Ben's New Do (Hairdo)

Ben got his hair cut this week and is looking good!! Got kind of long so he decided to cut it short for summer.

Rumors ....Rumors

The latest rumors state that the CCAA will be issuing a statement in the next week or so. Lots of speculation about what the statement is going to address. Possible quota's, weight limitations, singles program etc. We don't think that the statement is going to directly affect us, unless they issue a statement about wait times. I guess the CCAA could issue across the board quota's, but I would think agencies would know this was coming. The CCAA was in the Unites States in April (I think) and I am pretty sure that this would have been discussed with the big China only agencies at the least!! Anyway not much we can do until they issue their statement. I will post something as soon as we see the official statement.

BBE received

We have received our BBE (Big Brown Envelope), enclosed is our paperwork from China recognizing our official application to adopt from their country:-)

A teeny tiny update

Chris did get a call back from LHAA (living hope). The person who called him back is also in the process of adopting from China, she and her husband are a month ahead of us. Anyway she said the wait is currently 10-12 months, and that the slow down is due in part to newly hired staff at the CCAA and the training they must complete. She said they expect it to be slow for awhile and then pick up. ( that is pretty much what MOST of the rumors circulating are saying, its just the scary ones that grab on to you ). So we are sticking with the possibility of a late December or late March referral. My Dad says that I am lucky and that we will have Sophie before that....I hope he's right :)

Freaking out.....Good thing I am married to Chris!!!

It really is a good thing I am married to Chris ( I wonder if he feels the same about me...hmmmm :) Anyway I "frequent" this adoption rumor site. It is a horrible addiction that I have developed. Most of the current rumors are about wait times. A good number of people who post on this site have been waiting almost 12 months for their referrals. Most started the process thinking it would be a 6 month wait. When we started we were told in was around 6-8 months so an increase to 10-12 months isn't huge. But anyway, recent post keep talking about the wait going to 22 months!!! Are you kidding me!! I freaked out and called Chris at work and begged him to call our agency. At this writing they have not called him back yet. I am sure there are people calling and emailing them every day about the wait. Chris is calm ( as usual...leaves the freaking out to me). He is convinced that we will get our referral late December or March the latest. I hope he is right!!! 22 months is a long time, never mind the paperwork we would have to do over.......ugh!

The adoption paperwork journey

This is the journey of our paperwork for Sophie

1. LHAA submitted our dossier to the CCAA on 3/15/06.
2. Our dossier enters the CCAA administration office and was
logged in (LID) of 3/29/06. Once you have a log in date (LID)
your official wait begins.
3. Your dossier waits to begin the process. This currently takes
3 to 4 months.
4. The CCAA administration office passes your dossiers to Bridge of
Love where they verify your dossier's translation. This process
takes from 2 to 3 months.
5. Your dossier is passed to Department I for review. This process
takes from 1 to 2 months.
6. Your dossier is passed to Department II for matching. This too
can take from 3 to 4 months. Your dossier is matched several weeks
before step #7.
7. Your referral is sent to the administrative office to be signed
by all the CCAA directors and mailed to LHAA ( our agency).
This can take several weeks
8. You receive your referral - a very happy day! You return your
acceptance of referral letter to the CCAA.
9. The CCAA sends your travel approval to come to China to complete
your adoption. This process takes about 1 month.
10. You travel to China to meet your child and complete the adoption.
This is approximately 6-8 weeks after referral.

The current wait from LID to referral is 10 to 12 months as of 4/2006.

Click Here, Watch, Very Funny and Cute!!

Hannah and her Buddy Kerry

Happy Mother's Day everyone! Today we had the crew over and Maryellen made a delicious brunch for everyone. Hopefully next Mother's Day we'll have Sophie her to enjoy some of the great food. The pic above is from Hannah's dance recital yesterday and Hannah is on the left and her friend Kerry is on the right. Hannah is clogging and seems to really enjoy it. Clogging is a NC dance which is similar to Irish dancing with more upper body movement, very cool. Maybe she will teach Sophie how to Clog??

Nothing New...just running around like crazy !!!

No news about our adoption ( I am afraid that most of our posts for the next 8 months are going to start this way). We, ok Chris, added a link to a very cool slide show of China. Be sure to check it out. I am working on putting something together about the process that we are going through to bring Sophie to NC. Lots of people have asked us questions about why ( something we have always wanted to do and this just happens to be the right time for our family to grow). Hopefully we can post something next Sunday.

This weekend was busy busy busy :) Ben had a lacrosse playday at Duke (no jokes) and thankfully it rained on Sunday so practice was cancelled, but then Ben remembered that he had drama practice! So right now ( all by his choice might we add) Ben is involved in lacrosse, drama club at school and baseball!! Thankfully lacrosse is winding down and the school production (of which Ben has a leading role )will be at the end of May. Hannah's clogging recital is next weekend and then that is finished for the year. Yipee!!! We can't wait for June :) Only about 5 weeks left of school and then its to the pool for the summer :)

I heard from my dad, actually even got to see him on the webcam this weekend. It is nice to see and hear him....the wonders of technology!!! He looks and sounds happy :) He is planning on meeting us in China, we are all excited about that! I am pretty sure he will be home before we get to go.

Word Cloud