Afghanistan. Just Afghanistan.

I had a hard time figuring out what to title this post.

Chris 's next deployment will be in Afghanistan for 6 months beginning next summer. Yes, he's Navy, and, yes, Afghanistan is land-locked. He's deploying as an individual augmentee" (IA) and will assist the Army and Marine Corps at the Combined Security Transition Command at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan. The link has a lot of interesting information under Newcomers.

We expect to hear more soon regarding the dates he'll leave for Combat Skills Training Course at Fort Jackson, SC, and then off to Kabul after that. He'll still be performing his Yeoman duties; he's assured me his responsibilities will be within the camp walls.

There's even an IA Family Handbook that will help prep us. This is his first deployment since we've been married.

"CAN'T. RESIST. MUST. POST."

China Daily: "Panda cub debuts at Chongqing zoo"
Visitors look at an unnamed giant panda cub during its first public appearance at the Chongqing Zoo in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, December 10, 2007. The four-month-old cub was given birth by giant panda Ya Ya in the zoo.

1 & 1/2 years - Heard that before!

It just occurred to me yesterday that each month since our application was sent to China we've been telling people (and ourselves) it would be a 1 & 1/2 year wait for our referral. For 1 and 1/2 years we've been saying we'll get our referral in 1 & 1/2 years! BAK! Kerazy, huh?

Happy holiday season!

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before December 14, 2005." No sign of any great speed-up in referrals this month.

"Foreign adoptions from China fall" (USA Today)

While we are waiting for the next adoption status update to be posted (next week?), see this USA Today article for written word on the slowdown in referrals.

Doing some math... how sweet!

We're expecting!!

Look at it this way:

(1) If we get our referral in February, March, or April 2009 (15-17 months out, looking on the bright side of things), and

(2) If our child is about 8 months old at the time of referral, then ---

8 (months old) + 9 (months of the birth mother being pregnant) = 17 months, and

If (1) is true, then our little baby is growing inside her birth mother RIGHT NOW! Take care, little one and parents!

24 Eyes

I know what you will be thinking when you look at these family pictures. We have vision issues. Actually, all the glasses were found by my Dad, and we picked the cream of the crop from the collection to wear to our niece's wedding reception.

Here's brother Dig, DH Chris, and nephew Josh:

And here's Heather (Josh's GF), sister-in-law-to-be Sumie, and me:

"Favorable Determination" Once Again

Our Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition has been approved - again - resulting in our receipt of the I-171H document. The I-171H from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) indicates we are "able to furnish proper care to an orphan" and that we've been approved for one child up to 18 months old, either boy or girl (all that is exactly what we asked for), and the embassy in Guangzhou, China has been notified.

I say it was approved again because this is the second time we've applied. The approval is only valid for 18 months, and the fingerprint checks that are also required are only valid for 15 months, and, as many of you know, we started this process many moons ago; i.e., more than 18 months ago. However, the USCIS recently allowed those re-filing to re-file for free (once). That saved us a whopping $800 and change. Excellent.

If you are thinking ahead like we are, yes, we're most likely going to have to re-apply again before it's time to meet our baby. Time to start earning interest on that $800 saved!

Truth be told...

I am having "I want my baby" pangs. I want OUR baby, that is. More precisely, WE want OUR baby.

Our application was logged in at the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) nearly 17 months ago. At the time, the wait for a referral was expected to increase from a 12-month wait to perhaps a 14- or 15-month wait. Oh, the horrors, we thought. As time passed, the CCAA referred fewer and fewer children each month. Families who got their referrals this month waited 23 months.

The reasons for fewer children being available? As far as we know, the better economic situation allows more families to keep their children and more families to adopt domestically. Who can argue with that being a good thing for China's children? Not us.

And Chris and I have been grateful for "extra" time together as a couple, having the freedom to travel or sit on our tushies in front of the TV. We've even celebrated the anticipated arrival by buying a few baby gifts for our young 'en. (By the way, there have been quite a few boys referred lately.)

Every month we wait and hope that the CCAA will be able to match more applications than the last month. If the referral rate would be 1/3 month's worth of applications per month, and our application was received June 19, 2006 and they currently referred through December 8, 2005... that puts us at getting a referral in June 2009 - a three year wait. I keep re-doing the calculations in my head thinking there must have been a mistake. I keep hoping down in my heart that maybe some months will only have a few applications and possibly they'll refer an average of 1/2 month's worth of applications per month putting us at getting a referral in January or February 2009.

