Bad Rumors

So the latest rumor about the next batch is that they are only going to get through December 19th. That would be 5 days. This seems like it would be pretty much in line with the number of days they have been referring the past few months but it would probably be close to the least amount of referrals sent in a long time. The reason is because the 17th and 18th are weekend days so there are very few, if any, people logged in on those days. Also 15th, 16th and 19th are thought to be relatively small days. The 20th is thought to be a fairly big day but based on the number of referrals sent the past few months it was expected that they would at least get through the 20th. So the 19th would be a big disappointment. It is still a rumor at this point but the longer we don't hear anything to the contrary the more likely it gets.


Based on the online polls there are less people logged in on December 15th through the 19th than there are on the 20th. So if we assume the CCAA sends about the same number of referrals out every month it is possible that we could see only the 20th referred in the February batch. Although, I do think a one day batch is pretty unlikely. We have heard in the past that sometimes the CCAA matches ahead a little. I think if they only get through the 19th with this batch it is likely that they actually matched some families with a LID on the 20th. But they probably didn't have enough babies files to match all of the families with a LID on the 20th. Since the CCAA does not send out partial days the families with a LID on the 20th will have to wait until next month when they have enough to match the full day.


We should know for sure late this week or early next week.

Bad Omen

The whole ladybug/Chinese adoption thing is kind of cute but at the same time kind of silly. Some people seem to take it pretty seriously. But I am not sure there are really that many people out there that really believe that ladybugs mean good luck or that referrals are on their way.

We got a good chuckle the other day when we were up in Gracie's room putting her Christmas presents away when we found the above dead ladybug on the floor.

It did get us thinking about the Olympics rumors that have been floating around lately. As you may or may not know the 2008 Olympics will be in Beijing, China this coming August. There is a lot of speculation out there regarding what will happen with adoptions during that time. The CCAA has not made an official statement so the rumors are all over the place. Some agencies are telling their clients that no referrals will be sent out after February or March and will start back up after the Olympics are over. Other agencies are saying there will be no travel approvals after May. Other agencies are saying that the only people whose consulate is in Beijing will be affected (The US consulate is in Guangzhou). There is also the issue of the increase in hotel and airline flight prices around the time of the Olympics. I think at the very least there will no adoption travel to Beijing during the Olympics which lasts a couple weeks. That would mean we could potentially miss the sightseeing portion of the trip.

At this point we are trying not to stress out about it too much as we really have no idea what is going to happen. But based on our LID and the potential for getting a referral in March, April or later we could very well be affected if there are any restrictions on travel. Seems like there is always something....we are just hoping for a couple big batches coming up so we can get to China before any of the Olympics stuff starts.

Christmas Loot

Grace got all kinds of cute gifts for Christmas....

- The Bennetts gave her a bear scarf and headband.
- The Shahs gave her a Bob Marley lullaby CD.
- Aunt Melinda, Uncle Jim and J-dub gave her a panda bear book and stuffed animals, a shirt and a couple winter hats.
- Uncle Stephen, Aunt Maura and the MKs gave her an On the Night You Were Born book.
- Grammy K gave her some pajamas.
- Grammy and Grampy gave her a skirt outfit, a Grace Christmas ornament and a CD player.
- We got her a Chinese Lullaby CD, stacking cups and a ring toss toy. We wrapped her gifts this year and haven't had the heart to unwrap them yet.

Grace's room is getting full. There isn't going to be room for her in it soon, she better get home quick.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We hate to say it but we are kind of glad that it is over. The holidays are especially rough when you are going through your third last Christmas without your daughter. Christmas is geared so much toward children there are always constant reminders that we are still waiting to start our family. But we are moving on and looking forward to good things in the new year.


Nothing really out there for rumors on the next batch of referrals. We are hoping that they get to at least Dec 20th. We probably will hear something late next week or the week after.

Christmas Spirit

Last year with the ever extending wait we weren't really in a holiday mood so we decided to skip putting up a Christmas tree and decided to just have a low-key Christmas. We were really hoping that this would be the year that we were finally home with Grace. Here we still wait but we decided that we would celebrate the holidays this year and decorate our tree and put some gifts for Grace under it. We really think that this will finally be the last Christmas without her home. So with another snowstorm hitting us today we spent the day in the house decorating the tree.

Although Lucy really loves posing for our Christmas cards next year's card will feature another little girl. For those who didn't get one here is this year's card.

22 More Days

Jen took another picture of her jar of glass stones at work last week. This month the CCAA got through 6 more days so Jen took out 6 more stones from the Jar. Only 22 more stones left. Every month after referrals come out we sit down and take a look at the numbers and try to project out how many more months we have to get our referral. Based on the latest batch we think the most likely month that we will get our referral would be March 2008. There is a small chance that we could get our referral in February but also a chance we could get pushed up to April. But at this point it looks like March is a pretty good bet. Although all of that could change if they do another 2 day batch next month but we don't think that is going to happen. So we will likely be enjoying April showers or May flowers in China.

Comparing the Years

A few months back I started charting out the number of days that the CCAA was referring each month and comparing with the number of days referred each month last year. I noticed a trend that a similar number of days were being referred for the same month last year. Below is a chart of the number of days referred per month back to May 2005. The downward trend that we are have been experiencing can easily be seen. I can't find the numbers anywhere for the months prior to May 2005 but from what I remember they were referring full months back then which is why the wait time was as low as 6 months. If anyone knows where to find the number of days referred per month prior to May 2005 let me know.


If we break out the years and overlay them we can see where the trend was similar and where it diverted. The number of days referred per month was eerily close for Oct 2006 through May of this year. After May we started to see some separation but comparing this year to last year we still seem to see the same upward and downward trend. I am not really sure what it all means but there is definitely something to it. It could be all a coincidence or we could be seeing the results of some unknown factors in China that affect how many babies are allowed to be adopted at certain times of the year.

December 14th Cutoff Confirmed

The CCAA updated their website tonight confirming that the cutoff date is December 14th. That is 6 more days down. Only 22 more to get to our Log in Date.

23

Had to do our obligatory anniversary post since today is 23 months since our Log In Date. Some early referrals started arriving today and it looks like they made it to at least Dec 14th. We should know for sure tomorrow or later tonight if the CCAA updates their website.

More Numbers

There was in interesting article in the Boston Globe this morning about the decline of foreign adoptions by Americans. You can read the full article here.

A key point in the article is the numbers released by the US State Department on the Number of US Visas released to Chinese orphans. This number is really just the number of children adopted by Americans from China last year. The article states:

Adoptions from China, the number one source country since 2000, fell to 5,453.
That is down by 1,040 from last year and well off the peak of 7,906 in 2005.

So we have:

2007 - 5453
2006 - 6493
2005 - 7906

That is 16% less adoptions from China this year than last year. The difference between 2006 and 2005 was a 17.8 % decrease. We all knew that these numbers were decreasing but it there is so much speculation out there it is nice to see concrete numbers sometimes. The State department numbers for previous years can be found here .

Update:

I also charted out the number of visas issued per year back to 1991. This info is also from the state dept. website. There have been a couple down years in the past but never two down years in a row. As always a picture says a thousand words.

Another Update:

I was looking some more at the State Department numbers and I found another page that lists the numbers of orphan visas by country back to 1990. I thought it would be interesting to see this charted out as well. I charted the top 9 countries by year and then added the rest in as "Other" to get the total. Interesting to see how things have changed historically. Overall the trend for international adoptions to the US is down for the last two years. There is so much data I could run analysis against it all day but I think this is enough for now.

Rumors

Still pretty quiet as far as rumors go. There are a couple floating around though. The first is that they are going to make it through December 14th with the upcoming batch. That is only 6 days but it is pretty much what we expected. The other rumor is that they were not yet mailed as of Friday. I think they will probably be mailed early in the week and we will probably see them in the middle to end of the week, somewhere around December 5th which will be 23 months since our Log In Date.

Happy 1st Birthday......What?!?!?!

