Nothing Much New

Sorry for the delays in posting any new updates. Things have been pretty quiet, plus we were in Halifax for the week - few days of meetings followed by a great weekend visiting with Ron's niece Rebecca, her husband Philip and son Jonah. This was Shirley's first trip to the east coast so, besides walking up and down every street downtown while Ron was in meetings, had a chance to do some sightseeing - Peggy's Cove and the memorial for SwissAir flight 111.

As far as the process goes, we were able to get all of our forms completed and sent before we went to Halifax. Children's Bridge has confirmed that they received everything and that it all looks good. Another one of those hurry up and wait times. Now we wait for our Travel Authorization.

Quick Update

We've had a chance to meet with our doctor to review Samantha's medical information. Nothing there to raise any concerns. Obviously we will put her through a complete and thorough examination when we return, but are very pleased that all indications are that she's healthy and progressing normally.

Our next step is to meet with our adoption practitioner who needs to sign off on our final application paperwork. She needs to meet with us in our home, and is scheduled to be here Friday evening. This is really just a formality, but part of the process and she needs to approve and sign the forms we submit. She will also be required to assess us at 6 months and 12 months after we bring Samantha home. These assessments will be sent back to China and are a requirement for the completion of our adoption.

The last few days have been busy for Shirley, pouring through the final paperwork we need to complete. Will the paperwork never end? For what we hope to be the final step before actually traveling, here's what we need to complete and submit.

• Letter of Seeking Confirmation from Adopter (do we accept Samantha)
• Consent Acknowledgement
• Notice to a Director
• Adoptive Family Background
• Visa Applications
• Travel Arrangement Form

Once everything is submitted to our agency, including another set of passport pictures and our original Passports, it is reviewed and approved in Canada, translated and sent to China. What we get in return, and absolutely required before we travel is:

• Notice of Agreement
• Notice of Coming
• Visas

And by the way, we are given 5 business days to complete this.

We have already made our travel arrangements, leaving for China on June 13, returning on June 29. We've arranged our own travel to China using Aeroplan points, but Children's Bridge will arrange all other in country arrangements.

We're getting closer.

Dossier from China Received

We now have more detailed information from China on Samantha. Although we have no medical history from family, they did perform a preliminary physical in January. Between the Chinese and the medical speak, a lot of the information we now have will need to be deciphered by our doctor. From what we can interpret, it appears that there are no serious issues that we need to be concerned with. She also appears to be progressing normally, both physically and mentally given her current environment.

One thing that we are especially pleased about is that she has not spent the entire time in the orphanage. The orphanage typically cares for 200 children, with one care-taker per 15 children. Clearly, being one of the many children in these cribs doesn't allow the orphanage the luxury to provide them with a lot of individual care.

Since October 31, 2006 Samantha has been in foster care. This is preferred over being in an orphanage in that she has had more direct one-on-one care. This means that she will have learned how to build a strong bond with an individual care-giver, but also means that there will be some transitional bonding issues and a significant grieving period which we will need to be aware of. Nothing that we aren't prepared for.

There is also some interesting information included that helps us understand how she is compatible with us and why she was our chosen child.

• she's a deep sleeper


• she's an early riser, but loves her naps


• she eats five times a day (the pictures prove that)


• she's cheerful and active


• she's fond of watching TV and listening to music

We think she's going to fit in just fine.

Some additional research we've done about China has revealed some interesting things. One of the fascinating things we've found out is that China is trying to overcome the bad rep they have about their driving, and is starting their driver education at a very young age.

Or, maybe it's just Chinese bumper cars.

Whatever is going on over there, we can't wait to find out for ourselves.

It's Setting In

Thank-you to everyone for your kind words over the last couple of days. We can't wait to bring Samantha home to meet all of you.

So now that we know where our daughter is, we can start to understand what her environment is like. On the map you will find Chongqing (重慶) in the lower middle, on the Yangtze River. Talking to our agency we were told that Chongqing is know as the 3H's - Hilly, Hot & Humid, but quite beautiful. It is also known as one of the "3 furnaces" of China where the temperatures in the summer can reach as high as 43°C.

What is also interesting is that Chongqing has quite a few sister cities including Washington, Seattle, Detroit and Toronto.

Our Referral Has Arrived

Well, the long wait is over and we have finally been advised that we are just a couple of months away from actually hearing the sounds of little feet in our home - trust me, Rusty's feet aren't little.

Before going too far we do want to say how much we feel for the people in Group 247 living outside of Ontario whose logged-in-date is Oct. 27 and didn't make this cycle, as well as the rest of the people whose logged-in-dates are just around the corner. This has certainly been a roller-coaster ride that never seems to get to a destination. The fact that the CCAA was only able to move forward 2 days is a significant disappointment, and we sincerely hope your referrals arrive very soon.