It just doesn't seem real (the wait, that is). Don't get me wrong, I don't hold the wait against China. I certainly don't feel entitled to have a child - much less from another country who has been so gracious to allow foreigners to take care of their own children. And we continue to be committed to adopting from China.

And then there always the possibility, as I said, of a speed-up in referrals.

If I asked you to be kind to us, that doesn't mean you would stop asking about our baby, does it?

And Happy Birthday to Dave!

Today's my nephew-in-law's birthday and here's a shout out to Dave! What you can't see in this picture is that, like in the picture of brother Mike, Dave is also holding a drink. Cheers to the birthday boy doubling as a newlywed!

Happy 50th Michael!

Happy birthday to my big brother, Mike! Thanks for all the memories (burying me in the toy box, the loud parties in your room when Mom & Dad were away and you were supposed to be baby-sitting me...) but most of all thanks for being a caring, always there for me, big brother! (Hey - what's that in your hand? Cheers!)

Adoption Status Update

Here's what we're expecting the CCAA web site to say any day now: "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before December 8, 2005." At least that is what the rumors are!

More Kids, Beijing Olympics, and McDonald's!

It's a McDonald's commercial in China. Thank you, China Books Blog.

We love eatin'

And so does Ronnie, son of our friends Margaret and Randy!

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 30, 2005." Five whopping days worth of applications...

Beijing 2008 Olympics - Fun!

The summer 2008 Olympic Games will be held in Beijing from the 8th to 24th of August. Check out this picture of "Bird's Nest" National Stadium!
The official mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games are called Fuwa. They carry a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world. They are like playful little children who are friends. Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.
Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow. When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing."

Click here to see these mascots in action!

When will we get our referral?

Tired of the mumbo-jumbo I post about the "CCAA has finished the placement of children ..."? Want a straightforward estimate of when we'll be getting our referral (info on and pic of our baby)? OK, I'll try.

Our estimate of when we'll be getting our referral ranges from September 2008 (if the processing SUPER-speeds up) to February 2010 (if the wait continues to increase as it has). A middle-of-the-road estimate: March 2009. Then there's about a six week wait until we travel to get her.

Why such a range of estimates? Consider this:
1. The wait for referral has increased tremendously since when we first sent our dossier to China. At that time, the wait was about 13 months; now the wait is 21 months. This is because there are thousands of parents who applied to adopt from China and there are fewer children orphaned and more domestic adoptions occurring.
2. There is speculation that many families have withdrawn their application from China. This might speed up the wait.

Every month we get information that helps us hone in on the estimate of when we'll get our referral. Look for another update in about 2 weeks when the CCAA posts how far they got in placing children in September. We're hoping they get much farther this month than they have over the past 6 months!

Annoucing Mr. & Mrs. Gumble!

Congratulations Lauren & Dave!

August 29, 2007 in St. Lucia

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 25, 2005." Only 4 days worth of dossiers they matched in August... maybe there were tons on dossiers received on those 4 days?

Pictures of St. Lucia coming soon!

Long time, no post

I know, it has been a while since I posted anything. All I can say is that I've been busy, and Chris has been ever so supportive. Oh, I can also say we're heading to St. Lucia this weekend to attend my niece's wedding. Ahhhhh, beach, love beach.

By the time we return, there should be an update on how far the CCAA got in matching for the month of August. We are now applying to have our orphan immigration approval extended - the approval lasts 18 months and we get one renewal FREE (woohoo). Also our fingerprints will require another run through the system (the report lasts 15 months) to make sure we're still on the up-n-up.

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 21, 2005." Three months in a row they were able to match 7 days worth of dossiers. As I've posted before, November is estimated to be a month in which the CCAA received a lot of applications. We hope that once they are through November that December, January, and February go fairly quickly (March is apparently a big month, too, but perhaps not as big as November).

We made it through review!

"The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before June 30, 2006." Our application was received June 19, 2006. We weren't asked any questions about our adoption application, so that's one big Whew! We're hopeful that it will only be another 14 months until we receive our referral, information on what little girl (or boy) we've been matched with. Yeeeee Haw!

Alaska is BEA-U-TIFUL

The weather has been fantastic and the flowers here are so vibrant (20 hours of daylight helps, I imagine). Today is the last day of the GED Adminstrators' Conference and then Chris and I will be off to Denali and then Seward.