Yes, Grace got a birthday card in the mail today for her 1st Birthday. Early on in the adoption process when we naively thought the wait would be around a year we went to Babies R Us and registered for baby stuff. When you register they ask you the expected arrival date. At the time we thought we would be traveling around December 2006 so that is what we told them. They must have some type of software program that sends birthday cards with a gift card to everyone who registered one year later. So we got one....we kind of had to laugh about it but it really drives home how damn long we have been waiting. At least we have a $3 gift card to use for Christmas shopping this year. Always got to look on the bright side I guess.....

December Referrals

November has just flown by. It has been a quiet month as far as rumors go for the next batch. Not a thing out there. We are not really expecting them to arrive this week. Probably some time next week though. It is anyone's guess how far they will get this time. We are hoping they get to at least December 14th, that would be 6 more days. The cool thing about this next batch of referrals is it will include referrals for some families from our agency's December DTC group. These are the familes that sent their dossiers to China in early December 2005, just before we did. Another sign tht we are getting very close.

Christmas Shopping

This year we are trying to avoid the holiday crowds at all costs so we are trying to do as much of our Christmas shopping online. Last year the holidays were rough for us. We were expecting it to be our first Christmas with Grace, the wait was getting longer and longer and we we feared that we wouldn't have her home this year. We pretty much emotionally checked out for the holidays. This year as we inch closer we are feeling a little better about things. We picked up a little gift for Gracie for Christmas this year, it is a CD of Chinese lullabies.

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We have a lot to be thankful for this year as we are finally getting very close to a referral. Do I even dare say that this will be our last Thanksgiving without Grace? Hope everyone has a great day eating turkey and getting together with friends and family, which is pretty much our plan for the day.

A boy named Grace?

One of the recent topics of discussion on the China adoption boards lately has been the increase in surprise referrals of boys. It is still pretty rare but some parents that requested a girl in their dossier have received a referral for a boy and it seems to be happening more often lately.

Nobody seems to be really sure why this has happening more frequently but it may have something to do with an increase in Chinese domestic adoption where a family already has a son through birth and decides to adopt a daughter, so there are just more boys available. It may also be that China is becoming more modern and babies are not being abandoned as much just because they are girls so the percentages of boys and girls being abandoned is not so lopsided. When they match us up with a child they do it by agency travel group. So if our travel group is 10 parents and there are 10 babies available in an orphanage that we are matched with and two are boys, then two of us are getting boys.

We originally requested a girl because when we started this process we didn't think it was possible to get a boy. While researching the process we fell in love with all of the pictures of these cute little girls and didn't think about other possibilities, until recently. We picked out a girl's name, named the website after her, we have a closet full of pink dresses and we decorated the nursery in pink and pastel colors. We even bought and installed a pink chandelier for her room. We did paint the room blue though, maybe that was an omen.

Jen and I have been discussing lately what we would do if we got a referral for a boy. I read one story of a couple that asked for a girl and got a boy and asked for a new referral. They got a referral for a girl the next month. Not to judge the decision that this couple made but Jen and I decided that we would not do that. If we are referred a boy, then we will have a son. We have fallen in love with the idea of having a daughter but as a father-to-be I have to admit it really doesn't matter to me. There would be a lot of fun father and son things we could do that a girly-girl may not be interested in. Jen is a little more attached to the idea of a daughter but agrees that we could not turn down a referral. We would just have to return all of the pink stuff we bought and buy things with a more masculine theme. Would be a bit of work but we would deal with it. And of course we couldn't name him Grace so we would have to pick out a boy's name.

We do think likelihood of getting a referral for a boy is really small but the possibility is out there so we are mentally preparing ourselves for it. Returning all of the pink stuff that we have been buying would be a pain but I am sure I would be a distant memory 5 years from now when my son and I are fishing down by the river. Although maybe Gracie will enjoy fishing with daddy as well....

Adoption and Orphans in the Movies

Whenever Hollywood tries to take on adoption themes we always get a little nervous. Various sitcoms have done episodes featuring Chinese adoption and they show it as a quick and simple process that you decide to do on a whim and the next thing you know you are on a plane to China. We know that is not the case.

There are a couple movies in theatres right now that take on the themes of adoption and orphans. The first is Martian Child, you can see the trailer here. Based on the name of the movie I was ready to be offended. But it seems like the movie may have gotten it right. It is a story starring John Cusack as a single science-fiction writer who adopts a little boy who says he is from Mars. Just based on the trailer it seem like they explore a lot of adoption related themes and approach them appropriately. The movie is based on a novel but they changed some things to make it more Hollywood accessible. Seems like it might be really good.

There is another movie in theaters now called August Rush that takes on the orphan theme. You can see the trailer here. It is a story of two musicians who fall in love, get pregnant and then lose each other and their baby. The mother played by Kerri Russel is tricked into believing that she has lost her child in a car accident but the baby boy is actually sent to an orphanage by her father. The child grows to be a child music prodigy who seems to know his parents want him and are looking for him. He uses his musical talents to reunite with them. Seems like they tie it up with a happy ending.

We're not sure how August Rush portrays the birth parent/orphan theme but we haven't seen it yet so we can't comment. Jen and I usually wait until movies come out on DVD to see them so it may be a while before we see these movies. The critics seemed to have slammed both movies but I don't always trust what they have to say. Would be interested in anyone's thoughts if they have seen either of these movies.

22 and 28

Two numbers....22 is the number of months we have been waiting since our Log In Date as of this past Monday. 28 is the number of Log in Dates they have to get through to get to our Log In Date. Jen took 8 more glass stones out of her jar at work this week representing the number of days referred this month. 28 days/glass stones left, we can make it.

Days Referred This Year vs. Last Year

Another 8 days referred this month which interestingly is half of the number of days that they referred last year at this time. I updated my chart comparing the number of days referred this year to the number of days referred last year. If you look at the chart for the first 4 months things were pretty comparable. Then at the end of March we had that first small batch and things seemed to go downhill from there. Going forward the number of days referred was usually half or less the number of days referred from the previous year. Thinking we can probably expect more of the same going forward.

December 8th

It's official, December 8th is the cutoff this month.

Too good to be true

The rumors that were floating around a few weeks ago that referrals would go through December 12th are looking to be false. The latest is that referrals were mailed from China last week and some agencies on the West Coast seem to have received them on Friday. Sometimes it takes a little longer to referrals to get to the East Coast. So they should be arriving at the rest of the agencies on Monday. Most agencies are telling their clients that they got through December 8th. We won't know for sure how far they got until the CCAA updates their website which probably won't happen until late tonight at the earliest. If they did get through the 8th that would be 8 Log in Dates that they got through, which would be the most they have done in the past 8 months. At this point they seem to be averaging around 7 LIDs referred per month. If they keep up at this rate we will be looking at getting our referral in March or April of 2008. The bright side of later referral is that the weather will be a little warmer if we travel in the spring.

Adoption article

There was a nice article in the Boston Globe the other day about a couple adopting from Korea (I think). You can read the article here.

It feels like an article we could have written, except for fact that they are home with their child. We are not quite there yet. Soon though...hopefully soon.

Adoptive Parent Pet Peeves

Luckily for us we haven't received any negative comments about our adoption. People, for the most part, have been positive and supportive through this process. Sometimes though people do say things to us that, although are well meaning, are not considered positive adoption language. Sometimes it is because of a generational difference or unfamiliarity with current terminology. Some may consider us too sensitive about these things but it is really not about us. It is about the little girl who we will soon be adopting. Just wanted to talk about some of the things that are frowned upon in the (Chinese) adoption community.

Lucky Child
Not to toot our own horn but Jen and I think we will make pretty good parents so any kid would be lucky to have us as parents. Sometimes though there is the perception that by adopting from China we are saving a child. We will be taking Grace out of an orphanage or foster care and we do think that we will be giving her many opportunities that she would not have in China. But she will also be losing a lot by leaving China. We will be taking her away from her country and culture and bringing her to a place were most of the population will not look like her. Sometime in her life she will feel racism and discrimination and at that point I am sure she will not feel lucky. We are the lucky ones that China is allowing us to adopt one of her daughters and for that we will be eternally grateful.

