R4 ~ So this would put us at 15 days of LIDS till March 15th!!! (It's too exciting!!)

From Rumour Queen:

Let’s move that to an R4
December 29th, 2008

Enough agencies are now saying that the cut off is the 28th that I’m going to move it to an R4.


Hopefully we’ll hear from agencies later whether they have something on the way to them or not. If referrals arrive today then I feel pretty comfortable saying we’ll likely see another batch just before they break for their CNY holiday.

Can you guess which one of us is the tiger and which is the rabbit??

Tigers:
" Tigers may not be the king of the jungle, but these striped cats are no
softies! Magnetic and self-possessed, Tigers are born leaders. They have an
air of authority that prompts others to fall in line, which is exactly how
they like it. Although they are magnetically charming and fun to be around,
Tigers like to go it alone sometimes too. A Tiger's main interest is in
following its ambitions -- and maintaining control.

Tigers are courageous beyond compare and generally come out ahead in battle,
be it in the boardroom or the bedroom. Seduction is one area where the Tiger
is definitely king! Noble and warm-hearted, Tigers have a natural, raw
appeal that's extremely attractive to other Signs. They're not just about
attraction, though; ever on the side of right, Tigers will fight the good
fight to the bitter end if the cause is worthy. Opponents are wise to fear
this feline.

A bit of caution is a good thing around Tigers, since they can pounce
without warning. They experience mood swings and often feel things more
intensely than others, the latter quality being both good and bad. They can
react poorly under stress and are prone to emotional outbursts. This Sign's
bristling sensitivity can send friend and foe running for cover.

A lesson that Tigers would be well-served to learn is moderation in all
things. Once these cats can find their center and direct their considerable
energies toward worthwhile endeavors (as opposed to racing through life),
they will accomplish much."

Rabbits:

"Timid and attractive, the Rabbits of the Chinese Zodiac tend to act more
like bunnies, whether they like it or not! This Sign is extremely popular
and has a wide circle of family and friends. Its compassionate nature leads
it to be very protective of those it holds dear, but where romance is
concerned, the Rabbit's sentimentality can lead it to idealize
relationships. The sweet, sensitive Rabbit often ends up giving more of
itself to a partner than is realistic or healthy. The good news is, when
this Sign goes off-balance, the Rabbit's core group of friends and its
stable home life help bring it back to center.

The Rabbit is a rather delicate Sign that needs a solid base in order to
thrive. Lacking close, supportive friends and family, the Rabbit might just
break down in tears at the first sign of conflict. Emotional upsets in this
Sign's life can even lead to physical illnesses. Rabbits dislike arguments
and other conflict and will try anything to avoid a fight; this results in
something of a pushover nature. Rabbits can also lapse into pessimism and
may seem stuck in life -- often to mask their insecure natures. Rabbits tend
to move through life's lessons at their own, rather contemplative pace; it's
a waste of time to become exasperated with this Sign's seeming disinterest
in facing its problems and conquering them.

With the right partner -- meaning someone whose high principles won't allow
it to take advantage of this sensitive, giving Sign -- the Rabbit can make
an incredibly loving and protective partner or family member. Rabbits love
to entertain at home and always make sure their house is comfortable and
tastefully-furnished. What Rabbits need most is a stronger sense of
self-worth and the security that comes with it. Their discerning natures,
coupled with some hard-won assertiveness, will help these happy creatures go
far."
It's amazing how these signs are sooo accurate!!

Chinese New Year ~ Jan 26th/09 ~ the year of the Ox

Two batches of referrals coming beforehand?? (It's a Rumour....but...we sure hope it's true (geeting closer and closer to March 15/06!!)

The following was posted on Rumour Queen on December 26th:

"R3 - February 28"

"Two agencies are saying the cut off is the 28th.

If agencies are hearing the cut off date, then that could mean referrals aren’t so far away. Perhaps the CCAA is going to work to get two more batches out before they leave for their CNY holiday."

Could it be true???

Our 11th Anniversary!!!!

Our Anniversary is coming up quickly, December 31st!!!

We've had many ups' and downs' over our 11 years, but are very hopeful that this year will bring nothing but ups'...especially our daughter, Maelin.

We are very hopeful that we will finally be bringing her home this year!!!!

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope 2009 will be a great year for all of us!

Referrals released!!! 20 days of LIDS to go through until they get to our LID

Referrals of children have been released by the China Center of Adoption Affairs to families with a registration date of February 17, 2006, to February 23, 2006.

