And so it goes...

that there have been "many" petitions submitted for the little girl that we would like to adopt. I knew this would happen. Fortunately, I had already faxed our petition before the email notice came out telling everyone which children had petitions and which ones did not. I knew that this notice would come out, I was just glad it came out AFTER our petition was sent in. If I would have waited and seen that email, I would have been discouraged. That happened the last time we petitioned.

So we wait. Until then, I have a two night hike to prep for. I need another pair of hiking pants and I can't find my size...it's very frustrating. Tucker and I are the grubmasters for our crew and we have that to plan for.

Much to do to stay busy!

Blessings,
Kim
Jeremiah 29:11

It's out of my hands...

I have faxed and emailed everything that I can to my agency for this petitioning process. I am so relieved to be able to say that it's now in God's hands. If she is our daughter, He surely knows and will make sure we are matched. I have until Monday, March 5th until we know. I'm at peace and know that God will reveal to us what is next. Until then, I have a two night hike to prep for. Yep, I'll be heading to the Red River Gorge in KY for a two night prep hike. Can't say that I'm too terribly excited about sleeping on the ground for two nights at the beginning of March. It's going to be cold my friends. I just pray there is no rain, snow I can handle...rain...no so much.

Blessings,
Kim

Friday morning

Today I am dropping off the last set of medicals to another pediatrician to get their advice, faxed the final medical and sent a final email last night....YOWSA....this is hard work and very time consuming. I only have until Thursday, March 1st, to get our petition ready. I did receive a very quick response from one hospital yesterday and I was impressed with them. I take that as a very good sign! I don't expect to hear back from anyone today, hopefully this weekend will bring some responses. There isn't much time during this petitioning period. The previous time we petitioned, I think we had a full two weeks. So, I'm sure other families are just as stressed out as I am.

Anyway, I have a big hike tomorrow with Tucker's scout troop to prep for our Philmont trip in June. It's only a day hike, so I should be o.k. I'm sure it will be more than muddy and I need to expect rain....BIG FUN!

Be blessed,
Kim

I have in my hands....

information on several children that are waiting for families. I'll be praying over these papers fervently over the next few days. We have until Thursday, March 1st to have our petition to our agency. Then they meet on March 5th to match the children to their forever families. I hate that it's only a week to gather information and talk to doctors....but it's nice that we won't have to wait too terribly long to find out if God has matched us with our child.

Just keep praying, just keep praying (sounding like Dori in "Finding Nemo").

A little anxious here....

The new WC list is released tomorrow for viewing at 9 a.m. Central time, that's 10 a.m. at home. I'm sitting on pins and needles wondering if I will see Amelia's face for the first time. UGH!!!! I'm trying so hard to let go and let God. I sat in the prayer room at church for a very long time this morning...I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more praying tonight and during the next week.

Pray for clarity and God's will be done...NOT MINE!

Blessings,
Kim

THE LIST IS HERE!!!!!

The new waiting child list has finally arrived at our agency. I am so excited. We will be able to view the children on February 21st at 11 a.m. (our time). I'm praying that Amelia is on this list, only time will tell.

Until then, I found this great poem in another family's travel journal.

I Would Gather Children
Some would gather money along the path of life.
Some would gather roses and rest from worldly strife.
But I would gather children from among the thorns of sin.
I would seek a little child with a big and toothless grin.
For money cannot enter in the land of endless day,
And roses that are gathered soon wilt along the way.
But oh, the laughing children as I cross the sunset sea,
And the gates swing wide to Heaven.
I can take them in with me!

Blessings,Kim

Where's that list??????

Still no news on the new WC list at my agency! UGH! I'm going crazy. Historically, they announce they have the list and then it's posted to the website for viewing two weeks later. That being said, we are at LEAST two weeks away from viewing the list....and it hasn't even been received yet. I'm chompin' at the bit here!

Kim

Referrals just arrived.....

Referrals arrived today for another lucky batch of families. The CCAA matched people that were logged in on or before October 13, 2005. These families waited 16 months to find out about their children....a big difference from the six months that we waited to find out about Elise.

There have been lots of changes in the adoption process from two years ago. After May 1st, 2005, singles can no longer adopt. There are medical conditions that are no longer acceptable and even BMI (body mass index) restrictions. The maximum age has been lowered from 55 to 50 years old. There can only be two divorces between a married couple. A first time married couple must be married a minimum of two years. If there has been a divorce, then the marriage must be at least five years. Adoptive parents currently being treated for depression or anxiety are no longer eligible to adopt. Again, things are way different that two years ago.

Fortunately, none of the new rules have an impact on us. We are one of the lucky families. Based on some unscientific surveys, the changes affected about 35-40% of families that are currently waiting for their referrals. CCAA has promised that if you documents are already in China and make it there before the May 1st deadline, you will be grandfathered in under the old rules. Based on that, families are scurrying around trying to get their dossier of documents together and sent to China BEFORE mid March so they can get a log in date before May 1st.

All of these changes are because the backlog of dossiers for prospectives families has gotten so big that China can no longer meet the demand of International Adoption. There are fewer child being abandoned in China (a very good thing), but more families requesting children than ever before. So the only way for China to catch up with their backlog is to reduce the number of dossiers being submitted ~ hence the "New Rules".

We still believe our daughter will be a "waiting child". Hopefully our agency will receive a new waiting child list very soon. They have been expecting for a few weeks now, but still no word about it. The last list they received was at the end of August....that is five months ago. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the new list will arrive any day now.

In the meantime, I'm collecting fabric squares and wishes for Amelia's quilt. I have a bunch and need to log them into the quilt blog. I hope to get to that this week....but we will see. The scanning takes soooo long. I also need to get Elise a twin bed....the crib will become Amelia's.

Blessings,
Kim