20 months and counting...

Well, it's been 20 months now that we've been waiting for our daughter. When we started this whole process we figured we'd have had her already at this point. But, time passes and along with it, the international adoption community at large.

We've seen an increase in the waits for most countries (most especially China) - partly due to overflow from people no longer wanting to wait for Chinese children and also the new Hague convention treaty which goes into effect on April 1st. Not all countries are Hague certified which means that you can no longer adopt from certain countries anymore (another cause of the increase in waits everywhere).

So, our wait continues and life goes on. We have no choice but to accept "what is" and not "what was".

In the meantime, our daughter's room is ready and waiting for her to fill it. Her closet is teaming with clothes thanks to Aunt Ruth/Uncle Todd and Tanya/Jerry/Elie. (I can't wait to see her in them.) She has her crib, dresser, night stand, changing table, teddy bear chair and paintings that I've made for her. She is already so spoiled...

We occasionally get glimmers of hope. We have friends leaving for China on Tuesday to pick up their son. He is a beautiful little boy and we can't wait to meet him - a future playmate for our daughter (they only live a few blocks away from us).

Next set of matches are in!

Congratulations to all of the families who received their matches yesterday! The CCAA matched families with log in dates of December 28, 2005 - January 4, 2006! Another 8-day batch...

At least now the CCAA is out of the 2005 LIDs and is into 2006. Only another 27.5 weeks worth of LIDs to go... (We are 7-14-06). If they continue on the 8-day track of matches, that means another 24 months to go from now. We keep hoping for a speed up, but doesn't seem to be in the cards. Maybe after the Olympics in China are over??? Time will tell...

A beautiful poem

I found this beautiful poem that I think I'm going to put in her Lifebook (adoption version of a baby book). I couldn't resist making it look pretty...

A little humor needed

Well, it's another winter storm here in the lovely midwest! Right now our streets are completely ice-covered, all the malls are closed and everyone is encouraged to stay home (which we are) for the day. We are expected to get up to 9 inches by the end of the day. We have already broken the record for most snowfall in a single year - so now it's time to say "enough already!" So, I felt a little humor is needed today to lighten my mood.

Being a cat person, I found this funny..

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Chinese New Year Party

Yesterday afternoon, Robert and I had our very first Chinese New Year Party celebrating the Year of the Rat. It was lots of fun. We ended up with around 25 adults and about 20 kids. Let's just say that our house got a little crazy, but we enjoyed it thoroughly. We had the kids making dragon masks and coloring "Year of the Rat" pictures. The adults had lots of Chinese appetizers and desserts. Below is a little video I created from a few snapshots we took during the party. I apologize to those of you who didn't make it in... we got carried away talking and not taking photos... Next time...

Happy Chinese New Year

Today marks the first day of the Chinese New Year - the year of the rat.

Chinese New Year (simplified Chinese: 农历新年; traditional Chinese: 農曆新年; pinyin: Nónglì xīnnián; literally: "Agrarian Calendar New Year") or Spring Festival (simplified Chinese: 春节; traditional Chinese: 春節; pinyin: Chūnjié) is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. It is an important holiday in East Asia. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival (simplified Chinese: 元宵节; traditional Chinese: 元宵節; pinyin: yuánxiāojié).

Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī (除夕). Chu literally means "change" and xi means "Eve".

Years for Year of the Rat
1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020

Rat personality traits
People born in the Year of the Rat are one of the most industrious and hardest working in the zodiac.

Forever busy in pursuit of an ambitous personal goal, at times they may become difficult to work with since they are born perfectionists. Rats must ensure that every "i" is dotted before completing an assigned task. As a result, they are often successful financially, and are good providers for their family and those they cherish most dearly.

Loyal and loving, Rat people inspire loyalty in others who are close to them. They are essentially honest individuals and loath to betray a confidence. However, their quick wit and restlessness can sometimes lead to chattiness, and they can often be relied upon at large social gatherings for a good story or a juicy bit of gossip.

Their energy levels and expert organizational talents are such that it is a rare thing to see a Rat person sitting idly by with nothing to do.

They may even sometimes be viewed as opportunists who cajole others into helping them accomplish a great ambition. In their careers, Rat people can find much success as business leaders or politicians.

Rats are most compatible with : Dragon, Monkey, Ox

Famous people born in the Year of the Rat : Charlotte Bronte, Truman Capote, Catherine I, Prince Charles, Sasha Cohen, Eminem, Peter the Great, Mata Hari, Scarlett Johansson, Wolfgang Mozart, Plato, William Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, George Washington

Our Winter Storm

Well, we officially got around 12 to 13 inches of snow, but you would never know looking at the pile-up we got. We had 25 mile an hour winds that created HUGE snow drifts and white out conditions. The roads and our street was impassable. I couldn't leave the house. At least I got lots of cleaning done in the house...

Here's Robert with his trusty friends - the snowblower and the shovel. Good husband!!




Here is an excerpt from the news today:
About 1,000 cars are stuck on the I-90 interstate between Madison and Janesville. It started around 10 a.m. this morning. Traffic has started to move at around 9:30pm Wednesday night. The traffic is moving VERY slowly. Many of the motorists were stranded for almost 10 hours. The Dane County Sheriff's Office says the Wisconsin National Guard has been activated to assist stranded motorists.

Our daughter's wish book

Well, I just created the intro page to our daughter's Wish Book for her 100 Good Wishes Quilt that I thought I'd share. I'm very proud of it!

The Brown Envelope

Yesterday in the mail we got the "Brown Envelope" from the US Embassy in Guangzho. The USCIS and Dept. of Homeland Security has approved our petition to adopt an overseas orphan. This is just a renewal of our earlier "Brown Envelope" that we received initially when our dossier went to China. I'm sure we'll be getting one more of these yet to come...