But, just like getting off of a fabulous roller-coaster ride, anybody looking at the smiles on our faces today will definitely know that the ride was worth it. And with that, we are extremely pleased to announce our daughter:

SAMANTHA HELENA

Chinese Name: Qian Li Yue
Date of Birth: August 2, 2006
Birthplace: Chongqing, Sichuan Province, China
Orphanage: Qianjiang, SWC (she is also in foster care)
Date of Referral: April 11, 2007
Meaning of Name: waiting for translation

Details from Jan. 18/2007 Physical:

Height: 63cm (24")
Weight: 7.5kg (16.5 lbs.)
Health: Normal

Other information:

deep sleeper, quiet, impatient, likes music

If anyone is wondering where her middle name came from, it's a combination of our mother's names - Ron's mother's name is Helen, and Shirley's mother's name was Lena. Together they form Helena.

This is all that we have in terms of initial information. The package from China is currently being translated and will be couriered to us as soon as it's ready. We expect to see that some time early next week. Expectation is that we will be traveling to pick up our "little" bundle of joy mid to late June. And yes....we know it's going to be hot.

Thanks to everyone who has endured this journey with us, and supported us when we thought the process would never end. Your love, friendship and support has been greatly appreciated.

Still Waiting

AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH !!!!!!!!

Now that I've got that out of the way, we still don't know. We did receive an email from our agency this morning confirming that China has processed up to Oct. 26, and that they are expecting our referral. Since none of this can be done electronically, everything has been sent through International couriers, which normally take 3-7 days. Once our agency receives the information it will take them a minimum of 6 hours to review, copy and scan the referral before they can call us to confirm. This is typically followed by an email with 1 picture and any basic information they have been able to gleen from the documentation - which all needs to be translated yet since it is in Chinese.

The symbols in this posting say "Patience". Something we are starting to understand the true meaning of.

More Positive Signs

The Canadian agencies were all closed today, so there was no opportunity for us to receive a referral. However, as the day progressed it was obvious that the US was receiving some referrals, and the indications weren't as positive as a lot of people would hope. Lots of talk about the referrals only moving forward 2 days, and the Documents Processing notices attached - which are cut from the CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) website - confirm the rumours. They have only moved from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26. This should be good news for us since our LID is Oct. 26, but as we have learned so far, never take anything for granted. There are people that have been given the wrong LID, and people whose files have been misplaced, so we continue to be cautiously optimistic.

One way or another though, I think that we will know tomorrow where we stand. Best case would have us posting the first picture of our child, along with the basic information we've been provided by email. Children's Bridge will then be translating the rest of the package from China and couriering it to us hopefully later this week.

The Ladybugs are still hanging in there, but hopefully they will be gone tomorrow and our referral will be here. Kind of tough to focus on anything else at this time.

Hoping for News This Week

Not giving up on the Ladybugs yet.

Just got back from Easter in Leamington - congratulations to our niece Lisa and her fiance Herman. Looking forward to your wedding on August 11. We couldn't be happier for the two of you.

Well, the rumour mills have been going full tilt over the weekend, everyone speculating what is happening. With the long weekend, "not much" seems to be the answer. There were a couple of people who posted their referrals, but that's nothing to speak about.

As you know, our logged-in-date is Oct. 26. Last month they provided referrals to those people whose logged-in-date was on or before Oct. 24. The rumour mill has it that this month they will only be moving forward to Oct. 26. TWO DAYS! If that is true, that is the shortest time frame we have ever seen - the shortest before was 3 days. The big thing to remember is that it's all still nothing more than rumour.

As we hear more, we'll be sure to post it right away.

Referrals Not Coming This Week

We had been given a heads up that referrals probably weren't going to arrive until at least the 2nd week of April. Cautious optimism stepped in and we started hoping that maybe things were going to move quicker and we would see them this week. Not that we've ever seen things moving quicker than expected throughout this process, but having the news before Easter would have been nice.

Reality has set in and we have received notification from our agency that the referrals have not left China yet, so no chance of getting them this week. Everything is closed Friday and Monday, so we're now being cautiously optimistic that referrals will show up next week.

Still looking for ladybugs - in the snow!!!

The Wait Continues

Rumours are flying all over the place, but nothing has yet been substantiated. Yes its the beginning of the month. Yes referrals are typically sent out the beginning of the month. No, we haven't seen anything yet. And yes, this process is starting to drive us crazy.

To give you some idea as to what we're going through, think of it in terms of a pregnancy.

• you're pregnant for 9 months, we're pregnant for 18 months and counting,


• you're given a due date, we're given a logged-in-date with a guideline as to when the child might arrive, but we're almost a year past the first date we were given


• you wait anxiously as you near the due date for the contractions to begin, we wait anxiously as we near our referral date for the email to arrive


• you can feel the contractions start and rush to the hospital only find it's false labour and go back home, we wait for the referrals to come and find out that we're not included in this round and have to wait another month


• you go into labour and some time later (I know for some it seems like forever) you give birth, we get our referral and then begin 8 weeks of contractions followed by 2 weeks of labour - in China

And we're just guessing at this part, but we imagine that the travel and 2 weeks in China is going to be gruelling (no it's not a vacation, it's birthing - remember?), but as with childbirth, it all seems worthwhile when you're finally able to hold your child.

In case you're wondering about the Ladybugs at the top of this posting, Ladybugs are a popular good-luck sign among Chinese adoptions, and if you see a Ladybug it's supposed to mean that referrals are on their way. So, here's to seeing ladybugs.