Oriental
I think this is a generational thing as in the past it was acceptable to refer to people of Asian descent as Oriental. This term is no longer acceptable just as it is no longer acceptable to refer to African-Americans as colored. Grace will be Asian-American of Chinese descent. People are Asian, rugs and furniture are oriental.

China Doll
When people refer to Grace as our China doll we know it is meant with the best intentions, that she will be a beautiful child. What people don't realize is that there are sexual overtones in the term. The term is used in countless movies in referring to sexualized Asian women kept hidden away for some westerner's pleasure. Most Asians abhor the term as well as it objectifies them. So it is not really a term we want used in reference to our daughter since she will be our daughter and not a "doll" we went to China to purchase.


Model Minority
Sometimes Asians are referred to as the model minority. The stereotype is that Asians are intelligent, hardworking and successful. A few people have bought into this stereotype and commented that "she will be smart" or "good at math". As a teacher, Jen has seen all ability levels in all races of her students, so we don't expect Grace to naturally excel in any one area just because of her race. We hope Grace is smart but what if she struggles in school? We would hate for her teachers to expect her to be smart or not give her the support she needs just because she is Chinese and is supposed to be good in certain subjects.


Positive Adoption Language
Using positive adoption language supports adoption as just another way to build a family. Adoption is not better or worse than having a child through birth, it is just a different path that we chose to build our family. We will not use the term "real parents" when referring to her "biological parents". It is also not acceptable to call a biological child a real son or daughter when comparing them to adopted children. We will be Grace's parents, and we assure you we are real. Grace will have a biological mother and father in China, she will know and hopefully be proud of this from an early age. But we will never refer to Grace as our adopted daughter, she will just be our daughter Grace. We see no need to make the distinction. One comment we have heard in the past is that we will love her just as "our own". Well of course we will, she will be our own child. The preferred term for "own child" is "birth child" and I think that is what is meant when people use the term. It may seem to some that using proper terminology is trivial but positive adoption language is really about the child seeing their adoption in a positive light and not as something to be embarrassed about or as second best to having biological children.

Rumors

The rumors started last week. The latest rumor is that they are going to get to at least December 12th with the next batch. That would be 12 days which is significantly more than they have done in the past 8 months. At this point I think it is still a pretty shaky rumor. We have learned over the past few years not to get too excited about the early rumors, so we are not really believing it yet. Seems a little odd that they would suddenly refer such a large batch after so many small ones. But, according to the online polls the first 4 days of December have very few families logged in. Also December, overall, is thought to have less people logged in so it make sense that they may be able to get through a little bit faster. Also since the first 4 days of December have no or very few families logged it is is not really 12 days they are getting through, it is really more like 8 days. There is a chance we could see referrals arrive this week but most likely they will arrive early next week.

Home Study Update #2

Got some mail from our social worker today, she sent us our second approved home study update. So we are good for another year, hopefully we won't need the whole year but you never can tell these days. Next in our ever extending paperwork updates is our fingerprints which will be expiring in April 2008. As things are looking now it is possible that we could be traveling in April. Since fingerprints need to be valid for our whole trip we will probably need to get them redone again as well. We haven't seen anyone that has had their fingerprints expire twice yet so we may be in uncharted territory if they do expire. After our fingerprints, the next renewal would be our I600A. There were some new rules implemented last August at the USCIS. Since so many adoptions were extending over the 18 month expiration limit of the I600A they are now allowing a second update free. Unfortunately we updated for the second time before the free renewal was offered. I think it may get extended if/when we update our fingerprints anyway so we aren't too concerned. Most likely we would not need to renew our I600A again as it is valid through October 2008. God I hope we have this adoption completed a year from now.

Fashion Show on Great Wall of China

Jen sent me this today, not sure what to think of a fashion show on the Great Wall. I guess at the very least it really shows how much China has opened up over the past decade.

Technical Difficulties

Apparently Comcast is making some changes to some of the features of their Personal Webpages which I use for our main website. One of the features that they changed is the guestbook, so when we went in to look at our messages the other day they were all gone. We were not too happy with this as people have left us so many nice messages. Luckily I was able to find them and archived them in a post here. The new Comcast guestbook feature doesn't work very well with this site so I have removed it. So if you would like to leave us a message just leave a comment in one of the posts.


Still pretty quiet in adoption land, no rumors this past week and still probably about 2 or 3 weeks away from referrals. So we wait.

The Big Wait

This month's referrals have come and gone and there are no new rumors out there. This is what we call the quiet part of the month in the Chinese adoption world. I couldn't think of anything interesting to blog about so I bounced out onto the forums and blogs for some inspiration.


One of the big topics out there right now is the ever extending wait time. Specifically, how long the wait time will get. The wait time from Log In Date to referral will soon hit 2 years, nobody seems to be denying that fact. But whenever the topic comes up of how long the wait will ultimately get someone always seems to come into the conversation and say that their agency thinks that the wait time will stabilize once it hits 2 years. I just don't understand this line of thinking. Back when the wait was approaching a year we heard the same thing, the stabilization or even a speed up is coming, and then again at 18 months and now we hear it again. In order for the wait times to stabilize at 2 years the CCAA would have to start referring 30 days worth of LIDs per month. In order for the wait to to start to decrease the CCAA would have to start referring more than 30 LIDs per month. The last 3 months have seen 5, 4 and 7 days referred. It really doesn't seem likely that a stabilization will happen anytime soon. The CCAA would need to suddenly start referring 4 to 7 times as many LIDs as they have been.


When the CCAA visited the US this past summer they explained that the wait time was increasing because there were more parents applying to adopt than there were paper ready babies available. I have read estimates that upwards of 30,000 families are waiting to adopt from China. Nobody, except the CCAA, really knows what this number is. With decreasing abandonment rates in China due to improving economic conditions as well as increased domestic adoption in China the pool of paper ready babies available is not likely to grow.


Ultimately the wait time does have to stabilize. But that probably will not happen until they start referring people with Log In Dates after the new rules were implemented back in May 2007. The new rules prevent singles, people who are obese, over 50 and a few other criteria from adopting. These rules are expected to slim down the potential adoptive parent pool by at least a third of all previously eligible families. So the big question is how long will it take to get to May of 2007? They are about to start referring December of 2005, there are more 17 months to refer to get to May 2007. That is a total of 18 months to get through before a stabilization could potentially happen. I really don't want to speculate on how long it may take to refer the the remaining 18 months but given the recent number of days referred per month it is pretty easy to see how the wait time could easily grow to 5 or 6 years from Log In Date. Someone with a May 2007 LID has already been waiting 5 months. There are 18 months to get through to get to them. If they refer an average of 7 days a month going forward they are looking at a wait time of almost 7 years. If they refer an average of 15 days a month going forward they are looking at a wait time of almost 3 and a half years. Most likely their wait time will fall somewhere in between the two. Attrition could also help the wait times decrease, as the wait gets longer some families situations will change and they will no longer be in the position to adopt from China. Although I don't think that the attrition rate will be high enough to significantly affect the wait times.


With a Log In Date of January 5, 2005 this doesn't really mean that much for us in the short term. We are still looking at a 24 to 27 month wait from our LID. But, it would definitely affect us if we decided to adopt a second child from China after we bring Grace home. That is a way down the road at this point though, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

36 More Days

The CCAA updated their website and confirmed that November 30th was the cutoff date for the last batch. That means they have to get through 36 more days to get to our Log In Date. In keeping with our countdown, Jen removed 5 more glass stones from the jar. Now 36 remain, which doesn't really seem like that much.

Redecorating

Jen says the website/blog is looking a little blah so I added a little color and some new graphics. Problem is color is really not my thing. I am slightly colorblind so I need to check with Jen to make sure the colors I picked look OK. I can tell the difference between red, green and blue but I seem to have a problem with the between shades like navy blue and black and certain shades of green and brown. We have an ongoing argument about the color of our house. I say it is grey and she says it is tan. I think the color on the can of paint is sandstone. Anyway, hope you like the new look.

