Nov. 7th makes 20 months of waiting

88 LID's to Fill.....

So here we are.....Nov. 3rd 2007.

It looks like November referrals are through Dec. 8th 2005. We were hoping they would get a little further, but that does not seem to be the case. November 05 was a huge month for dossiers and it took about 6 months to fill referrals for Nov. 05. That is a lot of babies meeting their forever families! We were hoping things might speed up after such a huge month, but alas they only filled 8 days and we were hoping for more.

So where does that leave us? STILL WAITING!!!! But we have much to be thankful for:

1) Our friends are in China as we speak meeting their little girl! We have been following along on their journey and that has given us renewed hope that it will be our turn, the question is when?

2) Rumor has it that the next huge month for dossiers is March 06 (yes, that's us 03/07/06). They are projecting that it will take many months to fill referrals for March and so for us to be at the beginning of the month is a blessing. I can't imagine finally making it to March and having to wait another 5 - 6 months for them to get to my date!

3) The holidays are fast approaching and while it is a difficult time for Rusty and I, we are so blessed to have wonderful family and friends to spend the holidays with. We truly could not go through this experience without their support!

So that's the in's and out's of what's happening with us. A few months ago, I bought a pair of silver earrings with the Chinese symbol for "believe" on them. Every morning I put them on and remind myself of the wonderful reward at the end of this very long journey. It is the love for a little girl that gives us hope and keeps us optimistic about our future!

18 months and counting....

101 LID's TO FILL

Here we are....18 months! Currently, the wait time is 18-24 months. It seems we have finally reached a point where our referral is definately on the way. So far the CCAA has filled referrals through November 25th, 2005. Our LID is March 7, 2006, so....that leaves 101 LID's to fill. We were really hoping we would get a referral this year, but now realize that probably will not happen and so we are looking towards early spring. Of course, if we have learned anything during this journey it is that there are no guarantees. It is still very much "wait and see".

In the meantime, we are just waiting and working. We were gone to the lake for a few days during Labor Day weekend. It was great to get away and relax and the weather couldn't have been better! Miss Emma even got a present - a new ladybug blankie that is so cute her mommy wants one too.

My new job is going great and we are really enjoying have my parents around. We are busy checking things off our adoption list including shots, classes, and reading up on how to be excellent parents (is that something you learn from books??) Actually, I think you learn by example and we have some excellent role models including Rusty's grandparents who celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary this past week. Pretty Amazing!! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to support us through this journey. We could not do it without them!
I will try to update the blog each month and we move a little closer to our LID. Come on CCAA, we are ready to meet our Emma!!!!

Happy 4th!!!!

So....it has been forever and a day since we updated. While it seems sad that we can't get things posted on a regular basis, in our defense, these past two months have been a little crazy around here. But, that seems to be life at our house, NEVER A DULL MOMENT!! I can not even begin to imagine life with Emma (how will we ever keep up???)

Let see if I can get you up to date. We went home a couple of times in May (Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekend). It always nice to go back home and hang out for a few days. We had little Michael's 1st B-day! He turned 1 year old on June 7th! I can't believe how fast this last year has flown by. It seems like yesterday when we welcomed him into our family and now he is on the move and so much fun! It is strange how fast time flies yet when the topic turns to Emma, we complain how long it seems to be taking. I know her and Michael will be fast friends and I am so excited to see the two of them together!

Okay - so Russman started complaining about his arm hurting again. As many of you reading this already know - he broke his collar bone almost 10 years ago, had surgery in 2003, and guess what - he goes to the doctor again in May and we find out the surgery did not work and his arm is still broken! I really think his dr. was shocked when he saw the x-ray. Rusty's body pretty much rejected everything they did and all the hardware had worked it way loose. So, on May 30th, he had surgery a 2nd time. This time around, they took a 5" piece of a fibula and attached what little bone he had left to it. Rusty is not the best patient, but I have been so impressed with him. He really has pulled through like a trooper and is now starting some phy. therapy to try and get it back to normal. He is working hard at getting well, we keep saying that he has a baby on the way and needs to get lots of "holding time" in and needs that arm to work!!

You might think that is plenty to fill up the month of June, but oh no, we are just getting started. My dad decided to take a new job and moved in with us the Sunday after Rusty's surgery. I know he has stewed about this change for many months, but in the end, I think it is a great opportunity for him. My parents are working on moving and should be here for good around the 10th. I am really excited about having them here with us. My mom will not be working, so she will be able to visit her other kiddos as often as she likes. I'm sure she will be wearing out the road traveling back and forth. I know she will be a huge blessing to us when we finally get Emma here. It will be so nice to have them here for a little extra support!!

