STILL on CLOUD 9

Wow, what I week it has been. We got to see our little girls face for the first time - talk about amazing. We can wait to scoop her up in our arms and bring her home. Unfortunately, we continue to wait.

The Chinese New Year fall at the end of January, right around when we would normally travel. It completly shuts down China for two weeks. Unless we happen to get travel assignments for Januray 14-28th we will have to wait until after the CNY and travel in mid-February. Either way the time will go fast looking at her cute little face.

We hope to get her out a care package with a camera, teddy bear and blanket before the weeks end. That way she will know that we are thinking about her!

Happy Holidays & Chinese New Year (Year of the Dog)!

Addie was born in the Year of the Rooster!

A little Christmas present just for you!

Addison Delaney ShuiYa Peed - 5 Months Old

I love to play outside, watch TV, and listen to music.

She'll fit right in to the family!!

Enjoy :)

We Got "THE CALL"

It seems like we have been waiting a lifetime to tell you this... and you know what they say, good things come to those who wait! It is with joy in our hearts and many tears of happiness that we would like to announce the referral of our daughter:

Addison Delaney Shui Ya Peed
Chinese Name: Ji (gee), Shui (shwee) Ya
Date of Birth: April 7, 2005
Born in: Jiangxi Province
Resides at: Ji’an City – Jizhou District Social Welfare Institute

Pictures and More Information on Tuesday!!

***STORK ALERT!***

The stork has left China - referrals should be landing in the states by Friday. We are hoping to get "THE CALL" very soon. We can hardly wait.

We spent my birthday weekend making goreous little Chinese ornaments for the April DTC ornament exchange. Brody even helped and loved it. It takes a real man to do crafts - hehe!

We boughts some carry on bags for our trip - great deal on samsonite backpacks at Kohl's.

Our home is getting ready for a baby the nusery is almost finished. Brody spent a snow day yesterday finishing Addie's dresser. Now all we need is window treatments and some shelves. We are also still searching for a car seat and high chair. I better get on that over my holiday break.

The semester is winding down - I have several projects due over the next two weeks for my masters program and I am looking forward to welcoming my parents, sister, and in-laws to our house for Christmas.

We will keep you posted with referral news.

Thanks for following along!

Still waiting on that stork

The title says it all. It is so quiet out in rumorland that you could hear a pin drop. We are hoping for some news soon. That's all for now.

Almost Stork Alert

Stork Alert - The stork alert is sounded when referrals are confirmed to have left China.

Today so people on the Spanish Adoption Message Board sounded the Stork Alert! We in the US usually wait until a US agency confirms that referrals are on the way before it is officially sounded.

The Spanish site members said the log-in cutoff is April 14th. Good enough for me - we are April 13th!!

People that got referrals in November are also receiving Travel Approval to go pick up their waiting babies. Some are traveling as soon as next week, others are traveling right after the holidays.

The ball is rolling - we are on pins and needles waiting for "the call" from our agency. We hope that it is soon!!

We'll keep you posted!

Tracy

It's almost December - Hopefully Referral Month!

I hope everyone had a Happy Turkey Day and a safe Black Friday (the mall is a trecherous place to be the Friday after Thanksgiving). We ate way too much turkey - We had a 33lb. turkey and only four of us to eat it. Needless to say I have about 8lbs. left in the freezer. It was awesome though - Dad and Brody grilled it - yum!

So the latest rumors from the message board say that referrals will be mailed out today or tomorrow. I knew it was wishful thinking that I would know something by my Birthday (Dec. 4). If this is the case we will probably not hear anything until the 7th.

The wait continues...

On a happy note, we got the crib set up and all the beautiful bedding put on it - it looks like a bed fit for a princess. Thanks again Cousin Eileen - we love it and we know Addison will too!

Thats all for now. I will keep you posted with the latest rumors and some nusery pictures.

T.

YEAH!

Yeah, people are visiting our website. We are so excited to share this journey with everyone! Hopefully our referral will come in the next batch. It sound like CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) is only going to be matching 1/2 months for awhile, due to the large number of adoption requests they have received.

They (CCAA) have matched babies with families that have Log In Dates (LID) through March 31, 2005. Our LID is April 13, 2005 - hopefully we will be in the next batch. We expect that referrals will come at the end of November, or early December - just in time for my Birthday!!

Brody and I wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year!

Tracy

I'M STILL HERE

Sorry, I was really busy last week and did not have much to say in light of the fact that we did not get a referral again this month. Kinda of bummed, but at least we are half way through November now and we are approaching December with cautious optimism. What an awesome CHRISTMAS present that would be.

So onto more positive things - we will focus on getting the new house put together before the referral and work on finishing the nusery. Here is a picture of the gorgeous crib bedding that cousin Eileen made for us.

Have a great week!

The Ride Continues

More bad news on referrals from Bethany WI, this just in:

REFERRALS - We have been notified that the next batch of referrals we receive will only be for families with dossier log-in dates through the end of March 2005. This is certainly disappointing news for the early April families, who we thought might be included.

It is apparent that referral time is lengthening because of the large volume of dossiers being received at the China Center of Adoption Affairs. Please advise your waiting families that it is now approximately 8 - 9 months from log-in date to referral. As we all know, waiting times are always subject to change - and, unfortunately, we're seeing this happen now.

8 months = referral on Dec. 13
9 months = referral on Jan. 13

Not sure if my heart can take that January date. It seems so far away now :(

Oh, the drama

Now the China message boards are saying some April referrals will be included. Will it be us or not?? Stay tuned. There has been no concrete evidence that referrals have even been mailed from China yet. What a roller coaster, and to think we could do it all again next month - what fun!

Don't mean to be cynical. I know that this adoption will happen and we will get an assignment soon. We will probably forget that all this craziness happened when we hold OUR DAUGHTER in our arms. I imagine it is similar to labor. You forget the bad parts and do it again because the reward is so SWEET!

Take Care!

Happy November - 22 days until TURKEY DAY - Yum!

NO APRIL REFFERALS

Feeling BLUE, looks like no one with an April LID date will get a referral this month. It is such a bummer as we had actually hoped to have travel and be home before Christmas when we started the process.

I guess we'll wait and hope for next month - it has to get to us sooner or later as they are running out of groups.

Enjoy the Weekend!

To all my March Panda' s in the March DTC Group, have a drink for me too!

Tracy

Excitement and Anticipation

When are those pesky REFERRALS coming! Some rumors say the are being sent today. I hope so and I pray that we are included in this group.

I am making a goal to post three times this week to make it interesting for the people following along with our journey.

I will leave you with this fun picture from my shower.

6 Months and 6 Days Down

OK- We had hoped to have a referral (placement) by the end of month six (October 13). Apparently that didn't happen. We are coping and hoping for a referral very soon. Rumors say the end of October - we will see! Fingers, toes and anything else crossable - crossed!

T & B

Four Months Down ...

So as of this Saturday August 13th we have been logged in by the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs) for 4 months. The average wait time from LID (log in date - the date they officially log in our adoption request) to referral (the assignment of our daughter to us) is 6 months. So I'd say, it's a perfect time to sell our house. Yup that's right after almost a year on and off the market it sold last weekend (while it was off the market). More on that saga later! Have a great weekend. We are having a HUGE rummage/ moving sale to help pay for our China trip.

Tracy

Welcome

So glad you could join us on our journey to adopt our first child from China, OUR DAUGHTER. We hope you will tag-a-long over the next few months as we work diligently to bring her home to our family.