Fours years gone - and I forgot to mark the date!

August 10, 2006 - August 10, 2010!

In my defense - I was gearing up for a minor surgery two days later. Two weeks passed and I'm all better and I can reflect on the anniversary.

It's hard to keep from playing the forecasting game - "if they keep referring X many days, it could be as soon as . . . " which gets me excited.

Every time I do they change things up and slow it down again. Last month they referred 10 days worth, this month, only 3 days. Argh.

On the upside, my nephew Adam has added a beautiful baby daughter to the family - so I have another little girl to shop for!

Congrats to Adam, Krystal, and their little girl Jayden!

m

A few stats and a little bit of blues

August will mark the 4th anniversary of my LID.

There are 3+ months, or 75 days, of possible LIDs before mine still waiting for referral. The most recent referrals were for dossiers on or before: April 26, 2006.

I've completed my 3rd Homestudy: my 3rd I-171H will expire this fall.

I turn another year older in 2 days.

I went into the nursery today and for the first time, found cobwebs on the baby clothes in the closet.

Could everyone put in a good word with their personal higher power and get this thing moving!?

Get out there are light some candles.

Thanks,

m

Latest stats from the CCAA

That's the China Center 0f Adoption Affairs, to all you novices.

A batch of referrals came through yesterday, for families whose dossiers were received on or before March 8, 2006.

That's a 37-month wait. And I am faaaaaaaarther down the line.

m

Another milestone

My second set of fingerprints expire today.

I wonder if the Columbus Citizenship and Immigration Services office has a 'buy two, get one free' discount?

m

Latest CCAA stats

Referral matches have been completed for all families with log-in dates (LID) on or before:

March 2, 2006.

That means there are 114 possible LIDs before mine.

m

Why it is taking me so long to start a family

This is an example of the speed at which I make decisions:

I have owned 2 chairs for a long time. They were originally Mom and Dad's; they inherited them from my aunt and uncle as starter furniture for their first apartment.

By the time they came into my home the upholstery was shredded, the trim was falling off, and when you sat in them you were lucky not to go through the seat.

So again and again I've said, "I need to get those chairs redone", "I really want to fix those chairs", etc.

They were permanent To Do list items. Right along with "move to a house by the ocean" and "get a personal trainer".

I finally sent the chairs off for repair and reupholstery and last week they came back.

It only took 20 years.

It takes a while for my ideas to come to fruition.

One of the chairs today

Me in the same chair a looong time ago.

m

Another Year Has Gone By

Last Sunday was the 2nd anniversary of my login date (LID). I wrote and rewrote a message for that day, but the right words never came so I didn’t post.


Maybe it was because I’d watched the Olympic opening ceremonies on Friday. All those images of China’s children: the group of kids presenting the Chinese flag, the pretty girl in the red satin dress singing (okay, lip synching to another girl’s voice), and the little boy who survived the earthquake walking with Yao Ming and then sitting on his shoulders for the finale. I think it was all too much for me.


So, what do I have to say now? Two years is a long time. Thirty-three months (November ’05) since I filled in my first piece of paperwork is even longer. Some days waiting isn’t so bad; more time to work on other things. Other days I question why I’m doing this and why I’m still waiting.

Many of the waiting parents I met early on have changed their situations. They switched to the special needs program, pursued domestic adoption, dropped out due to personal circumstances, and some dropped out of Chinese adoption completely.


In the twenty-four months since my LID, 6+ months of referrals have been processed. Half of the login dates before mine have received referrals. The wait time has increased from 14 months to 31 months. Depressing statistics all.


My response? I’m still here. Enjoy the following platitudes:

~ Everything happens for a reason.
~ Everything happens in its own time.
~ Let things flow naturally.

m

No need for that countdown the Olympics clock anymore

It's 8-8-08, the luckiest day in the Chinese calendar and the start of the Games.

I just hope this year the press doesn't report results before the events are televised in the U.S.

It's a downer to open SeeNN.c0m looking for a news fix and catching a glimpse of "Major Upset! ____ took Gold and ____ settled for Silver in the _____ competition today!" - the event you were all set on watching that evening.

Boo! Bad news agencies!

This year I kind of want to watch the synchronized swimming and diving competitions. Does that make me a geek? Would confessing that I watched curling at the Torino Winter Games confirm that I'm a geek?

m

Progress Update

June, 2008 statistics:

The CCAA has reviewed all the dossiers that were submitted on or before January 31, 2007.

The CCAA has matched families and given referrals to prospective adoptive parents whose dossiers were submitted on or before January 20, 2006.