China Adoption Forecaster predicts our referral date will be March 25th!!!

23 Days Until Santa Comes...

...and we're still under construction... OMG!!! It's probably time to start our Christmas shopping!!!

Only 26 days until CCAA reaches us, OMG! We might have our daughters' picture in 4 months!!!!!

I was just on Rumour Queen (since we finally have our computer hooked up again), and only 26 days of referrals left until us!!! OMG, that could be only 4 months!!! I can't believe it!!!
The China Adoption Forecast predicts our referral date will be March 26th, wow ~ it's definitely flying by now!!!

Location, Location...

Once again, Mike and I are relocating!!! (we can't stay in one place too long!!! LOL!)

We have returned to SJ, once again and have been very busy with renovating an apartment at my parents' house. (Nightmare before Christmas ~ the movie....)

Mike will be returning to Irving Oil on Monday to a new position to him, and I have been offered a position at WHSCC in the New Year, all good news !!!

Although we are both very sad to be leaving Moncton because we both enjoyed living there, we are both quite happy to be back in SJ as well. We will be returning to Moncton for visits pretty regularly, so it's all good...

Let's just hope we can atleast be unpacked for Christmas!!! (or Santa might not be able to get to us through all of the boxes....)LOL!

From China Adopt Talk/Rumour Queen....

"We’ve got a good number of agencies confirming that the box has changed and the cut off was the 17th."
So we're a couple of days closer this month!!

I'm obsessed with ladybugs now, or so Mike says!

I've had another little visitor...in our den, on the screen door!! Good signs I hope!!!LOL!

A Moment in Time...

We received the following poem and message for one of our previous postings " For All Adoptive Parents, who are Waiting for call". I wanted to share it because it is so encouraging to everyone who is waiting to meet their beautiful child.

Mike and Cheryl: What a poem!! We were waiting for our second daughter and my heart was so heavy because the wait was getting longer. Please know our hearts are with all who wait. Also know that it all goes away on Gotcha Day. We had unexpected extra time with both adoptions. Keep the faith and keep daydreaming. Your wait is just a short moment compared to the rest of your life with your new child. Take care and God bless you guys.

A Moment in Time

You take a child from a far away land
You take a mother with a photo in hand
You put them together in a special way
It’s a moment in time-called Gotcha Day.

Some children cry out, others just stare
They don’t comprehend what’s happening there
But God in His love and mercy proclaims
It’s time for these babies to have some new names.

A name with a face, your child now embraced
The heart ache of waiting is quickly erased
That half empty feeling is filled to the brim
The love that’s expressed spills over the rim.

If you’ve been in that room and seen the display
Of love flowing out in this marvelous way
You’ll never forget for the rest of your years
The gallons and gallons of joyous spent tears.

This moment won’t end, a family now starts
The love just keeps coming direct from the hearts
Of mothers whose dreams have now become true
A great moment in time, its love’s grand debut.


Tom Fisher
© March 7, 2006
tafisher@sbcglobal.net

"The Attack of the Lady Bugs" ~ LOL...

Last week, Mike and I were each visited twice by Lady Bugs.

He had two in his office and I had one on the deepfreeze (which stayed there for a day and a half)... ? go figure.

The other was on our kitchen window screen. I sure hope they are all signs of good things to come!!!

We're on March now...

The website "China adoption forecaster" is now calculating that we will receive our referral on March 4th...interesting!! Well I guess spring is a good time to travel to China so we've heard anyway. We'll go whenever they'll take us, not fussy (LOL!)

Referrals are in up to Feb 15th!!!

Only 28 days left of referrals until CCAA gets to our LID!!!
Adoption Forecaster predicts that we will receive our referral by March 4th!!! It's getting closer, I can't believe it!!! Wow, the light at the end of the tunnell is approaching, LOL!!!

Adoption Forecaster Predictions for our LID...

I guess it's been awhile since we've updated our blog site! (Wow, we didn't realize how long it's been!). We've been helping our family with renovations for a larger daycare that they just opened this week in Saint John (a bigger project than anticipated....).
The adoption forecaster has predicted that we will receive our referral for our little angel during the last week of February, could this be true??? Time will tell I guess, that is based on CCAA doing 6 days of referrals per month...we'll keep our fingers crossed!!!

Better News....

We just received the following email from our facilitator (CFC):

"Hello everyone,

Referrals of children have been released by the China Center of Adoption Affairs to families with a registration date of January 26, 2006, to January 31, 2006.

