd.



and finally, both did sparring. JM did not place, but he did do better. Although he did not win a match, he was against someone TOUGH. Very impressive to watch two young kids spar. JM did get kicked (with a padded foot) in the face. He kept going though. I was so proud of how he handled the frustration of not winning his match, being against someone who was so tough to spar against (that one ended up winning the sparring division), and cheering others on from his Dojo.

Samuel, on the other hand, was in a 4 person division. Just not that many kids that size and rank. :) Here's a short video of his first match. He won with the kick in this video. Watch closely, and you will see that foot stretch up high and get the other little boy in the side of the head. When the judges award him the points Samuel exclaims "I kicked him in the head!!" Sensei says "You sure did!" It was really cute. Guess I should say that Samuel is the one with his back to us in this video.

Okay, I promise we're not all into the "fighting" and such, but Karate has been great for our family. The discipline learned, the respect they are being taught, respect for other people and the respect for what they know now. They know they are not allowed to use the techniques they learn in karate outside of class unless they are being kidnapped, or "worse" which is what he tells the girls.

What am I going to do?

This morning we drove to the pediatrician for flu vaccine (the entire family), and in the car before pulling out of the driveway, Samuel asked a question.

"Mommy, how do you make the van go in reverse? Do you pull back on the steering wheel?"

I answered him, "No, I pull this lever here and put it the gear for reverse. Then I go backward." I was impressed that at 8am he was alert enough to try to figure out HOW I make the car go. Then I was impressed that he had come up with a possible explanation. See, at 8am, I'm impressed that I was awake enough to be able to stick the key in the ignition!

JM, obviously did not think my answer was good enough, replied, "See Samuel, when Mom puts the gear in reverse, which is marked by R on her dash, the gear moves to a specific spot on the drive shaft. This spot determines how the drive shaft turns. For the R spot, it actually turns the drive shaft the opposite way that it does for the drive spots. The drive shaft spins and this rotates the axles that the tires are on. When the drive shaft spins in this way, the tires are rotated going backward. When the drive shaft is in Drive, then it spins the tires forward. When you can read and we go to the science museum I'll show you the exhibit that has all the parts of the car then you can see it for yourself."

yeah...umm...he's 8. What am I going to do?! Obviously he wakes up more alert than anyone I know.

Then, I'm reminded again that he is only 8. He needs to write out his punishment for his homeschool classes - "I will not be disruptive in chapel." 50 times.

I ask again, "What am I going to do?!"

We've been working on multiplication tables with JM, and he has a quiz on Friday evening on the 2-4 tables. Now, randomly throughout the day I'll shout out, "What's 4x6?" JM will sometimes answer, "24!" Or other times "I don't want to do this!!!!" Because this has been going on all week, Samuel has finally picked up on things. Samuel is now randomly shouting out, "JM, what's the number between 50 and 52?" Or He'll say, "JM, what's 15+4?" I've had to explain to Samuel that it is not his place to quiz JM on math problems.

We've also been working on "th" sounds in speech for the past year. Really concentrate on how you say "th" (go on do it). Did you notice that you put your tongue between your teeth? Well, both of the boys did not do this. Ever. They would curl their bottom lip under their top teeth and say it (go on try it...). Yes, it was the "fuh" or the "vuh" sound. JM is probably 99% accurate these days. Samuel, well, we are working on it as it has been age appropriate until now. JM had a spelling test this past week, one we were behind on, and I asked him to spell "fought."

JM spelled it "t-h-o-u-g-h-t."

I had to explain, that no, I did mean the fought as used in a sentence like "I know you fought with your brother over the game today." That if I meant thought I would use a sentence like "I thought you knew that fighting with your brother is forbidden." Don't you like my sentences?!

Without telling him how to correctly spell it, he got it right. I, in testing him the next day for the official test, managed to remember to use the sentences to define the words.

Samuel and his "th" sounds? Well, we finally got him to say "th" correctly by itself. It's not in his everyday speech, but we are working on words by themselves. He can say "thumb" correctly if you remind him, and he's almost go "thinking" down. Although I will miss "finking" a little bit! He's so proud of himself too. Our speech pathologist would be so proud.

Yes, bad news continues

We basically found out today that we are not even in the match room yet. Of course this doesn't surprise me given what I believe to be happening. This means, that yes, it's going to be still longer.