21

Another month down....today is 21 months since our Log in Date. Usually around this time of the month we try to sit down and project out how much longer we have to wait. Although we are getting close I think we still have somewhere between 4 and 6 months left to wait. It all depends on how many days are referred in the next couple of batches. Only time will tell. Still no confirmation that the cutoff was in fact November 30th for the last batch. We should know for sure early next week when the CCAA comes back to work. There is a rumor floating around right now that the reason that the last batch was so much smaller than expected is because they sent out a larger than normal batch of expedited referrals. Expedited referrals are for people of Chinese heritage, they get their referrals quite a but faster than the rest of us. Usually expedited referrals are sent out every other month. At least it is a potential explanation for the small batch this month.

Just 5 days?

Nothing offical yet from the CCAA since they are off on holiday but some agencies are reporting getting referrals for Log In Dates through November 30th. It looks very much like November 30th is the cutoff date this month. This is quite a disappointment. We haven't heard anything from our agency yet, probably because they don't have anyone with a Log In Date between November 26th and 30th. We were really hoping to see more days this month since the end of November had comparably fewer families with Log in Dates. I expect we will probably see a similar number of days referred next month. Seems to be the new standard operating procedure at the CCAA. I am going to post my chart again that compares the number of days referred last year to this year but the trend is definitely off this month but it really highlights how much things have slowed down since last year. I am posting this with the assumption that they did get through just 5 days. Since the CCAA is on holiday they probably won't get around to confirming it and updating their website until next week. If they did get further I will come back and update this with the proper numbers.




Click on above pic to see a clearer version

Changes

Yes, you are in the right place. I have been contemplating switching the latest news section of this website to a blog for a while. It is going to make it much easier for me to update the page so hopefully I will get around to updating more often than once a week. Also, this will make things easier for us in China. Feel free to leave us comments and tell us what you think. I have left comments unmoderated for now but I may turn that off if I get any spam comments. I have also created a link to the old latest news pages on the right.

This week we actually got to do some adoption related stuff. Our home study is expiring again at the end of October so we need to go through the home study update process again, hopefully for the last time. The update process is pretty painless in MA as long as you have not changed jobs or moved, which we haven't. We just fill out a form for our social worker stating nothing has changed and send in our CORI and DSS background check forms. The one hassle is the DSS form needs to be notarized but we took care of that at our bank yesterday.

Still not a whole lot of rumors out there, the only recurring one we have seen is that people with log in dates up to November 30th have been told to expect a referral in the upcoming batch. There is also a rumor that they will get to December 5th. We are really hoping they will get to December 5th as Nov 30th would be a big disappointment. Hopefully we will know for sure this week.

Birthday Gifts

It's been a pretty quiet month for adoption rumors. Usually by this time of the month there are a couple rumors out there but there has been nothing so far. Probably will be a couple this week. We aren't really expecting referrals to arrive this week, more likely sometime next week. In other news we celebrated Jen's 32nd birthday this weekend. We had a nice birthday dinner last night at a local Italian restaurant. Jen also got a new laptop for her birthday. We needed to buy a laptop for our trip to China and it will keep us from fighting for computer time. But I couldn't get her a completely practical gift so I got her one of the new Willow Tree Child of my Heart figurines. Jen has a couple of these but this one is really appropriate for us as it has a Chinese Adoption theme.

4 More Stones

September seems to be flying by, halfway through the month already. It is a little too early in the month for rumors but I expect that we will be hearing some this week. There is a holiday at the beginning of October where the CCAA takes a couple days off so there is a chance that we could be seeing the next batch a little later than normal. But there is also a chance that they could send referrals out before they leave for the holiday and we would see referrals a little early. Either way we are hoping that they will get into December with the next batch.. Jen has a little "Countdown the Log In Days" clock in her classroom at work. She has a jar of glass stones, each stone represents a Log In Date. Last month they got through 4 Log In Days so she took out 4 stones. Each month she will be taking out a stone for each Log In Date they get through. There are only 41 stones left in the jar, which is the number of days they need to get through to get to our Log In Date. When the jar is empty we will have our referral and will be getting ready to travel to China.

Getting Prepared

In our unending quest to become the most prepared parents ever who aren't actually yet parents, Jen and I took a Infant and Child Safety and CPR class yesterday at Mass General Hospital. We went with our friends Kris and Biren who are pregnant with twins. The class was good, we still have a lot of work to do around our house to get it baby safe but we will probably wait until we get our referral until we start installing safety devices. Between the carseats and all of the safety devices you need to buy these days you have to wonder how any of us survived childhood. The CPR training is just one of those things that is so important to know but you hope you never have to use. We also hit 20 months since our Log In Date last week. This is the first month that we think we might be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. At this point we think there is a pretty good chance we could be getting our referral in early January 2008. Although this could all change if they don't get into December with the next batch but we think that they will. We anticipate being pretty busy the next couple months, I have some project deadlines coming up at work that should keep me pretty busy and Jen is back to school so we hope that the next few months fly by and get us to our referral and then to China early next year.

Comparing The Years - September Edition

I have updated my chart that compares days referred per month this year to last year. Interestingly, the September batch last year also seemed to trend down a bit. The good news is the October and November batches last year were pretty big so if the chart continues to trend similarly going forward we could be in for some bigger batches. The online polls seem to point to December being smaller than November so I think it is safe to say we can expect some double digit number of days referred in the upcoming months. The updated chart is below.

September CCAA Update

We woke up to a little surprise this morning, the CCAA updated its website to confirm that they have referred people with Log In Dates through November 25th. Even though it is just four days and less days than last month it is a day more than we were expecting so we are not too disappointed. I truly expect that they will get into December with the next batch.

Product Test Kitty

Referrals should be arriving at some point this week. There are a couple rumors floating around regarding how many days they are going to refer this month. The first rumor is that they are going to get through November 24th, this is pretty much what we expect and although it is only three days there are thought to be quite a few people logged in on those days so it would not be as bad as it seems. The second rumor is that they are going to get into December which would be at least 10 days. As much as we hope they will get into December with this batch we really don't expect it to happen. I didn't want to post the below pics but Jen made me. Back by popular demand, here are just a couple pics below of Lucy helping us safety test our new stroller. She actually seemed to enjoy it.

Guestbook Archive

Just a post to save our messages from our old Guestbook

Name:

donna

Date:

Thursday October 04, 2007 04:37:00 GMT

Comments:

your quilt is beautiful, seriously! I am gonna start making one
myself tomorrow! Your website is inspiring, its great for waiting
families to run it people like you, I havent even got my LID! I put
your site on my favorites to reference your quilt as I make my own


thankyou

---

Name:

Gail

Date:

Wednesday September 19, 2007 14:09:54 GMT

Comments:

Great idea with the stones. I think I will do something like that
too!!


We are getting closer!

---

Name:

THE MAHONEY'S

Date:

Monday September 17, 2007 02:11:10 GMT

Comments:

Well guys when you look at that photo,it sure doesn't look like
many stones in that jar.we are all getting closer with each passing day
*wink*

---

Name:

Alyson & Ford

Date:

Wednesday September 12, 2007 09:15:51 GMT

Comments:

Hello! Read your introduction on Precious Pandas - DTC/LID Jan06.
We are LID 01/27/06. The wait has been long but the light at the end of
the tunnel can be seen. Hurry up 2008!




Alyson


www.alyzabethan.blogspot.com

---

Name:

Lindsay

Date:

Monday September 03, 2007 16:37:51 GMT

Comments:

Grace - it is easy to tell that your parents have so much love to
give. Their faces are beaming in the nursery they have created for you!
What wonderful parents you (will) have!

---

Name:

Maura

Date:

Saturday August 25, 2007 03:45:20 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve!




I really enjoyed reading all the latest news. Steve...it was so nice to
read your tribute to Randy and how much he meant to you. Keep your
chins up and we'll see you guys on Labor Day.




Love, Maura




ps. Lots of love to our dear little niece Gracie...we can't wait to
meet you "lovebug".

---

Name:

Ann Marie

Date:

Friday August 24, 2007 12:58:51 GMT

Comments:

Your cat is crazy! Her step brother Oliver on the other hand is
quite normal...

---

Name:

Rich

Date:

Friday August 24, 2007 00:43:36 GMT

Comments:

I'm really upset that you did not come visit with Mom and
Dad...need to set your priorities, Jen!