Ciao!

North to Alaska!

We're off to Alaska!

Anchorage, Denali, and Seward, here we come!

Our China "Travel Group"

Three other families submitted their dossiers through Adoptions Together at the same time we did: one from the DC area and two from the Midwest. It is expected that we will all receive the referrals of our children at the same time, all of our children will be from the same orphanage, and we will all be travelling at the same time to bring our children home.

It has been a lot of fun to exchange e-mails with these other families. Today I would like to share a picture from one of the families who has been incredibly supportive during the wait. Here's John, Jolene, & Lorna! Looking forward to meeting you next year!

Baby Robey

Aw, look at the pretty baby!

He or she will be Chris's and my second great-niece/nephew and is expected to arrive in January. Congratulations, Robeys!

ANOTHER Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 14, 2005." This past month they were able to match 7 days worth of dossiers. As I've posted before, November is estimated to be a month in which the CCAA received A LOT of applications, so once again we're thankful that they matched that many.

Adoption Status Update

June applications are in the Review Room!

The CCAA posted that they have finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before May 31, 2006. Our application was registered with their office on June 19, 2006 - that means our application could be reviewed soon! (Can you sense the excitement?)

Again, when they review our application they will tell us if everything looks OK to proceed; it does not mean we are close to getting matched with a child. We still estimate we are a year or two away from being matched with a child. But still, it will be good to eventually know we made it over another hump.

Out of the blue

I'm finding out that I'm human, that I can't avoid thinking about our baby-to-be. What does this mean? It means I'VE GONE SHOPPING! I bought (herein for the first time revealed to my DH Chris) :

Good Fortune Wooden Blocks
In Korea, on a baby's 100th day, family and friends get a peek into the child's future. Parents spread out objects representing different professions—a calligraphy brush or a spool of thread, for example—and whatever the baby first touches is said to be his or her destiny. I've ordered colorful wooden blocks that offer a modern take on this tradition: a set of 26 blocks with each block depicting a potential life path—from astronaut to deejay to zookeeper—plus a corresponding alphabet letter and illustration, all contained in a canvas drawstring pouch embroidered with "when i grow up..."

100 Good Wishes Growth Chart

Based on the traditional Chinese "100 Good Wishes Quilt" given by friends and family to newborns, this chart marks a child's height through the years and imparts inspirational words along the way.

Musical Carousel Frame

A porcelain carousel with four frames that plays "Rock-a-Bye Baby" to lull the little one to sleep.

Oh, I also bought a shoe shine kit.

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA posted that they have finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with their office before April 30, 2006. Our application was registered with their office on June 19, 2006. Unfortunately, we have no idea how long it will take them to get to reviewing ours -- it could be two months, it could be six months...

When they review our application they will tell us if everything looks OK to proceed; it does not mean we are close to getting matched with a child. We still estimate we are a year or two away from being matched with a child.

In the meanwhile, check out this beautiful child, our great-niece Hailey, reminding us to Stop and Smell the Roses!

One Year "Anniversary"

Today marks one year since our dossier/adoption application packet was logged in at the CCAA.

One year.

The dossier still sits in the queue untouched with an expectation it will be reviewed within the upcoming months.

How can I describe what the past year was like? The excitement at sending off our dossier, the planning of what month we'd buy a crib, the putting off buying a crib because the wait continued to get longer and longer.

I believe the labor of our wait pales in comparison to what others close to us have endured: two grandparents and one uncle passed away, cancer reared its ugly head, tragedy occurred on a college campus.

And the good things that have happened around us make us smile in the meanwhile: our niece is pregnant with her first baby, our great-niece turned 3 and exclaims "Oh my goodness!" at each present she opens, jasmine blooms, and our garden bears fruits and vegetables.

Happy birthday to Chris's father!

Fathers Day Frosty Weekend

Buy a Frosty this Father's Day weekend, June 16-17, and 50 cents will go to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption!
You could be giving a child the gift of a family.

Rockin' Frosty! (Warning: Music ensues!)

One Year Ago Today

To China with love;
spring, winter, fall, summer gone
with our dossier.

Adoption Status Update

The CCAA has "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 7, 2005." They were only able to match 6 days worth of dossiers this past month. Everyone was hoping that they would match more days of applications. Still, because November is estimated to be a month in which the CCAA received A LOT of applications, we're thankful that they matched that many.