Our agency is basically at the point now where they can do nothing more except wait.

What I think is going on is that our LID group is still in NSN review room. For some reason, our dossier and LOI and all the rest of our paperwork will leave review and go to the match room whenever Sept 2006 leaves review.

China is currently saying they are through August 31, 2006. It's almost been 4 weeks since they finished that set. Therefore, I'm hopeful that we will move out of review soon.

We are still hoping, and praying, for November 15th travel. It's still possible as long as we get LOA by 10/23 or 10/24 at the latest. After that, it basically becomes an impossibility.

I'm trying hard to stay optimistic, I'm trying hard to stay hopeful. However, I'm finding that the whole adoption doesn't seem or feel like it is ever going to happen. That I'm going to live in this limbo land for the rest of my life. Yes, I'm getting mighty discouraged.

No call again

alas, no call for us. Again.

3 other agencies did get LOA, 3 other families I know of did get their LOA...all with dates after mine. Oh well.

We hope to hear from the agency tomorrow with more detailed info on what is going on...or perhaps Wednesday?

so, in an effort to distract us all from the never ending wait....here's more photos!


JM and myself, right after he promoted to Orange belt in Karate (he's now over halfway to Yellow on the Orange with Black stripe belt).


then Samuel's cheese puff smile! LOL



and isn't this the CUTEST clipboard ever?!

Sometimes they melt your heart

Samuel spent his birthday money tonight and bought 2 Wii games. He and JM had poured over the list online, looked at different ones, looked at previews. Dh spent time last night looking up parent reviews on the ones they had picked out. We finally took Samuel to the store and he was just so excited to see that they had the two games he wanted!

Now, unfortunately, JM had not studied for his spelling test. Nor had he finished his math work. Not to mention the History and Geography test he needed to study for as well. So, we sat JM down to do learning work, and I went upstairs with Samuel and opened his new games. They are his after all. I told him he could play his new games if he wanted to play them.

He, excitedly, took out the game that was in the Wii. He opened both new games and looked at the game disks. He looked at the books that come with them. Then, he shut the games, walked to his bedroom, found his DS and sat on the bed and played DS.

HUH?

So, after a good hour of this I was more than confused. I told Samuel, "You can play your new games you know." He said, "I know." But, he kept playing DS.

JM worked on his work. It was getting later and later. I went downstairs to read, and then Samuel came and cuddled next to me. JM finished up, with a promise to study spelling words again tomorrow. I then told them they could go upstairs and play the new games for a little bit.

Samuel lit up like a Christmas tree and excitedly jumped off the couch and ran upstairs, exclaiming, "Let's play Sonic, JM!!!"

Samuel waited to play his brand new games until his brother could play with him. If JM couldn't play, then he was not going to start playing without him.

*sniff* Doesn't that just melt your heart?


okay, this one is a little old...January 2006, so it's almost 2 years old now.


Okay, while these aren't terribly recent, at least more recent than Jan 2006! These are from March 2007 at our favorite vacation destination. ;)

Working down my to-do list

I have this big master to-do list, and on it I have many things I need to get accomplished in order to be able to actually leave on our adoption trip. I've been procrastinating something fierce, and today I get to mark at least 2 off.

1. I'm shipping a camera lens in to be repaired, hopefully under warranty. I want...need this lens for our China trip.

2. I paid for and sent in the paperwork to get our Visas processed! I guess these are quite important in order to be able to go to China. ;)

We're working our way down the list. Slowly, ever so slowly...but things are getting marked off.

Update on the LOA, part 3

Due to super internet sleuthing (mainly that means I read way too many blogs, emails with complete strangers, and chatted in an online forum full of China adoptive parents), I found out that our situation is not without precedent.

Yes, that is right, this exact situation happened to another family with a different agency in September. Yes, last month. Their LID was August though, which was currently in review. Oh goody. What does this tell us?

Well, we will probably have to wait until the CCAA finishes reviewing all of September 2006 LID before we get our LOA. Yes, it bites.

When will that happen? We're not sure. However, it's good news in that we've not gotten questioned. It's happened in the recent past, and we have something to go on. Best guess is that September 2006 will be out of review by the end of October. Yeah. THAT long.

We, of course, have lots of hope that our agency can find out more information, information that is not "guesswork" and perhaps we will get that LOA before the end of October. Maybe.

