Answered prayers...

Here I sit in the Kids' Room, which is a work in progress. It is a project that has to come to completion pretty darn quickly. You see....WE HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY A BIRTHMOTHER!!!!!

Now, I must appologize dear friends. I have been neglecting the blog and should have added our news last week. But as you can imagine I have been a little busy as of late. Here is how last week unfolded.

We spent the weekend gutting the bedrooms of all the crap that has been acculmulating over the years in hopes of creating a warm and comfortable environment that we would come to call a nursery. Darren and I decided that it was time to get prepared. We had already gotten word that our profile had been looked at by two different birth families in the first week that we were on the domestic registry. Imagine that! Things were starting to happen, and although those families chose other paths, we were jsut thrilled to have been considered. This takes us toTuesday.

It was a normal morning. Meaning that I was up EARLY and on my bike, getting in part one of the day's training while dear Darren was sleeping soundly. Off to work a little while later, and Darren was heading back home. The work day began with the phone ringing, and lo and behold the phone is for me. Who could it be? It was our fantastic social worker at the agency that has been helping us with the whole domestic journey. It was THE call. She said, "you have been picked!" I thought that my legs were going to give out on me. Tears, laughter, shaking, tears, and more laughter. I hung up after getting some important details and just look at my co-worker with a stupid stunned look on my face. I couldn't figure out what I was suppose to do next. Of course I called Darren right away and had him come back to get me.

It's now just over a week since that awesome day, and we have been walking around with permanent grins on our faces. We have been making shopping trips with lists in hand, and hands on wallets burning the credit cards up! My mother can tell you that this is not my favorite part. Must be the Scottish in me coming out!

Yes, our lives are about to change. Bring it on! This is what we have been waiting for the past six years! And in another year or so this little one will have a sister coming home to play. Life can't get much better than that.

What about Ironman you ask...I intend to do it. Of course my training comes second, but we'll make it work. Nothing could be sweeter than coming across that finish line into the arms of my hubby and my wee little child. All the pain, sweat and tears that it took to have a little one enter our lives will have been worth the challenge of the day. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

One step closer...

Wooohooo!!! Here is the latest update on where we are with China:


CCAA Document Processing
The CCAA has finished the review of the adoption application documents registered with our office before November 31, 2006.
The CCAA has finished the placement of children for the families whose adoption application documents were registered with our office before December 27, 2005.
Retrieved from China Centre of Adoption Affairs: February 14, 2007

What does this mean? Well, for us it means that our dossier has moved from "no-man's land" into the review room where they will be going over everything and making sure that we meet all the requirements. I know, it seems like an extra step that would have already been done before our dossier was sent. But we play by the rules and hope for the best. After all it is our priviledge to b able to adopt from China.

And to add to this positive update, our homestudy update is complete and we have been added to te domestic registry. And THIS means that we will have to be prepared for the possibility of getting a phone call at any moment. I guess we'll be looking for a crib and car seat sooner rather than later. HOLY CRAP!!

Triathlon training takes on a whole new dimension...

Parallel Journeys

If you know me well, you will know that I am constantly thinking steps ahead of things. So this might not come as a surprise to some of you. Why not one, when we could have two?

Our dream of having little Teia home gets closer every day, but it will be a long journey yet. And what little girl wouldn't love a sibling? (Actually, no one asked me that before my brother came on the scene, but I Iove him like crazy...now!) Yup, we are going to try to make that happen. How? Well...we are putting our hearts out there in the land of domestic adoption in the hopes that a birthmother might find it in her heart to share the most amazing gift anyone could ever give to us. A child.

Now, there are no guarantees going this route. Essentially we are waiting for someone to pick us. To trust that we will do right by their child. We could be waiting for years for this to happen. But the flip side is that it could happen at any moment. Darren teases me that we will get the phone call on the same day as Ironman Canada. I say, bring it!

So we spent this weekend going through all our photos, trying to narrow down the selection to represent us, our lives, our families and friends. Not an easy task when you have to keep it to two pages. And we have been working on our "Dear Birthmother" letter. THAT, is the most important resume that I will ever write! There is so much that we want to say, but it can only be one page in length. And we want to make sure that it is received as honest and sincere. I guess if I had tears streaming down my face while trying to put thoughts into words makes it pretty sincere.

