Forever Young

About 10 years ago my girlfriend Leslie was pregnant with her first daughter, Carlie. When I was planning her baby shower I heard the Annie Lennox version of this song at the end of the movie Free Willy (yes, I really did watch that and more than once, lol). It struck me then, as it does now, that this song expresses eloquently what I think we all wish for children. I bought a copy of the sound track, specifically for that song, and gave it to her to let her know all I wished for Carlie. She loved it and used to play it for her frequently. If you get a chance I would recommend listening to it. Below are the lyrics, enj0y!

~Forever Young~

May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,

Chorus ~
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,

Chorus ~

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,

Chorus ~

May you stay forever young.

~Bob Dylan

p.s. Bob Dylan originally did this but I liked Annie's version better.

A new picture of me...

In a little funk...

It has been 12 days since our dossier was delivered to CCAA and we still have not received our LID. Every day I come home and check my e-mail for "the mail" regardless of how tired I am or late it is when I get here. So... I am patiently, or truthfully speaking, not so patiently waiting to be notified of our LID date. I know that receiving it is just the beginning of another even longer wait but still I want this particular wait over NOW. As so many of us have discussed on the board this experience is definetely a lesson in patience. Unfortunately for me I am at a stage in life where patience is not my strongest virtue, more like a virtue I no longer possess at all!

In my daily prayers for strength and understanding I just cannot make myself pray for patience. I keep hearing my grandma's (I miss her so much) voice telling me praying for patience may get me more than I bargained for. She would laugh and say remember Moses was in the desert for 40 years! Instead she told me to pray for perseverance and understanding. I know that at the end of this long wait is our daughter. The Red Thread poem I posted earlier says it all but I sure wish that thread would start being reeled in!

A Red Thread to China

A red thread to China was cast today
From us to a child so far away.
This thread symbolizes an attachment of hearts that distance alone can’t keep us apart.
Her mother and I are caught in a chase
That time alone will bring us to face

This loving young child we want so much to greet
With love in our hearts before we did meet.
This tiny, thin thread may stretch, tangle or fray
But our love for her grows stronger each day.
Through the test of time it won’t break or sever
She’ll be part of us forever and ever.

With oceans between us, the distance is spanned
By a love that is greater than man could have planned.
For God in His mercy loved her and us
And decided our family would be a great plus.

So for now we’ll just love her and pray every day
That God keeps her and loves her for us till we may
Travel to China, that land of great past,
To the side of our daughter, to hold her at last.

March 18, 2002
© T.A.F.

Magnolia has arrived...

The Magnolia doll I bought a couple weeks ago arrived today. She is really cute and came with a laminated card with the red thread saying on it. Of course Matt wasn't as excited as I was! My next purchase may be a couple of the outfits they have on the same website. A girl (or doll in this case) needs a variety of outfits for special occasions, lol.

For those who received good news today, Congratulations! For those of us still waiting for one thing or another hang in there, our time will come.

A nice weekend...

Matt's birthday is Tuesday 8/22/06. On Friday (8/18) I had a birthday party for Matt
down at Channelside. The best part was that one of his closest friends, Brian, flew in from Minnesota to surprise him. We had a great turn out and everyone had a great time.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Blog design created by Heather...

Heather,

I wanted to thank you for all your help with my blog, I couldn't have done it without you! I appreciate all your time and effort more than I can say.

Just in case anyone is wondering what the characters in the header mean Mei (beautiful), Ai (love, affection), and he (harmonious "people harmony").

What a week...

This week has been crazy with speculation about increased wait times for referrals on the group sites. When we first started this process the wait time was an estimated 12-14 months. Now rumors range from 16-18 and 18-24 months from LID to referral. It’s enough to blow your mind if you start to think about it too much! Admittedly these rumors are not coming from CCAI but from people who are playing the statistics game. While I can see the validity of their calculations I just don’t believe it will go that long. There are so many factors involved, some of which we know and some we don’t, that I find it difficult to believe that there is any sort of reliable predictability at this point. In the past the wait times have fluctuated and most likely will continue to do so for any variety of reasons. Our CCAI Social Worker told us during our home study interview that CCAA had been to the States in April to meet with CCAI and a few other agencies. One topic of discussion was the increasing wait time from LID to referral. All parties involved agreed the wait time was detrimental to both the adoptive families and the children. Knowing about the conference leads me to believe that the CCAA move in July was a step in the right direction. Jack Song has apparently also mentioned to some that CCAA is working a plan to decrease this time as well. While the wait times may not go down right away I am hoping that they at least remain static until such a time that the “plan” can be implemented. Until then I will continue to pray daily for all of us in the process.

Hang in there!

Dossier deilvered...

We got an e-mail from Jack Song telling us our dossier has been delivered to CCAA.
Hopefully we will get our LID soon!

DTC...

We got the e-mail today that our dossier was sent to China on 8/10/06.
It's time for the happy dance again!

I FINALLY bought something...

I broke down today and bought the Magnolia doll I read about on the DTC/LID group. She is adorable and I hope Baby (we really need at least a nickname!) Shrader will enjoy her.

On that note... Teresa from the DTC/LID group had a great idea to cure the shopping bug. She bought a gift card and is adding money to that when she gets the urge to shop. I bet when she is ready she will have a good amount of money to spend! I think I may have to pick up one or two myself. It's also a great suggestion if you friends/family asking what you need... Great idea Teresa!

On to translation...

After the slight drama on Thursday it was great to get a phone call from Amanda yesterday (Monday 8/7/06) letting us know CCAI had received the corrected document and we were being moved over to translation. We are hoping to be DTC this week...

Timeline...

3/13/06 - Approved by CCAI

3/24/06 - Agency Home Study Packet Sent

5/23/06 - First Home Study Meeting

6/01/06 - Second Home Study Meeting

6/05/06 - Received Home Study for Review

6/19/06 - USCIS Second Filing Received at CCAI

7/05/06 - I171H Received

7/25/06 - Dossier Sent to China

8/10/06 - DTC

8/14/06 - Dossier Delivered to CCAA

9/05/06 - LID

Referral Date ????

The Good, bad, and fixed...

Good News...

Yesterday Amanda from the dossier department called to say our dossier had made it through critical review.

Bad News...

There was one small error on one of the physical forms. They forogt to check negative on one of the blood tests results. I've already had to get this particular doctor to fix things once before ( the ARNP signed the completed form instead of the doctor). I know it sounds petty,
but it would really help if they could read the form and follow directions :o(

Fixed...

I was able to get the correction done today and send it via federal express to CCAI. Thank God I didn't have to go through the whole notary/certification/authentication process again!! I would have freaked out about that. As it was I went to the office and was actually quite calm even though after specifically saying that the update had to be signed by the doctor the ARNP signed it again. Fortunately, I caught it before I got out the door.

Hopefully, I will be able to get through translation next week!

A poem for us all...

Found this while playing online late last night. I hope it touches all of you like it did me.

A Moonbeam

Take a glimpse into the sky

And if a moonbeam hits your eye

Follow it back to whence it came

And dream of a child who'll bear your name.

A little one may look right back

And follow a beam along it's track

And see a mother awaiting the day

In who's arms forever to stay.

~Tom Fisher

Intro...

We are Matt and Kelly Shrader from Tampa, Florida. Like most of you reading this we are in the process of adopting a baby from China through CCAI. We are at the end of our "paperchase" and waiting to hear if we passed critical review. Our completed dossier was received at CCAI on 7/25/06.

For those of you who recently received DTC/LID dates - Congratulations! For those still completing the chase or waiting for critical dates - Good Luck!