We are waiting to hear from our agency via email this morning about when they think referrals will arrive. So we are waiting, but life isn't standing still. Yesterday was a hard day waiting pretty much for nothing, so we are going out today to distract ourselves...okay, who am I kidding, distract MYSELF, the kids are pretty clueless about what is going on now. I think my every other day walk will turn into every day walks until we hear something...this stress is just not good for me!!
When we get news from our agency, which will probably be pretty conservative and sound almost like "no-news", we'll post it here and send an email. I'm still hoping to see Jenna's face by the end of the week...it will be a LONG weekend if we have to wait until August 6th!!
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Not Today!
Well, we did not get a referral today. We are hopeful to get a referral sometime later this week or early next week at the latest (I hope!). The package that arrived at our agency contained Special Needs Travel Approvals...so someone who has accepted a Special Needs child can now make travel plans! Yea for them!
A few people on one of the rumor sites (I really need to stop visiting these groups!) said their agency is expecting another package tomorrow...our agency said they are going to contact their Beijing office to find out any news about referrals or other packages headed our way. So, no more holding our breath for today. Tomorrow is another day and the roller coaster ride will start up again!
It's gonna' be a long week people!
A few people on one of the rumor sites (I really need to stop visiting these groups!) said their agency is expecting another package tomorrow...our agency said they are going to contact their Beijing office to find out any news about referrals or other packages headed our way. So, no more holding our breath for today. Tomorrow is another day and the roller coaster ride will start up again!
It's gonna' be a long week people!
PRS
PRS...Pre Referral Stress. I have it! There are tons of rumors about packages arriving at agencies today and I'm sitting here in limbo holding my breath. I dragged the kids and the dog out of the house this AM for a walk to get rid of some of the stress...it kinda' worked. Now I'm hot and tired too...the Summer humidity is back!
I have a feeling I'll be glued to the computer today so I'll update as soon as I hear anything about referrals. I hoping someone will post somewhere that they have received their referral soon!! That will mean ours is coming soon too!!!
Remember to breathe!!!!
I have a feeling I'll be glued to the computer today so I'll update as soon as I hear anything about referrals. I hoping someone will post somewhere that they have received their referral soon!! That will mean ours is coming soon too!!!
Remember to breathe!!!!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Summer Fun
As promised, I have not been glued to my computer...well, not super glued anyway! I have been out and about with the kids doing MANY things...mostly at the pool. So, I have gotten that tan I was talking about a few posts ago...I'm not a deep bronze, but I'm not pasty either!
Referrals may come in a week and a half or two weeks! Yay! I'm anxious and excited all at the same time, but those of you who see me frequently may not be able to tell. I am a bit reserved after all...but trust me, my tummy is doing somersaults! I can't wait to see Jenna's face!
We have asked a Chinese American co-worker of DH's about Chinese names for girls and here is what we have come up with so far. If Jenna's Chinese name turns out to be hard to pronounce for Americans we will make her middle name something different. We like LiAn. It means this: peaceful, calm, easy, safe and beauty in heart and appearance. Neat, huh?
Anyway, we are looking forward to hearing about Jenna and are also beginning to prepare for the new school year to start in 4 weeks! So, just to hold on to summer a little longer, here are a couple of pictures that just say "It's Summer!" Enjoy!
Referrals may come in a week and a half or two weeks! Yay! I'm anxious and excited all at the same time, but those of you who see me frequently may not be able to tell. I am a bit reserved after all...but trust me, my tummy is doing somersaults! I can't wait to see Jenna's face!
We have asked a Chinese American co-worker of DH's about Chinese names for girls and here is what we have come up with so far. If Jenna's Chinese name turns out to be hard to pronounce for Americans we will make her middle name something different. We like LiAn. It means this: peaceful, calm, easy, safe and beauty in heart and appearance. Neat, huh?
Anyway, we are looking forward to hearing about Jenna and are also beginning to prepare for the new school year to start in 4 weeks! So, just to hold on to summer a little longer, here are a couple of pictures that just say "It's Summer!" Enjoy!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Websites of Interest
If you have taken a little time to browse our blog you will see links to a few websites in the right hand column. I would like to take a moment to talk about two of those websites...
Half the Sky...this is my favorite charity. This group offers nurturing environments to children in China's orphanages. They hire more caregivers, train these caregivers, provide medical support, provide preschool opportunities, start foster care programs, and so much more. Your donations are used to help some of the world's 143 million orphaned children who did not choose to be where life has put them. As an adoptive mother of (almost) 3 children you can understand why this charity is so important to me.