---

Name:

Ann Marie

Date:

Tuesday August 21, 2007 19:02:03 GMT

Comments:

Steve, what a moving tribute to Randy. Jen, the quilt looks
absolutely gorgeous. Miss you guys, and am with you counting down the
days until Gracie gets here!

---

Name:

Melinda

Date:

Tuesday August 21, 2007 03:08:30 GMT

Comments:

Jen- Grace's quilt is beautiful...every day that passes and every
goal achieved is one day closer to her.

Steve- Your tribute to Randy was very nice. I have a huge lump in my
throat. He was a really awesome guy and I actually think about him
often too.


Grace- I think about you too and just can't wait for you to come home
and join the family! Your Mom and Dad keep up a great website for you!
It is going to be so much fun for you to read when you get older. Love,
Auntie Melinda

---

Name:

Wendy

Date:

Friday August 17, 2007 23:56:52 GMT

Comments:

Just wanted to pop in and say hi and to thank you for all of your
thoughts and prayers for us over the last week. They have meant so
much!


http://adoptionandfire.typepad.com

---

Name:

Carrie

Date:

Friday August 17, 2007 05:40:19 GMT

Comments:

Hi guys!! Just stopping in to check up on you. Hope all is well.




Carrie

---

Name:

Julie Siegel

Date:

Friday August 10, 2007 23:24:56 GMT

Comments:

Hey Steve and Jen,


You surf the boards almost as much as I do! Great Blog! Hey, I was glad
to see that meeting our little daughter at the gathering in April made
you feel a little better. That's exactly why we brought her. Lately she
asks us every day, "but WHEN will my baby sister be here, tell me
WHEN."

Your future travel mates,


Dave, Julie and Eliana


PS All those "hits" to your site from Worcester are me!!!!

---

Name:

Kristen

Date:

Thursday August 09, 2007 02:15:00 GMT

Comments:

Jen,


Gracie's quilt came out sooo nice! Good job! Look forward to seeing it
in person.



So we're up to Nov 21st... getting super close to December LIDs! woohoo!

---

Name:

Liz Bennett

Date:

Monday August 06, 2007 13:03:57 GMT

Comments:

Jen,


The quilt is beautiful! You are so talented!! Enjoy the last few weeks
of summer. I will give you a call to get together.

---

Name:

Robin Dowling

Date:

Sunday August 05, 2007 20:59:30 GMT

Comments:

Little Jen,


The quilt for Grace is beautiful. You should be very proud of yourself.
It will only look better when Grace os wrapped in it...

---

Name:

Jamie Brooks

Date:

Sunday August 05, 2007 14:18:02 GMT

Comments:

You have done such a wonderful job with this site! I have also
been thinking of doing a quilt and love Gracie's. I have one thing I
could add to the list of waiting to long, I had 2 boys in HS and one in
6th grade when we started now I have 2 in college and 1 in HS.

Take care


Jamie Brooks


Chesapeake, VA LID 3/2/06

---

Name:

Tammy Manning

Date:

Thursday August 02, 2007 20:30:09 GMT

Comments:

Jen- did you say there were imperfections???? That quilt is
unbelievable!! I vote you make a 2nd one :) Its perfect.

---

Name:

Joni

Date:

Wednesday August 01, 2007 23:34:49 GMT

Comments:

The quilt is beautiful, Jen. Gracie's going to love it! Don't
worry about it being perfect. The Amish, who are known for their
unbelievable quilts, actually put a mistake in most of their quilts
because they say only God is perfect. I just tell people I'm Amish!!!!
Love, Joni

---

Name:

Peggy

Date:

Wednesday July 18, 2007 20:47:17 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen & Steve!


I saw you guys on RQ Jan. LID room too! We are Peggy & Bob and we
have 3 homegrown adult sons and have a 1/12/06 LID for our daughter! I
absolutely love your nursery especially the chandelier....I added my
blog on RQ.

Blessings,


Peggy

---

Name:

Sue

Date:

Monday July 16, 2007 13:10:13 GMT

Comments:

I noticed that my email address didn't post on the first note.
I'll try again... :)

---

Name:

Sue

Date:

Monday July 16, 2007 13:07:48 GMT

Comments:

Hi, Steve and Jen! My name is Sue. It's so nice to "meet" you! I
saw your link under the Jan. LID room on R.Queen and have enjoyed
looking at your site. I must say that we have a lot in common as far as
our timelines! My husband, Doug, and I met in April of 1997. We were
married in June of 2001. We too struggled with infertility for all of
those long years between '01 and '05. In August of 2005 we made the
decision to adopt from China. We officially began our application
process on Aug. 27, 2005. Our LID is also close to yours -- Jan. 12,
2006! I am just amazed at how many dates we have in common! I can't
wait to show my husband your site tonight. Jen -- I LOVE your top ten
list! Feel free to email me if you want to so we can support each other
through this trying time. Best wishes to both of you during this wait
of a lifetime. Our beautiful babies will be worth the wait! :)

---

Name:

Beth Gustafson Wheeler

Date:

Tuesday July 10, 2007 13:49:27 GMT

Comments:

This site is great! Thank you for sharing! Hopefully, we will all
have our referrals soon.

-Beth and Ken Wheeler (DTC 12/8/05)

---

Name:

Melody Sumnlers

Date:

Saturday July 07, 2007 22:15:19 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve....I love the map on your site. That is pretty
cool! We are from Southern IL...Metropolis (Superman).The nursery is
sooo cute! That was pretty funny rocking the cat. We did the same thing
with our cat. :) Gracie is such a cute name. One more book that is a
must read BEFORE getting your baby is "The No Cry Sleep Solution". I
wish I would have read it BEFORE we got Maley. It is wonderful and has
great tips for someone who has a baby that has been in an orphanage
situation. Just wanted to say Hi. Melody Sumnlers :)

---

Name:

Liz Bennett

Date:

Monday July 02, 2007 19:15:57 GMT

Comments:

Wow! I was behind in my update reading!! Love the top ten list!
The chart Steve put together is great....hope the trend continues so we
can see little Gracie by Christmas.

---

Name:

Louise

Date:

Monday July 02, 2007 14:52:43 GMT

Comments:

Hi. I noticed that you are using CAWLI adoption agency which is
who my brother and SIL used. Are you in Massachusettes? They live in
RI. Our LID is 1-13-06 and we are from SC. I LOVE the hardwood floors
in your nursery! What kind of wood is that? I know that's kind of
off-the-wall but we are making a mother-in-law suite and I am choosing
the flooring now. Beautiful nursery! Can't wait until it is our turn.
Louise Meade

---

Name:

Kera Pixton

Date:

Thursday June 21, 2007 00:40:00 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve,


I was just checking to see if you had any new news. I enjoyed the top
10 list. I also wanted to let you know that a friend of mine has a
sister who is also waiting. She has a log in date several weeks after
yours, but was also on the special needs list. She just got a match
from the special needs list. I hope that means you are getting closer.
Hang in there. See you in a few weeks.




Kera

---

Name:

Joni Picco

Date:

Tuesday June 19, 2007 22:19:27 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen. Just checking in to see what's new. I know you are
working on the quilt and wanted to mention a pattern called Chinese
Coins to see if you had heard of it. If I can ever help you with the
quilt at anytime I would be thrilled to do that for you and Gracie.
Love, Joni

---

Name:

Gail

Date:

Tuesday June 12, 2007 03:32:36 GMT

Comments:

Just wanted to say Hello. I am also with CAWLI with an LID of
1-5-06. Is this ever going to happen?


I love Gracie's Nursery. She is one loved little girl.


Now lets get those referrals so we can see her sweet face!


Hope to meet you soon.


Gail Botelho


http://www.gebea.blogspot.com

---

Name:

Lauren

Date:

Monday June 11, 2007 18:00:47 GMT

Comments:

Just checking in on how things are going. I think of Gracie every
day!