The CCAA hasn't updated the "finished the review of the adoption application documents" section of their web page; it still states they've "finished the review of application documents registered [logged in] with their office before March 31, 2006." Hopefully soon our application will be in (and out of!) the review room! It would be nice if our application was reviewed before more of our paperwork (immigration paperwork, fingerprinting checks) expires and needs renewal.

We've recently received our renewed homestudy; the homestudy is a document that, in Virginia, requires a yearly renewal and serves as the adoption agency's endorsement that we are mentally, physically, financially, etc. fit to be parents. No jokes about the mental aspect, please. (giggle, giggle)

We have our OFFICIAL Log-In-Date (LID)!

We received word from our adoption agency, Adoptions Together, that the date our dossier/application was officially logged into the China Center of Adoption Affairs was June 19, 2006.

It's very exciting to finally have this offical date!

Ack! The rumors!

There's a website for China adoptions that is unofficially known as "Rumor Queen." I love it because there's a lot of number crunching and, for the most part, I feel like I don't get too swept up in the rumors.

The latest rumors include that the CCAA told some agencies the wait wouldn't get much longer than it already is; however, some agencies say that the CCAA told them the wait could go to 3 years. Also, rumor is that all orphanages are now allowed to send paperwork for eligible children (not just the orphanages that have gone through the process of being approved to submit babies for international adoption). That could provide more babies!

Hopefully by the end of this month there will be an update on how far the CCAA got in the matching/referral process this month. Rumors on that front are that they may have processed half of November. Processing half of November would be a great accomplishment because apparently there were A LOT of dossiers submitted that month.

"I cannot tell how the truth may be; I say the tale as 'twas said to me. "

-- Sir Walter Scott, The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Why is the wait getting longer?

Here's a little history on our adoption process regarding the wait: When we first started looking into adoption in November 2005, the wait for the China program was 9-12 months. In February 2006, the social worker who was conducting our homestudy told us the wait would probably increase to 14 months; it was so hard to hear that news. The wait has steadily increased since then and is currently at about 19 months and expected to increase to 24 to 36 months. Our paperwork will have been at the CCAA for 1 year this July.

Why is the wait getting longer? There are several reasons, including the following:

• Thousands of adoption applications have been sent to the CCAA over the past couple of years. Some estimate there are about 20,000 adoption applications in the CCAA queue.
• China's economics are on the upswing meaning more parents are able to afford keeping more than child. Contrary to belief, not all cities and provinces in China have a strict one-child policy.
• There are more domestic adoptions occurring within China; they take precedent over international adoptions. And that's a wonderful thing for those parents in China who wish to start their family.
• The last two bullet points mean there are less children in China's orphanages to meet the demand listed in bullet point #1.

Last month Chris and I considered switching international adoption programs. Specifically, we considered switching to Vietnam; our adoption agency just started working with the recently reopened Vietnam program. So we collected information on the Vietnam program, and we quite quickly came to decide that switching programs wasn't worth the risk. Vietnam is only recently reopened and the process is not as smooth or sure as the China program, even though we possibly could have a baby sooner than with the China program. How would we feel if we had switched to Vietnam and that program suddenly closed down? And having applications at two countries isn't allowed and isn't fair to all of those who are waiting.

What are our hopes? We hope the wait will not go far beyond 24 months. We hope we're halfway through the wait to at least seeing a picture of our child.

We thank everyone for being so supportive despite all the disheartening updates we've forwarded on to you. As we wait to become parents, we haven't lost sight of the important things to celebrate, and that's why we now say...

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Adoption Status Update

Although the CCAA has not updated their web site, there is strong evidence suggesting they've finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before November 1, 2005. That indicates they matched 5 days worth of dossiers this past month.

Again, our adoption application documents were registered with their office sometime in late June/early July 2006. There's a lot of applications ahead of ours.

Chris and I are trying to come to terms with the prediction that we may not get our referral for another year and therefore may not travel until fall of 2008 to bring home our child. As you can imagine, this is heartbreaking for us, but we are prepared to hang in there for our baby.

In my next post I'll talk more about what we've learned about the increasing wait.

LIFE IS SHORT | Autobiography as Haiku

This Autobiography as Haiku is from the Washington Post (April 22, 2007). To me, it's all about love.