When I have any information about the next batch of referrals to be released by CCAA, I will be in touch.

Rgds
Linda"

Lesson learned here...don't believe everything you read on certain sites, wait to get confirmation from your own agency!!!
Anyway, we're feeling a bit better about this.
PS.Lady Bug on our truck today, our luck may be changing soon!!!

Not great news this month!!!

First off, we would like to congratulate the families that received referrals this month for their children, after having a very long wait for them.

Although we know our time will come too, or at least we hope that it will...it has been an excruciatingly long wait and very trying, to say the least. It has been very difficult to "live life" not knowing when you will be travelling, and when the time can vary so much depending on "how many days CCAA can get through for their referrals each month".

We were expecting a small batch this month because of the Olympics, but when we saw 2 days of referrals~ we were shocked, to say the least, and disappointed would be putting it mildly...

According to the updated "China Adoption Forecast" with our log in date of 03-15-2006, we will likely receive our referral now in mid April ~ I guess this will vary,depending on what CCAA does after the Olympics (as far as the # of referrals go each month).

I think we are going to wait and see how the referrals go for a couple of months after the Olympics are through, and if they continue like this, I think we may have to reconsider our decision here.

Referrals for August

Referrals for August should be coming soon!! We're anxious to see how many days CCAA will get through...


We are presently 49 days away from our referral date, according to "China Adoption Forecasts Website", our referral will come on 2009-03-18 (based on CCAA doing 6 days of referrals each month. We're wondering how the upcoming Olympics will affect the referrals, if at all.



Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

Referrals for July

Well...It looks like CCAA has done either 5 or 6 days of referrals this month, this was an "R2 rumour" on Rumour queen!!!
So that puts us at either 42 or 43 days until our referral comes up!!! A bit closer in the right direction!! I was secretly hoping for a big month like the last one ~ but they can't ALL be that big I guess...

Referrals early next week??

Referrals on the way????

Another posting from rumour Queen:

"Packages in the air
June 27th, 2008
I’ve heard that two agencies have something in the air on the way to them, expected to arrive Monday or Tuesday."

I can't believe it! It does seem to be going faster ~ or am I imagining it??

I hope it's true!!!!

I saw the following post on Rumour Queen this morning...

"Matching??"
June 24th, 2008
An agency reports that the CCAA has started matching.

This came out of left field, as it much sooner than expected. Anyone else hearing anything about matching?"

Maybe, if their starting early, it's means that be another big batch of referrals to go out too....

Maelins' Dad Is Really Going to be After her to learn to bagpipe!!!

He's already working on our niece, Gracie!!!

Monctons' Highland games held this past weekend!!

All I can say is, Poor Maelin ~ and Gracie...LOL!!

Referrals are In!!! (Including up to Jan 20th!!!)

Eight days of referrals were done this month!!! Only 48 more days till ours!!!

That's awesome!!! We are getting closer...and maybe (?) things are speeding up...

"China Adoption Forecast", predictions for our LID...

Our prediction for LID 2006-03-15
China has 52 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 6.3 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2009-03-06

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

Referrals coming in on Monday?? And up to Jan 22??

Could it be true???

Are things (referrals) speeding up?? And could CCAA have gotten through 10 days of referrals this month??
All I can say is WOW!!! I sure hope this is true!!

"Three agencies have confirmed that they have something on the way, scheduled to deliver on Monday."

More referrals this month than last???

The Rumour Queen had the following rumour to report on her website...I sure hope it's true!!! Maybe it's a sign of things to come, ie: the matching is going to start speeding up (????)


"June 2nd, 2008
An agency reports that this batch will include more days than the last batch included."

Any Other Families Out There With LIDs' For March 2006??

Our agency isn't really estimating any time line for when we will receive a referal, just that it is going slower than anticipated...

We were hoping to hear from some other families with LIDs' in 2006, and to find out if they are being given any "approximate" time lines...

We know that it is impossible to know what will happen with referrals, especially with all that has happened in China recently, and the upcoming Olympic games...but it would be interesting to hear what (if anything) others are being told by their adoption facilitators...

I guess the bottom line is, that we will just have to keep waiting (sometimes patiently, and sometimes ~ not so patiently!!)

Article In Maclean's Magazine re: China Adoptions

I was given an article to read which is about the China Adoption program.
It is a four/five page article that discusses a few different topics, but the overall feeling that I gathered was that the program is "shrinking" and that the wait times are getting majorly longer (which I had gathered) already...

