What a difference a year makes

Snickerdoodle turned 1 year on the 4th.  Mrs. Cheriway took Snickerdoodle into her arms for ever a year ago today!

I had thought that at some point, being a parent would become just an every day thing.  I thought that at some point we would start to take it for granted - maybe even start complaining about it.

NOPE!

There isn't a day that goes by that Mrs. Cheriway or I don't make a comment about how perfect Snickerdoodle is or how lucky we are to have her.  She is healthy, smart and strong.  She sleeps well, she is great to take in public.

She is becoming such a big girl.  She is now able to climb stairs and get down off the bed.  She's constantly running around the house giggling and loves to torment the dogs.

Life is good, and so is our little girl.

Getting no where fast

Well, I had been predicting another 3 years before we go to China, however, over the past two months, the CCCWA hasn't done any referrals.  They've stated that they have been updating to an online system and have had some issues.  Supposedly they should be back up in July.  No word on whether they've been putting referrals together during the downtime or not.

Either way - so far for 2013 - they've gotten through about 13 days.  We've got 154 more days to go.

If they complete an average of 30 days a year (which is faster than the current rate) - we're looking at another 5 years.

Very disappointing.

On a positive note - Snickerdoodle is still doing great.  She's perfectly healthy, extremely happy and hitting all her milestones.  She'll be 10 months old on the 4th of July!!!  It's hard to believe how quickly time is going by with her.

Maybe having her will make our China wait go more quickly!  Still can't wait to get her little sister!

Jackpot!

Mrs. Cheriway and I started our journey to build a forever family 16 years ago.  It's been a crazy roller coaster with more valleys than peaks. It' been stressful, heartbreaking, and exhausting.  So many times we'd be given a small glimpse of hope only to have our dreams taken from us.  When we logged in to China, we thought that two to three years would be an impossible wait.  That was almost 6 years ago and my estimates are that we're just starting our three year wait.

All that being said - I can't believe how lucky we are.  Our little Snickerdoodle is amazing!!  She is perfect, and Mrs. Cheriway and I have never been as happy and fulfilled as we are now.

Snickerdoodle is such a good baby.  She's healthy - she's growing like mad, she loves to smile and laugh and has been sleeping through the night since week 7!!!!  I feel like my heart grows three sizes every time I look at her.

The wait was well worth it.

As anxious as we are to go to China and bring home her sister - we don't want to wish away one moment with our little angel.

It's a GIRL!

Well it turns out our wild goose chase wasn't so wild after all.
Friday, birth mom called us.  She couldn't care for the baby and wanted us to come get her.
I put Mrs. Cheriway on a plane the next day.  We set up a meeting with the attorney today to have mom sign the adoption paperwork.
Everything went pretty smooth for Mrs. Cheriway (with the exception of the fact our GPS decided that it was going to start speaking German!)
About 50 hours from the time we got the text from the mom asking us to come the meeting was too happen.  I sat waiting in Connecticut for word.  Nothing but quiet.  Started getting very nervous so I went online and checked the local newspaper website in Florida and listened to their Police/EMS/Fire scanner.
At 11:56am I got a text with three simple words..  "She did it!!!"

Unbelievable.  When I got off work Friday, we though our weekend would involve a Whale Watching trip out of Gloucester, Mass - watching some football on Sunday and putting together a scrap book to give to put out for birth mom's through our adoption agency here in Connecticut.

A day and a half later - we are new parents of a beautiful 12 day old baby girl!!!

3000 Mile Wild Goose Chase

Well, sad to report that we got to Florida with dogs in tow.
We met with the mom and her friends.  Spent time with them and everything seemed to be fine.
Baby was born on Tuesday, September 4th.  Suddenly, mom didn't want us to visit much.  The next day she texted us that she had changed her mind and wanted to keep the baby.

Red Tape Galore!

It's been a week since my niece contacted us.  We've been scrambling to figure out what is required and making sure we meet those requirements.
We retained a lawyer in Florida.
We've been working on our homestudy with an adoption agency.
We've met with our Doctor and did our water potability test.
During all this running around, Sonya's truck needed to have the U-joints replaced so we were down to one car for a couple days.

Car is fixed now - and most of our paperwork is done.  We still need to complete our autobiographies and wait for our background checks.
Also, found some bacteria in our well water, so we have to get that taken care of and get a new test done.  A lot to do with only two more days before we hit the road for the Sunshine State.

Bad News - Good News (We Hope)

Bad News:  It looks like China only got to September 21st this month.  TWO DAYS!!  UGHHH!   Last August was a pretty unproductive month as well, which was followed up by a 14 day month.  I'm hoping that is the case this year as well - but I'm not holding out hope.

Good News:  My niece contacted us about adopting her baby which is due in two weeks.  A lot to do and even if the adoption goes through, we may not be able to bring the baby home from Florida for a month!!  We'll see what happens.  Again, we are hopeful, but cautious.  We've been down a lot of dead ends over the years.  Not in the mood for another one.