Good news is that we SHOULD be able to travel to get Katie before Christmas. Whether that means we are home for Christmas or not is the question. I'm personally still holding out hope for November 15th as our travel date.

Update on the LOA, part 2

We heard from the agency today, and as we were expecting it was very vague. I think perhaps even more vague than they were expecting. To basically quote them, this is our information:

The CCAA processes files in order with regards to Log In Date, acceptance Date (what we term LOI), and then other factors.

That's all the information we have at this point. We've obviously fallen under the other factors, so who knows. The agency is checking on our case specifically and hopefully we'll hear something a little less vague by Friday.

I did ask what the "other factors" could mean. It could mean we were pulled for detailed medical review (but all 4 families from our agency? especially when one had no issues to speak of), it could mean we were being reviewed, it could mean our file was put at the bottom of a stack for some unknown reason. I was told that we did not hear that our file had been misplaced, nor did we hear that the file had been separated. Both things have been told to the agency before, so not hearing them is good. We were not told that anything was specifically wrong with our file. Another good thing. Whatever "other factor" involved means that it happened to 4 families together. Of course any of these things are still possible to be wrong with our file, but they are becoming less likely.

You can interpret that yourselves, I am personally leaning more toward something happened and the CCAA will correct it as soon as they possibly able to.

BTW, 2 different agencies told their SN clients who were skipped last week that the person who signs off on the LOA is out of the office until Friday. This means, that our paperwork could not be signed until Friday, then we would get it Monday the 15th at the earliest. I told this to our agency, told her where I had heard it, and they seemed to think it is probably true.

What this means to us as far as travel:

LOA this week, we *might* make the Nov 1st group, but unlikely.
LOA next week (the 15th), we should make a November 15th group (if they have one)
LOA the week of 21st, we might make November 15th, but possibly the 22nd (if they had one)
LOA the week of the 28th, November 15th is out, 22 is a maybe, but more than likely Nov 29th (if they have one)
LOA the first week of November, then travel would be in December...moving the LOA out by each week pushes travel out by a week each time.

Have I mentioned that I do not wait well at all? Really do not wait well.

and now he is 5!

Samuel is a very happy 5 years old now. He had a wonderful birthday party, a wonderful birthday, and is happily learning how to play his Wii.

Yes, it is HIS Wii. He, of course, must share with the other boys in the house. We are waiting to add to our Wii games though, and they are currently playing lots and lots of sports games. I think Samuel loves creating Mii people though. If he knows your name, then you more than likely have a Mii.

Dh has a beard and mustache for his Mii. I have sunglasses. (We have neither, BTW.) I helped him create Katie (she's as short as he could make her and as skinny as he could make her. I helped him find the black hair, the darker eyes, and a more "girl" hairstyle. So, now, my life is punctuated by "Katie hit a homerun!" Then a little later "MOM! You made a great catch!" I hear lots of little boy giggling, and not so much whining. In addition to this wonderful new pastime, I also have the pleasure of seeing them play with all their new toys. Lots of new pirate gear and swords, Star Wars toys, remote control cars, and foam rockets. Both boys are loving the new toys. I'm loving the relative peace and quiet.

This is Fall Break week for all of our school friends, and as such, we have lots of playdate opportunities, lots of pumpkin patch invitations, and even invites to go to the zoo or the science museums. The kids do have Karate on Thursday and homeschool science classes on Wednesday. But, alas, I do not have the joy of dropping them off at Friday classes this week. Luckily, due to Fall Break, we have a slower week scheduled. I also have fewer work obligations other than computer work at home. I'm looking forward to the pace of our life slowing down somewhat.

I am hoping to get papers and things shipped this week, so that I'm ready for when we do get that all important LOA. We still have not heard what happened, but I'm encouraged by the fact that it seems other agencies are seeing a "slow LOA" for their Sept 2006 LID people. Here's hoping that we get that LOA tomorrow on day 102.

I can not believe that we passed 100 days of waiting for LOA. Never thought we would wait this long. Never.

What an exciting day

For those not in the know, if we had stayed on our NSN track, we would not be looking at a late 2009 or early 2010 referral timeframe at current paces. However, in much better news, after I think a record breaking 6 months China has finally finished referring out November 2005 LID group. A huge collective sigh of relief was definitely heard around the world.

