Thursday, June 25, 2009

9 days it is!

Well it is official that the referrals went from March 15, 2006 - March 20, 2006! While I know it was 6 days it had a weekend in there and wasn't huge days, but still 6 days closer! What does this mean for us? Well, we have 9 days between now and our referral for Emma. Of those 9 days, 2 of the days are weekend days. So technically it is 7 days worth of referrals. If I look at a best case worst case, this is what I can predict. If we continue to get referrals every month the absolutely latest we should get a referral is January (that is if we get 1 day every month, excluding the weekend). If they do 2 days a month, a November referral. If they do 3 or 4 days a month, a Sept. referral. A 5 day a month batch or more could get us an August referral. My guess is a October referral which would mean we would travel (depending on when the referrals come out during the month) in late Nov. or Dec. Please pray we have our sweet little Emma home for Christmas this year.

Now here are the projections posted on rumor queen this week. For those of you not familiar with her projections she has based these on past months. It started with bad, mid and good case but as things slowed to snail pace she added horrid and extra small which is the first column. Now these are just projections based on past history. As you can see if we continue a small batch she also has October as our month. We would have to have the best case to get a referral in July (not even a chance). It is nice to see that with even the extra small batches she projects that we will have our Emma in October!
Below is another look at a March 2006 calender. As you can see the 20th was a Monday. For next month we hope to at least get a 2 day batch and make it to the 22nd, anything beyond that would be incredible!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Is it in the cards?

COULD IT BE TRUE?

Rumors are finally starting to surface. It's about time. With the referrals coming mid-month the last 2 batches it is confusing to figure out when they are coming. So every day I get on the computer to check in with the RQ to see if there is any news but lately there has been NADA! Well this week at work has been chaos, 43 hours of work in just 3 days. This left no computer time for me. So last night I get a call from my sister to fill me in on the latest rumors (my family and friends stalk these sites more than I do!). Anyway, the rumors are saying that matching is complete and that the cut-off is March 20th. Now I was hoping to at least get through the 21st as it is a big day but it doesn't look promising. I am excited though to know that we are possibly 6 days closer. This means we are now in the SINGLE DIGITS! Nine days standing between us and our referral. Seven actual LID days and 2 days for the weekend. So this is what I am thinking. If I am being realistic it would mean that in July there will be a 2 day batch (21-22), in August a 4 day batch (23-26), Sept a 2 day batch (27-28), which would mean that October would be the month! If I continue to dream then July would have a 6 day batch also (21-26) and then we would get our referral in August just in time for my birthday! Anyway you look at it we should be seeing Emma's face in the next 5 months!

Thursday, June 11, 2009

What keeps me going!

Sometimes Emma seems so out of reach and then I see these beautiful girls and get excited knowing that our time is getting closer and that one day very soon our blog will be filled with pictures of Emma. For now I hope you enjoy the pictures of these beautiful girls! I am so excited for my friends as they bring home their beautiful daughters!





Friday, June 05, 2009

It's all starting to feel real

It is finally starting to feel like the whole adoption thing is going to happen. I know I have been part of this adoption world for 4 years now but the time has come that I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Now the light is still dim but in the distance I can see it. Just as you are reading my blog right now, I have been reading the blogs of those going before me since the beginning of this journey. I would get excited every time someone got a referral and I could see that precious face and follow the journey to China and back. It helped to pass the time and has helped give hope to a long lived dream. But now over the past few months there are so many of the people that are closer to me traveling and it is just now that I am starting to see that light getting brighter. Over the past few weeks two wonderful families were united with their wonderful daughters. Of course anyone who has followed my blog knows all about Lisa and Tate and another wonderful family T&J. They both got their beautiful daughters. Now yesterday pugmama, L, and Leeanne all left for China. Seeing these wonderful friends get their daughters is finally giving me the feeling that it is going to happen.
I laugh as I think about how long we have waited and how unprepared we are. Yes, UNPREPARED! I think we were more prepared 3 years ago! Things change so much over a 3+ year time span and sometimes we forget to look at the whole picture. I say this because as the time gets closer I have started to see what all still needs to be done. Most of you know we moved at the beginning of the year. The house we bought needed a total overhaul so it is a work in very slow progress. We are hoping to have it done by the time we travel. I promise I will post some before and after pictures soon. We still have some major purchases to buy such as the car seat and high chair (guess I should be researching). We still have family credits to do and Mike has to get his CPR cert., and of course we have a whole list of items to buy for our China trip. How after 3+ years can we be this unprepared?
So as of yesterday I have pledged to get moving. I watched the Medical Risks video (have had it for 6+ months) and started reading Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew (Sherrie Eldridge) for our family credits. Today I am getting my paperwork out and finding the list of items to purchase so we can start shopping. Hey, it's a start! Maybe, just maybe by the time our referral comes we will have it all done.
BTW, referrals have been weird lately with the flu so we are still waiting to see if a batch will come out in June or if it will be the beginning of July. At this point we are still hoping for September but only time will tell. I'll keep you posted!
I better get moving as it's going to be one busy weekend. I have to paint, get that paperwork out, close on our refinance today, work tomorrow and then celebrate Chase's big Graduation!

