GREAT News for Singles Wanting to Adopt from China!!!

I have just learned that CCAA has made a change that will once again open the door for single women to adopt from China!! This is wonderful news for so many great Moms or, those who long to be a Mom for the first time!!

The change does come with some restrictions but still there will be many wonderful children who will now be welcomed into a home by women who are called to adopt them. Adoptions will be of 'Special Focus' children which are children who have been on the shared waiting child list for more than 2 months. Generally they are older (pre-school- and school-aged) or any age (infant through school-aged) who have an identified special need.

I don't have any more information other that what is in the links above.

I'm guessing many of you may ask what this means for Hannah and I? At this time, unless God lays it on my heart, Hannah and I will be staying a wonderful family of 2! I do not feel led to persue another adoption and am happy to pour my heart and soul into the one little girl that God has blessed me with!! We are so very, very happy together and my heart is very content to remain the dynamic duo that we are!

For those who this announcement opens new doors and opportunities....Congratulations! I cannot wait to hear from those who may now be led to adopt for the first time or to continue to build the family they already have!

A Wonderful Trip Down Memory Lane

This evening I was working on pics to send to China with our 6 month follow-up report. I love this combination of pictures and each one brings back such wonderful memories that I thought I'd share them with you too. I don't believe any of them are new to the blog but there's just something special about seeing them all together.

November 21, 2009. Home one week and a couple of pics from an amazing photo shoot a friend did for us. Hmmmm...don't think I ever did that post. Will need to work on that one.

December 15, 2009
January 6, 2010
January 28, 2010
February 13, 2010
February 15, 2010
February 27, 2010 - Hannah's 1st Birthday!!

March 31, 2010
April 19, 2010

May 1, 2010
May 2, 2010

I will forever be grateful that God brought us together when Hannah was only 8 months old! Precious, precious memories! Oh how my little lamb has grown!!

Another Speed Bump!!

Silly me!! When people have been asking about when I anticipate receiving Hannah's referral I've actually been narrowing it down to a month or two. My current answer has been, 'Probably July but possibly June.'

Now, not so much!! Just when I was oh soclose Swine Flu has reared it's ugly head and thrown the world of International Adoption (and many other situations) into a state of unrest. Yes, it appears that CCAA is going to hold referrals for a period of 20-30 days and then re-evaluate the situation.

Can I blame them? No, not one single bit. They lost many precious people to SARS and now I completely understand them wanting to be careful with this newest problem.

When SARS stopped referrals and travel in 2003, CCAA still worked and when they were open to travel again worked very hard to make up for lost time by sending out double batches of referrals. Oh how I hope that happens again this time!

So, I have no answers nor does anybody else. What I do know is that I hopped on this stroller coaster a long time ago and am still on the ride of my life! Oh the stories I'll have to share with Hannah when she gets older! Sure hope she likes roller coasters! I've learned to love them over the past 4 years!!

My heart goes out to Lisa, T and Pug Mama who are all holding pictures of their precious little ones and now don't know when they'll receive their travel approval and green light to go to China. As hard as this added speed bump might be to me, I cannot begin to imagine how hard it must be for those who know who their child is. Hugs and prayers for you dear friends.

2 Big Days of Referrals!!

This month CCAA matched 2 days of files. It may not sound like a lot but I'm thrilled!! It wasn't that long ago that I dared to voice to a few friends that I believed it might take CCAA 2 months to get through March 7th purely because of the large number of files logged in that day. Not only did the match all of March 7th this month but they did the 8th too! And, to top it off some families with a LID of March 9th even received their referrals! Not all of March 9th, but some...and we'll take it! In the past CCAA has not matched partial days so not sure what this is all about but I do know that some wonderful little babies will be coming home to their families sooner than we originally thought! Perfect!!

2 days closer (as I'm choosing not to include the March 9th date in my calculations as it wasn't a complete day) and now there are only 15....count 'em f-i-f-t-e-e-n days between where CCAA is currently matching and when they get to my file! That's 10 fingers and 5 toes....and I'll take it!!

Add to this 3 wonderful bloggy friends receiving their referrals and it's been a GREAT weekend of happy family news!

Congratulations to Lisa and her adorable little Tate!


Simply T with cute as a button, smiley Emerson Grace!


and Pug Mama's beautiful, ready to roll baby girl!!


I've had the pleasure of meeting all these Mamma's in real life and I couldn't be more thrilled for them!!

CONGRATULATIONS FRIENDS!!!!!!

