Today, we received word from our agency that the CCAA offices have completed the referrals for the LID dates for April 27, 2005 and will be sending them out before they close for the Chinese New Year Celebrations. The Chinese New Year is January 29th and the offices are usually closed for about 1 week. It will probably be late February and early March before the referrals for May DTC dates are completed. Maybe, after the holidays, future referrals will come quicker to all of the waiting families.

This is a picture of a quilt that I have been working on for Katherine. Every stitch has been by hand, so it is taking some time. Hopefully, I will finish it in my lifetime (lol!!)  

Yesterday I spent the day with the most adorable little girl, Lily. I met her with her parents one afternoon several months ago while out shopping and fell in love with her. Over the past several months, we have become friends through attending various activities through a local support group of other families that have adopted from China. It has been a long time since I have spent any length of time with a little one and the experience was much needed and thoroughly enjoyed. She and I had a blast pretend playing, doing an art project, singing, dancing, watching videos, and reading books. She became friends with our little yorkie, Cannolli and as you can see in the picture he fell in love with her too. Lily's parents will soon be traveling to China again to adopt another little girl. Hopefully soon after they return, we will be traveling to bring home our little Katherine. I can't wait to see them all playing together and am looking forward to the new experiences and friendships we will gain from the large community of other families that have adopted children from China.

Ultrasound looks GREAT!!!

Here are a few of the dolls that will be waiting for Katherine when she comes home. I think mom is having too much fun now !!! 

More views of Katherine's room. I know, can you spell SPOILED!!?

A view of Katherine's Bedroom from the doorway. 

I love everything that has to do with the ocean, so I decorated some starfish with roses and ribbons and hung them over the curtains as added decoration to Katherine's room. I also added the same type of roses to each end of the curtain rod.

A photo of a few of the things Grandma Mc has made. Raggedy Ann and Andy have always been her specialties, but everything is beautiful.

Katherine's Grandma Mc, has made some of the most beautiful quilts, dolls and animals. She is very talented and has made and given each one from her heart. They all will be loved and cherished for many years to come. Katherine is blessed to have such a wonderful talented Grandmother who, by the way, is very excited for her to join our family. Thank you Grandma Mc for your beautiful,gracious gifts. 

A few of my favorite quotes:

"One hundred years from now,
It will not matter what your bank account was...
what kind of car you drove...
or how big your house was,
but it may matter that you made a difference in the life of a child"


"How can you say there are too many children in the world? That is like saying there are too many flowers."
~Mother Teresa~

"An invisible thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."
~Ancient Chinese Proverb~

"So don't be afraid: I am with you. I will round up all your scattered children and pull them in from the East and the West"
1 Samuel 43:5

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intent of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and proclaiming, "Wow what a ride!!!"

We have heard that the China Center for Adoption Affairs has slowed down on Referrals due to several factors. They have been reorganizing and are in the process of registering more orphanages. Apparently there are more "Waiting Families" than there are paper-ready children, and they are also trying to train more people. We are patiently waiting and know that everything has a time and a purpose. It's good to know that so many children will be finding their "forever families" soon.

This is a Cabbage Patch Doll from Hong Kong . Joe and I had traveled to the Philippines on a scuba diving trip in 1985 and spent a few days in Hong Kong on the return trip home. I fell in love with this little doll and had to purchase it. Who would have ever imagined that she would someday have a little girl from China to be her best friend? She is holding a British Passport because at the time we visited, the British still had ownership of Hong Kong.

Lucky Ladybug Sighting: December 28, 2005

Matthew found this ladybug crawling across the bed. After taking it's picture and zooming in, we noticed that two spots in the middle of it's back formed a heart. What a special surprise!

Ladybug Pillow from Daddy

To: Katherine from her anxiously waiting daddy!!!

