I got another cool fortune in my fortune cookie: I thought it was appropriate!

Some movement on the CCAA front

Well, the CCAA is still reviewing files... In fact, they just announced that they have reviewed all the files of everyone logged in through February 2008! This means they are only one year away from us since we were logged in in March 2009!!! If they continue at this rate we will be in review in less than a year!

Again, when they review they go through your file with a fine-tooth comb. They may have some more questions for us or need more information. Sometimes it takes awhile to get the necessary information so families loose their place in line and are given a new LID. That is why people get a little nervous when they know their files are in review, and breathe a sigh of relief when they know their month is out of review!

For a better explanation of this part of the process please click here.

Now, why is the CCAA still reviewing files if they are not going to send out referrals? That is the question of the day!!

We wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Roller Coaster

So now there's more bad news out there... the newest rumor is that the CCAA will not be sending out referrals this month (November), either, because now the new director "needs time to learn how things work". I think they've skipped 3 months so far this year! And even when they did send out referrals, the numbers were shameful.

But that's not the whole story; in order to get a true taste of what this roller coaster is like, I must first explain what the past few weeks have been like:

First we were hoping that since they skipped September, then only sent out a 4-day batch in early October, they would send another batch at the end of October (otherwise they were still crawling along at 2-day batches). Then we hit November and, since there were no new batches, we came to realize that that 4-day batch was indeed intended for September and October.

Then, a few weeks ago, the European agencies were all excited because they had heard that the CCAA had finished matching all of March 2006 (which would be another 3 days, but mostly everyone just wants to be done with March 2006 because it was such a huge month. April 2006 is much smaller, so most people believe that things will move at least a little faster once we get into April).

That rumor continued for a few days, then a conflicting rumor emerged that the CCAA had begun to match. How could they just be beginning to match if we already knew that they had finished matching all of March?

A couple of days later, there was another rumor that "packages were in the air, on their way to agencies". We all held our breath. Could this be the referrals? And is March 2006 in fact done? Could they maybe have even gotten into April???

Nope, all of those packages turned out to be other things; no referrals.

Then another set of packages were in the air...

No referrals.

Today the rumor is that they will not send out referrals at all this month; maybe next month.

What about the promise of a speed up in the fall? What about the assurances of "more referrals in 2009 than in 2008"? It's just not happening.

So you can kind of see what this wait is like for us. Only add to it our emotions and our strong desire to finally meet the little ones that we have been waiting for- and dreaming about- for so long.

A lot of people are beginning to think that this is all because of China's fears about the Swine Flu. Apparently they completely stopped all IA (International Adoption) back with the SARS epidemic for several months, but before they admitted that was the reason they gave out all kinds of excuses. Hopefully that is all that is going on here, that they are worried about this new "epidemic" and just want to see what happens, but eventually they will start back and send out referrals in huge batches! If not, then I just don't know what is going to happen.

Well, here it is November and we did not see another batch of referrals for October. This means that the last batch of 4, sent out earlier in October, was in fact meant for both September and October. We are still creeping along at 2 days of referrals a month. At this rate, the current estimate is that Paul and I may have to wait another 6 years before we get our referral for Caitlin.

BUT, the good news (I hope) is that there is also a rumor that the CCAA is getting a new director. Some agencies say this means that change is on the horizon (good change), but others say that this does not mean anything other than the old director was promoted to another position elsewhere in the Chinese government. I'm choosing to hold out hope that this means that good change is on the horizon, and things will begin to move again soon!

4 More Marbles

Well, after making us wait for what I believe has been the longest time between batches of referrals ever (it's been 52 days since the last batch of referrals was sent out back in August), China finally sent out 4 whole days worth of referrals (note my sarcasm). This leaves everyone to wonder if this was meant to be September's batch, in which case 4 days of referrals wouldn't be quite as dismal (it is, after all, double the batches we've been getting), or if this batch also includes October's referrals, in which case we are still creeping along at 2 days per month. All we can do is wait and see; hopefully they will send out another batch before the end of the month...We have 1,089 days to go; we are 20 days closer to Caitlin!

Nothing New

I'm sorry I haven't been updating this blog very regularly lately, but I just really don't have any news to share. There have been no new referrals, and really no word from China whatsoever. They have been very quiet, so all we can do is sit and wait... and try very hard to be patient!

