Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day of all days - the day we will be free of control and just be sitting around and waiting. We have EVERY single piece of paper we need and our dossier is complete!!!!!!! Jumping up and down for joy and all that jazz. It's an amazing feeling and at the same time a little disheartening. It means that everything we had power over is now gone. And the waiting begins. First we have to wait for our papers to be shipped to Thailand (usually about 2-3 weeks after WACAP receives them because of some business that needs to take place with the state), then we wait for them to arrive (not sure we actually get notified of this), then probably the hardest wait is a 2-4 months wait for a pre-approval from the Thai Red Cross. This is when they look over our paperwork and agree that we are worthy of adopting a child from Thailand and they accept us into the pool of applicants to wait for a child. This will be hardest because, although we meet all the requirements there is still a part of me that's thinking "what is they say no"?!?!?!?! I'm not sure that ever happens once you reach that point (having gone through the homestudy, the agency application process, and the collection of the dossier) - it could all just be a formality, but it's still scarey. After we receive that news we are in the longest stretch of waiting - could be 12 months - waiting to get matched (a refferal) with our child. Weird thoughts huh? Turns out our baby could already be born - and if not is close to being so. It's strange to think our second child although still over a year away could be the same age as our new niece, Faren.

I've discovered the best thing about my job - getting to meet families who have grown through adoption. About a month ago, I met a woman who brought her two sons in to play. They were just adopted from Russian only 2 months prior and were still learning English, but boy oh boy did they know who Mom was. It was great to see. And I was able to ask a lot of questions about institutionalization and bonding. She was super nice and really open to discussion. And just today a woman came in with a her daughter from China. Turns out she used the same agency to adopt as we are using for our homestudy. Again, she was so nice and helpful and encouraging about everything we are about to go through. It gives me a great feeling - just knowing that this is really the path we are suppose to be on.