The estimated waiting time on a website called "china adoption forecast", developed be Michael Sims, is that families just starting out in their adoption, can expect to wait 8 years for a referral!! I found this discouraging, but I believe it!!

The website has a "referral date calculator". The address is "chinaadoptionforecast.com".

Our LID is March 15th/2006, and it calculated the following:

Our prediction for LID 2006-03-15
China has 62 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 5.7 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2009-03-26

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

We had been hoping to get our referral by the end of this year, or at the latest ~ the beginning or 2009!!! I sure hope this website calculator is wrong!!

Families Returning to Moncton With their Daughters Today!!!

After two weeks in China....the Doucettes and Roys are going to be home with their baby girls!!!

We are sooo excited and can hardly wait to see them!!

Welcome home everyone!!!

Statement Regarding the Children in Earthquake hit Regions

Ministry of Civil Affairs Replies to Enquiries by Organizations and Individuals Home and Abroad about Placing Orphans in Quake-hit Areas


Date of Release:May 19,2008 　　Source: Social Welfare and Social Affairs Department


After May 12 when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit Wenchuan in Sichuan Province, all social circles expressed their loves in every manner. Especially after May 13, when TV reports showed Premier Wen Jiabao visiting orphans in disaster-hit areas, many organizations and individuals home and abroad were very concerned about children in these areas, heavy-hearted about their difficulties. Quite a lot of them, deeply concerned, enquired about the possibility about adopting these children. Hereby the Ministry of Civil Affairs would like to give the following response to this question.
At present the disaster-hit areas are occupied with tense rescuing work and saving people’s lives at whatever cost is the primary task. Party Committees and governments at all levels are taking every measure to safeguard the life and property of the people and have given proper care and placement to children who have lost their parents or whose parents have not been found for the moment and tried their best to look for the children’s parents and relatives. As the rescuing work progresses, more children will be able to be back to their families.
We would like assure those who care about the children in the quake-hit areas that the Ministry of Civil Affairs will spare no efforts in supporting the civil affairs departments of these areas to take good care of the orphans, ensure that they will recover both physically and mentally after the disaster as soon as possible and will give timely feedback on the situation of their placement and life. After things in disaster-hit areas return to normal, the adoption of orphans in these areas will be conducted in accordance with relevant laws and regulations so that adoptive applicants who are eligible will adopt these children legally.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs would like to avail itself of this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to all those who care so much about the people, especially the children, in quake-hit areas. We believe that with the guidance of the Central Party Committee and the State Council and joint efforts by people nationwide, people in the disaster-hit areas will go through the difficulties and win the battle against the disaster.

Validity period of "Notice of Coming to China" Extended For Olympics

Notice on Temporary Extension of the Validity Period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption


Date of Release:May 21,2008　　Source:CCAA


Central Authorities and adoption agencies of adoptive countries,
Considering that a number of people will travel to China for match-watching and tour during the Beijing Olympic Games, China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) decided to extend the validity period of Notice of Coming to China for Adoption from three months to five months for referrals in June and July in order to help adoptive families avoid the travel peak and have more time to arrange their journey in China for adoption. By that time, please check the validity period and remind the adoptive families to make proper arrangement of their travel to China for adoption.
For those who plan to travel to China for adoption during the Olympics, please contact the provincial departments of civil affairs for registration at least 15 days in advance so that the adoption process here will go smoothly.



China Center of Adoption Affairs

Next group of referrals (Rumour Queen Predicts...)

The soonest I would expect to see them this month is Wednesday, May 28 and the latest is Friday, June 6. The most likely arrival based on the average would be Monday, June 2.

(This entry was posted on Thursday, May 8th, 2008)

There is also a poll to vote (for Jan to March 2006 LIDs):

IF your LID is between January 13, 2006 and March 13, 2006 and you have not voted yet then please drop by and vote your LID. If your LID is in 2007 or 2008, please do not vote in this poll.(Can vote in this poll on Rumour Queens' Website).

How amazing are these pics???

Many people have already seen these sites if they've adopted from China, they've visited them.

For those who haven't, double click on these pics to get a full appreciation of how amazing they are...especially the Great Wall (it's straight up from this photo).

These awesome pictures were taken today (I think), by Sophie Roy from Moncton ~ who is now officially Karielle's Mommy!!!

FCCCF calls for donations

Hello All,

We have received the following email from our adoption facilitator, Linda Kirby (Children From China).

I'm sure that any donations would be appreciated...

Thanks to all for reading the following,

Cheryl and Mike.


