this is what the CCAA page said..................

STOP PRESS referrals

Louise is out so its my first post! & boy what a bit of news to report- the CCAA site updated about 20 minutes ago & it looks like referrals are in up to Sep 8th

"The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before September 8, 2005."

This could be it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess Louise will post again later

Rob

The hours are ticking by so slowly!!!!!!!!! quite busy with some work at the moment so it helps pass the time but we know it is getting nearer - we should hear that the referrals have been mailed to the DFES in the next few days so spend our time logging onto the CCAA website with regularity from about 6 in the morning -

Obviously CHina is 8 hours ahead so just about to finish work when we get up....if you are interested in watching too - then join the hordes that visit a site at the end of every month with ridiculous regularity; the Americans stay up all night and have cyber slumber parties while they monitor the site - only the Americans could do that,. We quite happily go to sleep knwoung we will find out when we find out and no amount of cyber sleep overs will speed up the machine that is the CCAA! http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp - the box to look at is the right hand side called Documents Processing - we look at the bottom date that shows those papers that have been matched.......

Have spent a few rainy Friday afternoons in Mothercare World in Croydon with a printed out list from a previous adoptive Mum who very kindly compiled a list before she travelled and then subsequently updated it on her return ! Phew for not having to find a collapsible funnel!

The ladies in Mothercare Croydon were lovely and made me swear I would bring her back to meet them when we get home. Bought a few things like towels, cot sheets and blankets, some activity toys to take with us as these go down well.

We also bought things to include in the Care Package - this is a small package that you send before you travel to your child once you have had referral, it includes a disposable camera so that the orphanage can take pictures of your child with carers, with friends etc a small toy for her to have, a blanket and a list of questions for the orphanage to complete in Mandarin and English, some pictures of us, friends, house =, her room - these help to give your child a background to her life in her first year. It is somehting that you can use to start Her ' Lifebook ' - more of that later! ...Her room is looking a bit crowded at the moment - Simone has passed on her stair gates and a playden - in exchange we are giving her the double bed for her new house in Devon ! that is if she moves!!!

On Satuday we met up with a group of parents in waiting in China town - a very nervous and excited bunch as you can imagine. There was a family who got home about 8 weeks ago with their littel 23 month old Emily who was adorable ....

Anyway hopefully the next post will be to let you know that referrals are coming ....

Getting Closer all the TIme !!!!!!!!!!

Our Queen - well the one that we bow down to in this overseas adoption game! Rumour Queen ....has posted that

A very reliable agency has let their people know that the CCAA has begun the matching process.

With the exception of last month, referrals generally arrive from one day to one week after this agency makes this statement.

Hold onto your hats guys and gals.....this world it is for the changing...!

Stand by your ....email ...news may be popping through soon....

made lists....been shopping ....began chanting ....

DO you remember when you were a child and weeks and months went on forever, when Christmas always seemed about three years away and then you hit your twenties, thirties and forties and time literally does start to fly! One minute you have just stopped hoovering up the pine needles from last Xmas than the ads for this year's must have gifts are hitting our screens in September and it is countdown to Xmas...Well we are in that first stage - waiting for time to pass; and it is going so so slowly !

I am doing some work for some friends so that will kill two days or so a week, last Friday I decided to brave it and spent about an hour and a half in Mothercare World in Croydon with a list of things to buy as prepared by a very organised and helpful fellow adoptive Mum from the message board we use. ( Ellen you are a saint !) By the end fo my buying trip I had three huge bags and left with three of the Mothecare staff asking me to make sure that I brought the baby in when we get back from China!

And as for the chanting I did a yoga workshop this weekend and we were chanting to the Goddess Lakshmi - of abundance...so we chanted zto get our referral through soon....OM Shri Mahalakshmayai swahah .....well we try anything !

still waiting ...knowing it is getting nearer

well still waiting ...November 13th ...middle of the month and the time is ticking nearer to the end of the month for the next batch of referrals we are crossing all fingers and toes that we will be included.

The weather has been unseasonally mild, Rob has realised that he had been saving up holiday days in the thought that we might have been going to China this year, so we decided that there was time for a weekend away. so quickly emailed friends by the seaside in Swanage and went down there for a couple of days ...we were on the beach every day in the sunshine , there were people swimming in the seas on Sunday! Had a great time with Lesley and Stephen and then back to London for my Mandarin class...

Mandarin - tackling tones can be fun, did you realise that the word ma can mean four things depending on how you say it --- could be confusing horse, hemp or mother!!!!!!

Referrals are in ....

at last ...Rob called me to say that the CCAA site had been changed to tell all waiting that referrals had been matched to August 25th...that is less than a week's worth of paperwork to go before they get to us - to be precise they have five days and then they hit that large pile that constitutes the papers logged in on August 31st...feels good...

http://www.china-ccaa.org/frames/index_unlogin_en.jsp here is the site that is the one we check come the end of each month if you are interested, I know my sister is watching too...we are all waiting for Nelly...getting closer...

Wonder if anyone managed to catch the Madonna interview with Kirsty Wark last night on Newsnight, it was an OK interview, more interesting was the comment that followed by Oona King MP - who was an absolute star currently adopting herself, standing up for the fact that people adopt because they want to be parents whether the children they come from the UK or overseas...obviously the whole interview and the Madonna thing has raised column inches and web centimetres all over the place too many different issues to go into here but hey...

October Referrals will be with people tomorrow

just read that an agency in the US has sent out a ' Stork Alert ' to all of its people who will be getting their matches ...runour has it that this batch will include people whose papers were logged in from August 9th - August 24th....so here is hoping that they get working quickly on the next in tray which will include our papers!....If anyone is still reading this then start crossing your fingers, toes...saying prayers if that is what moves you and generally keeping hopes up that next month will be the one when we hear about our little one as frankly I am getting a little bored of all this !!!!!!!!!!!

we have had a house full of people these last two weeks, so this weekend we are going to impose ourselves on friends who live near the sea in Swanage ( we went there last year when this blog started ! ) and then to a lovely looking hotel that I read about in Bridport and Rob has two days off next week..

anyway for now I will say Zai jian .....! and I can now count to ten in Mandarin if anyone needs help with their CHinese numbers!