4 Days of Referrals!

This month CCAA matched 4 days of files ~ those logged in from March 3 through March 6, 2006. This means 4 little beads crossed over from the 'LID's to be Matched' jar into the 'Referrals Received' jar. It's not many but it was expected as March 7th is a LID that has a lot of people logged in so it could take an entire month just to process those families who were logged in on that date. The excitement of the batch following this one is that there are two good friends, Lisa and Sea Star, who will receive their referral when March 7th is matched and hopefully Pug Mama with a LID of March 8th, will be in too!

There are now only 17 little beads in the jar and guess what? I can see the bottom of the jar as there are no longer enough beads to cover it! Wheee!!!

Closer and closer every month when CC*AA sends out their files! Currenly believe I will receive Hannah's referral in June or July with travel in August or September. Next month's referrals will tell us a lot when we see what they do with the large LID, March 7th. Another question that lingers in my head is 'when' will the next batch be sent out? Technically these files left China in February so the big question is, will there be another March batch? Oh how I hope so!!!

Can I hibernate until the next referral batch arrives?? Pleeease?

CCAA Update -> Moving Right Along!

Oh baby.... check out those 5 beads marching from the left to the right! Only 23 beads remain in the jar on the left! Can-hardly-stand-it!

Knowing that the next batch of referrals is going to begin working through the Marching Pandas, the excitement in our group is palpable!!

Marching Panda's....we're up!!! Wheee!!!!!!

New Referrals = Guess What?!!!

Pssst...wanna hear something really, really cool?!! CC*AA sent out 6 days of referrals and they matched up to and including February 23, 2006. Do you know what that means? It means the very next time the 23rd of a month is reached I WILL BE RECEIVING HANNAH'S REFERRAL!! Yes....the final month of LIDs countdown has begun! Wheeee!!!

There are now only 28 little glass beads in the jar on the left and most of them are in the jar on the right!! There is light at the end of the tunnel and it's slowly getting brighter. No need to shade my eyes or put on sunglasses just yet but at least I can see the light.

Based on an average of 5.8 LIDs covered per month I'm still tracking for a May referral with July travel. It may slow down a bit since there are a lot of people logged in in March but that's ok, Hannah is getting closer and that's all that matters!

Congrats to Ozimum who will be seeing her sweet baby's face next week and to wonderful PIPO who will see her baby girl's face (or, that adorable little 4yo Asian son who speaks Italian that she's been dreaming about) next for sure!! So happy to be celebrating with you friends!

6 days closer and so very thakful! Praising God for the way He continues to bring Hannah together and all that He is teaching me during this process.

2 September Referral Batches!

We were plesantly surprised this week when CCAA sent out a 2nd batch of referrals during the month of September! The first referral batch arrived on September 2nd and the second one on September 29th! Yay!! If this is what the Olympics does then I'd say bring them on again!

This last batch they matched 6 more days of LIDs which now takes us to files that were logged in up to and including February 15, 2006. 6 more glass pebbles made their way from the jar on the left to the one on the right! That means there are now only 36 LID's to be matched and then I will see sweet Hannah's face!! If things remain as they have been for a long time now, with an average of 6 LID's per month of referrals I'm currently guesstimating an April referral! A-P-R-I-L!! Yes, if you've been following my guesstimations for a while you'll notice that the date is moving closer rather than further away. Too cool!!

I cannot begin to tell you what this kind of news does for my heart!! I can acaually allow myself to begin thinking of Hannah's nursery and how I want to decorate it. I have a few bits and pieces of things that will go in it but don't have a real plan for decorating. Guess I'd better start looking around more seriously so that I can formulate a plan.

Does anybody have any suggestions of good places to look online to see nursery ideas? So far the pieces I have are a carpet,

picture and

ceiling fan. (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the picture and ceiling fan!)

Cannot believe I'm finally looking into starting Hannah's nursery! Wheee!!! What fun winter it's going to be!

Wheee!! Count 'em...9!!!

Yes!!! CC*AA matched 9 days worth of files this month! When I read it I literally began shaking! 5 of those days were part of Chinese New Year when little/no files were logged in but that's just fine with me. There are still 9 less LID's to cover before I'll see sweet Hannah's face!

9 days is the most LID's that have been covered in one batch in the past 18 months and this batch was also received only 22 days after the August batch which is the shortest amount of time between batches since I started keeping track over 2.5 years ago! Check out all those glass beads moving from the left jar to the right!

See...lots and lots to be excited about! Want to hear just one more thing that makes me smile today? Adding this batch to my stats and averaging it out currently brings my referral guesstimation back to April with travel in June. Yippee...we're getting closer rather than further away.

There are now only 42 more days to be matched before it's my turn for Hannah's referral. The bottom of my countdown jar is still covered with glass stones but it won't be for long.