And here we are. Another journey. Another new adventure. How freakin' exciting is that? Our little Teia, our precious one waiting for us. She may come home to meet her sibling. Or she may be the older one, the one that will have the responsibility of picking on her brother or sister!

Canada, eh...

Top court refuses bid to give adoptive moms maternity leave
Thursday, January 24, 2008 01:57 PM ET (CBC News)

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday refused to hear the case of a B.C. mom seeking to change Canada's employment laws so that they grant maternity leave to adoptive parents.
Under the federal Employment Insurance Act, birth parents receive a total of 50 weeks of leave when they combine parental and maternity leave.
When Patti Tomasson of Vancouver adopted children in 1999 and 2003, she applied for the benefits but received only a portion of the time — the 35 weeks of parental leave.
She fought the Canada Employment Insurance Commission, arguing that their refusal to grant her the extra 15 weeks of maternity leave given to birth parents went against the constitutional right of equality.
When she brought her case before the Federal Court of Appeal in August 2007, it ruled that Tomasson did not qualify for maternity benefits because she did not undergo the "physiological and psychological experience" of pregnancy and childbirth.
Adoption advocates have argued that the 15 weeks of maternity leave are more than enough time to recover from childbirth. They say most of that time is actually spent bonding with the child, something adoptive parents should also be able to do.

WTF??

Rant on:
What the hell does this mean?? Is this a sign that the China program is bound for closure? I relied on this source of information. It was coming directly from the powers that be in China. No interpretations from anyone. The dates were given as to which LIDs were moving out of the review room and which LIDs were finally matched. Now we waiting parents have to be the persistent pain in the arse for our agencies?

Add to this the email we received from our agency telling us that the best case scenario for us is to receive our referral three, yes I said three, years from our LID. That would mean finally travelling in 2010! I can't wrap my head around this. All I want is to be a parent. What the hell am I doing wrong??

Rant off...as you were folks

Yes..It's true...I suffer from bouts of PRS

PRS or Pre-Referral Syndrome
It's that time of month again...I don't mean PMS but PRS or Pre-Referral Syndrome. This is a much more dangerous time of month than PMS is for most women, even worse than PMDD.

Typical Symptoms: Women in the process of Chinese Adoption will sit in front of their computers, for days on end trying to find one tiny shred of fact regarding the latest LID cut-off or actual date of said referrals; either through forums, chat rooms or blogs. Most women WILL lose some sleep during this time by choosing to surf for clues until the wee house of the morning, get a few hours of sleep only to get up extra early to see if anything has surfaced in the 3 hours they were asleep. Most women feel anxious, go through bouts of excitement and depression and appear to be losing her mind to those around her. When she will allow herself to be torn away from her cyber hunt, she will be prone to bouts of sobbing, shopping spree?s for baby items (mostly in pink), and will tend to eat copious amounts of Edy's Slow Churned ice cream. In extreme cases some women will lose short term memory, they will forget to take care of their daily responsibilities such as letting the dog out, planning dinner, going to work, etc. Some women will even forgo hygienic rituals, skipping showers, putting hair in ponytail, or wearing sunglasses to the grocery store to hide the dark circles and pale complexion due to lack of sleep and make-up.

Cycle Duration: Women usually experience PRS symptoms from 2 days to 2 weeks before the onset of Adoption Referrals being received at adoption agencies and can show continued symptoms for 2 days to 2 weeks AFTER referral information has been officially announced. Warning: Those experiencing symptoms 2 weeks before AND 2 weeks after SHOULD SEEK
MEDICAL ATTENTION or at least have an extremely supportive network of family and friends who can make sure that she doesn't go to work in her underwear or fall asleep in unusual places.

Life-time Duration: This is a chronic disorder that will continue on a regular basis until the cure* is administered. Years ago experts in this area believed the duration of PRS to only last 6-8 months. Then 10-12 months, 22-24 months and now some believe it could go as long as four years. As you can see there is not a definite end to this syndrome and those considered experts actually have no idea either.

