Friday, January 12, 2007

Don't hate me because I (might be) expedited

Wow, it's been two months since letting this blog slide and almost a year from when I started it in the first place. I have been trying to follow all of my favorite adoption blogs, as well as some of my new found craft and book blogs. I have missed Forks & Chopsticks though and figured I would give you all a little update. I also thought this might be a fun experiment to see who still has me on their bloglines!!

Anyway, a lot has been going on in the two plus months that I have been away from this blog. The end of 2006 was a hard one for our family. We suffered the loss of two very close friends. Then my girlfriend suffered a terrible and heartbreaking loss. My daughter Leah also had a seizure and it was confirmed that she has epilepsy. Since she is young and her brain is still developing, there is a good chance that with her medication she can actually grow out of it. It won't be for another 2-3 years before we know for sure. Needless to say, I was more than happy to say hello to 2007!

There has been one truly bright spot of 2007 so far (and it wasn't the fact that our Septic Tank backed up into the house, I assure you). I spoke with our agency yesterday to see if they received any expedited referrals in the last (December) batch. Indeed they did! The parents had a total wait of 11 months from their log-in-date. Our agency told us that they spoke to their rep in China who said that the expedited referrals should continue and that they would be shaving about 4 months off the typical wait time. With a LID of May 18, 2006 I am looking at the possibility of receiving a referral early this summer! Of course, this is by no means a guarantee, but it does give me a little hope for the future. I have even gone back to knitting this, in the hopes that I will have a child to put it on this coming fall. You can see an updated photo of the sweater here.

In other news, we still have our lovely foreign exchange student with us. Her parents will be visiting the US for the first time in June to attend her graduation.

I will be updating this blog again every once in a while, so hope you will stop on by to check in. Thanks for being such good listeners.

24 comments:

4D said...

Oh my goodness! Sounds like you have a LOT going on and not all good. I wish you a 2007 of happiness and good health. May it be the best year yet.

Great to hear from you!

Keep smilin!

Johnny said...

Aha! I took you off my bloglines cause you said you were shutting down. Re-added.

Donna said...

I knew you'd be back :::wink::: especially when your referral time started getting closer!

I hope 2007 is a wonderful year for you and your family. Thanks for sharing some of it with us!

And, yes, are ARE so crafty! ;)

Donna
Our blog: Double Happiness!
MSN Forum: Adopting From China

Anonymous said...

Well, you were still on my bloglines! Glad to see an update, although I'm sorry about Leah and your recent losses. But, it's great that expedited referrals are still happening--any continuation of past practices means that things are still moving along. Keeping my fingers crossed that you'll hear something summer. Take care...

Gracencameronsmomy said...

You are stillon mine!! Great news! Can't wait to hear of referral!
Lisa

chichimama said...

Still on mine :-).

Greta news about the referral speed up! Hope it works out for you the way you hope!

wzgirl said...

Wow! I had no idea that you (might be) expedited. Not hatin', don't worry. I'll keep an eye on you, though, it is so much more fun to watch referrals roll in when you know the family a little.

Katie J said...

Yeah! So happy to hear it may be sooner rather than later.

Puddin' said...

I'm thinking 2007 is going to be a GREAT year for your family!

Anonymous said...

Wow Stephanie, that is wonderful news about your referral. So happy for you guys!

Wendy Baron

Kristin said...

Glad you're back... I missed you! Wonderful news about the expediated referral!

Donna said...

Hi Stephanie,

Glad to see you have this blog back up and running...and, no, I don't hate you for being expedited. Just the opposite...I'm happy for you and your family!

Looks like I'll have to add Forks and Chopsticks back to my "Patiently Waiting" list on my sidebar!

Donna :)

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to stop in and say hello to a fellow parent adopting from China! Hopefully our wait won't be for too much longer.

almostwitty.com said...

Welcome back to blogland!

Kim said...

Glad that you posted, Stephanie! I've missed you. Sorry things have been going a bit rough for you and I'm very sorry to hear that Leah has epilepsy.

I hope an expedited referral is in your future!

Christina said...

Knew you couldn't stay away. This blog stuff is way too addicting.

Tammy said...

Hey friend! It's great to see a F&C post from you. Glad you got the word about being expedited. Very exciting!

Shelley said...

Hee hee - I knew you couldn't stay away for too long ;).

Welcome back Stephanie. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles of 2006 and hope the worst is behind you. I wish you a wonderful 2007!

Shell

Beeb said...

Glad you're back - although I was still keepin' in touch with your craftiness...
Sorry about the rough end to 2006, but I'm with you on a brighter 2007! May your expedited referral be expidited all the more!

Tammy said...

I meant to add...
Great family photo. I'm assuming this was your Christmas card picture. You even managed to get the cat in the picture - very impressive.

asiangard said...

That is great news~~~!!

Beckyb said...

Have never heard of the "expedited thing" before - what would cause them to do that?? Just curious - that is super!!

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy that you're bloging on this site again. I've been following your craft site too and actually knitted a scarf!!! I've also looking into knitting classes too!

Hurray it's 2007 and the year of the Pig soon too!

Alexandra

Donna said...

I won't hate you if you're expedited as long as that means my referral comes four months later! ;-) Good news for you all this year after such an emotional end of 2006. All the best!