Weellllllll ....

Here we are ... 20 months into our wait since our paperwork was logged in on March 14, 2006. If you'd told us then that we still wouldn't have our referral now, we'd have asked you what you were smoking. As it is, we just sit around with what we call the "Scooby face" -- see at right.

So strap on your calendar and numbers hats and let's go for a ride:

We have 3 pieces of great news:
1. The CCAA is now issuing referrals for families logged in around mid December of 2005 (yes, that means they are now two years behind and there are two years of families around the world sitting and waiting just like we are).

2. Our Chicago adoption agency is now waiting for referrals for their travel Group 51, who were logged in on January 13, 2006. So the CCAA only needs to wend their way through four more weeks of families until they get to Group 51 and those lucky people are holding their daughters' photos!

3. We are Group 52, and our agency now has people waiting up through Group 64! So you can see that we are, indeed, nearing the head of the pack!

But, of course, we also continually face frustrating news:
In recent months, the CCAA has slowed even more to a true snail's pace and has been issuing referrals for only about ONE WEEK of log in dates every month. That means that, with about 12 weeks remaining until they hit us (mid Dec 2005 - mid March 06), it would take ANOTHER YEAR for us to receive our referral. At this pace (the key part). (This also means that the poor families not logged in until September 2006 would have another four years ... and the most recent log-ins would have a 10-year wait ahead of them. Obviously, none of that is sustainable, which is why it can't/won't/shouldn't continue.)

I don't believe it'll take another year, and am quite optimistic for a referral in summer of 2008. We all know how fast 6-8 months goes, so we'll check back in here when we get a little closer and have more concrete perspectives.

I feel for our agency's China program director, who has irate / frustrated / disappointed families calling her every day and either screaming or whining or crying. We've managed to avoid all of those behaviors. So far.

We'll next post pix of Group 51's babies! Later on!