---

Name:

SUSAN

Date:

Monday June 11, 2007 09:28:45 GMT

Comments:

Hello,


I just wanted to let you know that I found your book list interesting
and have copied it with the intention of going out and buying the
books. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Susan (we are LID
11/dec/06 - Australia)

---

Name:

Laila

Date:

Monday June 04, 2007 05:56:12 GMT

Comments:

Hi Steve & Jen,


Love you site - especially you statistics, which I am a strong believer
in will be true! So this was why I posted your site on the Danish
www.adoptionzone.dk, to tell others about your thoughts....
Adoptionszone is the most viewed site for adoptive parents in Denmark
(not only China).




Cool and a little scary that you are able to see the readers of your
site ;-), so better leave a message.




Wish you both a nice day - and may your stat also be "true" this time
instead of only 2 or 6 days as per RQ rumours.



Referals come on, so we can get closer to our babies!




Kind regards


Laila, Denmark, LID 281105 (also with a homepage, but in Danish)

---

Name:

Danielle & Steven

Date:

Friday May 04, 2007 12:43:42 GMT

Comments:

We saw your post on the china board in yahoo groups and we had to
check out your website because we are going to name our little girl
Gracelyn. It's just such a perfect name! Our LID is October '06 so we
have a wait ahead of us. The quilt is beautiful! We love the idea! We
wish you the best and we will be checking in on your website to see how
thing are going. We are considering starting a website for family and
friends so we don't have to say the same thing to everyone 100 times
:). Good luck to you both and we hope you go to get your Gracie real
soon! May God bless you both in your journey to get your blessed little
girl!




Take care,


Danielle & Steven LI, NY


LID 10/20/06


Waiting for our Gracelyn

---

Name:

Michelle Allain-LaBella

Date:

Wednesday April 25, 2007 00:14:11 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve,


I was just checking out how things are going. I hope you two are
hanging in there! The quilt looks great. Nice job! Take care.


Love,

Michelle

---

Name:

Michaela Bernier

Date:

Thursday April 19, 2007 16:53:03 GMT

Comments:

Hello,


We moved from Worcester to Orlando 9 years ago. I wanted to stop by
your blog and say hello. I miss going to the Boston Ballet, the Orlando
Ballet just isn't the same!

Here's too speedy referrals (we're LID May '06).


Michaela


http://waiting4ourdaughter.blogspot.com

---

Name:

Carrie Beach

Date:

Friday April 13, 2007 00:02:16 GMT

Comments:

Just wanted to stop in and say hello. Hope that you guys are
hanging in okay. It has been a tough week, but hopefully we won't have
too much longer to wait. Hope to see you soon at the get together.




Carrie

---

Name:

Sparky

Date:

Tuesday April 10, 2007 00:53:24 GMT

Comments:

Hi,


Just wanted to drop in and say hello to a fellow CAWLI person. We used
CAWLI too and returned from China 3/14/07. Our experience was wonderful
and our daughter is truly amazing. Her name is Grace too! Feel free to
email me if you have any questions, any at all. Oh and thanks for the
chart comparing last year and this year.

---

Name:

Laura LaLuzerne

Date:

Monday April 09, 2007 13:30:09 GMT

Comments:

Your nursery is precious! I followed your link through the RQ
posting. We are LID 05/15/06 for our Grace (Gracie). We have one
bio-daugther, who is 11. Best of luck to you both.

---

Name:

Liz Bennett

Date:

Wednesday April 04, 2007 23:20:51 GMT

Comments:

Love the new book review section!!!

---

Name:

Tammy Manning

Date:

Saturday March 17, 2007 22:20:04 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen & Steve- I was just going thru your pics of vacation
& ones I hadn't see yet from the past several months..I have to get
better checking out the website more often.. Jen remember... like papa
smurf said "Its not much longer now!" love ya tm

---

Name:

Debbie O'Brien

Date:

Tuesday March 13, 2007 18:27:11 GMT

Comments:

Jen,




Previously, I let our brief school conversations keep me up to date on
your life, Lucy, and adoption limbo. But having some retired time on my
hands now, I checked back to your website today. I actually had to go
back to 2006 In Review to catch up on pictures and details I missed.
School lunch was way too brief!



You and Steve are keeping such a wonderful log to share with Grace in
the future; it is a precious work of love. Special credits to Steve for
his skillful computer talents and kudos to your masterful use of
English in your media letter writing. I'll be praying for the pace to
quicken!




Hugs,


Debbie

---

Name:

Auntie Melinda and Uncle Jim

Date:

Monday February 26, 2007 04:01:43 GMT

Comments:

Welcome back to the cold! Great pics- I really like the first one
of Steve posing on the tree! hee-hee! Looks beautiful and glad you both
got some good quality time away. Hope you feel refreshed.

---

Name:

Kristen Shah

Date:

Monday February 26, 2007 02:55:11 GMT

Comments:

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great time! Pics came out
very nice.

---

Name:

Liz Bennett

Date:

Sunday February 18, 2007 20:59:10 GMT

Comments:

Hi Guys!!


Beautiful picture....hope you are having a great time! I have a quilt
square for Gracie, Elizabeth picked it out. Relax and enjoy!!

---

Name:

Dan & Maryjane Miller

Date:

Friday January 19, 2007 18:44:40 GMT

Comments:

The pics are so cute. The nursery is so nice. Good job !!!!

---

Name:

Auntie Melinda

Date:

Thursday January 11, 2007 17:46:29 GMT

Comments:

Wow Jen! Very strong and powerful letter. It's upsetting you even
had to write that- but what a good job. Written with class and GRACE! I
hope they receive it and broadcast it.

---

Name:

Liz Bennett

Date:

Wednesday January 10, 2007 02:21:16 GMT

Comments:

Jen,


Excellent, well-informed letter....more than we can say for the
broadcast. As always, keeping you, Steve and Gracie in our prayers.

---

Name:

Millie Onos

Date:

Tuesday January 09, 2007 17:10:49 GMT

Comments:

Oh my God! Has a baby ever been more wanted?! You are sooo
ready/prepared for her arrival. I am both smiling and crying as I write
this. God bless you both in your journey to receive baby Grace into
your loving arms. I'm thinking lucky parents and very lucky baby. It's
a win/win. I'll be checking your website to see the news of Grace's
arrival. Best of everything to all three. With love, Millie Onos (I am
Kristen Eriksen's mom. She and Paul have started their process to adopt
a baby girl from China. We're all soooo excited!)

---

Name:

Melinda

Date:

Friday January 05, 2007 16:01:58 GMT

Comments:

Just want you both to know we are thinking of you today- on this
one-year anniversary since your log in date. It must be bittersweet for
you both- not sure how you are feeling....but wanted you to know we are
still praying for you. It has been a long road, and you both have been
patient. It will all pay off when you can finally hold your beautiful
Grace in your arms, instead of just in your heart. I know your hearts
are getting quite heavy!! Hang in there...I know this year will bring
wonderful things.


With love, Melinda and Jim

---

Name:

Kristen Eriksen

Date:

Thursday December 28, 2006 14:52:18 GMT

Comments:

Hi Steve, Jen and Grace! I am a friend of your sister Melinda's,
we work together at the hospital. My husband and I are in the beginning
stages of adopting from China, too. I think your website is great, very
informative and heartfelt. I would love to chat about this terrific and
slow process! Melinda talks about you and your long wait often!

---

Name:

Lisa & Jeff

Date:

Monday October 09, 2006 22:31:21 GMT

Comments:

I enjoyed visiting you website. We have a LID of 3/8/06 for our
little Ava. Good luck with the adoption of your little one. Let's hope
for a speed up on the referral front!

---

Name:

Donna

Date:

Thursday July 13, 2006 03:32:14 GMT

Comments:

You have an outstanding good and well structured site. I enjoyed
browsing through it

---

Name:

Kera Pixton

Date:

Tuesday July 04, 2006 17:36:04 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve. I just wanted to let you know that I was
thinking of you and just read up on the slow but steady progress being
made. Hang in there. See you in Hampton Jen!

---

Name:

Patricia

Date:

Tuesday July 04, 2006 00:55:36 GMT

Comments:

Enjoyed a lot!