"FCCCF calls for donations
to assist SICHUAN earthquake survivors"

"While the death toll from Monday’s earthquake continues to mount, survivors urgently need the most basic of supplies – food, water, tents and medicine.

Although a few orphanages close to the epicentre have yet to be heard from, the majority of orphanages within the earthquake zone report that the children are safe. In many places, children and staff have been evacuated from the orphanage buildings and are living in tents. Necessities such as food, diapers and drinkable water are in short supply. At a time when the orphanages are struggling to care for the children already living there, more children – orphaned by the earthquake – are arriving.

The Amity Foundation, FCCCF’s partner organization in China, moved quickly to get aid to orphanages and to the general population in the affected areas. As of yesterday, they had already distributed 2,190 plastic tents, 51,000+ boxes of instant noodles, 100,000 bottles of water and 400 bundles of ham sausage.

Wu An An, Director of Social Welfare at Amity, replied to FCCCF’s offer of assistance:

Thank you for your email and concern. … The funds raised will be sent to those orphanages in Sichuan affected by the quake for food, water, clothing, medicine and other daily necessities for the children."

Donations via FCCCF for earthquake relief can be made in four ways:

1) donate online by clicking on the “Donate Now” button on FCCCF’s website: http://www.fcccf.ca/ ;

2) go directly to Canada Helps at www.canadahelps.org and search for “China Children” – FCCCF will be the first charity that comes up;

3) donate at FCCCF’s May 24th Dim Sum and ROM Tour; or,

4) mail a cheque to FCCCF, P.O. Box 808, Station F, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2N7

Good blog Site for Those Waiting or Who've Already Adopted Internationally

I stumbled upon this great blog last night during an "insomnia night"...

It had lots of good info and comments. I've added the link under "links of interest", but will post it here also...
http://adoption-options.org/blog/?p=12

One of the topics was "How To Cope With the Wait", which I found particularly interesting (and should definitely be doing more of the things that were recommended!!!)

Hope you take a look and enjoy!!!

Updates re: earthquate in China

On May 12th/08: A magnitued 7.4 or 7.6 or 7.8 (preliminary numbers at this point, but still big, no matter what) quake hit China last night, in Sichuan province. News reports say that there is no serious damage in the provincial capital of Chengdu.

They are reporting that cellular service has been disrupted. Knowing how communication channels work in China, I’m betting the land phones and internet are probably spotty as well. Which means that if you’ve got a friend or loved one there and you haven’t heard from them and can’t reach them, that is probably why.

The news reports say the quake struck 93 kilometers from Chengdu, which is around 58 miles, so anyone there likely got quite a ride from it.

Other news reports say that the Chengdu airport is closed, and flights are being rerouted to the Chongqing airport.

While there are reports of it being felt pretty strongly as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, so far I’ve only seen reports of damage in the Sichuan province and Chongqing municipality.

**Info on Orphanges and Provinces available on China Adopt Talk website.


As of May 13th, neither the MoCA nor HTS have been able to reach the orphanages in the most affected areas: Mianyang, Zitong, Deyang and Aba. They report that each of those four institutions house about 100 children.

Jenny Bowen at Half the Sky notes that help for children may well be needed outside welfare institutions, and they have been given assurance by the MoCA that they will be able to deliver aid where it is most desperately needed. They intend to help provide temporary and long term care to the children affected, including emergency shelter, food, and medical care for children orphaned or separated from their families.

For those who are looking to contribute to current aid efforts underway, you can now donate money to the Red Cross Society of China which has formed a disaster relief working group to be dispatched to the earthquake-stricken Wenchuan County in Sichuan.
Online donations: Red Cross Society of China website: www.redcross.org.cn


Half the Sky announced that Ford is matching funds that are donated through Global Giving, so if you wish to donate to HTS’s earthquake fund then please use this link to do so:
http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2100/proj2086a.html

Half the Sky has set up an Earthquake Fund, if you’d like to help them then go to their website: http://www.halfthesky.org/

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to the Roy Family and the Doucettes of Moncton, New Brunswick!!!

They are the proud parents of two beautiful, healthy daughters born in Guangdong Province. They finally met their sweet daughters yesterday and all is going well.

We're so happy for them!!! (And we can't wait for our turn. We see the light at the end of the tunnell!!!)

And Their Off!!!

Moncton family, Bryan and Angela Doucette are off to China today!! They will finally meet their daughter, Ella in 4 days!!! We're so excited for them!!
Have a good trip guys!!
Cheryl and Mike

Baby Bug Shoe Design Shop!!

