Let's try this again . . . .

OK, for those who remember my first attempt at a family blog, I'm giving it another try. Most of you know I left my crazy, stressful management position last November (great time to quit a job without a new one lined up!), and am now working at The Scripps Research Institute. This was a change for the better, not only for myself, but for the entire family.
So here I go again, documenting our family life and specifically, our journey to add a daughter to our family through adoption from China. A bit of background information to get everyone up to speed:
December 2006: Chris and I decided to take the plunge and adopt a girl from China (I'll detail why China in a future post)

January 2007: After researching various "China only" adoption agencies, we selected an adoption agency and submitted an application.

February 2007: Received approval from the adoption agency (Chinese Children Adoption International) and started the task of completing the necessary paperwork. In the adoption-world this is called the "paper chase" and it took us 9 months to complete (sometimes having to re-do forms 2 and 3 times until they were perfect!) and submit to our adoption agency for translation and submission to the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA). This is the government agency in China that handles adoption. The final paper work submitted is called your "dossier".

November 19, 2007: Received our log-in date (LID) from the CCAA. This is the date that all who are adopting from China live by. China processes adoptions in date order. . . kinda like taking a number at the deli counter and waiting for your number to be called.

When we applied to our adoption agency and began the paper chase, the wait was approximately 18 - 24 months from the time you receive your log-in date from China, until the day you are matched with a baby. When we finished all of our paper work and submitted to China, the wait was up to 36 months. There are a few reasons the wait increased, but the primary reason was that in May 2007, China changed the requirements for potential adoptive parents. While there were several changes, the main ones were age and the exclusion of single parents. Thousands of people scrambled to get their paper work submitted prior to the change in regulations. More on requirements in a later post.

March 2008: Realizing that statistically we are looking at a 3 - 5 year wait (and some argue longer) until we are matched with a child, I began researching the Waiting Child program with our adoption agency. China maintains a list of children waiting to be adopted that it deems "not fit" for adoption through the traditional program due to "special needs." These can be things such as age (older children are rarely adopted) to minor medical conditions such as a birthmark on the face to very severe medical conditions, such as spina bifida. After extensive discussion and research on certain medical conditions, Chris and I submitted our medical conditions checklist (basically a checklist of medical conditions that you are willing to accept, would possibly accept or would definitely not accept in a child) to the Waiting Child program in addition to remaining in the "traditional" adoption program.

That brings us to the present day. Having been in the Waiting Child program for over a year and a half, we know that we are essentially "at the top of the list" and could get "the call" from our agency any day now, telling us that they have a little girl that falls within the parameters that we specified on our medical conditions checklist. For those of you who know me REALLY well, you know that I am borderline OCD (self-diagnosed, but unanimously confirmed by Chris, Dustin and Dylan) and the wait is driving me crazy (possibly literally)! Thus, I need something to do with my time so that I don't go completely insane, drive my family crazy and spend all of our money! Hence, the Blog. I will try to update at least a couple of times a week with random family updates, information on China Adoption and once we get "the call", the next steps in our roller-coaster adoption journey!