Time Frame:
January 2005: Year of the Rooster - We decide to adopt
Applied for Passports
February 2005: Received Passports
February 10,2005: Sent off for Certified copies fo Birth & Marriage Certificates
February 14,2005: Contacted Great Wall China Adoption Agency for Information
February 15,2005: Received Application from GWCA
Certified copies of Birth and Marriage Certificates issue date
February 16,2005: Completed application and sent with application fee to GWCA
February 17,2005: Application approved / received adoption manual
Received Certified Birth and Marriage Certificates
Contacted Home Study Agency and sent payment for fees
February 20,2005: Received packet from Home Study Agency and began paperwork
February 25,2005: Received notorized Employment letter - Janet
February 27,2005: Received notorized Employment letter - Joe

March 4,2005: Typed Application Letter for GWCA
Typed Financial Letter for GWCA
March 5,2005: Got Notorization for Application and Financial
letters
March 7,2005: Sent Joe's Employment letter to Iowa for State Authentication
March 8,2005: Sent Certified Birth and Marriage Certificates to Louisiana for
State Authentication by Secretary of State
March 9,2005: Received Joe's Employment letter back from Iowa
March 10,2005: Received State Authenticated Birth and Marriage Certificates
March 11,2005: Picked up completed Criminal Record Check letters from local
Police Dept.
Took notorized Application letter, Financial Statement and
Janet's Employment letter to County Courthouse for County
Authentication.
1st Home Study Meeting
March 14,2005: 2nd Home Study Meeting
Mailed I-600A application to CIS
Mailed Joe's Employment letter to Chinese Consulate in Illinois
for final Authentication.
March 16,2005: Received notification the CIS received I-600A
application
Took Criminal Record's Check letters to County Courthouse for
County Authentication
March 17,2005: Janet- bloodwork for Physical
March 22,2005: Received Joe's Employment letter back from
the Chinese Consulate
March 23,2005: Received Fingerprint appointments for April 1st at 2:00 p.m.
Janet - TB Test
March 24,2005: Matthew's Physical - required notorization in Dr.'s office
Janet - TB Test read back - Negative
March 25,2005: 3rd Home Study (Joe)
Took Matt's Physical paperwork to County Courthouse for
County Authentication
Took 7 documents to Secretary of State
for Authentication

April 1,2005: Matthew had wisdom teeth removed
4th and final Home Study
Fingerprinting at CIS - 2 p.m. appointment-waited 3 hours
April 5,2005: Janet - Physical and notorization


May 25,2005: CIS received Homestudy

July 16,2005: Had 2 passport photos taken of each of us for Dossier
July 21,2005: Checked all paperwork in Dossier and made copies
July 22,2005: Received the Authenticated I-171H letter
Mailed completed Dossier to GWCA for review
July 25,2005: GWCA received Dossier

July 29, 2005: Dossier mailed to China by Great Wall Adoption Agency

August 24, 2005: * /LID : Official log in date for Dossier

September 16, 2005: Notified that Dossier is in Translation Room at CCAA

December 19, 2005: Notified that Dossier is in Review Room

Updates:
12/05: Painted,decorated and took pictures of Katherine's room

12/ /05: Joe brings home a very cute, huge ladybug pillow/chair for Katherine's room.

12/23/05: Purchased an antique "wadrobe" from for Katherine's room. It had been painted eggplant purple and hot pink and had foam stars stuck all over it, so it took some work, but it is now painted and in Katherine's room.

12/28/05: ll:00 p.m. : Ladybug sighting (It is considered Good Luck when a ladybug is sighted)

7/01/06: Fingerprints Expire

1/3/06: Two ladybugs sighted around 3:00 A.M.

11/01/06: Received "STORK ALERT" from GWCA agency !!!!!!

11/02/06: Received REFERRAL and Pictures of Katherine !!!!!!!!!!

11/06/02: Received FedEx Package with translated Medical records and Acceptance Forms
Signed and overnighted Acceptance Package back to Great Wall

11/10/06: Received translation of Katherine's Growth Chart which describes where she was found and detailed information about her monthly progress, her personality, and her daily schedule.

11/15/06: Received e-mail from agency that we will be transitioning to the "Travel Team" on Friday, 11/17/06 in preparation for travel to bring Katherine home.

Joe , Janet and Cannolli

Katherine's Dad, Mom and puppy Happy New Year!! The Year of the Dog !

Katherine's big brother, Matt

Our journey for Katherine Mei Lia began in February 2005. I was at work and received a phone call from my husband, Joe. When I answered the phone, Joe asked me if I would be interested in adopting a child. I did not know what to say at first, because I did not think I had heard him correctly. He then explained that he wanted us to consider adopting child and becoming a forever family to another child.