---

Name:

Robert

Date:

Wednesday June 28, 2006 14:14:31 GMT

Comments:

Keep up the good work

---

Name:

Melinda Peloquin

Date:

Saturday May 27, 2006 09:46:40 GMT

Comments:

Thanks for bringing us to the airport Steve.....and for visiting
with and Prince & Maui- thank you Jen too! I was just showing Diane
(Jim's momma in California) your AWESOME and informative website!


See ya later...


lil' sis Melin


and Jim


Luv U guys!

---

Name:

Kristin (LID 01-05-06)

Date:

Wednesday April 26, 2006 15:03:57 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen-


TAG-- you're it!


Please go to my blog for instructions:


http://threekindsofcrazy.blogspot.com/




Kristin

---

Name:

Jean Stanley Regis class of 1956

Date:

Saturday March 18, 2006 16:49:41 GMT

Comments:

I was so happy to hear the wonderful news from your Mom,Jen.I
just made a retreat in which we talked about St.Catherine of Siena and
I thought that this quote by her was very fitting for you both at this
time.


"Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring."

---

Name:

Kristin LID1/5/06

Date:

Thursday March 09, 2006 01:24:14 GMT

Comments:

I LOVE that you cited your sources on the 100 Good Wishes page!!
Glad to know that I'm not the only dorky one out there!




Kristin


DTC 12/14/05


LID 1/5/06

---

Name:

Lauren Giardina

Date:

Tuesday March 07, 2006 15:13:47 GMT

Comments:

I cannot express how happy I am for the two of you! I can't wait
to be an auntie! She will be an honorary Reegie girl!

---

Name:

Michael & Therese , Ryan, Lauren & Meghan

Date:

Sunday February 26, 2006 20:26:49 GMT

Comments:

Hey Jen & Steve,


Great news on your log in date!!Can't wait for this 7 month count
down!!! Just think, 2 months down and no morning sickness!!

---

Name:

Melinda

Date:

Wednesday February 22, 2006 21:32:25 GMT

Comments:

Just checking in...to see your Jamaica pics. Looks awesome and I
am glad you both had such a good time!


I have another poem for Grace.


Oh little one, little one


we long for your smile,


Oh little one, little one


It seems such a while;


We patiently wait and pray everyday


for when you're brought home


a brand new life is underway.


You are loved, we can picture your face


A perfect girl...our little Grace.




Okay Jen...stop crying now.

Love you guys.


Auntie Melinda

---

Name:

Biren (Unky B?)

Date:

Tuesday February 14, 2006 15:33:49 GMT

Comments:

Wow, the timing of your latest "childless vacation" couldn't have
been better! You totally missed all the snow! How was Jamaica?!

---

Name:

Melissa and Brian

Date:

Monday February 13, 2006 15:07:10 GMT

Comments:

I hope you enjoy your "last" childless vaction! See you even got
to extend it longer, thanks to the snow!! Take care! Enjoy every
minute!




Melissa

---

Name:

Shari

Date:

Tuesday January 31, 2006 20:56:01 GMT

Comments:

You don't know me, but I found your site while doing my own
research on CAWLI. We are just starting out, but reading about your
experiences so far has been very helpful as we're learning about the
process ahead of us (it is quite a long journey!). I wish you the very
best of luck, and I am excited to check back again in the future to
learn more about Grace!

---

Name:

Steve, Jacki and Katie Comeau

Date:

Friday January 20, 2006 15:40:47 GMT

Comments:

As if you didn't know my email address! Congratulations!! I just
learned of your efforts today. I think it's great - really great. Katie
has friends from China in 2 different families in Nashua and one of the
families is very active in some Chinese Culture group for the kids. I
also have a friend at the golf course with a daughter from China. These
kids are all teens by now, but if you ever have any questions or would
like to contact them, let me know. They went to China with the kids
just last year.




Good luck, and we hope it happens quickly! We'll keep watching!

---

Name:

Michael & Therese & kids

Date:

Saturday December 31, 2005 23:16:15 GMT

Comments:

Hey Jen & Steve,


We are all looking forward to 2006 when we will have a new neice!!!
Can't wait!!! Hope that you had great holidays!!! Love Therese &
Michael & gang

---

Name:

Rich

Date:

Friday December 23, 2005 03:58:44 GMT

Comments:

Hi Jen and Steve...finally got the website to work!




Hope it all works out for you.

---

Name:

Carrie

Date:

Sunday December 18, 2005 14:23:21 GMT

Comments:

This is Carrie from DTC05. I added you to my list of people to
check in with. I think that we were at the same CAWLI orientation
meeting back in June.

---

Name:

Tammy Lopes

Date:

Thursday December 15, 2005 17:28:42 GMT

Comments:

Hi guys


Trying to catch up on your website today :) That picture of the
ultrasound is priceless!

---

Name:

Aunt Kim, Uncle Kevin, Matt, Nathan, Katie and Skippy

Date:

Friday November 25, 2005 01:10:29 GMT

Comments:

You have lots to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day 2005.
Our prayers are with you, Jen and Steve, as you continue on your
journey to adopt Gracie.

---

Name:

Joni

Date:

Friday November 25, 2005 00:58:35 GMT

Comments:

Great news! Happened to check in Thanksgiving night and read the
latest news. Things are starting to come together for L'il Jen, L'il
Steve, and Li'l Grace...love it!!!!! Is it okay to keep signing in the
guest book? If not, sorry but I just keep checking in and am rooting
for all! Joni

---

Name:

Robin Dowling

Date:

Monday November 21, 2005 12:45:07 GMT

Comments:

I can't wait to see all the cheerios scattered around the floor
of the new wagon!!

---

Name:

Susanna Hargreaves

Date:

Tuesday November 15, 2005 23:33:52 GMT

Comments:

What a wonderful website...It is very touching...I think you
should make it into a book! Your shared experiences will help reassure
and inspire many...You are so special and I wish you many blessings...I
will keep you in my prayers.




Susanna

---

Name:

Lisa and Shane

Date:

Wednesday November 09, 2005 09:36:54 GMT

Comments:

Hi Steve and Jen,


My name is Lisa from the MSN boards - just wanted to say hi. We are
also bringing our daughter home from China - probably about another 10
months from now. We are based in Canberra Australia - so our process is
a bit different from yours. Look forward to following your journey.




Lisa and Shane x

---

Name:

Maureen Dickieson

Date:

Tuesday November 08, 2005 16:42:32 GMT

Comments:

I was so pleased to hear that you will be adopting a beautiful
baby girl! Congrats. My good friend Meredith has an older sister who
adopted a little girl from China about four years ago and could not be
happier. Gracie is going to be such a fortunate little girl to have
such fantastic parents and the love and support of family and friends.

---

Name:

Kera

Date:

Saturday November 05, 2005 19:57:00 GMT

Comments:

You love her so much already and you don't even know her!
Continue to be patient and all will fall into place. I will continue to
read the updates and see the progress being made. Lots of love!




Kera

---

Name:

Meghan Stamm

Date:

Thursday October 20, 2005 01:01:17 GMT

Comments:

Congrats, I am very excited for you. The website is a great idea,
good luck with everything. -meg

---

Name:

Sheila Herbert

Date:

Saturday September 17, 2005 17:05:53 GMT

Comments:

Jen and Steve,


I am so very happy for you both. I have two nephews and one niece who
are adopted; boys from Columbia and girl from Guatemala. They are
wonderful and I love them to pieces.


May you be as blessed as we have been!My prayers will be with you as
you venture on this very rewarding journey. Love,


Sheila

---

Name:

Barb Gidley, MO

Date:

Monday September 12, 2005 03:03:17 GMT

Comments:

Made it here. What a wonderful way to begin many happy years
ahead of you. More later. Cuz Barb

---

Name:

Greg & Michelle

Date:

Wednesday August 31, 2005 12:20:44 GMT

Comments:

Congratulations to you both! We have three immediate family
members and several friends who recently embarked on this journey (or
finished, to be more accurate) and I've never seen them so happy.




Enjoy every wonderful (sometimes sleepless) minute of your new family!

