Look back - Labour Day Weekend 2010

info and pics soon

Look back - July 2010 - Bedroom Re-do

info and pics soon

Look back - July 2010 - Toronto Zoo

info and pics soon

Look back - June 2010 - "Celebration of Life" BBQ

will post info and pics soon

A Look Back

Well I have been meaning to do this for soooooo long - catch up on so many months and so many things I haven't posted about.

I have sat down and made a long (too long) list of all the things I want to post about and I have decided that the best way to do this is to post the title of each and over the next little while go back to them and fill in and post some pics.

This will probably be a little confusing but I think this will be easiest! Enjoy - there is LOTS to catch up on!! LOL

52 months since our LID

Well once again another month has gone by - I can't believe I cried the night we drove home from our adoption class becasue I had heard that our wait could possibly go as far as 18 months LOL....how I wish. If that had actually happened we would have been home almost 3 years by now with Mhyia.

Well we are really hoping for good things in 2011 - I was thinking possibly next fall but now that the CCAA has seemed to slow things down yet again I am honestly just hoping for a referral before Dec 31st 2011!!!

Mike and I have been talking about Mhyia alot more lately and I love it - it has been sooo long that we try not to talk about it (its to hard) but with the thought that soon we will be able to say "hopefully this year" or "early next year" it is a little more exciting!!

Fingers crossed for a great 2011!!!

Taking a look Back

Well I am going to start taking a look back over the last 4months or more and posting about all the tihings that I have missed posting about - birthdays, holidays, vacations, renovations etc...

Stay tuned.....

Finally - less than 100 LID's to go!!!

Well these days there really isn't anything to celebrate but when updating the stats on the blog I did realize that we only have 98 LID's ahead of ours!!! It is finally under 100 so that seems a little bit exciting!

As usual I have missed posting so many things over the last couple of months - Mike's birthday, my birthday, our trip - which was amazing! my new car - my new laundry room etc... I will try to catch up with these things over the next week or so.

4 YEARS since our LID ... and why no comments??

Today marks 4 years since our file was logged in by someone in China - I can't believe our file has been sitting on a shelf for 4 YEARS. I really have no words - I never thought it would take this long, I mean we were told 9-12 months. I am actually hoping/praying it is only 12 more months - so pathetic really. I don't understand it :(

On another note - I know I am almost the worst blogger ever and every so often I get back into it and post a few things but I really am going to try to be better at documenting this next year or so. I want to be able to look back at this time an know what we were doing when Mhyia was born, when she was 1 month, 2 months etc... but I do have 1 request...

PLEASE COMMENT!!! I see the counter go up all the time but no one posts :( Even if you literally just type hi - I am okay with that - in fact I would love it!

Thanks to everyone who has followed us faithfully these last 4 LONG years and I hope you continue to do so the next year or two - I feel like for the first time in a long time there might be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel!!

Happy Birthday to the best Husband Ever!!

Happy Birthday Mike - I love you sooo much!!!

Unfortunately Mike is away this week and this if the first time I have not been with him on his birthday since we met 19 years ago :( He is away at a work conference.

We had a family birthday party this past weekend - a Mad Hatter Tea Party Birthday Party!! Mike has ALWAYS loved Alice in Wonderland and he also loves Johnny Depp so this years theme was a no brainer. As you can see in the pics Mike dressed up as the Mad Hatter and no one was allowed in without a hat on - we had so much fun. I made the cakes and made little tags for the tea cups and for the food ("eat me and drink me") - we rented tea cups, plates and flamingos. It was sooo much fun I wish I could just stay home and plan parties all the time LOL.

Anyways as exciting as this year was we are hoping that next year will be Mike's most exciting birthday yet - we are hoping that we should be very close to a referral by then - fingers crossed!!

Front Door

some treats and decor

Some decorations and food - also the "Queen of Hearts" wine we found!!

The Mad Hatter himself

Tea Party on the deck!!

Emma dressed up as a "goth" Alice - we were so excited that she did!
She is awesome ~ it's no surprise we call her "mini Mike"

Table decor

The cakes I made - the rabbit and the watch

July referrals!!!

