October: The Ghoulish Month

Hi Everyone,

There isn't much new news this month. Referrals from China have finally arrived for all families with a log-in-date in November 2005. We had really hoped to see families with a LID in early December 2005 get referrals as well, but the pace is slow.

There are currently rumors going around that the next batch of referrals are matched to at least the 10th. This will be quite amazing if it proves to be true-- but I have learned my lesson over the past couple of years. These types of rumors often fall short of the prediction, so I'm not holding my breath on this one. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks we will know how far into December 2005 the next batch of referrals will cover. Just a reminder, our application date, or LID is December 20, 2005. At this point we think we will get our referral in January or February.

On to other news:

Becky and Bob welcomed their newest addition to the family, Little Emily Chase Deconto. She is very content, mom and dad are both happy, but as you can see, big brother Nate is a little upset about the changes in his world.

The kids are finishing-up their fall soccer leagues. Gabrielle made the B-team for the indoor soccer league and has begun practices for this season. Xavier has decided that he does not want to do indoor soccer this Winter and instead is trying Cub Scouts. The meetings are a little boring for him, but he really enjoys the activities.

Phoebe has graduated from Puppy Kindergarten-- even though she tried to eat her cap. We are starting her in the intermediate class this Friday.

As you can see from this comparison, she is really growing into a much bigger dog!

Wim and I were relieved to hear from the Vet that he thinks Phoebe will be a small Golden and not even break 50lbs. That is FINE with us!

That is all the scoop for this month.

September Referrals Leave us Still in November 2005

Referrals arrived this month and covered a whole 4-days. Families with a LID between November 22-25 inclusive received a referral. We are hopeful that next month's referrals will include at least a few days of December. We are even more hopeful that we will receive our referral in December-- before Christmas. But, only time will tell.

As promised, here are the details of the rest of our vacation with Uncle Earl as well as what we have been up to for the rest of the summer.

We spent a dat at Attitash splashing on the water slides. I can't remember the last time I was on a water slide. It was a lot of fun and made grown men act like little boys.











The Novotnys (the caretakers) were very gracious and took us for a ride in their rhino-- it is a four wheel vehicle-- not the animal. Uncle Earl rode in the back with Gabrielle and Xavier. Wim drove and I rode shotgun. We had a fun and bumpy ride through the woods to a beautiful view.

The Novotnys also treated us to some homemade wine and fresh grown vegetables. We bought a bunch of hot dogs and fixins for smores for all of the kids and everyone really had a fantastic time. We always have fun when we visit New Hampshire, but this trip really took the cake! Phoebe even made friends with their new little dog Rufous. Rufous was more than happy to share some of his clothes with Phoebe.


We also made time to take Phoebe for her first swim. She did pretty good, but was more eager to leave the water than to swim in it.










Wim and the kids finished their New England vacation in Maine and Uncle Earl and I headed back to Rhode Island so he could catch his flight hom. It is always sad when he leaves, but we look forward to having fun time when he visits us again next year.

Back at home Gabrielle spent her last week of summer vacation at horse camp. On the last day of camp they did a little show for the families of the campers so we could watch the girls do different skills with the horses that they had learned during the week. It was really neat to see how much Gabrielle had learned about horses and she really enjoyed the camp. She was one of only 3 out of 10 girls that they allowed to Trot on the horses during the show.

On the left is a picture of Gabrielle and the horse she rode while trotting. The other girl in the picture was also on her "racing" team, but did not get to trot on the horse. The picture on the right is Gabrielle riding "her" camp horse, Cypress during the skills show. She rode Cypress through an obstacle course.












We all got to see the horses in their stalls after the show and it looks as though Cypress thought Xavier was growing a good head of hay-- not hair!

Now it is back to school. Gabrielle starts middle school this year and she was very excited on her first day. Xavier wasn't quite as excited. Wim took these pictures of the kids before they headed off to school. I think he was a bit nervous and sad about seeing his little girl move onto another milestone in her life as her picture turned out a little blury.

Both of the kids are very happy with school so far. Gabrielle says that she really likes middle school and switching rooms. Xavier has a newish teacher, Mr. Stevens, and he has the room decorated with lots of dog-stuff.