Friday, May 29, 2009

A special friend

During this long journey I have found comfort in my friend. My friend that has given me hope, courage and the information to get me through this long process. This friend has been her every time I need her, even at 3am! This friend I am talking about is Rumor Queen. Now I know the RQ gets a lot of criticism but the truth is, what we we do without all the time spent and information she gives us. Something the I look forward to every month is her projection table. She gives her best guesstimate of what the future months of referrals look like. Now this info is based purely on statistics of pasts months and polls. So while it is not always right it at least gives us a little info about what the months ahead look like and for some of us hope. It was just recently that our LID is finally on the chart (about time!) Now with us having a LID of 3/29/06 you can look at the chart below and see what our chances are...
I am hoping that we will at least stay with the Small group and get our referral in Sept. We are hoping this is worst case senerio but it could always be Oct or Nov. In looking at the chart it gives me hope to see that Emma time is close. Thanks RQ!

How many months?

38 Month LID Anniversary
I woke up earl this morning and hung out with Mike while he got ready for work. We decided to go to St@rbucks for a coffee since it was such a nice morning. As we sat there talking Mike realized that today was May 29th. Wow, another month of waiting. Every month I think how many more of these am I going to have to post? For the first time I am finally thinking that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Well, anyway it's happy 38th to us!


Thursday, May 28, 2009

I can't get enough!

I just can't get enough of Tate. She is absolutely beautiful!
Congratulations to Lisa as she finally had Tate put in her arms forever this week!


Still living in 2006

I keep meaning to take a picture of my locker at work. Why you ask? Everyone in the OR has a locker and just like when we were back in high school we decorate them with personal stuff. When you walk around you see pictures of families, kids, grandkids and friends. On my locker I have 2 photos, one of Jack (my pup) and one of my Kozmo (my kitty) that passed away last year (just can't seem to take it down). The only other thing on my locker is a calendar. Not just any calendar, but a 2006 calendar. I laugh as I think about all the times someone makes a comment about my 2006 calendar. I hear, "hey it is 2007, 2008 and now 2009", "are you ever going to get an updated calendar?" or "are you ever going to take that down?" They have no ideal what that calendar means to me. My response to them is " You may be living in 2009, but I'm still here waiting in 2006!" To this I get lots of smiles and weird looks, but for me this is my daily reminder of how close (and at one point, how far away) we are to getting Emma's referral. Every day I look at the month of March 2006 and my eyes are always drawn to March 29th. I have memorized March, I know how many days are in front of 29th, how many of those are referral days and what day of the week each day falls on. For me this is a sign of hope that one day soon we too will get our referral and see Emma's face for the first time. Until then, that old calendar will stay on my locker to remind me that our time is coming.


Calendar for March 2006 (United States)

| All of year | April>

SunMonTueWedThuFriSat



1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031
Phases of the moon: 6:1Q 14:Full 22:3Q 29:New

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Another step closer!

We have been so busy with family activities (dances, graduation, birthday's, sporting events...) that I haven't given any updates on the adoption. This past week the latest batch of referrals came out. The referrals went from March 9 - March 14, 2006! 6 days closer! We are now 15 days away! Tomorrow is a big day for my special secret pal Lisa as she will finally have Tate in her arms. So stop by and see her beautiful daughter!

A special Charlee moment!

We wanted to send out a very special congratulations to Charlee for a very special award she received...
DANCE MAJOR OF THE YEAR

Way to go Charlee!
We love you and are so proud of you!

Happy Birthday Sis!

Happy Birthday Tommi!
We had a wonderful time today celebrating "Tommi Month"!
(For now it is still YOUR month!)
We love you!