9 days it is!

Well it is official that the referrals went from March 15, 2006 - March 20, 2006! While I know it was 6 days it had a weekend in there and wasn't huge days, but still 6 days closer! What does this mean for us? Well, we have 9 days between now and our referral for Emma. Of those 9 days, 2 of the days are weekend days. So technically it is 7 days worth of referrals. If I look at a best case worst case, this is what I can predict. If we continue to get referrals every month the absolutely latest we should get a referral is January (that is if we get 1 day every month, excluding the weekend). If they do 2 days a month, a November referral. If they do 3 or 4 days a month, a Sept. referral. A 5 day a month batch or more could get us an August referral. My guess is a October referral which would mean we would travel (depending on when the referrals come out during the month) in late Nov. or Dec. Please pray we have our sweet little Emma home for Christmas this year.

Now here are the projections posted on rumor queen this week. For those of you not familiar with her projections she has based these on past months. It started with bad, mid and good case but as things slowed to snail pace she added horrid and extra small which is the first column. Now these are just projections based on past history. As you can see if we continue a small batch she also has October as our month. We would have to have the best case to get a referral in July (not even a chance). It is nice to see that with even the extra small batches she projects that we will have our Emma in October!
Below is another look at a March 2006 calender. As you can see the 20th was a Monday. For next month we hope to at least get a 2 day batch and make it to the 22nd, anything beyond that would be incredible!

Is it in the cards?

COULD IT BE TRUE?

Rumors are finally starting to surface. It's about time. With the referrals coming mid-month the last 2 batches it is confusing to figure out when they are coming. So every day I get on the computer to check in with the RQ to see if there is any news but lately there has been NADA! Well this week at work has been chaos, 43 hours of work in just 3 days. This left no computer time for me. So last night I get a call from my sister to fill me in on the latest rumors (my family and friends stalk these sites more than I do!). Anyway, the rumors are saying that matching is complete and that the cut-off is March 20th. Now I was hoping to at least get through the 21st as it is a big day but it doesn't look promising. I am excited though to know that we are possibly 6 days closer. This means we are now in the SINGLE DIGITS! Nine days standing between us and our referral. Seven actual LID days and 2 days for the weekend. So this is what I am thinking. If I am being realistic it would mean that in July there will be a 2 day batch (21-22), in August a 4 day batch (23-26), Sept a 2 day batch (27-28), which would mean that October would be the month! If I continue to dream then July would have a 6 day batch also (21-26) and then we would get our referral in August just in time for my birthday! Anyway you look at it we should be seeing Emma's face in the next 5 months!

What keeps me going!

Sometimes Emma seems so out of reach and then I see these beautiful girls and get excited knowing that our time is getting closer and that one day very soon our blog will be filled with pictures of Emma. For now I hope you enjoy the pictures of these beautiful girls! I am so excited for my friends as they bring home their beautiful daughters!

It's all starting to feel real

It is finally starting to feel like the whole adoption thing is going to happen. I know I have been part of this adoption world for 4 years now but the time has come that I am seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Now the light is still dim but in the distance I can see it. Just as you are reading my blog right now, I have been reading the blogs of those going before me since the beginning of this journey. I would get excited every time someone got a referral and I could see that precious face and follow the journey to China and back. It helped to pass the time and has helped give hope to a long lived dream. But now over the past few months there are so many of the people that are closer to me traveling and it is just now that I am starting to see that light getting brighter. Over the past few weeks two wonderful families were united with their wonderful daughters. Of course anyone who has followed my blog knows all about Lisa and Tate and another wonderful family T&J. They both got their beautiful daughters. Now yesterday pugmama, L, and Leeanne all left for China. Seeing these wonderful friends get their daughters is finally giving me the feeling that it is going to happen.
I laugh as I think about how long we have waited and how unprepared we are. Yes, UNPREPARED! I think we were more prepared 3 years ago! Things change so much over a 3+ year time span and sometimes we forget to look at the whole picture. I say this because as the time gets closer I have started to see what all still needs to be done. Most of you know we moved at the beginning of the year. The house we bought needed a total overhaul so it is a work in very slow progress. We are hoping to have it done by the time we travel. I promise I will post some before and after pictures soon. We still have some major purchases to buy such as the car seat and high chair (guess I should be researching). We still have family credits to do and Mike has to get his CPR cert., and of course we have a whole list of items to buy for our China trip. How after 3+ years can we be this unprepared?
So as of yesterday I have pledged to get moving. I watched the Medical Risks video (have had it for 6+ months) and started reading Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew (Sherrie Eldridge) for our family credits. Today I am getting my paperwork out and finding the list of items to purchase so we can start shopping. Hey, it's a start! Maybe, just maybe by the time our referral comes we will have it all done.
BTW, referrals have been weird lately with the flu so we are still waiting to see if a batch will come out in June or if it will be the beginning of July. At this point we are still hoping for September but only time will tell. I'll keep you posted!
I better get moving as it's going to be one busy weekend. I have to paint, get that paperwork out, close on our refinance today, work tomorrow and then celebrate Chase's big Graduation!