One week down...

and 6 months and three weeks to go! Our dossier arrived in China well over a month ago, but our countdown to Madeline has only just begun. It is amazing to think we have a daughter... possibly a very young one... waiting for us in China. What a true miracle!


Well, hurricane Katrina looks like to completely decimated so much. It is terrible to see the pictures of the destruction. I have to tell you the true tragedy is really the looters and people carjacking and such. During this terrible, terrible time, I can't even begin to imagine what would drive someone to loot and steal. Humankind is in such a state of disarray. I pray that things will settle down soon. I pray that people will be reunited with loved ones and find comfort and peace very soon. We are SOOOO fortunate this storm (and so many others) passed us by. I need to try to think of a way to help.


Above is a picture of my boys behind our new home construction. This was taken a few months ago. The house is now very much underway. I can't wait to move in!!!!!!!

Waiting....

Well, the wait has begun and time slowly marches on. We are now officially waiting for our referral. We are hoping the latest referrals will arrive sometime in the next few days. That should give us a better indication of a tentative timeline. There is so much to do between now and referral.


The construction on the house is slowly moving along. All of the electrical, plumbing, alarm system and now windows are in. We should be hearing from Micah, our construction supervisor, sometime soon to set up our pre-drywall walk through. There are some framing issues that need to be corrected before we have the walk through. We are crossing our fingers that the framers will be working away on our home this week. We have a guaranteed closing in November. That is such a relief. There is absolutely no gracious way to celebrate the holidays in this tin can we are living in. The new house will feel like a mansion when we move in. Renting is not fun. I really don't like be surrounded by neighbors... not having your own true space. This too shall pass.


Riley is talking more and more. He absolutely LOVES school and his teacher. Andrea is truly a god send for Riley. She is working his little mouth muscles and fostering confidence. He is such a peanut. Andrea says she is in love with Riley.... we think everyone should be. (He is ours so we know we are prejudice.) He is really getting bigger and just more healthy looking over time. When we look back at the pictures of him from China it is amazing how different he looks. He coloring is better. His hair is thicker. His muscles are stronger. Everything is just so much healthier. He is truly a blessing to us each and every day.

James is reading the 4th Harry Potter book. We are amazed. I don't know how many 3rd graders read those books. Heck, some of my 5th graders couldn't read them! We really believe that he gets his smarts from his two grandfathers. He is really like them both is so many ways. He is still recuperating from his busy weekend. James went to a birthday party and had a sleepover with his cousin, Tommy. Those two boys have such a great time together. It is wonderful watching their friendship grow.


Well, writing this blog is really helping me to relieve some of the stress of the wait. I can't wait to see my sweet, little girl. I know she is going to be everything and more than we could ever imagine.

LID arrived... later than expected

Well, we finally received our LID. It seems that our dossier sat in China for a month and two days before it was logged in. Our official LID is August 24th. I am so dismayed and disheartened by this, Never before have I heard of this happening. I do like our agency, but can't help but wonder if somewhere the ball was dropped. We found out on 8/25 our LID. That is also very strange. Usually it takes 6-8 weeks to receive your date after your dossier is logged in. Oh well... it is completely out of our hands.

I did write a few emails to our agency asking about the delay. We, of course, received the canned response that they are only allowed to give. They did say it was still possible to receive our referral for Madeline in February. I just don't see that happening. Mathematically it doesn't add up unless China speeds up the referral process by including more than a months worth of referrals at some point in time.


We are thinking a March referral, with travel in May is probably more realistic. It would be nice to be a little earlier, but know that Madeline will be there waiting for us if we travel in April or May and she will be absolutely the right child for our family.


Now... the house just needs to be completed so I can start on her room! Well... with the delay I have more time than I originally thought. We should move in to the new house in November. I can't imagine starting anything until after Riley's birthday in January. We have James' birthday in November, Thanksgiving, Christmas, (football games), New Year's and then Riley's birthday in January. I think we need to get those taken care of before I start Madeline's room.... though I would LOVE to start it NOW!!


Cross your fingers that the next 6-7 months fly by so we can bring our daughter home.

Tired of Waiting

Well, we have been DTC for over a month now and are still waiting for our LID. I know the wait in general can be trying, but for some reason this is driving me nuts! I guess the good thing is that our dossier is in China and getting translated. Quite possibly the reason why the wait is so challenging for me is because I can do NOTHING to help the process along. When we get in the new house, at least I will be able to begin preparing Madeline's room. So many things are up in the air right now. I guess I am more of a control freak than I care to admit. I wish we could have had our dossier sent a week earlier, but I guess Madeline needed a little more time.


James is so excited about being a big brother again. Riley talks about his little sister in China, but really has no true understanding of what is going on. Boy will he be ticked when she arrives.... or he will be completely in LOVE! Who knows. He is such a little pistol! James is hoping Madeline will give Riley fits the way Riley gives James fits. Let's hope the two little ones don't gang up on their big brother.

Jerry is starting to really realize that he is going to have a daughter. We simply can't believe that we will be shocked with another son. Who knows... it is out of our hands.


Keep your fingers crossed that we receive our LID soon... so I don't go completely bonkers!!

Welcome!

Well, we are taking a stab at blogging. Who knows where it will lead us. This site is to document our family's journey as we get ready to head to China next year. We are looking forward to bringing Madeline home. We will post information as we go along. Please feel free to post your comments!