"I shop all over Washington in search of the perfect Chinese baby doll for my new granddaughter, who is half Chinese. I want her to have such a doll to identify with her Chinese heritage. I finally find the right one. As I give it to her, I see a blue-eyed blond doll that her Chinese grandfather, who just arrived from China, shopped all over that country to find for his new American granddaughter."
-Jane Steimel, Bethesda

Adoption Status Update - a hard blow

They've "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before October 26, 2005." That indicates they were only able to match 2 days worth of dossiers this past month instead of their usual average (over the last year) of 13 days worth. This pattern of a slow down in referrals was seen in previous years right after the Chinese New Year, so maybe we should have foreseen it.

The CCAA hasn't updated the review section of their web page; it still states they've "finished the review of application documents registered [logged in] with their office before March 31, 2006."

Ugh, we've been clinging to the wait time not changing for estimating when we'll get our referral (and thereby hoping before the end of this year), but if we look at the number of days worth of dossiers matched per month's worth of time, we could be waiting another 18 months. So there you have it. I've said it. Poop on a stick.

Sandstorm in Beijing

We were first alerted of the sandstorm hitting Beijing by our friend Cathy who has been working in Beijing since November.

This sandstorm was created by a cyclone in Mongolia and is expected bring only (thanks to strong winds) a day or two of floating dust.

Eleven to 15 more sandstorms are forecasted for Northern and Northwest China this spring.

"What happens at grandma's, stays at grandma's"

Here's Hailey, our great-niece--she is my sister JoAnne's granddaughter and my niece Lauren's daughter.

Hailey was at her grandma's (JoAnne's) house painting.

Boy, was she ever painting!

Mandarin I course draws to a close

Only a few more weeks of Mandarin I Chinese classes remaining. I'll be thinking about taking the "Chinese for Travelers" course during the summer semester if it's offered; I'm not sure I could handle Mandarin II over the summer.

Did you know it's estimated only a little over half of China's population can speak Mandarin, the national language? The percentage is higher --70%-- if estimating for Chinese people between the ages of 15 to 29 years of age. (Washington Post, March 7, 2007)

What are the chances I'll be able to communicate with Chinese people while we are there (next year?)? Perhaps slim. But I hope at least a hearty "Thank you", a considerate "How are you?", and a firm "That price is too expensive!" will get me somewhere.

Soundscape of China (PBS)

Listen to sounds from all over China!

PBS has been airing a four-part TV program titled "China from the Inside." We've watched all four episodes and learned a lot about China's government, people, women, and environment. And now this fun link to sounds of China! Of course, I am partial to the lullaby being sung by a caretaker in an orphanage in Henan province. Henan, by the way, is one of the provinces that our adoption agency has received referrals from in the past.

Terrifying

I can't even begin to imagine Chris and I being in the process of adopting from Guatemala... tears of fear come to my eyes as I type this post imagining such.

Recent news articles are titled Adoptions in Guatemala Face U.S. Ban and Guatemala System Is Scrutinized as Americans Rush In to Adopt. I'll let you read them for yourself.

Happy International Women's Day, Ladies!

Today is International Women's Day!

Women in China (and other countries, I presume) had 1/2 or the whole day off!

Adoption Status Update!

The CCAA has updated their web site!

They've "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before October 24, 2005," and they've "finished the review of application documents registered [logged in] with their office before March 31, 2006."

The wait time from log-in date to referral (matching a family with a child) is just under 17 months. And then it's about 6 weeks until you travel to China. We estimate that our dossier was received the end of June 2006; that's eight months ago. We are still estimating (hoping) we will receive our referral in November at the very earliest.

Psychometrics and the U.S. Navy

This post isn’t specifically about psychometrics and the U.S. Navy’s advancement/promotion system . It’s really just to congratulate Chris on making the Chief Petty Officer (CPO, E-7) Selection Board, a board charged with considering all eligible candidates for advancement to CPO. He’s eligible for board based on his score on the Navy Advancement-in-Rate Examination and performance evaluations. Next, the CPO Selection Board will consider the following factors for promoting sailors to E-7:

Professional Performance at Sea

Education

Evaluations

Physical Standards

Test Scores

Oh, I should mention there’s also this thing called a quota; that is, there’s only so many “openings” for E-7 Yeoman advancements. Last year there was less than 9% advancement opportunity for Yeoman. We anxiously await hearing – by August – whether he’s been selected to advance.