Well this month for the first time in I don't even remember how long the CCAA looks to have matched 14 days - up to and including May 10th, 2006. I have also noticed that a couple of the babies have been around the 4 month mark - the youngest I have EVER seen!! Words can't express how I would love/dream of getting a referral for a 4 to 6 month baby girl - I pray for this ALOT!!!!

Now before people get too excited the 14 days was kind of expected. The first week of May is a holiday in China so we knew that there would be more days once we got to the beginning of May. The most exciting thing is that they seem to have continually matched approx the same amount of babies for the last 5 or 6 months. This makes me very happy - as I have said before if the CCAA could continue to refer approx the same amount of babies each month that could put us - best case scenario next summer or even into next fall!!!!

I still can't let myself get too excited - there has been way too much disappointment over the years when it comes to us starting a family so we will just keep our finger crossed and pray that our dreams come true as soon as possible!!

15th Wedding Anniversay! - July 8th

Well July 8th marked our 15th weeding Anniversay - I can't believe it has been 15 years!! When I look back I can't beleive everything we have been through and we are happier today then we were back then. I am so thankful that with everything we have just grown stronger. Now if Mhyia would just get here everything would be great!!

For our Anniversary we went to the Old Mill for their champagne brunch - it is sooo beautiful there and we always go for special occasions - it was wonderful!

I love you Mike, thank you for everything you do and the man you are !!

46 month LID anniversay

Well I have been letting the "29th" go by for so many months now I almost don't even remember that we are one month closer.

We have now hit the 46 month and I figure I need to start remembering and celebrating that even though it has been sooooo long and even though we have really no idea how much longer we are one month closer.

June referrals

Well this month the CCAA did 5 days - up to and including April 26th. I would have hoped for one or two more days but it could have been worse I guess. Over the last couple of months we have really been hoiping that we would be going to China sometime next year....well who knows? They seem to be slowing down even more know so I guess only time will tell. We currently have 125 LID's until ours!

Happy 13th Birthday Shayla!!

Today is Shayla's 13th Birthday.

I seriously can't believe she is 13 already - Shayla is our first niece and is soooo special to me(us). I just enjoy everything about her and think she is such a beatiful, smart, caring and truly thoughtful person and she is so excited about Mhyia coming. In fact Shayla is one of the only people who consistenly ask us about Mhyia and how much longer it will be etc...

Anyways I just want to wish her a very Happy 13th Birthday and I hope that she has an amazing 1st day as a teenager!! We LOVE you sooo much Shayla xo

April Referrals

Well it is now April and referrals have started arriving for families up to and including April 17th, 2006. That is another 6 days this month. If China does continue to do approx the same babies as they have been for the past year or so then we might have a referral by the middle of next year (by the end for sure). Now granted this all depends on "if" they continue. Finger crossed!!! Some of the babies are as young as 6 months old which is sooooo amazing - a healthy baby girl is what is most important to me but to have as young as a baby as possible would be a dream come true!

To think that there is actually a light at the end of the tunnel is soooo AMAZING. It has been only getting longer for so long that it isn't something Mike and I talk about anymore, I have packed away all Mhyia's stuff etc... By the end of the year I could be starting the nursery, registering for baby items etc... it seems too good to be true so I will just continue to keep my fingers crossed that China keeps up the same pace!

March Referrals!!

Well even though this is only one month it is one of the most exciting referral batches we have had in over 2 years. As I discussed in February the next couple of months should be a good indicator as to what will happen with referrals moving forward. We new we would basically see 1 of 2 things happen 1) China would continue to refer approx the same amount of babies as they have been for the last year or so and 2) China would continue to refer only 2 or 3 days / month. There would be no reason for #1 not to happen and even though it would not technically be a speed up it would seem like a speed up because as you get further and further into 2006 there are less and less people logged in - especially when you factor in the attrition rate.

Well March 1st this months referrals came in and the CCAA have matched up to and including April 11th that is 6 days worth of referrals!!!

As I mentioned the next couple of months will be very interesting - if things continue according to RQ's projections and to what we are thinking China will be able to refer than by the middle of this year we should be well into May 2006. By the end of the year we could be into June or even July!!!

