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“The Box” has been changed to say referrals are complete through January 20, 2006. Since the 21st and 22nd are a weekend with no LID’s this doesn’t change anything really. It WOULD have been nice to have seen 10 days referred but it wouldn’t have changed the numbers referred at all. Anyway, next month will have 2 “extra” days in it. We are that much closer to our referral though!

My guess is this- 1 more month to finish January and then 3 or 4 months to get to the end of February, so we COULD see a referral in October or November.

So apparently multiple agencies are confirming that January 22, 2006 is the cut off for this month, that is 10 days, although it looks like roughly the same number referrals as last month. But that is good- IF (and that is a BIG IF), they keep on like they are right now, I believe we will get our referral around October or November this year. Once they finish the month of January, I think we are going to start working on the baby room! Almost time to get excited but not yet. We have been in the line for the “roller coaster” for so long, that now we are just turning the corner where we can see the cars come into the station but still have a couple more turns to make to get to the front of the line.

Apparently referrals have still not yet been mailed though, the guy (yes there is 1 person only) that can sign the referrals is dealing with the earthquake right now and not in Beijing. My heart goes out to those who know they are in this batch and yet are having to wait, that must be frustrating.

…or better yet, where are the referrals!!!! This month has been strangely quiet, the only things out there are that there should be more days this month then last, and that matching has begun (maybe finished). It sounds like part of the CCAA has been directed to assist with earthquake orphans, and possibly the director (the only person who can sign off on referrals) is helping there too.

But so far we do not have any sound cut off rumors which is REALLY strange this close to when we normally would see referrals.

In other news, it sounds like (at least one agency is reporting) the CCAA is going to extend the validity of the “Coming to China to Adopt” form from 3 months to 5 months for the June and July referrals. This will give those that receive referrals the ability to wait until AFTER the Olympics to go get their child.

I wanted to post this video. I have really enjoyed this song recently and heard it again just moments after I read the news in my previous post about his daughter being killed, and brought me a couple tears. This song is about taking the time with your children, because one day they will be gone. He was talking about children growing up and moving out and on with their lives, but this morning the song takes on a whole new meaning.

There are much more “polished”, better sounding versions out there you are welcome to find, but I chose to link to this video, because it is acoustic, but also because Steven takes the time to explain that this was inspired by his two youngest daughters. If you would like to hear the more polished version you can view the video here. Warning- it is quite touching. It might be choppy to listen to today because as you can imagine his website is being heavily visited today.

This morning it is being reported that the youngest daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman has be killed in an accident. You can read the news article here.

Apparently Maria (5 years old) was playing in the driveway and one of her brothers accidentally ran her over. What a horrible horrible event and it really makes me sad for them, for both the parents and the brother. I don’t even know what to say really.

Please take an extra moment today and pray for this family. Not only is he a Christian artist and they are a China adoptive family, but they are a family that has just lost their youngest daughter. Pray for them for the comfort they need to know that God is in control and has a plan through this and to keep their eyes turned to him during this time.

You can leave your condolences for the Chapman’s here. Just click on “comments” under the first post.

Please keep my mother in law in your prayers. She had open heart surgery about a week and a half ago and was doing really well. They moved her to a step down unit and she started going down hill, developing complications, within a couple days. They moved her back to ICU last night and has a few things going on, pneumonia is one thing, but also some other heart related things. If everyone could pray for her, I know it would help.

Thank you

Well, another small month of referrals have been confirmed. Apparently the CCAA internal website has changed to show the official cut off as 1/9/06. This is a disappointing 5 day batch. I think with the Olympics right around the corner, however, the next several referral cycles are going very nerve racking. We all hope that we will see very large batches but I just have a gut feeling we may be disappointed until after the Olympics are done. I hope I am wrong.

I still have strong hopes that we will see our referral and be home by the end of the year. At this rate I think it will happen but I can’t say for sure. If the CCAA can maintain 6 or 7 days per month we should be ok.