The wait is now approximately 28-29 months.


My dossier submittal date: August 10, 2006.


m

An Update on the CCAA

It's been awhile since I posted the progress stats from the CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs).

Currently the CCAA has reviewed all the dossiers that were submitted on or before October 31, 2006. Good news for us; my dossier has been reviewed and the CCAA didn't have any questions about my information.

More importantly, the CCAA has matched families and given referrals to prospective adoptive parents whose dossiers were submitted on or before January 4, 2006. Bad news for us, as that means the wait time has stretched to 26-27 months.

My dossier submittal date: August 10, 2006.

It is likely that my wait will be 36 months or longer.




m

Paper Chase - Part Deux

My new I-171H arrived today. The latest set of fingerprints is good until February 2009; the I-171H is valid until May 2009.

(I applauded the local USCIS office, they process documents fast. I've heard horror stories from other states, where the process can take months.)

m

2 years ago

I spent Saturday morning traipsing downtown to have my fingerprints redone. I needed those, along with a homestudy update and a new I-600A application, to renew my I-171H.

That excursion reminded me that it's been over two years since I began the adoption process.

Two years!

m

We're through the Review Room!

Wow that was fast!

It took over nine months to move from 'Pending Review' status to 'In Review'. It took only two weeks to get through the Review Room!

Okay, it's likely my dossier had been looked at well before this month but they finally finished all of the August 2006 dossier reviews.




PROGRESS!

Lifebooks and Life's Little Coincidences

In the adoption community today, parents are encouraged to create a "Lifebook" for their child. It is not supposed to be about the adoption, but about your child's life before joining your family; the idea is to create a book from your child's POV.

I was adopted, and I hope to have a bond with my little one about our shared experience. So, I had an idea - I should create a lifebook for myself. I have some of the paperwork from back then, but I don't have any pictures of the infant home, hospital or city where I spent the first months of my life.

I didn't think I could just call up the agency and ask for those items without someone assuming I'm fishing for information about my birth, which I am not. So, techo-weenie that I am, I started cruising the 'net for images. I didn't have any luck until tonight, when I across a small treasure trove!

It turns out the Infant & Mothers home is still standing (surprise!) and its surrounding campus is being turned into a senior community. The restoration group has collected a series of historical photos as art for the hallways. And with a donation, they will put a plaque on one of the photos with your name on it. There are a few hundred pictures of the hospital, staff and surrounding community, and yes, there are a few that are from my time there!

I'm looking for pictures and there are pictures available because of the renovation - it's one of those weird coincidences! (Insert spooky music here) Hopefully I can get copies of a few to include in my lifebook.

Of course, some of those shots might scare Beach Baby when she reads it; they kind of scare me.

One year later . . .

. . . still no Beach Baby.

Some Progress

It looks like another month of dossiers have made it through the Review Room! So that means June 2006 and maybe even July dossiers are under review now. It's a step in the right direction. Here is the latest from the CCAA website.


I'm waiting for the CCAA to begin the 2006 referrals before I start on her nursery.

I'm still hoping for Beach Baby to be home in 2008.

There can always be more Paperwork

This month, it's 1 year since my Homestudy was completed. Update required. In July the first of my U.S. documentation, my fingerprints, expire. Update required. In September, my I-171H joins the expiration party. Yup, update required.

The Homestudy is only good for 2 years; you needed an updated Homestudy to renew the other Federal paperwork. The big question, how much closer to the adoption will I be in May, 2008? I could end up repeating most of the Paperchase again.


On another paperwork front, the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption added a certification requirement on all international adoption agencies. What that means for me is that families in the process need to complete some classes on international and transracial adoption. I'd actually already taken most of the classes but I might need to take them again.

Hey, did I mention that I start grad school next month? I LOVE Paperwork!

Bring it on; my little Beach Baby is worth every page.

m

The latest stats

The China Center of Adoption Affairs posted their update this week.

Slowly,


Slowly,


Slowly,



the dates crawl closer to my August 10, 2006 LID.

m

The Beach Baby family

all_four_fla
Originally uploaded by molly_connelly.

Mom, Dad, big brother Dennis and me.

Note that while I am a true Beach Baby, I was also a pasty child.

And I'm now I'm a very freckled, yet still pasty girl.

m

The original beach baby

mom_2
Originally uploaded by molly_connelly.

This is my Mom, the first Beach Baby!

I think this is her first trip to Florida.

I wish I looked that good in a bathing suit.

m