We learned this week that they once again had a fairly small referral batch, making it a rough week of news for many China prospective adoptive parents (or PAP). Many of these families have been waiting for over 2 years, or close to 3 years just to get to this point from applying with their agency. When we all signed that disclaimer that nothing is guaranteed in international adoption and we are taking a risk, they were not joking.

I found out that there 4 families skipped with our agency, and I found out that another agency had a skipped family (only one out of all of the SN PAP). Her situation, would be scarier to me as she was the only one. However, she was also the only one in her own "batch" as well. Then, there is a family who was anticipating their NSN referral and did not get it. That has got to be awful!

On a joyful note, to end the week, our agency did start making new SN referral calls today. So many families saw their daughter or son's face for the first time today. It is such a special wonderful feeling. I hope they have an awesome weekend basking in the glow of their new child.

It is amazing to me how much of my current life revolves around this adoption, how excited for perfect strangers I am, how sad I am for others when they get bad news. Isn't the internet grand?

We've made it to Friday

Fridays are a great day in our lives, it's Co-op day! This means, that my kids both go off to school from 9-1, and JM continues on until 3. We made it.

Of course we forgot to memorize Samuel's poem, guess I"ll work on that in the morning.

I made it halfway through to when we *might* hear something, our agency will be asking questions on Monday (China time) and we might hear something back on Wednesday from them. Oh how I hope so. I guess, honestly, we're only 1/3 of the way there...but it feels like a long time ago that we heard the bad news.

I have a busy weekend, it's birthday weekend. Samuel has his party, with 10 friends coming! We have family coming in to helps us celebrate, which means game nights and card playing, and food...lots of food. The boys get to have their cousin spend the night...in their room with them!

Then, Monday, we'll do our special "family celebration" with Samuel and as is our tradition he will choose where we eat. Anywhere we wishes to go, we go without complaint. I predict we'll either be eating Burger King or Jason's Deli! Now, for my birthday I choose someplace like Macaroni Grill, Outback, or Japanese steakhouse. Not Samuel though! He's still young enough that Burger King seems like a treat. Just hope he doesn't choose Chuck E. Cheese's. OH PLEASE don't let him choose that!

So, you see, Tuesday will be here before we know it. Hopefully we'll have some news between now and then.

Update on the LOA

We have officially been skipped, in every meaning of the word in relation to China SN adoption. Yes, it's frustrating. No, there is nothing we can do about it.

What does this mean exactly? Well, others at our agency with LID after ours (but in 2006 still) and LOI dates the same or after ours did get their LOA today. We did not. Nor did other families who were LID September 2006.

Okay, now what? Since China is closed for national holidays our agency has to wait until Monday to contact them to find out exactly what is going on. They will ask nicely for the liaison to check on each of our paperwork stuff. I know of at least one other family in this situation, and I was led to believe there are more than 2 of us. The liaison will get back to our agency, and we should know something by Wednesday of next week (October 10th). We've been told to be prepared for vague answers like "we are processing the paperwork."

What is the best case scenario? Best case is that there was just a paperwork snafu and our LOA is sitting in China just waiting to be mailed. We'd get it next week. Or for some reason they prepared things out of LID order which is not normal for them, but who knows.


What is worst case?This one is hard for me to swallow. Worst case is that our dossier was never matched with our LOI. This means that we are no further along than we were June 29, 2007 when we sent the LOI. This could have happened because the dossier was probably sitting in the review room waiting to be reviewed when we sent the LOI. It may have never been pulled. If this is the case, our agency is going to ask nicely for expedite on our paperwork. If they do expedite it could be another month to get the LOA. If they don't, then we are looking at another 90+ days.

When will we travel?We honestly do not know. We can tell you with certainty that October 25th is out, as is November 1st. It's possible IF we got that LOA next week that we could make the November 8th time...but more than likely it will be November 15th. We really hope, at this point, that we are able to travel and have her home by Christmas.

I'm very upset with the knowledge that paperwork is keeping us from holding our baby girl in our arms. It's been so long already, almost 100 days. As soon as I have that LOA I can post her photo to this blog. If you are interested in seeing her photos now, email me.

Day 94.

We did not hear anything. We do not have any idea when we will hear something. We just hope it comes very very soon!

*sigh*