For the first time in almost 3 years we are starting to think we might see a light at the end of the tunnel?? As I said we will have to see how things go over the next couple of months but if they can continue along the same lines of this month I will be VERY happy!!

Fingers crossed!

February Referrals...

Well the CCAA only did 2 days this month (up to and including April 5th) but it actually was a significantly larger amount of babies compared to last month. The next couple of months will truly be a huge indicator as to how things are going to proceed with the CCAA - as we get further and further into 2006 there are fewer and fewer people logged in.
For about the last year and a half the CCAA has referred approx the same number of babies each month. If they continue to do approx the same amount of babies we could see a referral as early as the end of this year (God that would be amazing) but if they decide to start only doing 2-4 DAYS per month then we will know that they are definitely creating this slow down on purpose, and well that is just disgusting! They have created enough of a slow down over the last couple of years and to purposely slow it down even more will be very frustrating. Still only time will tell????

January 29th marked our 40 month LIDversary. I feel like an anniversary is usually something to celebrate and be excited about but this one just gets more depressing with every month.

So many things have happened over the last couple of months and I really am going to try to post some pics and get caught up. Birthdays, Christmas, etc.... I haven't really been into the blog thing or the adoption in general - it is just so hard to get excited about anything to do with it but I am going to make an effort because one day (hopefully sooner than later) Mhyia will be here and I know I will love to look back and see what was happening while we waited.

Way tooooo long and an interesting RQ post!!

Well I seriously can't believe that is has been since October since my last post. That really is ridiculous. I want to keep it up so one day I can look back but it is hard to stay motivated. I tell people that we are adopting but truly it doesn't even feel real, it's just like something we say.

I don't know what to say about the timelines? It is truly a wait and see game, if China would continue to match approx the same amount of babies as the last year or so than it would probably be about 18 more months but it looks like China might be purposely slowing things down even more.

I read an interesting comment on RQ a couple of weeks ago about a group in the States that raises money throughout the year and donates it to the orphanage where their children came from - apparently it is a significant amount (ten thousand +). Anyways apparently this group had discussed giving the money to another charity since China keeps saying that they don't have as many babies etc... so when one of the group members talked to the orphanage director regarding this decision the director said "no, no' no" we have just as many babies as we always have (he even showed them the paper work) it is just that most of them are in foster care now instead of the actual orphanage, he said he counts on that money in his yearly budget. UGH this makes me sooooo angry - WHY??? WHY??? WHY??? Why are they doing this? The wait is getting absolutely ridiculous, unfortunately there isn't anything we can do but wait but it is very sad and very disappointing. This January marked 4 years since we started this process and almost 41 months since our LID, I seriously have nooooo idea how much longer??

Anyways I am going to try to post some of the highlights with pics from the last couple of months, I feel I need to get more into it like I was at the beginning or else it isn't exciting at all.

Rumor Queen's post today.

Today RQ posted some predictions as to the wait ahead of us. She has basically said that 1 of 3 things will happen.

1. China will continue to refer approx the same amount of days as it has been - approx 3/month
2. China will start to refer more days as we get further into the year
3. China will continue to refer approx the same amount of babies/month

RQ put together some approx dates based on the number of days referred according to the number of days before our lid (currently 154 days left for us);

3 days/month = December 2013
4 days/month = January 2013
7 days/month = August 2011
12 days/month = November 2010

She also gave an estimate according to - if China were to continue to refer approx the same amount of babies each month as they have for the past year or so. This would be our best case scenario and one that I do think could be realistic (fingers crossed). It would make sense that they would/could continue to refer the same amount of children each month as they have been but then again with China so who knows???

RQ's prediction for this scenario for us is January 2011 - OMG that would be amazing.

I'm not going to get my hopes up because as we all know China is VERY unpredictable and will do whatever the heck they want. There are just so many less people logged in as we get closer and closer to August 2006 that I can't imagine it not picking up a little but like I said who knows?

Here's hoping that 2010 brings some speed ups and a better year for us all around!!