Check it out...the right jar definitely has more than the left...yippee!!

5 Days Closer!!

This month CC*AA matched 5 days worth of LID's which means I'm 5 days closer to Hannah!! Any month that we match 5 days or more means that my calculations of a referral date stay the same or get closer and I'm one happy gal!! This keeps my current guesstimation as a May 2009 referral with travel in July. Wahoo!!

I know that 5 days is not a lot but given the fact that a year ago there was talk that the CC*AA might be closed for up to 4 months due to the upcoming Ol*ympics, I'm thrilled that they're still offering referrals at all!

I have dear friends who missed the cutoff by just 2 days and my heart hurts for them but am so happy to know that next month is their month! Looking forward to celebrating Alyzabeth An's referral with you Alyson and Ford!

5 days closer to Hannah friends and happy to be sharing that news with you!

PS - You may notice the addition of a cute little candy stick topped with a ladybug in the pic above. (Yah...it's not there now!) It was a fun little gift from one of my coworkers. It's so neat to be encouraged by so many of you and I am thankful for each and every one of you! Those I know if real life and those who are bloggy friends, each play an important part in my journey to Hannah. I'm so glad you're sharing the ride with me and your love, encouragement and prayers mean more than you'll ever know!! Thank you!

8 Days Closer and Very Happy!

This month CCAA matched 8 days worth of files - January 13 to 20, 2006. That's an 8 day batch... WAHOO!! What does this mean? This means that there are now just 61 days of files in front of mine and if CCAA continues to match files at a similar rate to what they have lately, I will see my precious Hannah's face just in time for Mother's Day next year!! Wheee!! What a amazing Mother's Day that will be!

A number of months back I took 2 glass jars and filled one with glass beads to represent the number of LID's in front of me. At that time all the beads were in the jar on the left. Today I moved 8 more beads to the jar on the right and now I think there are more beads in the right jar than the left! Every month closer!!

Things can change and they often do but, this month they changed for the better and I'm celebrating!! Rather than her referral date moving further away, today I moved one whole month closer to my baby girl!

You know what else is REALLY, REALLY exciting?? Today I found myself responding to people's 'how much longer' questions with 'probably around Mother's Day next year' rather than 'probably one more year.' YES!!! I finally believe I'm within a year of Hannah's referral!! Praise God...He is always faithful!!

Many Reasons to Celebrate!!

As anticipated, this week's referrals included families whose files were logged in with the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CC*AA) in 2006!! Let's hear it for 2006!

I'm also here to mark another HUGE milestone in the adoption of Hannah! Those who have been here any length of time know that I love to play with the numbers and averages. Today, for the VERY FIRST TIME since my file was logged with CC*AA 23 1/2 months ago, I am able to move my guesstimation date CLOSER rather than push it further away!!!! Do I hear a big Yippee?!!!!

For the last year or so I have chosen to calculate my referral guesstimation based on the previous 12 months of referrals. (Referral stats for the past 2 years are available in my sidebar under 'Tracking Referrals'. Feel free to use this chart any time you wish.) With the most current batch covering 8 days, I was able to move my guesstimation back from July 2009 to April 2009! Yes folks, that's 3 whole months!! Could it move further away in the future? It could for sure, but for today...I'm celebrating!!

Please know that I've been 'knocked back' so many times that I tend to calculate based on conservative numbers so my dates may not be the same as yours. That's fine. I'm really hoping that I'm wrong and that my date moves even closer next month. The second month after the Chinese New Year holiday has historically been on the smaller side when it comes to referral numbers so for myself, next month will be a tell-tale month as to which direction things are going to move.

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone but I'm still holding onto the belief that I could have my referral before Christmas of this year and travel to meet my precious baby girl early in 2009! Can you imagine what a Christmas that would be having Hannah's picture in my hands and knowing I was only days away from holding my sweet baby girl in my arms???!!!!!

Yes, the excitement in the China adoption world is almost palpable these days!! We're up! We're excited and we're encouraged beyond explanation!

Welcome 2006! You were a long time getting here but we're sure glad you've made it!!!

Accepting the Current Reality

This week the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CC*AA) once again sent out referrals to families that have been waiting a long, long time to see their precious baby's face. Congratulations to all those who received their referrals!

This batch of referrals covered 6 days (files logged December 9-14, 2005) which makes it 9 months in a row that referrals have been in the single digits. I decided that I needed to do what is best for me in preparing my heart for Hannah's referral and totally recalculate my 'guesstimation' date based on only the past 9 months and not the months prior to that when the CC*AA referred larger numbers. It was not an easy thing to do but I was finding that each of the previous months when I would recalculate using the larger numbers plus the current smaller ones, my heart would sink as my guesstimation date got further and further away. In turn, it was a tough couple of days each month as my heart adjusted to Hannah seemingly being further away rather than closer.