You have got to check out this website, the shoes she makes are sooo adorable!!

BabyBugShoeDesigns.etsy.com

Referrals have Arrived!!!

Referrals up to Jan 12th have started arriving!! Yeah!!!
Congrats to everyone who was included in this batch of referrals!!

A Poem From Maelin's Auntie.....

"I found this poem. It was originally by Author: Teri Harrison. I changed a few things in it.I didn't have anything witty to add to your blog, but I thought this poem was nice. To Maelin .Love Aunt Carrie"

Longing for a child to love,

I'd wish upon the stars above.
In my heart I always knew,
a part of me was meant for you.

I think how happy we will be,
once I adopt you and you adopt me.

I dream of all the joy you'll bring,
imagining even the littlest things.
The way it will feel to hold you tight,
and tuck you in every night.

The drawings on the refrigerator door,
childhood toys across the floor.
The favorite stories read again and again,
hours of games with make-believe friends.

The day you take my outstretched hand,
a journey ends, but our lives begin.
Mesmerized by your sweet face,
and warmed inside by our first embrace.

I promise to give you a happy home,
a loving family all your own.
A house you will make complete,
with laughter, smiles and tiny feet.

A parent is one who guides the way,
know I will be there everyday.
Rest easy as each night you sleep,
a lifetime of love is yours to keep.

It's so strange that even without saying anything, or having to explain anything ~ without a doubt,...a Sister knows, and understands.
There's something very special to be said about the connection between two Sisters...
I hope someday, Maelin will have one too! Love you Carrie, XOXXX

Moncton Couple Are Counting Down the Days!!!

Only 13 days left until Bryan and Angela will finally hold their daughter, Ella for the first time ever!!!
We are so excited for you guys!!! After waiting so long, it must all seem like a dream!!!
We can't wait to see her when you get home,
Best Wishes from Mike and Cheryl

Congrats to everyone who is out of the Review Room!!!

This is exciting news for everyone who has been logged in for 2006!!! (and 2007~ they're going to be on their way to the review room next!!)

I was looking at the graphics of the "review times" on Rumour Queen, and couldn't help but notice that March was the longest....and (surprise, suprise) ~ that is our Log In month!! I can't help but wonder how long it will take for CCAA to get all of those referrals out??? Anyone dare to guess??

(Above shows a copy of the table...)

Something In the Air Again??

"The soonest I’d expect to see them this month is Tuesday, April 29 and the latest is Friday, May 9. The most likely arrival based on the average would be Monday, May 5."(from Rumour Queen's webpage)

Looking for Some Suggestions...

We have been starting to compile a list of food items that we can take when we travel to China (for us and Maelin as well)~ a bit premature, but we like to feel like we're getting ready for our trip!...We are hoping someone may give us more ideas for some comfort foods....

Our list so far:
(For us)List of food to take to China:


Dried oatmeal cereal
Peanut butter
Packaged soups (Mr.noodles)
Protein bars
Powered Gatorade (haven’t seen yet)
Crackers
Anything you just have to add hot water to IE:easy mac,some soups
Bottled water for plane.


For Maelin: (We didn't include the obvious things, like formula and cereal that we will be taking...just wondering about things that she may like that we didn't think of~ first time parents' syndrome!!)

Cheerios
Mums
?poptarts (not the most healthy thing, but if in a pinch and she isn't eating well??)

"The Waiting Child's Lullabye"

I hold you in my heart and touch you in my dreams.
You are here each day with me, at least that's how it seems.

I know you wonder where we are... what's taking us so long.
But remember child, I love you so and God will keep you strong.

Now go outside and feel the breeze and let it touch your skin...
Because tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God hold you in His hand until I can be with you.
I promise you, my darling, I'm doing all that I can do.

Very soon, you'll have a family for real, not just pretend.
But for tonight, just as always, I blow you kisses in the wind.

May God wrap you in His arms and hold you very tight.
And let the angels bring the kisses that I send to you each night.

No New Rumours On RQ....

Well, all is quiet on Rumour Queens' site, nothing new "buzzing around"...In the meantime, the temperatures are warming up here in Moncton, and we see a few plants starting in the yard ~ so we'll be busy starting to clean out the flower beds soon!!
And working some more on our packing list. We've got alot of our things for our trip, but I'm thinking some things may expire before we actually go to China, so we may be purchasing them again...we'll have to keep an eye out for expiry dates!!!

