MotherBridge of Love

This is a sweet book. Click on Motherbridge of Love
and find the link to the e-card, it is beautiful

Another month

Today marks another month of waiting. We have now been waiting since LID 16 months and will continue to wait a while longer.

Home Study Update

Well today we updated our homestudy for our ever increasing in waiting time adoption. We will then take this information along with other info and send it to INS and be fingerprinted all over again. In another year we may have to do this all over again because I belive that the wait will be at least that.

Cybershowers and secret pals

My little girl is going to be just a little bit spoiled. I have been participating in cyber showers and secret pal program with my adoption yahoo groups. The pictures are just a few of the things she has received.

Out of Review Room!!!!

July 06 is officially out of the review room. Next step (and a super long one) is referral. :)

Katie's babies

I bought these 2 baby dolls for Katie this summer. They were too cute to pass up. One is for her to play with once we get her and the other will be saved/used as decoration in her room until she is older.

More Squishes

WFCC quishes

Waiting for First Child from China is a yahoo group that I am a part of while we wait for our daughter or possilbly a son. Several of us participated in a quilt square swap for our 100 wishes quilts. These are the ones that I have at this point. I have others that I will also post that I received last year but can not locate at the moment because they are put up in a "Safe Place".

I'm Here

I came across this poem today while searching the internet.

"I Am Here!"
I am here!
Will you find me?
Though you've never seen my face?
I am here!
Waiting, hoping
Longing for your warm embrace
It's true, you do not hold my picture
Know my name or weight or height
But I am here!
Come and find me!
Bring me home, by God and might!
I am young and I am learning
Will you teach me? Help me grow?
In your home and heart forever,
I will blossom, this I know!
I am here!
I am here!
Can you hear my urgent plea?
Take a leap with faith to guide you!
Choose the path that leads to me!
-- Jill Underhill, 2006

going to the review room

This is the time of month that I love but makes me the saddest. I love watching all of the new referrals but and sad because I wish it was me. I know that one day we will get there, but at least we are heading to the next phase, "The Review Room". This is where China reviews our dossier(our paperwork) and approve us to adopt. We have been approved here in the states now we get review by China. Sometimes they may have questions for the families. Hopefully we are not going to be questioned and that we will got through this phase rater quickly and then hope and pray that the referrals will start to speed up. Congradulations to all of the families out there that have gotten referrals. I will be watching on-line some of your journies.

1 year of Waiting

Today is our official 1 year anniversary of our LID (log in date) to China. Technically we have be waiting another 8 months if you consider all the paper chasing and getting our dossier together. I just hope that we will have Katie this time next year.

The meaning of names

Katie Hope: One who is pure who has expectations through faith.
I love the meaning of her name. I didn't go looking for the meanings first but was looking it up one day at the book store after we had already came up with the name of our daughter.

Random Encounter

Last night while out with some friends we saw a family with a young Chinese daughter. I stopped and went to talk to these people and was able to ask them many questions. They just returned from China in January. It was very encouraging to talk to them and listen to them talk about their trip both the good things and the not so good things such as getting sick. Even tough we still have a long wait after being logged in for 11 months. I was very glad to talk to this couple and their beautiful daughter, especially after bawling the other day after finishing the book Forever Lily. The book is about a lady who went with her friend who was adopting a little girl and when they get to China the lady's friend changes her mind. The lady after seeing the effect that human touch has had on the little girl and the progress she made in just 2 days could not let her go back to the orphanage. Needless to say this lady ends up adopting this little girl. It was a good book but it did make me long to have my daughter.

10

Tomorrow marks our 10th month of our "official" wait for Katie Hope. LID of July 28, 2006. The actual wait has been much longer. At the moment we now have a nine month wait but probably longer because of the expected increase of 24+ months. We are planning on seeing China through. We have had the possibility of another adoption recently but upon further investigation we decided it wasn't the best choice for our family. Katie has truly been birth in my heart.

9 Months

We have officially been waiting for nine months. Congratulations to all of the families who just received their referrals.

No crying

6 Months

WE have offically be logged in for 6 months as of yesterday. My one prayer is that the wait time will beging to move in the other direction instead of increasing. In the mean time I am participating on a list serve with other people who have log in dates in July 2006. So this should be interesting and maybe even get to travel with some of these folks.

One Step Forward Two Steps back

Sometimes it just seems like I am dreaming when it comes to our adoption. I know it is real but the time frame just continues to increase every time I think we are one month closer to getting our girl. When we first put in our adoption application at the end of November 2005 we were told the process would take 12-15 months from start to finish, 9 months was the waiting for referral time after DTC. It took seven and a half months to get our paperwork to China. I have watch the referral time go from nine months to sixteen to eighteen months. I have decided to go ahead and sign my contract for the next school year and take a maternity leave due to the fact that I do not know exactly when we leave for China. I really was looking forward to not returning to work especially after this extremely hard year but that's OK. It will help pass the time until I get my referral.

This blog is going to be dedicated to our jourey of Hope to China to adopt our little girl.