Using the new calculation I have decided to base my referral thoughts on 5.7 days of referrals per month. I am not asking you to do this; it's just what I need to do for myself. Because of this my current estimation of a referral would be May of 2009 with travel to meet her anticipated as July 2009. Yes it's a long, long way away but I have no doubt that she will be with every moment of the wait and that as always, God's timing will be perfect.

As I updated my sidebar tonight with these difficult new dates there was a silver lining faintly glistening. You know me...I may have to look hard to find it but I'll find the silver lining in most situations. Tonight it was a treat to change the number of LID's before me from triple digits into double digits. There are now 99 days of files to be matched before I receive Hannah's referral. Double digits...I'm into double digits! Considering at the time my file was logged in there were 303 days of files in front of me, 99 is a good thing!

Do I wish things were different? Oh man do I! I've already shed my share of tears thinking of sharing this Christmas and next without my daughter. But, I also know that God is in control and He gives a peace that I cannot explain...it's just there.

'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.' Philippians 4: 6,7

I don't know the reasons...but God does.
I don't know when...but God does.
I don't know how long...but God does

And I continue to trust and lean on Him.

8 Days Closer to Hannah!!!

Yeah!! The bottom line of this picture reads DECEMBER! Not October. Not November. But D-E-C-E-M-B-E-R! It took 9 long months to get through October and November so my heart did a little flip-flop last night when I read that the referrals this month were into December. As much as I knew they were, seeing it in print on the CCAA website made it all the more real!

Another reason to celebrate is that this month they covered 8 days of LIDs! Can I hear another 'Wahoo?' That's more than were covered the past 7 months of referrals so once again I'm a happy girl! Given the fact that CCAA also had a well deserved week of holidays in there I'm extra excited. It may not be a 'speed up' but at least we're not slowing down. (I just did a quick calculation and there are 105 LID's between December 9, 2005 and March 23, 2006 - my LID. In the past year CCAA has matched exactly 105 LID's in the past 12 months of referral batches. If they continue as they have been, I could be seeing Hannah's face 1 year from now!! I lost sleep last night thinking of Jenny's upcoming referral. Whatever am I going to do when it's my turn?? Any volunteers to sit up with the crazy, excited woman the night before her referral call?)

By now you're getting to know me. If you come here you're going to find (most times) that I'm all about celebrating the good things in life. God has a plan for Hannah and I and each month He is revealing a little more of it. When will we meet? I don't know but God does and that's all that matters. He is leading each step of my life and orchestrating the perfect moment that my baby girl will be placed in my arms. Trusting Him. Believing Him and Loving Him through it all.

