December Referrals

Referrals for December came out today!  China has matched families with LID's through August 10th.  Not as many days off the calendar as we would like, but we must look at the bright side.  China has sent out 12 batches of referrals this year.  That is HUGE!  On average they have only sent out 10 batches a year for the last few years.  The progress may be slow, but it is still progress!  We are still thinking that we will receive our referral late winter/early spring.  Right on time for tax season! 

Congratulations to those seeing their babies faces!

100 Good Wishes Quilt

To welcome and celebrate a new life, there is a tradition in the northern part of China to make a Bai Jia Bei, or “100 Good Wishes Quilt.”  It is a custom to invite 100 people to contribute a single square patch of cloth.  The 100 patches are sewn together into a quilt that contains the luck, energy, and good wishes from all the families and friends who contributed a piece of fabric.  The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation.  So we thought this was such a wonderful tradition that we decided to welcome our little one with a "100 Good Wishes Quilt".  We feel so blessed by all the family and friends that have participated.  They really have made this extraordinary for her.   Here are some pictures to see the progress:

These are just some of the wonderful fabrics that we received.

These are some initial squares.

A few rows on second half of the quilt.

This is the first half of the quilt.

I am very excited to see it all coming together!  I look forward to coming home most nights and working on it.  What am going to do when I finish it!?!  I guess I will finally have to clean out those closets!

I love that some people have posted comments, but please leave your name so we know who has commented.  In the future we will be printing this for Tia and it will be so nice to know who has commented.  If you want to leave just your first name that would be great!.

November Referrals Are Out

Well ,referrals came out and they are through August 7^th now.  We are getting even closer!  We have so much to do.  We have to clean out her room as we have been using it as just an extra room.  What goes in the extra room?  EVERYTHING!  The room is actually not that bad, but the closets are loaded with the EVERYTHING that needs to go.   Here is a picture of her room.  (Notice the closet doors are closed!)

We have been blessed with family and friends donating to her room.  It will be so nice to sit in the rocker and read her a story.  She has so many wonderful books already! 

Another thing that needs to be completed is her quilt.  We will save that for the next post!  It is coming out so beautifully!

Welcome to our blog!

We started on this journey six years ago, never dreaming that it would ever take this long.  There were times that were difficult, but with the support of family and friends here we are! 

For those that are not sure how the adoption system works in China here is a quick summary:

   China uses a log-in system for their adoptions.  What this means is when they receive your packet (a HUGE packet) of paperwork, aka "The Dossier", they "log" you in on the date they receive it.  Our log-in date (LID) is August 30, 2006.  How this works is they send referrals (assignment of babies to families) by the LID.  So instead of being number 3,482 on the list and waiting for my number to be called, they do it by calendar date.  They are currently up to August 2, 2006.  We are getting so close!!  China usually sends referrals out once a month.  They may only be for a few days so it could take 4-6 months (or longer) to get through one month of LID's.  It depends on how many babies are available and how many families are logged-in.


There is a terrific website, www.chinaadopttalk.com, that is a great resource for any information regarding China adoptions.  It has been a great resource of information for us as to what has been happening in the China adoption world for the last six years.  It has a great network of families that eagerly share their experiences before they receive their referrals and even once they are home.  We have been reading the travel tips lately!  Thanks to their sharing we should be able to post pictures and information while we are in China.  It can be a little tricky because China blocks several sites.  Thanks to the other families hopefully we can navigate our way around them so we can share our time in China as it happens!

Hopefully we will have an update on referrals to post so check back soon!!