One year ago today.....

the Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs (CCAA) acknowledged the receipt of our documents, and provided us with the much-awaited log-in date. (LID) The year has gone quickly, but it is discouraging when you look at how much longer we have ahead of us before we can meet Hannah. She's already in our hearts...how much longer until she is in our arms???

Tonight we will say an extra prayer to bring her home soon.

Happy Gotcha Day, Grace

Tomorrow we celebrate 5 years since we first got to hold our sweet girl, Grace. Looking back at old photos tonight makes me realize how quickly time has gone. She has grown and changed so much. God has truly blessed us with her life. I have tried to write a poem every year for her on Gotcha Day. It gets harder every year, but I gave it a shot. Shakespeare, I am not, but I do write from the heart.

Happy Gotcha Day, sweet girl! Daddy and I love you more than you can know!

Five years ago, in a hot, little room,
On the other side of the world.
A sweet sleeping baby was placed in our arms
While our emotions twisted and swirled.

We had waited so long for this moment to come.
God’s plan was finally revealed.
The beautiful baby He had chosen for us
Our empty hearts had healed.

Year by year we watch you grow.
You’ve made our dream come true.
God couldn’t have chosen a more perfect one
To be our daughter, but you!

One year ago tomorrow

Tomorrow, Sept. 22, marks the one year anniversary of sending our documents to China. The year has gone quickly, but even so, we are still so far from seeing Hannah's face. Our agency is telling us to count on at least a 2 year wait, but more than likely, we are facing another 2 years from now before we receive any information. It is frustrating, but we remain confident that God is in control.

Grace started kindergarten in August and so far, so good. She seems to like it. Dennis is on a frantic job search, so hopefully my next post will include new job news. Again, we trust that this is all part of God's plan for us.

Enjoy the Fall season....Go Bucks!

Mid-Summer update

Well, here we are, a year since we first decided to begin the adoption process a second time. Who would have thought that one year later we are not that much closer to bringing Hannah home? China sent referrals last week for famililes whose dossiers were logged in from November 7-14, 2005. That means there are still over 12 months worth of dossiers ahead of us. Many agencies are now predicting that the wait will indeed climb to 36 months. I still cannot wrap my mind around the thought of waiting 2 more years before we see Hannah's face. All I know for sure is that God is in control and we will meet her in His time.

We are enjoying our summer. Grace had a fun week with Grandma and Grandpa while Mommy and Daddy visited Savannah, Georgia, better known to us as Paula Deen country. It was an awesome trip. Grace is doing a great job with swimming lessons and the best news yet....she is finally potty trained. Yippeeee!!!! We are so proud of her.

Our friends Scott and Stacy moved back from Georgia several weeks ago. They came home from China with Mia in November, so she is helping to fill our baby need for the time being. Their other two, 7 year old Max and 4 year old Megan are a joy to be around and we look forward to spending lots more time with them now!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer.

Hugs,
Dennis, LeAnn and Grace

Almost May and still waiting

Here we are, almost to May, and nothing has changed, except the wait gets longer. The last set of referrals that China sent only covered two days of log-ins. They are still working on matching October, 2005, and our paperwork arrived in October, 2006. Dennis did the math and if they continue this matching trend, it will take us 186 years to get our referral. Obviously that is a stretch, but rumors are that the wait could stretch as long as 3 years. It's frustrating, but we know there is nothing we can do about it and so we wait! Grace is almost done with school for the year and we have her preschool graduation at the end of May. Hard to believe. We have had a very busy Spring so far, and we are looking forward to the weather getting nice and staying that way.
On a happy note, Amanda got engaged last weekend, so we will have a wedding to plan this year so that should help pass the time more quickly. They have set the date for May 17, 2008. We are all very happy for Mandy and Ryan.
Happy Spring, everyone!

February Update

Here we are in February already. Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and we will enter the year of the Pig. Will Hannah be a "pig" like her Mom? We will just have to wait and see. Our agency received referrals this week for families whose dossiers were logged in the first two weeks of October, 2005. 16 months from LID to referral for most of those families. I just keep hoping and praying that the wait doesn't get any longer than that, but it isn't looking good.

Winter has set in here in Ohio, and we have had record cold temperatures the last couple of days. I think we are all ready for Spring to arrive again!

I will probably only be updating this blog once per month or so, since we won't have any news for quite a while. In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy our time with Grace. She is certainly the light of our lives!

God Bless!