If you would like or more reason to celebrate today, keep an eye on Jenny's site as she will receive her referral for Abby today or tomorrow! Congratulations Jenny!!!

~~~~~~~

On a much different more challenging and heart breaking note, please pray for Jud and his family today. I learned of Jud's story earlier this summer and have been praying for them since then. Sweet Jud is a 2 1/2yo who was full of fun, love, excitement and laughter. In May of this year, Jud was diagnosed with Krabbe disease and it has progressed at a very rapid rate. It has been truly amazing to watch the faith of Jud's parents as this disease has attacked their poor son causing him to no longer be able to move, see or speak. Barring a miracle of God (which we believe is still possible) sweet Jud has but hours left on this earth. Should God choose to call him home he will once again be able to run, jump and play in heaven but it will be a very, very difficult time for his parents. Please pray for God's will to be done in the life of this precious little boy and his family.

September Referrals *sigh*

I'm happy for those who will be receiving their referrals but must admit this is another tough month to accept. 4 days....f-o-u-r days! Ugh!! 5 months of referrals to get through the 25th of November. We've been told for a long time that November had a large number of files logged but the fact that it will take 6 (and let's face it, maybe even 7 months to get through the files) is really hard to accept.

I just can't do the math with those kind of numbers so am choosing to keep my head in the sand and still hope and pray for a referral in 2008!


(((hugs))) to all. We're going to get there. We don't have a clue when that will be but we do know that it will and that's what matters! Once again, trusting God for His perfect timing and praying daily for Hannah...and for you too my fellow waiting friends.

Numbers, Numbers...Numbers!

If you knew me in school, you’d know that math was my stronger subject and English not so much. Normally I enjoy playing with numbers. Remembering phone numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers comes quite easily to me. Names? Not so much… Just ask my friends in the Waiting Mommies Group. It’s common knowledge that the name tags at the dinners are not so much for the new girls as they are for this old gal who just seems to struggle with names.

Anyway, you may have noticed that I’ve updated the CCAA website info and referral information on the right of the page. Log in Dates (LID’s) through May 31, 2005 are through the Review Room. A big congrats (and audible sigh!) for all those who have made it through!

The other number listed on their site that was updated last week is the referral information numbers. It now reads, ‘The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before November 14, 2005.’ For all those who received referrals over the past few days…another big congrats!

For those of us waiting…the wait continues. It’s fairly common knowledge that November 2005 was a huge month for LID’s so it’s just going to take a while to get through November. It has been 3 months so far and I’m guessing it will take another 3 months (August, September and October) to get through the remainder of November. Here’s hoping though that the October batch at least wanders (even a little bit) into December LID’s. Oh how sweet it will be to see December on the CCAA website and have the monster months of October and November behind us!

The polls show that December 2005, January 2006 and February 2006 have less files logged in so in my little world that means that hopefully we will see more than 6 or 7 days of files covered each month. Only time will tell but I’m holding out hope.

My guesstimation for a referral is about a varied as can be. Some days I hold on to the hope of a May 2008 referral, yet others I prepare for anything up to and including September 2008. Whenever it is, right now I’m confident that it will happen in 2008 and that’s a reason to celebrate!

CCAA Website Update June 21, 2007

YEAH!!! Celebrating today with Dawn and Stacy as last night their files marched out of the CCAA Review Room and joined Hannah's file in the Matching Room! Yeah, Yippee, 3 Cheers!!! Getting out of the Review Room is HUGE! CONGRATULATIONS friends!!

On a somewhat similar note, Rebecca helped me update my version of the Carmody Calendar when she was here earlier this week. Karen and her family created a fun calendar when they were waiting for Samara's referral and I've made a similar one to wait for Hannah.

Each square of the calendar represents 1 day of files that CCAA needs to match with families before they reach my date of March 23, 2006. Currently they have matched to November 7, 2005 so Rebecca put stickers on the latest referral dates.

A quick glance at the calendar gives you an idea of the slow pace that things are moving. This calendar started with the month of August 2005 and goes through to March 2006 which is where my LID is. The 3 months plus 7 days of stickers you see here represents the last 10 months of referrals! Yes, it has taken 10 months (September 2006 through June 2007) for August, September, October and the first 7 days of November 2005 to receive their referrals! UGH!! You can quickly tell why I'm cautious about guessing what month I'll receive Hannah's referral. Still holding out for a 2008 referral but at this point that's about as 'exact' as I'm going to guess it!

Oh well, tomorrow is another big day and I'll be back to celebrate it with you!

CELEBRATING!!! My Dossier is in the MATCHING ROOM!!!

What an exciting moment it was yesterday to wake up and see with my very own eyes that CCAA's website had been updated to read, 'The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before March 31, 2006.' Yipeee!!! That's me!

The Review Room was (so nice to type that in past tense!) where CCAA went through each piece of my dossier with a fine-toothed comb, looking at every piece of paper and bit of information and ensuring themselves that I met all their requirements. Although I didn't anticipate any problems in the review room it was still a HUGE relief when I realized that this big step was behind my and my file had been moved into the Matching Room! Wow....My dossier is in the MATCHING ROOM!!!

The Matching Room (pic on the left) is where God will bring my dossier and Miss Hannah's file together. He will use a CCAA staff member to do this but I know that the match was created by God long ago and now is His perfect time He will merge our lives together. It will begin as 2 pictures being matched. Then 2 files being matched and a short time later 2 people will meet; forever to be Mother and Daughter! (Oooo...got goosebumps typing that!)

I anticipate the wait in the Matching Room to be about as long as the (almost) year I've been in the Review Room but surprises could happen and it could be sooner. As things are playing out now, I anticipate receiving Hannah's referral in January or February of 2008 and holding her in my arms for the very first time in March or April of 2008! My adoption journey is more than 26 months old now so 12 more doesn't seem too bad.

All in God's time. His perfect time! I'm willing to wait however long it is as He continues to lead each and every step of the way.

I want to say THANK YOU to all reading this who are supporting my adoption journey through your love, prayers, caring, questions and support. Each of you are very important and I am so thankful for each of you. Some family have known me since, well....before I was born. Other people have become friends with over years and still others are new friends who I've met through this amazing journey of International adoption. It's a long process but I wouldn't change one moment of it! I'm learning, growing, being stretched and more than anything, being reminded daily to trust God as He leads and directs each step.

'Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. '

Proverbs 3: 5, 6