FANtastic McRice Burger

This just in off the China Books blog site about an interesting new item at McDonalds:

"Now anybody who has been to China probably understands how different the McDonalds is there than it is here. Often McDonalds in Hong Kong and Macau will have a McCafe, which features caffeinated beverages that exceed Starbucks in price, and the service is always speedy and friendly. ..the latest popular menu item in China called the FANtastic, or in Thailand, the McRice burger. FAN in Chinese means rice so translated into English the dish really means RICEtastic."

Parenting and the Chinese Zodiac

First, figure out your Chinese zodiac sign from the figure below.

Then read about your parenting style in the article link below. (As if I had to be told my husband would spoil our child!)
http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2007/02/10/MOMS2007021086793.html

Sweet pajamas!

Happy St. Valentine's Day, everyone!

Check out my new pajamas from Chris.

They've got everything: argyle, footies, soft fleece, and extra tall!

http://www.jumpinjammerz.com/

Adoption Information Resources

A few months ago, my DH and I bought several books and a video and received a magazine gift subscription all of which we’ve been using to educate ourselves during the adoption wait. I’m listing them here for others who may be interested in the topics.

• Adoptive Families Magazine. This magazine has great personal stories as well as educational and resource information. And their website is packed with more! http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/
• China’s Lost Girls (DVD, National Geographic). We currently have this DVD circulating among our family to give them a glimpse of the orphan situation in China and what our experience in China might be like.
• From China with Love (2006, Emily Buchanan). This book is an account of a UK journalist’s adoption experiences. I liked that it covered not only personal experiences, but history, culture, and current events, too.
• A Passage to the Heart (1999, Amy Klatzkin). This book has tons of writings from families with children from China. I think it’s great because of the sheer volume and variety.
• Cross-Cultural Adoption: How to Answer Questions from Family, Friends, and Community (2004, Coughlin & Abramowitz). At first we though the book was just so-so because a lot was geared towards questions from children (and we get our questions from adults), but then I saw how captured my mom was by it as she read nearly the whole book in one day. Plus, it has great general information sections on 10 countries (It’s not just for China!)
• Becoming A Family: Promoting Healthy Attachments with Your Adopted Child (2003, Eshleman). Some readers on Amazon found this book “scary” because it presents some worst-case attachment/bonding scenarios. But I feel if you are interested in gaining knowledge proactively and able to keep things in perspective, this is a good book with good advice. I can’t say we’ll take ALL the advice, but some of it, definitely.
• Adoption Parenting: Creating a Toolbox, Building Connections (2006, MacLeod & Macrae). I’m unwrapping this book as I type…Table of Contents looks good… over 100 contributors on topics such as sleep, attachment, language, food, “baggage”, discipline, grief, transitions, siblings, school, race, and so much more.

Adoption status update!

The CCAA has updated their web site today!

They've "finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with their office before October 13, 2005," and they've "finished the review of application documents registered with their office before March 22, 2006."

We estimate that our dossier was received the end of June 2006; we're getting closer to being reviewed! It's taken CCAA 3 months to review 2 months worth of dossiers...... so maybe in 4 1/2 months we'll know we made it through the review process, but we won't know how much longer after that we would have to wait for our referral. We are still estimating we would receive our referral in November at the very earliest.

Be careful with the Chinese language

I'm so lucky to have intelligent and fun coworkers. Another bonus is that two of them, Yung-Chen and Wei, speak Chinese, and they allow me to practice what I've learned in Chinese Mandarin language class on them. Sometimes I get blank stares after talking in Chinese to them, sometimes I am provided with corrections, and always there are smiles.

In class last night, when I was talking in Chinese about a young man in the room, instead of saying, "He eats sandwiches" I said, "He is a sandwich." Oh sure, the teacher and class roared with laughter. And I now am keen to the difference between the pronunciation and tone for the verb "eat" (chi1) and "to be" (shi4). What's in parantheses is a romanization of Chinese; it's called pinyin, and the numbers represent one of five tones.

To hear the difference between chi1 (eat) and shi4 (to be), click on the link below, type one of the words above -including the number which represents the tone- into the Search box, select Pinyin from the next drop-down box, and click on Look It Up! You'll be presented with a table that will link you to hearing the word pronounced.

http://www.mandarintools.com/worddict.html

Adoption Stories on Discovery Health channel

Time to fess up. We record and watch the TV show "Adoption Stories" on the Discovery Health channel (http://health.discovery.com/), and we watch it with tears in our eyes. Each 1/2 hour episode tells adoptive parents' journey through adoption. The show covers both international adoptions and domestic/U.S. foster care-to-adoptions. Wahhhhh, so sweet!

