Wishing you all a wonderful new year!

This is the time to reflect on all you're thankful for and make resolutions for the new year. I have a wonderful husband, a comfortable house and an amazing family. There's really only one thing missing - our daughter(s)! May 2011 finally be OUR YEAR!

Wishing you and your families a very Happy New Year!

Starting the 100 Good Wishes Quilt

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or “100 Good Wishes Quilt.” It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth. The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.

Well, yesterday I went to my parent's house so my mom and I could do round 2 of making our daughter's quilt (I forgot to take pictures when we first started it)

I am so happy with the pattern and how it's turning out. I was in charge of trimming the blocks to the correct size for the pattern I created and then my mom did the sewing (the hard and long part!). This pattern will have 108 squares which I figure means more love was put into it!

Well, without further ado, here's where we're at... We're about half way done with the front. Yeah! I'm going to have to find someone to do the actual quilting of it. I can't wait!

My mom sewing rows together

My mom and I modeling the quilt so far

why family is good...

Thanks to my baby sister for this year's birthday card - never laughed so hard... Just had to share... See, getting old is so much fun!

Tax Relief

On December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2010 (HR4853), extending the current tax cuts through the end of 2012.

The Middle Class Tax Relief Act also extends the adoption tax credit which currently stands at $13,170 for qualified families.

This is a huge relief for us and definitely one for those behind us in line. Just one less thing to worry about. Yeah!

Matches Arrived!

It's official - matches have arrived and the official cut-off is May 29, 2006. A 6-day referral batch. We were hoping for the CCAA to finish off May 2006 this month, but as is usual - disappointment abounds.

We now have 46 more referral days to go before we're matched with our daughter. Little baby steps closer. So close, but yet so far.

You Would Think I Would Learn By Now...

...that after 4 years of the constant ups and downs of this adoption that I should just keep my mouth shut when people ask me the dreaded question as to "when" we think this adoption is happening. I had finally started feeling kind of optimistic that maybe we'd have a referral this summer? Now, fast forward a few weeks since Thanksgiving and NO REFERRALS coming out of the CCAA. Rumors are abuzz that maybe no referrals until maybe January. The last set of referrals came out on November 1st, so it's been a while. As to the reason why - well, who knows?! It's the CCAA - because they can  is the reason why. Is there some hidden "quota"? I don't know - only the CCAA does. Is this frustrating - YES!

If you find my optimism, please mail it to me ASAP. Thanks.

We have it!

The other day we received our new I-171H form. This allows us to adopt a child(ren) from China. We are now good with our fingerprints and I-171H form until March 2012 so the CCAA better start making those referrals. And LOTS of them!

I'm not sure what's going on over at the CCAA, but they sure are taking a long time to match this month. It's enough to drive a person crazy! We were hoping for matches this week, but now have resigned to hope for maybe next week? We shall see...

Fingerprinting

Checking things off our to-do list. We just went in for what we hope to be our last USCIS (Homeland Security) fingerprinting (yes, this is our 4th time doing this - so unfortunately we're old pros at it!) which will then clear us and enable us to receive our lovely I-171H form saying we can be the parents of an adopted child(ren) from China. Yeah!

Now if only this next batch of referrals will come... I'm curious to see how far they're going to get. I'm hoping they will get through March 2006 and then can start on June next month. It's just little baby steps closer to our daughter!