Referrals, referrals, everywhere...

It's that time of the month when CCAA (China Center of Adoption Affairs) places their kids with their new parents. It's really a fun time every month for us to watch those folks getting their matches. For example, good friends of ours (Steve and Mellissa) received their referral/match this past Friday. She is beautiful! Check out their blog with photos.

Another blog we read regularly (Do they have Salsa in China) received their referral today. They received twins! Check out their blog with photos.

All three girls are absolutely beautiful. We are so happy for them.

The question we tend to get all the time is: so, when will you get your referral? Well it's a very complicated question to answer. First of all, it is completely out of our control. We are simply waiting on CCAA. Truthfully, they haven't even reviewed our adoption application yet.

If you look at the image to the left, you'll notice that they have reviewed documents through October 31, 2005. Our documents were logged in April 24, 2006. So, we have a ways to go. The rumor is they should be through November 2005, but they haven't updated that portion yet.

The other thing to note on the graphic image above is the placement of children date, which is July 22, 2005. Our friends Steve and Mellissa were logged in July 19, 2005. So, they placed children to those people that were logged-in from July 14, 2005 through July 22, 2005. They only placed eight days of LIDs.

This is why our LID of April 24, 2006 is extremely important. Basically, at this rate, it will be two years before we get our child(ren). It's been told to us many times that this is a cyclical process and that it slows down and then speeds up. It's been very slow for about eight months now. So, hopefully, it will speed back up shortly.

The graphic to the right gives you the historical detail. The first column is the date the CCAA Web page was updated, the second column is the review of adoption applications and the third column is the dates of placements. If you look closely you'll notice that from December to January, they placed about 20 days of referrals. It began slowing down right after that. From January 23, 2006 through today, the average placement of children by LIDs is only 10 days. So, that would, again, put us somewhere in the two year mark. But, that's if you have an analytical mind. We do not believe it will be two years. We believe next summer. But, you never know.

So is that clear as mud?

We've been keeping ourselves busy, however. I've been updating the blog's features practically every day. If you haven't noticed there are a lot of links to the left that include the CCAA Web site, other blogs we follow and just a lot of cool things we use. We have basically become an aggregator for all things China-adoptions, finalizing our kitchen plans and working.

Our new addition is on its way...

FINALLY! We've decided to do our horrible kitchen! We've hated our kitchen from the day we moved in. There was a drop ceiling that was hiding damage, the cabinets were peeling from the cheap laminate crap and the hardware was disgusting. Here's a before picture...



We decided to go with Benson Stone Company. Our designer, Kelly, really helped us get the best for our $$$. Here is a picture of the cabinet we picked out...
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Believe us when we say it looks MUCH better in person than from the catalog image.

We did decide to do granite countertops with a four inch back splash. I don't have a sample of it, but the basic color is black with tones of green, beige and gray throughout.

While the layout of our kitchen isn't changing too much, here are the specs of what it will look like...







We ordered our cabinets yesterday and should be here within three to four weeks. I am working on some demolition myself to help save some $$$ -- I'm really good at demo! Our contractor is also adding lighting, removing soffits and, hopefully, the wall between our kitchen and family room -- the secret quote that Jenn doesn't really know about. See remaining photos...







Our stainless steel sink (Jenn won that argument) will be undermounted; and, the only things we have left to pick out are knobs and a faucet. For hardware, we're leaning toward this for the drawers and this for the doors.

100 Wishes Quilt fabrics...

There have been a lot of questions as to what type of fabric we're receiving for the 100 Wishes Quilt. Below are some samples of fabrics we've received. They couldn't be more perfect...


"Live, Love, Learn, Grow, Share, Explore."



"May you honor and respect your Chinese culture, while appreciating the freedoms your parents have afforded you by bringing you home to America."



"For a happy life, make memories that will bring you pleasure."


Remember, we need all fabrics by the end of 2006!

Jenn's alive and well...

Jenn's knee surgery was yesterday and she's doing well.

She had to be at the hospital by 7:30 a.m. Her lateral meniscus surgery was to be at 9:30. Her doctor (Dr. Barba) was 45 minutes late; therefore, she didn't leave the prep room until 10:30 a.m.

By the time I left the room, dropped the newspapers off at my truck, went to the bathroom, asked the receptionist where I needed to be, got to the waiting, was told I was in the wrong waiting, moved to the right waiting room, put on my headphones, Dr. Barba was out to tell me how her surgery went. It literally lasted about 20-25 minutes.

So, here's the low-down... her tear was worse than expected and her knee-cap had a dent that needed to be shaved down. Other than that, her surgery went as expected.

For those of you interested, here's a link to what her surgery looks like...

Pretty cool, eh?

As the video explains, Jennifer only has two little holes (not three) that are covered by two band-aids. Her ACE bandages that covered her leg came off today.

Anywho, when she's sitting or not using her leg/knee, she feels fine. When she is on or using her right leg/knee, she needs her walker for assistance. And let me tell you that is a sight! The moaning and groaning is fun to listen to. I now know what my future has in store. God help me!


Thanks to our neighbors who brought us a DELICIOUS dinner last night and to our friends at the Rockford Register Star for sending her a cookie bouquet today.