November 25

The CCAA matched to November 25. That means we'll have to wait another month until the beginning of October to see if we're in. There's only 4 days between the cutoff and us, and the 25th is a Friday, so we're almost certain to get our referral next month and travel in December. But, as you all know, nothing in this process is for certain. They could surprise us with another month of matching only 2 days worth of files.

Do we have any volunteers to put up our Christmas tree and decorate it for us?

8 paper days to go

The official word on the latest cutoff date is in from the CCAA. Just as the Rumor Queen had predicted, the cutoff date is November 21, 2005. That leaves 8 days of paperwork left to be matched before we get our referral.

Like I said in an earlier post this week... if the CCAA follows the trend of the last 3 months, we will not receive our referral next month but would have to wait until October, travel in December as we will miss the cutoff by a day.

Thats it from here... a long weekend is almost here and we're planning on filling it with more kid-unfriendly activities. Gotta get them all in before "Gertrude" gets here.

Latest update from the CCAA

We're back to work today after a week off to unwind. Too bad it didnt happen. Camping and hiking in the rain and returning home to do yard work in the rain is not fun! But at least I wasn't at work.

The latest update from the CCAA is out and we're inching closer. They processed 7 days of files this month which puts them to November 14. Our log-in is November 29 so we're 15 paper days away. Doing completely unpredictable math (as we have no idea what next month will bring) it looks like we're 3 months away from referral and then another 2 months to travel so we may be in China for Chirstmas. Hmmm, does anyone know.... have families travelled to China during Christmas? And don't do anything with this timeline... if anyone has paid attention since we started this blog, these timelines are difficult to predict.

The latest update from the CCAA

Another disappointing month. The latest cutoff dates are out from the CCAA and they matched only 6 days this time. The early rumors were that they matched much more than the 6 days but it was just not to be true. This puts us 22 paper days away from referral.

Based on this... we're still looking at another 3 month wait until referral then another 2 months until travel. That puts us to the end of 2007!!!

New referral timeline from the CCAA is disappointing

Here's the latest from the CCAA. The offical announcement is out from them concerning the latest batch of referrals and the news is not good. They only matched 2 paper days of files last month. The average has been between 10 & 15 days so this is a major blow to our timeline to travel.

What does this all mean? It means that we'll be travelling at least 1 month later than expected, but at this point, it's nearly impossible to accurately predict a timeline. If matching 2 days a month continues, it will be an eternity before we get our referral. All predictions on dates were always based on the trends from the previous months. Our best guess was dependant on the amount of days referred in previous months. We could normally count on the next month being close to the same amount of days as the month before so it was somewhat easy to say to someone that we expect the referral to cover up to a certain day. Now, with this small amount of days, we dont know whats coming next.

Update from the CCAA

Better late than never, here is the latest update from the CCAA. They matched only 11 days of files this time. This brings us to 36 paper days of files until we are matched. If they continue at matching 11 days of paperwork per month, then we are probably 4 more months until referral, then 2 more months until travel. Hmmm... travelling in September. I hear the weather in China is nice then.

There is some talk that less files may have been matched because of the Chinese New Years celebrations in February. So, lets say this is true... if February was a full month, they would've matched about 15 days of files (which is average). But there's also the old talk that the end of October and especially November are heavier than normal months and we should expect the shorter amount of days that are referred. I guess we'll have to wait for another month now to see what next month brings.

CCAA update

47 days of files stand between us and our referral from China. The latest update from the CCAA matched 16 days of files. There is a little bit of confusion with the latest matching as some people beleive that no files were logged for the first week of October and other people are saying that they do have a login during this week. If there was no files logged in that week, that would mean that they only really matched 11 days of files which would be below average. If they did match files during that week, then the 16 days is accurate and is slightly above average. October and November are supposed to be heavier than normal months for the number of files they received so when it comes right down to it, I really don't know.

So, lets do the math... if they stay at 16 days of files per month, 47 days remaining... 47/16=2.9 months. We should receive our referral in May, travel in July. But who knows... all we know is we're edging closer every month. I think it's time to start doing the baby's room. before we know it, we'll be on our way.

We're getting closer. CCAA new referral date

The CCAA has updated their website and they have matched files up to September 27, 2005. This is 19 days of matching (last months cutoff was September 8) which is more than usual. Not much more, but it is more. Small progress is still progress, right?

So, we are getting closer, but we expect October and November to be months with more than an average number of files so things might slow down.

update from the CCAA

The CCAA has posted their monthly update on their website and it looks like they've matched 14 days worth of files and not the 5 weeks worth of files like the rumor mills were reporting.

There are 82 days between Nov. 29 and Sep. 8 so if they stay at matching 14 days worth of files per month, we're still looking at almost 6 months of waiting. This stays on par with a date prediction I made in an earlier post on August 21.

With October and November supposedly being heavier than average months for the number of files received, this wait may increase. My optomistic timeline was that we would receive our referral on Jen's birthday in March and "gotcha day" would be on my birthday in May, but now even getting our referral by my birthday may be tough.

The latest from the CCAA

The China Center for Adoption Affairs has posted their latest referral dates. They have referred children to any file received before August 25, 2005. Our Log-in Date is November 29, so we're getting closer.

Children's Bridge group 240 & 241 would have received referrals in this round of matching so that means 251-241=10! We're 10 groups away from receiving our referral.

We're getting closer. Dont forget to help us with our 100 Wishes quilt while we continue to wait.

CCAA update - we're a half month closer!

Here's the latest from the CCAA. They matched about a half month worth of files this time and not the 3 weeks like the rumors were saying. The last 2 months of matching were about a third of a month of files so there was a small improvement, but still not much.
Doing the math if they keep up this pace, we'll get our referral in March/April and travel in May / June. Maybe we'll get the referral on Jen's birthday in March and GOTCHA Day would be on my birthday in May. They're about 8 weeks apart.

We've reached another milestone.

HOORAY! Another milestone has been reached. We're one step closer to completing our family!

On the CCAA website this morning, this update was posted. Our paperwork has been reviewed and entered into their system in China so the next step is the actual matching process. Our Login date is Nov 29, 2005 and they just matched files dated up to July 22, so we still have some waiting to go.

But at least our paperwork has passed the final hurdle and it's just a match that needs done now.

The weekly update from Children's Bridge didnt have much to say. Another group is leaving for China today. I don't think there's any local people in this group. They indicated in the newsletter that we should expect a 16 month wait. Things are running at about a 13 month wait for referrals right now.

We're off next Thursday for the annual Children's Bridge Regional Coordinators seminar in Toronto. We're hoping for some truthful explanations of timelines and what we should expect. A bit of good news would also be nice!

A long weekend will soon be here and we're selling all our junk in a yardsale tomorrow. It's amazing how much junk 2 people can accumulate. OK, mostly my junk.

update from CCAA

The latest news is in from China Center for Adoption Affairs.

They've matched up to June 6, 2005.
The last update from CCAA (about a month ago) said that they had placed children up to May 30. So they made it thru a weeks worth of paperwork in a month.

Our Log-In Date is November 29. I'm sure this will somehwhat speed up some over the next few months but it sure looks like our wait is going to be much longer than we had first expected.