More exciting than Disneyworld!

Our family is planning our first family vacation by airplane and is set to leave in nine days.  While talking about how exciting this opportunity is with our two children, I mentioned, "Isn't this the most exciting thing ever?"  AJ looked at me and said, "No mom.  Adopting our baby from China is way more exciting".  Wow.  Now, granted, AJ has no idea how awesome Disneyworld will be, but at the same time, we have been talking up Disney for months.  I love how excited our kids are for our child.  Abby is already calling herself a "big sister".  One thing we are excited to do in Disney is to go to Epcot, where they have different countries of the world represented.  I want to buy a few things in the China area - for AJ and Abby, but also for our little one to have ready for them when they arrive.  I am so looking forward to AJ and Abby experiencing China - even if it is in a very contrived setting geared towards tourists :)

What floors me is the thought that our child could already be born, or might be being brought to this world right now.  Now that I am understanding the process and timelines of adoption better, I am understanding that 18 months is going to be the magic number.  That is about how long the process takes if there are no major delays, and that is about how old our child will be when we have them in our arms.  This means at this very moment our child might be being delivered.  Is it being held and touched?  Is it cold and alone?  I pray for you.  We do.  Our family prays for our "baby" every night.  We pray that it is shown love and affection, is being taken care of - fed, changed, held.  We pray that it doesn't get sick and is comfortable.  We pray that it knows in its heart that it is loved by us already, and that love is getting stronger every day.

We are almost finished with our home study.  Tuesday is our final meeting, and if all goes well (which we pray that it will) then we are ready for the next step, which is to send our paperwork to Texas for immigration approval.  This will take about two months, then we get things certified in St. Paul.  Adam can bring this in to the office, so this will be a quick step.  Then we send things to Chicago for authentication.  This can take 60-90 days.  Then, the day we get this big packet back in the mail we are ready to send everything over to CCAI (our agency) and then...CHINA!  This process can take another 2-4 months for China's approval, then we wait for our referral, which we were told will take 6-8 months for a girl, and less for a boy.  We are not requesting a gender, so most likely it will be a boy.  AJ wants a boy so he can play sports with him, but Abby wants a girl because she has "always wanted a twin sister". :)  I would love to adopt two children, but I feel in my heart one is the magic number.  Adam feels in his wallet one is the number too :) 

Having our home study complete will also mean we can begin applying for grants. This will be a great way to fill these months in waiting.  I hope and pray that we are chosen for a few - wouldn't that be wonderful!  I have heard of people having their adoption fully funded through grants, and others who were given nothing.  I realize through our journey of creating our family how so many things in lives are a gift.  While I would love to say our family is deserving of a grant, it is hard for me to honestly say we are more deserving than another family.  We are so blessed in life.  Both Adam and I have good and stable jobs, health insurance, two beautiful children, and our Faith.  These things considered, receiving assistance would definitely be another blessing that we would be appreciative of!

There are several families at our church who are in the process of adoption as well.  What a support they have been!  It is so wonderful to be around others who have experienced similar circumstances as well as those who are going through the same process at the same time.  My coworkers and family have also been amazing.  It is such a great support system that we have.  I am so excited to bring a child into a community of such loving and compassionate people.  Again - just feeling blessed tonight!

With love,
Melissa