School not only started for the kids, but also for Phoebe. Her introduction to puppy school didn't go as smoothly as it went for the kids. To start off, the trainer's dog, a very wierd looking MALE pug, took a STRONG liking to Phoebe. I'll leave it at that. Then later in the class, Phoebe got bit on the nose by one of the other dogs. There was some blood and lots of puppy tears, but she hung in there and we finished the class. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this event that are fit for publishing that are in rated G format. I can hardly wait to see what this week's class brings us!

A New Puppy, August Referrals, and Uncle Earl Oh My!

I tried to post again in July, but this crazy blog-- somehow I managed to erase everything! It took so long to upload the photos etc., I called it quits.

Anyway, here we are in August. The referral batch made it through November 21st. We are officially within one month of log-in-dates to ours. I wish it would only take one more month for us to actually get ours, but I doubt we see our referral until December or January and with the way this crazy process is going-- who knows.

On to other news.

We finally brought home our puppy, who we have named Phoebe. It was a big adventure when we went to get her. The kids were really happy and excited.

Wim wasn't quite as happy and excited as the kids that we were getting a puppy.

Meanwhile, back at home, the kitty had no idea how drastically her life was about to change.

Everyone was really happy when we picked up the puppy and were on the way home with her. . Even Wim was happy.

Isn't she the cutest little Golden Retriever puppy you ever seen???

She's learning to walk pretty on a leash and is doing well-- so far. She gets scared when a car drives by. Her favorite thing to do (next to peeing on the floor!) is playing and clowning around, which she is very good at being silly.

I would say that the whole family loves her dearly, but . . .

Need-a-kitty is really pissed. I think she is jealous. You can see the green envy in her eyes.

Other big events include a nice vacation with Uncle Earl who made his annual visit to Lil Rhody. We had a great time at the beach. Although, Uncle Earl sometimes had a little trouble finding his way back to our spot on the sand.

I know. I could have flagged him down instead of taking these pictures, but they are nice pictures aren't they? Don't worry. He found us.

Regardless, there was fun for all splashing in the ocean and boogie-boarding back to shore. That is me on the left and Uncle Earl on the right.

I would post a picture of Wim, but he is more into body surfing, and being fish-like as he is, you can't see him in the waves.

I think Uncle Earl was a little water-logged by the end of the weekend. Not to mention the belly glow!

We spent a nice afternoon during the week having lunch with my Mother-in-law at the Atlantic Beach Club. It is a nice spot in Middletown, with a deck on the beach. It was a cloudy day with threats of rain, so the beach wasn't busy and we were able to get a really good table close to the water. It didn't rain and we had a great time.

I was as happy as a clam to have my Uncle Earl out visiting us. Actually, I was happier than the clams because I wasn't being served up on plate for dinner! Check out those waves!! They sure were pretty-- despite the gray day!

After dining on calamari, fried clams, and chowder-- we strolled the beach for a little while and Judy told all about pudding stone (big boulders of smaller rocks that were formed by glaciers).

Uncle Earl had a great time climbing around like a big kid on the pudding-stones!

Later in the week we all headed to New Hampshire and spent a few days up in the mountains. I haven't transferred those photos from my camera yet-- so stay tuned to the next post which will include death defying feats by grown adults slipping and sliding down water slides built into the side of a mountain. It is a wonder that I am still alive to tell the tale!

Summer Fun While Waiting in July

There isn't much to report on the adoption. Things are progressing at a snail's pace. Honestly, I think snails move faster!!

Referrals arrived in the states on Friday, July 6th and covered all of 7-days. We are up to November 14, 2005. Folks seem to think that November is a particularly large month and once the CCAA completes referrals through this month, they will return to referring 2-week batches.

Keep in mind that when we began the adoption, the CCAA was referring batches of a month or more.

We're keeping busy and I may try to start updating this site bi-weekly as I'm not looking forward to the time it is going to take to upload all the photos I have for this month.

Going chronologically, we celebrated Gabrielle's 11th birthday. Her mom got her a really cool new outfit and we got her lots of presents.

This excitement was followed a few weeks later by the last day of school. As you can see, it was a really hard year for Gabrielle. Rest-up! Middle school starts in the fall!!!

By mid-June it warmed up to New England Standard weather, mid-70s to low 80s, and we are now spending weekend days at the beach. The kids really got the boogey-board down and are pretty darn good at catching some waves.

