Introduction

To Our Family and Friends...Welcome to our Adoption Blog


Our journey began back on December 17, 2005. We rushed around to get medical exams, background checks, letters from friends and family, were fingerprinted, papers signed, notarized, etc... in order to have our papers Logged Into China (i.e.: Log-In Date, a/k/a LID) quickly. At that time, the wait for a referral was 6-8 months. Here we are, coming up on 4 years of waiting to become a "forever family". A lot has happened in those months. For Dennis: he continues to be very happy at his job and enjoying the work he does; he purchased a new car with four doors to prepare for the family; and he started working out on a daily basis and running which he seems to be enjoying very much. For Lisa: I continue to run and work-out as best as I can; I was laid off as a Design Associate thanks to the wonderful market we are currently experiencing but continue to keep in touch with everyone as it was a wonderful place to work and I enjoyed every moment of it; I went back to school for another Associates Degree in Paralegal/Legal Assisting and graduated in the Summer of 2009; I work at a wonderful office who I call my second family and enjoy my job immensely and could not have asked for a better place to work and grow in a career that I have wanted for a very long time. For Callie: well, she is still our little sweet pea and our first born. She is as happy as ever and continues to run (actually hop) and play. For all of us: we've moved 3 times (yes, you read that correctly) and are now living in a beautiful home which we continue to improve with our project list. We have great neighbors (although, there are only 3 homes on this block at the current moment) but miss our Whistling Way family.

For Dennis and I, this journey has been extremely long, at times very stressful, and most of all sad as we continue to wait to meet our child(ren) in China and become a "forever family". Although this journey has been difficult we know that in the end it will all be well worth it and the wait won't seem that long anymore.

It is at this time that we FINALLY get to announce that it is OUR TURN. China has completed matching families with LID through March 31, 2006 and they are beginning to start the month of April. Although our LID is 04/18/06 and we are right around the corner from receiving a referral, we could still wait another 6 months --- or less --- or even longer (God help us if we do). We will utilize this site to keep our family and friends updated as to where we are at in the adoption process. If we need to move to another site (as China does not allow connections to all blog sites) we will post that travel site on this blog as a link so you can easily access it and follow our journey, should you choose to.

During this waiting period we will post updates as well as some common questions and answers as to the adoption process to give you an idea as to all we really had to go through. (We have been asked many times to explain the process and how it all works. Unfortunately, we really did not want to talk about it too much in the past as it has been difficult).

For now, welcome to our first post to our Journey to China to become a "forever family".