What we're up to....

Besides gazing at our daughter's picture, not a whole lot. :) What do you do when you're not "waiting" anymore?

On Friday, we received our packet of information from our agency. It included Bella's original photos and paperwork. A lot of the paperwork (including her medical history) was in Chinese and had to be translated. We received the translated medical history yesterday. We read at two months she had an "indirect hernia" and instantly went into worry mode. Me more so than Brian, but there was a worry mode in the house. After hearing more about what an indirect hernia is, we're a little more calm. We have our consultation with the pediatrician scheduled for Thursday where we'll find out treatment options, if they're needed.

This morning I Fed Ex'd our acceptance letter to Harrah's. All 8 families in our group must return their acceptance letters before our travel can be scheduled. Once Harrah's receives the acceptance letters, they'll send them back to the CCAA and they will set up our official appointments. Once these appointments are set up, our agency will be notified and our trip will be set up. At this point we cannot answer the question that everyone wants to know the answer to, "When are you going?". I'll update as soon as we know. :)

Orphanage Video

Stephanie (aka Jackson and Lia's mommy) found this video online. It's our girl's first home.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X0Xzo2UPr4

We're Parents!!!

We are very happy to announce the referral of our daughter, Isabella ZiYu Smith. Born Chen ZiYu in the Hunan Province, she currently resides in the Chenzhou Orphanage. We're hoping to travel to get her in 4 to 8 weeks. We are so in love.

Maybe???

I just read in rumor-land that referrals have been mailed AND the cut-off is the 14th. :) Stay tuned.....this could get interesting.

Amen!

Can I get an Amen? This was on our rumor site today: Those who are next, or close to next, are probably very close to needing anesthesia soon. This really has gone on way too long.

Nothing really new to report. It appears some families did receive "travel approval" to travel and adopt their babies; however, China is not allowing them to travel right now. There's also a rumor we might see referrals this week.

Still Nothing

For those following along at home, we still do not know anything. The latest we've heard is that some agencies are telling their families referrals will arrive as usual. However, some agencies are telling their families they are on hold for now. As usual, our agency is saying nothing. Stay tuned....

Talked With Our Agency

I talked w/ our agency earlier today about the rumors and didn't get a clear answer. They haven't not heard anything from the CCAA, but I was told "it would not surprise them" if the CCAA puts things on hold for a while. However, there are more agencies reporting referrals and travel approvals are going to be held for a while. How long? Who knows. I've seen "20 to 30 days" to "40 to 60 days".

The worst part of all this is knowing we had a chance of being matched in March. We had reports that matching had started and some agencies had even started telling their March 14th people that they were probably in. If we were matched to our baby, that file is currently sitting in the CCAA office collecting dust.

I've said it before, and I'm going to say it again..."If you want to make God laugh, make plan".