A Child's Right...a charity that provides clean and safe drinking water to children around the world. Your donations purchase water filtering/purification systems that remove the harmful bacterias in water that can cause many diseases. We take it for granted in America that we can turn on our water at the tap and be safe drinking that water. There are 130 million children in the world that do not have this privilege.
Please consider visiting their websites for more information and please remember them when making you charitable contributions this year.
Half the Sky...this is my favorite charity. This group offers nurturing environments to children in China's orphanages. They hire more caregivers, train these caregivers, provide medical support, provide preschool opportunities, start foster care programs, and so much more. Your donations are used to help some of the world's 143 million orphaned children who did not choose to be where life has put them. As an adoptive mother of (almost) 3 children you can understand why this charity is so important to me.
A Child's Right...a charity that provides clean and safe drinking water to children around the world. Your donations purchase water filtering/purification systems that remove the harmful bacterias in water that can cause many diseases. We take it for granted in America that we can turn on our water at the tap and be safe drinking that water. There are 130 million children in the world that do not have this privilege.
Please consider visiting their websites for more information and please remember them when making you charitable contributions this year.
Potential Glitch with Travel
We hope to travel in September but may be pushed back to November to travel. Yuck, more waiting!
When we receive a referral we have to send back the acceptance letter stating we accept the child referred to us. GWCA will send all the August Referral Group's acceptance letters back to China at the same time, so we will be waiting for everyone to send their letters back to GWCA quickly. If they don't all return quickly our travel will be delayed. You see, we cannot travel without a travel approval (TA) from the CCAA and the CCAA cannot send a TA to us until we return our acceptance letters. So, we can't make travel plans until we get our TA.
Why would we have to wait until November? GWCA does not allow their families to travel to China in October because of the Moon Festival the first week of October and the Trade Fairs in Guangzhou the last two weeks of October. The hotel and airfares triple in price, things are hard to book, and the government is closed for the Moon Festival. It takes 4 to 6 weeks to get a travel approval, so, if the families who get referrals in August are not on the ball and return acceptance letters quickly our TA will arrive too late to travel in September.
As usual...there are no guarantees in International Adoption...we must continue to roll with the punches!
When we receive a referral we have to send back the acceptance letter stating we accept the child referred to us. GWCA will send all the August Referral Group's acceptance letters back to China at the same time, so we will be waiting for everyone to send their letters back to GWCA quickly. If they don't all return quickly our travel will be delayed. You see, we cannot travel without a travel approval (TA) from the CCAA and the CCAA cannot send a TA to us until we return our acceptance letters. So, we can't make travel plans until we get our TA.
Why would we have to wait until November? GWCA does not allow their families to travel to China in October because of the Moon Festival the first week of October and the Trade Fairs in Guangzhou the last two weeks of October. The hotel and airfares triple in price, things are hard to book, and the government is closed for the Moon Festival. It takes 4 to 6 weeks to get a travel approval, so, if the families who get referrals in August are not on the ball and return acceptance letters quickly our TA will arrive too late to travel in September.
As usual...there are no guarantees in International Adoption...we must continue to roll with the punches!
July Referrals
Here's the update folks...no news! Shocked? It seems like our answer to everyone's questions for the past 20 months is "we have no new news from China. Maybe a referral in a few months?" The July referrals came and went without one for us...again! Our agency, because of the way dossiers were logged in, didn't receive any referrals this month. The CCAA only matched dossiers from 11/8/05 to 11/14/05...we missed it by 3 days! Argh!
Now the good news! We are most definitely NEXT in line to get a referral because 11/15/05 was a Sunday (no or very little LIDs) and from what we hear 11/16/05 was a small day. SO...we will have information on Jenna around the first week of August! Yay!! We are over the moon with excitement and I sometimes verge on being a little crazy about it...but I've been waiting 20 months for any information, so I think I'm entitled to be a little crazy!
Now the good news! We are most definitely NEXT in line to get a referral because 11/15/05 was a Sunday (no or very little LIDs) and from what we hear 11/16/05 was a small day. SO...we will have information on Jenna around the first week of August! Yay!! We are over the moon with excitement and I sometimes verge on being a little crazy about it...but I've been waiting 20 months for any information, so I think I'm entitled to be a little crazy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