Of course, our life wouldn't be complete without hosting a little bit of company in June as well. Besides having my Dad here 24/7, we also had Casey, Sarah, and Michael stay for a few days. Kate came through town on her way to Ulysses and we spent a couple of days with her. We are always excited to see our East Coast Cousins!! The Frazee's came to stay for a couple of days to take Jaime to the dr. and pickup Jacob from camp. Now some people would not be able to handle so much company and people coming and going. Some days it does seem that way, but really, my family is so big that when we are all together, it's hard to get any one on one time with people. When they come stay with me, I get a chance to really visit with them and I enjoy that time together! Sometimes it gets a little crowded, but with my mom moving here, it will be one more place for people to stay which will work out great!

I also have taken on a new opportunity and changed jobs this month. I am excited about this endeavor and really feel like I will learn so much in the coming months. I started on the 25th, so it's only been a week now. It's been a little rocky getting started, but I think once I get my bearings and into a new routine, it's going to be a good change for me. I will be going back to school (online classes) this fall and trying to get my act together before my next endeavor (a little girl I am more than anxious to meet)! Which brings me to the purpose of this blog - still waiting for a referral and still dreaming of the day we travel to China and meet our future! July 7th will be 16 months and the current wait time is 18-24 months. Is it taking forever? YES! Are we more then ready? YES! Will she be worth the wait? YES - most definately!!

So there you go - now you know what's going on! If you made it to the end you should definately get a snack - you deserve it!!

HAPPY MAY DAY!!!

Okay, so I am a day late, but finally we have gotten to May! We are so ready for summer and spending time at the lake. We just had two gorgous days this weekend and that definately made us ready for our swimsuits, flip flops, and some summer fun.

So, what is going on with the adoption?? That's easy, not much. We did re-file some paperwork recently and went to be fingerprinted again. As of today, the CCAA has processed all dossiers through Nov. 1 2005. While we are excited to see them make it to November, it is being reported that November is a huge month so we suspect it will take a while to work through and make it to December. Meanwhile, we continue to wait! However, we are surely not alone as there are many, many families being affected by the lengthy wait times. On a bright note, there are definately more families behind us than in front of us. So, very slowly..........but surely we are moving up the list and one of these days, it will finally be our turn.

May is a really busy month, as always! We are headed home next weekend for Mother's Day. Then, the next weekend is my birthday. After that, we will be headed home again Memorial Day weekend for Rusty's 20 year (yes.....I said 20) high school reunion!! A very busy month, but lots of fun things to occupy our time. I think that's the key - stay busy till we get our Miss Emma home!!!

Waiting and waiting.......

Yes....we are still waiting. You would think we are getting pretty good at this, but it is a struggle and we are just trying to get by the best we can. We were not expecting this when we decided to adopt, but we know that when the time is right, we will be meeting our Miss Emma. We did receive a letter from our agency last week, and they are expecting us to receive a referral early November or December. Right now, we are hoping that we can travel to get our little girl home before Christmas. We are beginning to refile some of our paperwork (as it will expire before we travel). Of course, we wish we didn't have to do this, but it is necessary and we know that it brings us a little closer to meeting our baby girl.

So...in the meantime, we have manage to keep pretty busy. We re-decorated one of our bedrooms and it turned out really great! We are very pleased with the results. Next week is Wild Woman's Weekend and that promises to be alot of fun. I am really looking forward to spending time with my family. Rusty will be heading to the lake for deck building, painting, and I'm guessing a
little golf as well.

I guess that's it for now. I will be trying to post each time a batch
of referrals are sent out. We will try to keep everybody up to date
on this wait for Emma Paige!

11 Months and Counting......

Today marks 11 months of waiting. We actually started this whole process in April of 2005, but only 11 months since our log-in date. At this time, we hope to receive a referral later this year (we're hoping for sometime this fall) but as we all know, that is entirely out of our control. So....we continue to wait and wait and then wait some more. In the meantime, we are trying to keep busy. One thing's for sure, Rusty and I agree, Spring cannot get here soon enough!!!

One Room Down, One To Go!!!!

February 1st was an exciting day for us (actually, we didn't find out until about 8:00 pm)! Our dossier for Emma Paige has been officially moved from the review room to the matching room. Basically, this means that all our paperwork has been reviewed and approved for us to adopt. That being said, now we are on to the 2nd stage of waiting for them to match us with our Emma! As you can see, they have filled referrals through October 13th, 2005. Our log-in date is March 7, 2006, so we still have several months to go, but this is a huge step forward and we are very, very excited!!