I'm hoping for some news of referrals by next week so I can move some more marbles. If not, I'll work on another FAQ. I have to find something to post about to keep this blog current!!

6 Month LID-versary

We've officially been "paper pregnant" for 6 months today, although we actually started the process a year and a half ago. If this were a traditional pregnancy, we'd be moving into the 3rd trimester and preparing for the arrival of our little one. We'd be registering and decorating the nursery. Instead, we have no idea where the light is at the end of this tunnel. The "speedup" that was expected for the summer/fall has not come to pass. I'm still holding out hope that it could still happen, but all the changes and measures that were supposed to cause that speedup were put into place over 9 months ago, so we should be seeing some sign of the fruits of those efforts by now.

In the past 6 months we have only moved through 16 days of LIDs; we still have 1,093 to go. China skipped a month of referrals due to the Swine Flu, then we had 2 "decent" months of referrals (6 days, which was more than we'd seen in awhile, so everyone thought it was a sign of the speedup that we were promised), but then we went back to 2-day referrals. At a time when things were supposed to be picking up, they came back to a screeching halt.

The worst part about this wait is the lack of information. We have no idea what's going on, or what's to come. All we can do is sit and wait.

BUT, we still feel sure that this is what we are meant to do. We will continue to wait, for however long it takes, until we can bring our daughter home.

Chinese Proverb

I thought this was appropriate! It's a Chinese proverb, basically their version of "The Tortoise and the Hare":

"Traveling at such a slow pace,
Do you think you can ever get there?"
A fast steed asked a lame turtle.

"Yes, as long as I keep going," said the turtle.

More Ladybugs from Japan!

We got another surprise package from my sister-in-law in Japan today! Inside we found the cutest little ladybug outfit for Caitlin, and a ladybug mug:The mug cracked us up because it was apparently translated from Japanese; written on it was (and I quote exactly from the mug): "Everyone loves ladybirds. Because it's small, colorful, and cutty". I love the grammar, but mostly we wondered what "cutty" means. We guessed probably "cuddly", although "cuddly" is not exactly the first adjective that comes to mind when describing a ladybug! I love it!

Also included in the package was what Meghan says is called a "Daruma":She says that you are supposed to make a wish, then color the right eye. When the wish comes true you can color the other eye! I don't know if we are supposed to keep the wish a secret, so I'll just say it was related to Caitlin... and we hope we can color the left eye in very soon!!

Thanks Meghan! (and Greg, and Cora!)

FAQ: So, what's next in the process?

As far as China goes, our dossier has been accepted and is now waiting in a big room with all the other dossiers logged in from about October 2007 to present. The next step will be when the CCAA reviews the dossiers, going through every page with a fine-tooth comb. If they have any questions or find any discrepancies, they will contact the potential parents through their adoption agency. If the matter can't be resolved quickly the dossier may lose it's place in line and will be given a new LID. Common questions concern health issues, and the CCAA may require additional medical exams or documentation.

The CCAA reviews dossiers one month at a time, based on the LID; for example, our dossier will be reviewed with all the other dossiers logged in during March, 2009. As of right now, the CCAA has reviewed dossiers through August 31, 2007, so they are probably currently working on September 2007. There is no way to tell when they will review more months; we just wait until they make the announcement that they have "reviewed all dossiers through ---". People feel very relieved when they hear their dossiers are out of review because it means they are basically approved; if you pass review, you can be pretty certain that you will be given a child (although when is another question!)

After 'review' comes 'matching', but there can be years between the two. Matching is when the CCAA takes the files of all the families who are next on the waiting list, reads all our information, and looks at the pictures we sent. Then they compare them with the files of the babies who are "paper ready" (or ready for adoption) at that time. No one is sure exactly how they match families to babies, but I have heard many times that it is based on rather unscientific methods, such as basing a match on physical looks, dates the families have in common with the baby (perhaps the baby's birthday is the same date as the parents' anniversary, for example), or maybe they match the file of a baby who likes to be outside with the file of a couple who likes to hike. However random their method, it works! It is said that China does the best job at matching babies to families, and almost always people say that it seems the baby fits perfectly with the family, like it was always meant to be.

When the matching is complete for the batch of referrals, they send them out to the agencies!