This is so Sweet, I love it!!!

Maelin received a gift last night from Ella's parents, who are travelling very soon to China where they will finally hold their daughter for the first time!!!

I thought this was so sweet, I had to put it on here!!! (Thanks again Bryan and Angela.)

More Referrals Released!!!

We received the following message from our facilitator today!!! Things are moving ahead!! So, this means CCAA has done 5 days worth of referrals so far for the month of April. I'm not sure if anymore will come this month, but it's progress!!


"Hello everyone,

Referrals of children have been released by the China Center of Adoption Affairs to families with a registration date of January 5, 2006, to January 9, 2006.

When I have any information about the next batch of referrals to be released by CCAA, I will be in touch."



Congratulations to all the families who will see their child's photo for the first time in the next few days!!!

Interesting Info re: Matching Babies with Families...

I have heard different things regarding how the CCAA chooses a family for each child, but had not realized how many factors come into play when they are doing so...I found this very interesting:


"First, they review the baby dossiers and make sure there are no issues with them. We are told that they then count up all of the baby dossiers that are eligible for matching that month and then look to see how far this stack will go in the parent dossiers without sending out a partial day, and they pull all of those parent 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. Or at least it is when they used to start getting information.

And then they start matching individual babies to individual families. At some point during this part of the process most agencies used to 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 shared this information with their clients. Some chose not to. Recently I’ve gotten the feeling that many agencies are still getting this information but they are being given orders by the CCAA to not share this information with the families.

Just as in the review room, each matcher is assigned certain agencies and is responsible for communicating with their agencies. Some matchers tell their agency the cut-off date, some matchers tell their agency “you have X number of referrals arriving”, some matchers give their agency a list of that agency’s families that will be receiving a referral. And some matchers don’t say anything at all to their agencies.

The next question that comes up is generally how the matchers match families and babies. I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders. And I have to say that they’ve done a wonderful job matching us and our Big Girl, and now I trust they will do an excellent job matching us with her little sister."

Rumour Queen is Saying..."Something is in the Air!!""

April 2nd, 2008

"A few people have been notified by their agency that something is in the air.

Not enough agencies reporting it yet to give us an idea of cut off from that information just yet."

And on Rumor Queens' Rumor Front....

We still don't see March 15th (or March at all!) on her expected referral times table...but "rumor has it" that referrals for Jan 10th up to the 13th will be arriving in early April!!! That's awesome news! This will be a very exciting time for those who are logged in for January!!

Renos...good idea or bad idea??

We've decided to update the ceramic backsplash in our main bathroom and started to tear it out yesterday....
We quickly decided,that maybe it wasn't such a great idea afterall!!!
All I can say is, that god for aircompressors....and shopvacs!!
We were able to get the tile off, but the existing gyprock will definitely need to come down now too ~ a bit bigger of a project than we thought!!

Rough Estimate/Calculation Attempts!!

After some confusing calculations (based on when our file was logged in to CCAA, and the current rate of referrals per month...), we've estimated that our referral will most likely arrive in December of this year.

Of course, that could easily change if referrals come quicker or slow down...We are hoping they will speed up!!!(LOL)

In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy all of the excitement of others receiving their referrals and preparing to travel...and hope that we get some advice from others on how to survive the wait!!!

Cheryl and Mike

Two Great Reads....

A Passage To The Heart

This book was written by several families who have already adopted from China. The book covers several topics ...
(Amy Klatzkin)


Lost Daughters of China

This book focuses on why China's girls are abandoned, and what the mothers and families go through following ...
(Karin Evans)

You Know You Are An Adoptive Parent When.....

I wanted to post this because so many of the comments made in it are how Mike and I are feeling during our wait for Maelin:


You know You're An Adoptive Parent When....

You have been 'pregnant' with your adoptive child longer than it takes an elephant to give birth. (2 years +!)

The fact that there are 143 million children without a parent to kiss them goodnight has made you lose sleep.

You realize DNA has nothing to do with love and family.

You can't watch Adoption Stories on TLC without sobbing.

The fact that, if 7% of Christians adopted 1 child, there would be no orphans in the world, is convicting to you.

You spend free time surfing blogs about families who have experienced the blessing of adoption.

It drives you crazy when people ask you about adopted child's 'real' parents. (or when they refer to my bio children as my "real kids")



You had no idea how you would afford to adopt but stepped out in faith anyway, knowing where God calls you He will provide.

You have never taken an airplane ride half-way around the world with a child you've just met.