Xavier is on the left and Gabrielle is on the right.




After much trial and tribulation, Wim got the pool going on the 3rd! The kids are very happy to have it open. Wim still needs to clean some sand out from the bottom of the pool. The kids told them they would help if he let them get in the pool. As you can see, they were a big help with the sand clearing task. :-D

The 4th of July Clam Bake at Untle Martin and Aunt Ceil's house is always a good time. The men worked hard on the bon fire and getting the clam bake going. Wim is fron and center, looking HOT!!

:-D

Despite some unusually chilly weather the kids had a great time playing on a home-made slip-n-slide. The little tyke is our niece Abbey who graduated from nursery school this year and begins Kindergarten in the Fall.

Xavier did a good job of sliding steady on his butt, while Gabrielle amazed us all with her daredevil head-first sliding abilities. Then there is Abbey who we all thought would take-off in flight!

Finally, our biggest news for the month is that despite this crazy wait to adopt from China, we will be adding a new baby to our family in only two weeks. This is the kids holding two puppies (Xavier is holding the one we picked) and another of Wim with our new little addition (who won't be so little for very long). Something to keep up us all busy and help pass the time.


That's all for this month.

June Brings us a Whole 6 More Days of Referrals

Referrals began arriving today from China and so far the latest Log-in-Date (LID) that is being reported as receiving a referral is November 7, 2005.

The last LIDs covered by referrals in May were November 1st. So in a month's time we've managed to proceed forward a whopping 6 days (lots of sarcasm added).

Folks are predicting that it may take 5 more months for all of the waiting parents with a November 2005 LID to receive a referral.

This will push us way back in terms of when we get our referral. At this point, I am tired of guessing as to when we will get our referral. It seems that every time we think we will be getting our referral "in the Summer" it becomes "in the Fall" now it is becoming "maybe by December???"

Words cannot begin to express the frustration-- with so many things. In addition to the frustration of the never ending wait . . .

I'm tired of the same people asking how the adoption is going-- obviously it is going very freaking slow!

I am tired of the same people asking why it is taking so long--- nobody really knows and the possibility of answers doesn't change.

I am REALLY tired of hearing people say, A) "It will all be worth it after you have your baby." and B)"You'll forget all about the pain of the wait after you have your baby."

A) If we didn't think it would be worth the wait we wouldn't still be waiting would we?

B) Really? Are you sure? Even if you are sure do you really think that is the best thing to say to someone who has been waiting nearly 18 months to complete an adoption that was only suppose to take 6 to 8 months?

I've talked to plenty of people who had very difficult pregnancies and labors who decided that experiencing it once was enough-- they didn't forget that pain.

I know even more people who said the pain of raising a teenage really made them re-think the whole parenting thing altogether LOL.

Really, if you want to help a parent who is currently waiting for a referral to adopt from China, give them some chocolate and a glass of red wine.

Yes, sick humor. That truly is all I have these days.

Now that I am done venting---

Regardless of how frustrating this wait has become life goes on . . .

Xavier was busy this past month constructing a fort, you can tell he is really happy about it by his enthusiasm in the picture on the left LOL. The picture on the right barely catches him in covert operations involving secret details only known to him.

Gabrielle has had a few band concerts over the past month the first one was her Spring concert at school. Wim took a very nice picture of her with her saxophone.

Her next performance was at a PawSox ballgame. For those of you who aren't

familiar, this is the Rhode Island Red Sox-- B team or something of that nature.

I believe they are part of the same team(??) or something of that nature as the Boston Red Sox-- just a lower level.

Gabrielle is in the middle of the picture on the right and the next picture is of all the kids on the field. Several schools participated in playing the National Anthem at the game.

It was a school night so we stayed and watched the first 4 innings before heading home. Wim and I enjoyed watching the game, but the kids were bored with it.

That is it for all the interesting happenings this past month. Less interesting happenings include painting the kitchen, getting a new dishwasher, a new grill, and sanding and refinishing the dining-room and den floors.

We are readily looking forward to fun times at the beach during the Summer months.

Stay tuned for next month's post where the rate of referrals may surprise by covering an entire week!!! For those who don't know me well-- this is dripping with sarcasm.

TTFN