December 28, 2006

CC@A Building Pictures






These pictures are of the new Beijing building of the China Center for Adoption Affairs ("CC@A") courtesy of Love Without Boundaries. The CC@A moved into this building during July 2006. The pictures are of the following:

1. CC@A building
2. Plaque at the front door of CC@A building
3. Dossier room
4. Matching room
5. View from CC@A building

It is interesting to see where our fate will be determined. Our papers are likely sitting in the dossier room right now, unfortunately collecting dust for the moment! The matching room is interesting. First, the CC@A matches the orphanages with agencies. For example, if the number of children from a particular agency is 10 and a particular agency has 10 parents waiting for a child, the CC@A will likely pair these two organizations together. Then the CC@A starts matching children with parents.

This is the point in the process that is mostly hearsay. This is a description of the next process from another website called chinaadopttalk.com:

"I’ve heard from several people who have had the opportunity to speak with someone who works in the matching room. The various conversations seem to all agree that they first look for something that stands out: a matching birthday, a baby who looks a lot like a parent, or a baby who likes music and a parent who teaches music. Several matching people have stated they match by bone structure of the baby’s face and the parent’s faces (this is why they need our passport photos, so they can compare our mug shot with the baby’s mug shot). Some have stated that they used Chinese astrology, also. Once they’ve matched the obvious matches they then start to look at things like age of child requested. The age requested is not a priority for them, they feel they are matching families and not filling orders."

December 8, 2006

Darth Tater

Today I purchased Mr. Potato Head, Darth Tater! It is a must have for a Star Wars fan. Since I'm visiting my nephew, I used the excuse that I was purchasing this for him...but everyone knows that it really is for me! The set comes with R2D2, Darth Tater and Spudtroopers. How cool!
May the force be with us!

December 7, 2006

Visiting Alabama!





I flew into Alabama yesterday to visit with my grandma, parents, brother and wife, and sister and newphew. Bryan couldn't travel with me so he is working while I'm visiting. I miss you Bryan if you're reading this. We ate at your favorite restaurant, the Casa~! Sorry you missed the Casa!

Today, Johnny rode on the merry-go-round and visited santa. He is constantly running and is as cute as ever! He is always introducting himself to other kids his age whenever we're in public. It's adorable. Attached to this entry are pictures from today's adventures.

November 30, 2006

Adoption Wait Time

The adoption referrals for parents with log-in dates through 9/8/2005 received their referrals today. Congratulations to those parents who are able to see their childrens' pictures for the first time. That represents a 14.9 month wait for these parents. If their wait time is indicative of our wait time, we only have 9.3 more months of waiting. However, it is probably inappropriate to predict our wait time based on the most recent parent's wait time. It may be better to consider the most recent CC@A (China Center of Adoption Affairs) productivity. If you look at their most recent productivity, our wait time is even longer. The lengthening wait time is depressing. I hope that when referrals come out next month that we can report an improvement in the statistics. We think about our baby all the time.

The following table represents the historical wait time for 2006:

Cut-off in Log-in DateDate of Referral Release

Average Wait Time (In Months)

4/25/20051/5/20068.5
5/13/20051/25/20068.6
5/25/20052/27/2006 9.3
5/30/20053/27/200610.0
6/6/20054/27/200610.8
6/15/20055/26/200611.5
6/28/20056/26/200612.1
7/13/20057/31/200612.8
7/22/20058/24/200613.3
8/9/20059/25/200613.7
8/25/200511/2/200614.5
9/8/200511/30/200614.9

November 19, 2006

Window Cafe

Our window cafe is now open for business! It's hours of operation are from sunrise to sunset and we offer a wide variety of seeds. We have had repeat customers so far, and hope to attract new customers soon.

November 18, 2006

Part I of CIA Exam

I tested for Part I of the CIA exam last Wednesday. I think I did OK on the exam, but grades will not be released until January 15. I've already taken Parts III and received credit for Part IV. So, if I pass Part I, I will take Part II in May 2007. Unfortunately, the exam is only offerred twice a year. I have so much free time now that I'm not studying that I don't know what to do first! The limited number of people that actually visit our blog may have noticed the big gap in posts while I was studying!

Breeder's Cup Gala


Bryan and I went to the Breeder's Cup Charity Gala. It was fun! I even got my hair done for the event (which I haven't done since our wedding day!). Allison Krauss and Union Station http://www.alisonkrauss.com performed at the event and Wow! they were good. I didn't think I liked country music, but this was somewhere in between country and folk. I now have their CD and am a fan.

October 22, 2006

First Annual Pumpkin Carving





Pumpkin Carving with Sandra, Chad and Andrew.

Stack o' Lanterns by Sandra
Graveyard Ghoul by Chad
Kitty on Moon by Kristen & Bryan
Roasted pumpkin seeds by Bryan...yum!

Brown Envelope


We received the "brown envelope" from the U.S. Consulate General of Guangzhou containing documents we will use to complete our adoption in China. Everyone that adopts from China talks about this "brown envelope" because these documents always arrive in a brown envelope. This communication means that the INS has approved our adoption and therefore the U.S. Consulate of Guangzhou will approve our child's visa. This is the last formal communication we will receive until our long-awaited referral day.

October 12, 2006

New Computer Day!


Bryan and I finally received our new computer after nearly a month of having no home computer. I never realized how computer-dependent I was until our computer crashed abrubtly. I was so happy that I ran out to the car to capture its first moment that it arrived at our house. Bryan and I quickly unwrapped the computer, took the computer casing off and admired the beautiful hardware inside! Hopefully my next entry will be made from our new computer.

October 11, 2006

Malaysia





Our home computer crashed so I haven’t been posting lately. I posted this message reluctantly from my work computer since I hate to mix work files with personal files. A new Dell computer is arriving sometime in the beginning of November! Yeah!

I wanted to share a few pictures from my business trip to Malaysia. The pictures from bottom to top are as follows:

(1) Petronas twin towers. I took a tour up to the bridge. Too bad I didn’t see Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta Jones!
(2) McArabia chicken sandwich from McDonalds in the Dubai airport. I couldn’t resist trying Dubai’s version of a McDonalds burger and it was yummy!
(3) Batu Caves Sri Subramaniam Temple. This is a beautiful Hindu shrine. I climbed all 272 steps to get to the caves!
(4) Mom monkey with baby. Malaysia has all sorts of wildlife. I took this picture for my sister Kelly since she loves monkeys!

August 1, 2006

Adoption Log-in Date

We just received our Log-in Date ("LID") to China!!!!! This isn't a major milestone, but we grasp for any milestone, no matter how minor, since we don't have our daughter yet.

Our Documents to China ("DTC") date is 6/9/06 and our LID is 6/14/06, so the CC@A is currently processing documents extremely quick. Historically, it has taken much longer to receive the LID. Assuming the current wait time stays stagnant, we will be traveling to China this time next year.

Yeah!

July 31, 2006

Yummy Stirfry


Bryan cooked awesome stirfry tonight! He cooked enough to feed an army!

Passed Part III of CIA Exam!


Today I finally received my test scores for Part III of the CIA Exam and I passed!!!! The letter was postmarked July 14 so I'm not sure where the letter has been since it left the Institute of Internal Auditors in Florida.

I will start studying for Parts I and II shortly and I have been comped for Part IV. Hopefully I can get this certification done before I become a Mom!

July 29, 2006

Welcome





Welcome to Kristen and Bryan's blog. This website will be used to keep everyone posted on our China adoption during the wait time and during our China trip.

Left is a picture of our adorable nephew Johnny.