You believe God's heart is for adoption.

You realize that welcoming a child into your heart and family is one of the most important legacies you could ever leave on this earth.

You know what the word 'Dossier' means, and you can actually pronounce it!

You have welcomed a social worker into the most private parts of your life and answered too many private and personal questions to list! (It absolutely amazes me the things a social worker needs to know!)

You shudder when people say your child is so lucky that you adopted them, knowing full well you are the blessed one to have him or her in your life. (Our child will not be lucky. There is nothing "lucky" about being abandoned and then given to a family and taken to live on the other side of the world. We will all be blessed to have each other. )-

For Those just beginning down the road to Adopting from China, or those who have already been there:

My Brother In Law just forwarded and excellent website to us, it has a step by step breakdown of the different stages that families will go through during the process to adopt from China. It describes the steps right from gathering paperwork, to what will need to be done once your referral arrives.

It also has various other links from it as well.

We found it very interesting and had not seen this site before, therefor I am adding it here, with the hopes that it may be useful to others as well. Enjoy!!

http://www.chinainitiative.org/adopting.html

Congratulations to The Mahoneys!!

Congratulations to the Mahoneys of Saint John, N.B.
They arrived home from China on Friday night with their beautiful daughter, Maeghan.
Best Wishes to this new family!!!

What will Happen with Adoptions During The Upcoming Olympics:

The following rumour was also taken from Adopt Talk/Rumour Queen:

March 21st, 2008
"There still seems to be no clear agreement on what is going to happen with the adoption process during the Olympics.

Many agencies say nothing will stop, that referrals and travel will continue as long as you won’t need to go to Beijing. Many say that referrals will continue as normal but travel will not happen during the Olympics. Some say that everything will stop for a few weeks, both matching and travel. And some say that it is still not clear what will happen.

I agree with the final group, by the way.

Travel within Beijing will be severely restricted during the Olympics and it isn’t clear to me that the CCAA employees will even be able to get to their office. Bus routes will be diverted to take people to and from venues, and the use of personal cars will be restricted.

As for parents being able to travel, the theory goes that as long as you stay away from Beijing you’ll be okay, but in reality there are going to be events all over China. The equestrian events will be held in Hong Kong, which is just over the border from Guangzhou, where all Americans have to pass through. Many families fly into and out of Hong Kong, but the prices are going to be outrageous during the Olympics since there are Olympics events happening there. If there are even any seats left open by then.

I guess what I’m saying is that at this point in time I don’t believe it is clear how thing are gong to work. There are many agencies saying “The CCAA says”, but too many of them say something different. Which means that in reality they are saying “our contact at the CCAA says”. And since the various contacts at the CCAA seem to be saying something different, my guess is that the CCAA hasn’t officially decided anything yet, either."

It appears that there is still no clear answere as to whether or not families will be travelling to China to finalize their adoptions during the Olympics or not....

More Referrals to Arrive during the First Few Days Of April??? (Keep your fingers crossed...)

March 17th, 2008 (originally posted on Adopt Talk/Rumour Queen):

The last 12 referral batches arrived at 32, 25, 35, 30, 28, 32, 29, 31, 33, 26, 32, and 31 days.

The lowest time between batches is 25 days, the highest is 35, and the average is 30. However, 31 days shows up twice and 32 days shows up three times.

With all of that in mind: The soonest I’d expect to see them this month is Friday, March 28 and the latest is Monday, April 7. The most likely arrival based on the average would be Wednesday, April 2, 2008. However, taking into account that 31 and 32 show up more often, it’s also likely we’ll see them on Thursday, April 3 or Friday, April 4.

My best guess is that we’ll see rumors begin by the middle or end of next week and referrals will arrive by the middle or end of the week after that - the first few days of April.

For All Adoptive Parents, who are Waiting for "the call":

Daydreaming
I stepped into her room today
Knowing she’s not there
This waiting for referral
Is more than one can bear

But taking in the moment
I sit down on the floor
And dream of her here with me
When waiting is no more.

A little giggle fills the air
As I rub her feet
I place my hand upon her heart
To feel its every beat.

A song is sung so very soft
Her eyes begin to close
She’s meeting me in dream land
A place where love still grows.

My vision now is very blurred
The tears stream down my cheeks
I’ve dreamed of her quite often
Throughout these past few weeks.

Suddenly a sound is heard
The phone rings in the hall
Waking up I quickly pray
Please let it be “The Call”.

Anniversary!!!

Just Hanging Out...