Let the Madness Begin!

Well we have received our Dossier Package and to say it's overwhelming is an understatement. It doesn't seem too bad upon first look but once you get into the details, well lets just say it's a good thing I'm a little OCD about the paperwork. We are going to get fingerprinted today for our FBI clearance which should take about 12 weeks to get back. Dustin and I have set a goal of March 1st to have our paperwork officially in Bulgaria for translation. If that is the case and assuming there are no flaws found we should have a referral around summer 2013 and flying to get our daughter december 2013 (just in time for christmas)!! It seems like an awfully long time to wait, but we are sooo willing! We are going next week to get a bunch of blood work done for our second physical paper work. Then it's thanksgiving, and we have sooo much to be thankful for! Beginning with the blessing of being a part of this incredible journey. There will be a lot of updating the next few months, then a looong period of waiting. Fortunately that will be the time when we do all of our fundraising and start applying for grants to complete the cost of the adoption. I'm going to try my best to keep everyone updated. Right now most of our paperwork is waiting on my new passport, since I had to get a new one because my last name changed. After that comes in in about 4 weeks we'll be getting everything apostilled and notarized and then we wait on FBI to clear us and our USCIS approval. The next biggest appointment we have is December 1st when Meredith will be coming to do our Home Study Visit. She estimated it being done by the end of December. At this point we can send off our USCIS approval and start applying for grants.

Thanks to everyone who is following and keeping up! Please continue to keep us and our daughter in your prayers!

First Homestudy Interview

Well we had our first interview and I would say it went very well! Our SW was wonderful and made us feel so comfortable, not to mention she had the cutest kids EVER! She basically let us know what we should expect with this whole process, what she'd be looking for at our Home visit, and what to expect post-adoption. It was really simple actually and we are looking forward to the Home visit which we've scheduled for December 1st! I would love to have our homestudy completed by the end of December, but with the holidays we'll see how that goes!

Dustin and I become more and more anxious daily it seems. We went to mom and dads to dig out some old stuff for when I was little to bring to the house for our daughters room. We are also in high hopes that since the age group we are listing as our preference goes up to the age of 4 years our referral might come a little sooner than the typical healthy 2 yr old referral.

As I'm writing this blog, I'm thinking of all the people we haven't told yet. Adoption is so exciting but at the same time a little scary. You really just never know what the reaction is going to be, not that the reaction would prevent us going through with this, but you'd like to keep negativity away as long as possible. I'm sure we'll be telling our church family soon, at least those who don't already know. Considering this month is National Adoption Month it only seems fitting that we would let most people know. It's just so early in the process I'm not sure how to answer a lot of questions and who knows how long it will take to actually have our daughter home. Regardless, we certainly need the prayers and where better to find that than from your church family. We are so thankful for all the support we've gotten so far and wish we could just fastforward a year or two so our beautiful girls was already home with us to celebrate Christmas!

First Few Toys

Is it strange that we have just began and are already buying our daughter toys. Well we just couldn't resist. Most people that know us, knows dustins love for baseball. Well Makenna's (yes we already know what we'll name her) first little toy is a hot pink baseball glove and ball! It is the most adorable thing ever. We also got her a princess backpack with a blanket inside for the plain ride home. OK call us crazy, but it's like she's already ours and we've never met her. You know how you hear in church that Christ loved us before He even knew us...For the first time I understand how that is possible. We love her, we pray for her, we even feel a void because she's not here with us. We've also started a scrapbook to document this journey. Dustin and I feel completely blessed and overwhelmed with excitement! Not sure how we'll make this 1-2 yr wait but hopefully it won't be toooo bad!