We have one biological son, Matthew, who is the most wonderful son a parent could ever want. He is nineteen years old and has given us so many wonderful memories and filled our lives with incredible joy. I have always loved children, wanted more children, and have loved every moment of motherhood, but because of infertility problems, we were not able to have any other children. When Joe suggested that we pursue adopting another child, I was overwhelmed with excitement in the prospects of being able to experience being a mother to another child. I could not wait to get off of the phone and start the process. I immediately began researching Domestic adoption versus International adoption and seaching for an adoption agency.

Domestic adoption has become a very long, difficult process. More unwed mothers have chosen to keep their babies or will only allow the child to be adopted in an open adoption process, the waiting period can take several years, and the cost can be very expensive, not to mention the fact that because of the laws here, the natural parent/parents can change their mind and regain custody of the child which would be devastating to the adoptive parents. Before conceiving our biological son, we tried domestic adoption twice with both attempts ending in failure. In both cases the undwed mothers decided to keep their babies. This was a very painful process and not one I would want to pursue again.

For several years I have read about the little girls in China being abandoned and the number of children in orphanages in China in need of homes. I began researching Chinese adoption and learned that the Chinese people do love their children and the children are generally very healthy and are well taken care of in the orphanages or by foster families. The wait is not as long, the expense is resonable, most of the mothers of the children take care of their bodies and because of the poor economic conditions in the rural areas, the mothers do not tend to use drugs and/or alcohol.

We decided that because we already have a biological son and considering the large number of little girls that are abandoned in China, that our chances of adopting a little girl would be greater if we pursued adopting from China. (National Geographic did a wonderful documentary on "The Lost Girls of China" which gives an excellent description about the adoption journey and the conditions allowing for the numerous little girls available for adoption.)

The next decision to be made was to pick an adoption agency, so I began my research. I wanted to deal with an agency with an excellent reputation, one that was directly involved with Chinese adoptions,could communicate directly with the Chinese government and had offices located in China. My research led me to the Great Wall China Adoptions located in Austin, Texas. I made the phone call, answered some questions and waited for approval. After a few days, we were approved and the journey of lots of paperwork, preparation and waiting began. In March 2005, we attended an information meeting hosted by Great Wall Adoption and met several families who had adopted little girls through Great Wall Adoption. We were very impressed with the fact that they have offices located in China near the CCAA offices delt only with China adoptions and were very organized and open to all of our questions.

China is a very beautiful country with a very rich, ancient and impressive history.
My research for the history behind the huge population explosion which has resulted in the over-crowded orphanages, indicates that in the 1950's, Mao Tse-Tung urged his people to have lots of children to strengthen the country. The excessive population growth led to the government in the 1970's to be worried that China would be unable to feed all of her citizens. This resulted in the Chinese government implementing the One Child Policy in 1979. The goal of this policy was to keep China's population below 1.3 billion by the year 2000. Today, China is home to over 1.2 billion people. Couples who violate the One Child Policy are subject to fines equal to three year's salary, community ostracism, and possible prison time.

Baby boys are more valued in Chinese society because boys carry on the ancestral name, inheritance laws pass property on to sons, and sons are responsible for taking care of their aged parents. Because of this, many couples will abondon baby girls, usually at the urging of the husband's parents. Hundreds of thousands of baby girls are abandoned every year in public places such as busy streets, railway stations and in front of public buildings so they will be found quickly. It is believed that that the mothers will hide and wait to make sure that their babies are found safely because they love their children and the decision to abandon them is heartbreaking. The children are usually abandoned as infants when they are only a few days old. In addition to little girls, handicaped babies and sick babies, both boys and girls are also abandoned every year because most parents in China don't have the money to provide for their special needs. Once found, the babies are given a medical exam and then taken to an orphanage.

Now that China is allowing International adoption from families from around the world, many of these children will find their forever families, will be loved and given an education and will live healthy productive lives.

As stated in an ancient Chinese belief: "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."

We are very grateful to be blessed in being able to pursue this journey to our little Katherine and pray that many other chilren will soon find their forever families. We also pray for the birth parents of our baby Katherine that they find peace in their sacrifice of having to let her go.