Are there, or are there not a lot of orphans in China?

Many of you have heard that China plans on using stricter guidelines in approving people who want to adopt from China. From what I've heard, the China Center of Adoption Affairs has so many dossiers and only a limited number of "available/paper-ready" children.

And then you may have also heard that there's been a decline in the number of children adopted from China in 2006. So, what gives?

Adoption from any country is a complicated process. In China today, it's a process that appears to be influenced by the number of orphans who are "available/paper-ready" (those in orphanages that have been approved for international adoption) as well as the number of people who are applying or have been approved to adopt and how fast CCAA staff can work through all the complicated pieces of the complicated process.

Check out this NY Times article link on the subject:
www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/opinion/23russell.html

Paperwork Update - 1 year (homestudy)

One year has passed since we started our adoption process "on paper", and we probably have another year's wait until we bring our baby home. In the meanwhile, we have to keep our paperwork updated. Right now we are working on updating our homestudy - it's required by Virginia state law and serves the purpose of saying, "The Ezzelles are fit to be adoptive parents in the eyes of the Commonwealth of Virginia."

In updating our homestudy, we have to do the following:

• get medicals,
• have VA state police criminal record checks run,
• have child abuse record checks run,
• request Department of Motor Vehicle checks,
• calculate our net worth,
• submit new tax forms, and
• have another interview with a social worker.

This is nothing compared to what was required for the original homestudy or the dossier. And like we've said before, OUR CHILD IS WORTH IT!

Learning the Chinese Language

Last night was our first night of a 12-week course in learning Mandarin, otherwise known as standard Chinese. We'll first learn to speak a little and then dabble in writing. After our first class we were exhausted from trying to get the basic tones and pronounciations correct. Between the course and our Rosetta Stone subscription (http://www.rosettastone.com), we hope to at least be able to speak several key phrases and read a few Chinese characters.

We've already been practicing saying:

1. Hello,
2. Goodbye,
3. Thank you,
4. I love you,
5. We're going to the bar, and
6. Where's the restroom?

Here's a link to a fun website that has Chinese words and phrases for adoptive parents.

http://www.wku.edu/~yuanh/AudioChinese/parent.html

Baby's name

What will we name our little girl? (There's a 99% chance that we'll be matched with a baby girl.)

Helen

Helen is Chris' granny's name and I've always been a fan of names from the 1920s -- oops, sorry Granny for revealing your age! A picture of Granny and Chris from this Christmas is below.

We haven't decided on a middle name, but Elizabeth (my middle name) and whatever is her Chinese name is under consideration.

First-ever non-stop flight from DC to Beijing

United Airlines has been awarded the first-ever non-stop route from DC (Dulles, VA) to Beijing, China! I think that makes the flight only 13-14 hours!

Joined a gym and had pizza (at the gym)

Chris and I joined Planet Fitness gym this past weekend. When we went to the gym yesterday after work there were about 12 boxes of pizza there, their aroma wafting over the eliptical machines. Yeah, we had a slice on the way out. First Monday of every month is pizza night.

CCAA office pictures

The China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) has a new office and the website "Love without Boundaries" (http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/) has shared the following pictures of stacks of dossiers and the review room. Drats, I don't see our dossier in that stack!

Mangy Curs and X-rays

We have two dogs: Maxine and Samantha. They're both about 9 1/2 years old.

In mid-December, Samantha underwent TPLO surgery (http://vetsurgerycentral.com/tplo.htm) on her right knee; In May, she had TPLO surgery on her left knee. We've got 4 months of on-leash recovery ahead of us AGAIN. We're thankful for a warm winter so we don't have to trudge out in the snow with her. And Samantha is thankful that Chris has a soft spot in his heart and has given her this second chance at sticking around a little longer.

Now - check out her x-rays of the plate and screws!

Happy New Year!

We've returned from a wonderful holiday with Granny, Mama, Jeff (see picture), Dad, and Joyce in balmy North Carolina. We'll be sure to miss everyone (and every southern food) tons until we see (eat) them again!

No update on the adoption, but we hope that CCAA will update their website soon so we can see how close they are to reviewing our dossier.