We have tried eating with chopsticks several times over the years and I have always gotten too frustrated after a few minutes and went to the fork, swearing that one day I should go on the chopstick diet. This would be a great diet for me because I know I would starve the weight off.

Well we went out for Japanese last night and I decided to try eating with chopsticks, yet again and to see how long it would take before that fork would start mocking me and trick me into using it to eat with. Well, I ripped open the paper wrapper, split them in half, and began eating with them. And to my surprise it just clicked, I ate my whole meal with the fork glaring at me in jealousy. Starla saw me eating with them and decided to try it herself and she too ate her whole meal with chopsticks. I am now ready to eat in China Oh, and then for lunch today we had leftovers on a paper plate and wooden chopsticks- no dishes, not even a fork- I like where this is headed!

I love this video and the story that surrounds it. Steven wrote this for his daughter that was adopted from China- actually Steven has a couple daughters adopted from China, but I am pretty sure this was written for his first one. It is heart warming.

Today marks a big day in our wait for our daughter, our paperwork has been logged in to China for 2 years! 2 whole years! That is 24 months, the wait was only suppose to be 8-10 months, so it has already been about 3 times longer. When will we get our referral you ask? GREAT question, I wish I could answer that. If I had to guess right now, I would say another 7-9 months, but it could be longer. In guessing, I am figuring 7 days average per referral period and since it is 9 weeks between where referrals are now and our LID, I figure 9 months. Now in that time there is also a week period the CCAA was closed last year for Chinese New Year, and there is always the fact they could do a little more then 7 days per month- that is where I come up with 7 months. Guess time will tell.

Wish I could say we were going to celebrate tonight, but for some reason this doesn’t seem like a celebratory event.

Today begins a new year, the Year of the Rat, specifically the Earth Rat. You can read more about this zodiac sign here. It sure sounds like if our daughter is not born yet, and is born in the year of the rat, that she will be quite the handful. The key traits are intelligent, honest, hard-working, controlling, obstinate, and manipulative. But the Rat is also loving, so the challenge will pay plenty of rewards.

There are celebrations all over China to celebrate this time of year. It is the biggest time of the year to travel to see family and the whole country just about shuts down. Let’s not forget the adversity that is still facing millions of Chinese citizens and thousands of babies in orphanages as storms continue to wreak havoc in the country. Last I heard there has been a break in the weather although everything is still pretty icy and more weather is expected soon. Please continue to pray that basic needs can be met.

Parts of China are experiencing it’s worse winter weather in over 50 years. There are major power outages due to power plants running out of coal, water pumping stations are not running, buildings have collapsed. Due to the transportation system being shutdown there are major food shortages and the weather has killed off the winter crops. Here is a CNN article about the storm.

This has had a very hard impact on many of the orphanages in China. Nannies are having a very difficult time getting to work, there are diaper and food shortages. In some areas the hospitals are closed and children are sick. With food costs skyrocketing they are having a hard time purchasing staple foods for the children. Half The Sky foundation (a very dedicated charity that does lots of orphanage work all year round) is working very hard to try to get the orphanages what they need. Needless to say there are logistical challenges as well as financial challenges. Please take a moment to check out what they are doing to help here. Please take a moment to consider helping this organization.

Also on my mind today, I can’t help but wonder how this weather is affecting our little daughter as she waits to come home. Is she in an affected area of the country? Is she sick and cold or fortunate to be safe and warm? I can only hope that God is looking over her and keeping her safe as I pray for every day. I wish she could be home safe home with us right now. I wonder how much this will impact referrals in the upcoming months. Obviously the orphanages are in survival mode right now and will not be working on getting paperwork to the CCAA. This is such a tragedy on so many different levels.

My poor dog, little does he know the public humiliation he is subjected to, I hope dogs never learn to surf the Internet. I was playing with him and Starla took some pictures of my practicing my french braiding on him

Practicing

And done!

Oh well, something to pass the time.

Merry Christmas to everyone! What a time to celebrate and reflect on the meaning of Christmas and how humbling it is.

May this Christmas find you all well and happy. May this Christmas find Mikayla warm and safe and comfortable.