---

Name:

Mel

Date:

Saturday August 27, 2005 23:25:48 GMT

Comments:

My thoughts and prayers are with you, what do you mean clean the
house, your house is always perfect! It's Lucy you need to be careful
of!



Mel

---

Name:

Joni Picco

Date:

Wednesday August 24, 2005 23:38:48 GMT

Comments:

What a wonderful website, L'l Jen and Steve. I was enchanted by
the proverb you placed on the page. You'll make wonderful parents and
L'l Gracie doesn't know YET how lucky she is! I wish nothing but the
best for the three of you...Love, Joni

---

Name:

Cheryl Ann Bomal

Date:

Wednesday August 24, 2005 11:57:58 GMT

Comments:

Steve, Jen, Grace and Lucy King -


I wish you all the best. May nothing but happiness and love come your
way. You deserve it!

---

Name:

Wendy

Date:

Tuesday August 23, 2005 01:43:13 GMT

Comments:

Congratulations on your decision to adopt from China. My husband
John and I are in the process too. We are enjoying the experience and
can't wait to get to China to pick up our little girl. We are in the
paper chasing phase and we just finished our homestudy. Good luck! Our
website is www.ourchinaadoptionstory.com

---

Name:

Liz, Erik & Elizabeth

Date:

Monday August 22, 2005 20:22:10 GMT

Comments:

Jen & Steve,


Congratulations to you both! You will be the most wonderful parents. We
cannot wait to meet her. Best of luck and I look forward to reading the
updates. P.S. Elizabeth thinks Grace is an "awesome" name!!

---

Name:

Lorraine Snyder

Date:

Friday August 19, 2005 15:48:53 GMT

Comments:

As you know, my two children are adopted, so I know what you're
going through. I'm so happy for you! Having a child in your home will
give you the greatest joy and you'll know that you're giving a small
human being your love, protection, and a better life than she would
have had. Good luck to you. . .and I'll be checking back on your
progress!! Love, Cousin Lorraine

---

Name:

Michelle

Date:

Tuesday August 16, 2005 22:16:30 GMT

Comments:

Congratualtions Jen and Steve! I'm so excited for you! She is so
blessed to be coming into your family, what a lucky girl! : )

---

Name:

Jim & Paula St. Louis

Date:

Saturday August 13, 2005 17:42:39 GMT

Comments:

Jen and Steve,




Congratulations and Best Wishes on your exciting journey to bring sweet
baby Grace into your lives! We can't wait to meet her!




Love,

Jim, Paula, Emily and Tyler

---

Name:

Liz Scanlon

Date:

Saturday August 13, 2005 14:39:50 GMT

Comments:

What a wonderful and exciting time for you both, Jen and Steve!
Thank you for sharing your story.


We all look forward to sharing the journey of Grace's arrival.

---

Name:

Debbie O'Brien

Date:

Thursday August 11, 2005 23:46:27 GMT

Comments:

August 11, 2005




I was thrilled today to hear the good news about your planned adoption
of Grace. She will be a lucky girl to be so loved and welcomed by two
quality parents. It must have been fate that I arranged a special
luncheon just for your personal announcement.



More hugs,


Debbie O'Brien

---

Name:

Kathy, Eric, Zachary & Allison Kingsley

Date:

Wednesday August 10, 2005 18:22:17 GMT

Comments:

We are all so happy for you guys. What a wonderful opportunity to
have such an impact on another life. You guys will make great parents
and Baby Grace will be an amazing addition to your life. All the best!

---

Name:

Mike, Therese, Ryan, Lauren and Meg

Date:

Monday August 08, 2005 01:21:01 GMT

Comments:

Jen-Jen and Steve,




Congratulations and all the best. We're all so happy for you - and
you've got your baby sitters ready to go!! Enjoy the journey - and
Gracie will be welcomed immediately by all her uncles, aunts, nieces
and nephews. This is awesome!




Mikey

---

Name:

Andy & Alice

Date:

Sunday August 07, 2005 23:52:19 GMT

Comments:

Steve & Jen,




What great news! We wish you all the best in your journey to find Grace
in what is sure to be an exciting (and life changing!) experience.




Alice & Andy

---

Name:

Kevin&Christina King

Date:

Sunday August 07, 2005 17:59:06 GMT

Comments:

If you need any thing steve let us know please. When I was going
to school up there in cambridge ma, my business teacher went to china
and adopt 2 china babies. WAY TO GO STEVE & JEN.

---

Name:

Mary Joy & Gary

Date:

Friday August 05, 2005 17:55:35 GMT

Comments:

Jen and Steve,


We are both so happy for you!! You are going to be such great parents
to Grace. She will be such a special baby and a blessing in your lives.
You are giving so much of yourselves by choosing to adopt and the
rewards are going to be wonderful. You will have the family you want
and a little girl to love and cherish!


All of our love and support,


Gary, Mary Joy, Jack, and Lindsay

---

Name:

Ann Marie

Date:

Thursday August 04, 2005 12:35:56 GMT

Comments:

I cannot wait to be Auntie Ann! Little Grace, you are your Mommy
& Daddy's shining star, and you are handpicked just for them. They
love you so much more than words will ever express and I think that you
are the luckiest little girl in China to be welcomed into the King
family! I hope you like pink!

---

Name:

Colleen & Vin

Date:

Wednesday August 03, 2005 14:48:42 GMT

Comments:

Sweet Baby Grace - we love you, sight unseen! God's hand is on
you, already chosen from multitudes for your Mom and Dad to love and
cherish. We're with you and them in our thoughts and prayers every step
of this wonderful, exciting journey!




Love,


Cousins Vin & Colleen

---

Name:

Grammy King

Date:

Tuesday August 02, 2005 20:14:13 GMT

Comments:

I can't wait to see you Gracie...I have been waiting so long to
hold a grandchild in my arms. You are so special already!! I have so
much love to give you. Love, Grammy King.

---

Name:

Susan Simonich

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 19:51:14 GMT

Comments:

Gracie will be the luckiest little girl to have such wonderful
and loving parents. It is fate that you will become a family. And wait
until Gracie starts repeating what her mommy says???!!!!! She will end
up being just as funny.


P.S. Your website is really informative. Sharing your experiences will
help others.

---

Name:

Tammy Lopes

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 18:28:40 GMT

Comments:

I think Gracie needs a pair of burberry booties.... I am too
tough to write what I really feel but you know I would do anything for
you guys in a heartbeat.

---

Name:

Uncle Stephen Aunt Maura & Cousins Mary Kate, Molly and Maggie

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 18:14:10 GMT

Comments:

Congratulations Jen and Steve!!! We know this has been hard on
you both and you wonder why this happened. We know why, because God
knew Grace needed a caring and loving mother and father to love and
bring home from China. We are so happy for you and we can't wait to see
our new niece and cousin. Good luck and we are praying for the THREE of
you. We love you!! Stephen and Maura and the MK's

---

Name:

Mom and Dad

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 18:09:39 GMT

Comments:

We are so happy that our graceful little granddaughter is on the
way. We love you Grace and can't wait to give you all those hugs and
kisses.




Lots of love and hugs and kisses,


Grammy and Grandpa

---

Name:

Auntie Melinda and Uncle Jim

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 16:59:55 GMT

Comments:

Okay- this one is for Gracie.


We pray for you everyday.

You will Grace our lives in every way.


Your Mommy and Daddy have so much love to give


They have longed for you and the life you'll live.


You will add so much to our growing family,


We all love you already and will wait for you patiently.

---

Name:

Auntie Melinda and Uncle Jim

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 16:53:44 GMT

Comments:

This is so exciting. I love the name- it is so fitting!


You guys have been through so much and you only deserve the best! All
our love, Melinda and Jim.

---

Name:

Kris

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 16:47:21 GMT

Comments:

Jen and Steve, How exciting - this is going to be quite a busy
year! I am so happy for you. Can't wait until you bring Gracie home.
I'm already volunteering to babysit! ;-) Love, Kris

---

Name:

Biren (Unky B?)

Date:

Monday August 01, 2005 16:33:57 GMT

Comments:

Grace! I didn't know you had named her already! I like it! :) I'm
excited for you guys! Can I be "Unky B"? :-p