*Cure:One adopted daughter, home in her mother's arms.

taken from a forum that I belong to, that was taken from a blog out there somewhere :)

Here comes Corrie...

Yes, I admit it. I have a problem. I am a Coronation Street addict!

This is a joke, right??

Imagine my surprise when I read the article below. One can't seriously think that the powers that be in China(who are so diligent in their reviews of families hoping to adopt a child) would approve someone like Britney Spears to adopt twins! Is this a case of celebrity special privelege? Is there a way of adopting privately in China? For the love of all that is good please let this be a bunch of bullsh*t tabloid pot stirring. Read on, friends...read on...

People News
Just what Britney needs, two more kids
08/31/2007 - Britney Spears - USA © Erik Kabik / PR Photos');
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08/31/2007 - Britney Spears - USA © Erik Kabik / PR Photos
Nov 26, 2007, 12:30 GMT
';
var PageContent= 'Britney Spears is reportedly set to adopt Chinese twins.\n\nThe troubled singer - who recently lost custody of her two sons, Sean Preston, two, and 14-month-old Jayden James, to ex-husband Kevin Federline - is allegedly in the final stages of talks with an agency about adopting the six-year-olds.\nFriends claim Britney - who has three supervised visits with Sean and Jayden a week - is desperate to fill the void in her life since she lost the boys and believes opening her home to the disadvantaged youngsters will give her life new purpose.\nA source said: "She misses her boys terribly and needs them in her life. She thinks adopting the twins is the perfect solution."\nThe \'Gimme More\' singer - who was ordered by a judge to undergo random drug tests to prove she\'s a suitable mother - is also said to be planning her own funeral.\nBritney, 25, is so concerned her unhealthy lifestyle will eventually take its toll so has splashed out £25,000 in case she ends up in an early grave.\nA friend added: "Adoption and a funeral? They two don\'t exactly go hand-in-hand.\n"Paying for a funeral is a sensible thing to do - but not when you\'re only 25! It\'s a case of too much, too soon with Britney."\nEarlier this month, Britney was banned from driving with Sean and Jayden and her court-ordered parenting coach recently slammed her mothering skills, saying her household: "Ranged from chaotic to almost somber with no communication at all."\n(C) BANG Media International';
PrintArticle();//-->
Britney Spears is reportedly set to adopt Chinese twins.
The troubled singer - who recently lost custody of her two sons, Sean Preston, two, and 14-month-old Jayden James, to ex-husband Kevin Federline - is allegedly in the final stages of talks with an agency about adopting the six-year-olds.
Friends claim Britney - who has three supervised visits with Sean and Jayden a week - is desperate to fill the void in her life since she lost the boys and believes opening her home to the disadvantaged youngsters will give her life new purpose.
A source said: "She misses her boys terribly and needs them in her life. She thinks adopting the twins is the perfect solution."
The 'Gimme More' singer - who was ordered by a judge to undergo random drug tests to prove she's a suitable mother - is also said to be planning her own funeral.
Britney, 25, is so concerned her unhealthy lifestyle will eventually take its toll so has splashed out £25,000 in case she ends up in an early grave.
A friend added: "Adoption and a funeral? They two don't exactly go hand-in-hand.
"Paying for a funeral is a sensible thing to do - but not when you're only 25! It's a case of too much, too soon with Britney."
Earlier this month, Britney was banned from driving with Sean and Jayden and her court-ordered parenting coach recently slammed her mothering skills, saying her household: "Ranged from chaotic to almost somber with no communication at all."

Talk about being put on a shelf...

This might give you an idea of just how many other families are waiting patiently to move from the review room to the matching room. Somewhere in the stacks and stacks of dossiers awaits ours. As of yesterday, those with dossiers LID on or before Aug. 31/06 have finished being reviewed. Those with LID of Dec. 8/05 are finally receiving their referrals. Almost a two year wait for them. Could late 2008 be our time? As much as it kills me to wait, I think that I can deal with that. Longer, however...well that is the bigger question. Do good things really come to those who wait? Today, my answer is yes. Ask me again tomorrow.