Our dossier is in Korea!

We just found out that our dossier was sent to Korea on 11/11/11! We are now waiting for a match. We're told it could be within the next MONTH! But could also take up to three months. We were told by Betsey Barrett, our coordinator at WHFC, that we should expect it to be a boy. Very few people know. We've decided to wait until the match to let people know. It's really exciting. And scary. And amazing.

We're waiting we're waiting!

We got our notification yesterday that our adoption application is COMPLETE! It came weeks sooner than expected and it was such a lovely surprise! I guess you'd call us "paper pregnant" now - we are on the official waiting list for Korea. It's so exciting. Perhaps there is a Korean woman who is pregnant with you right now. I hope she is nurturing you with healthy food and singing to you at night. Grow well, little one, grow well. We love you.

Fingerprints and vegetarianism

We got our fingerprints done on April 4th, so now we're waiting to be put on the official waiting list. While we're waiting, we are doing other things. We just got back from Tulum, where I read Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals and where I committed to being a vegetarian. This is kind of a big deal for me. I tried it in college, but felt off and decided I needed to eat meat. After reading this book and learning about the cruelty committed against animals in order for us to eat them, as well as the environmental impact, and of course, the personal health implications, I decided I did not need to eat meat. I am trying to convince Noah and Sara that they don't need to eat meat either, but that's harder. We'll see how it goes.

So waiting and eating...vegetables. And trying to hold onto the lovely relaxation that I felt in Mexico...

Off to another distant land

Home study is written. And just before the final touches were put on and it was sent to China, we got a call that Korea had opened up after two years of being closed. So quickly we made a decision to adopt from Korea instead of China. The wait is longer, but the children are younger and healthier (or so they claim) and the medical care is much better. Now the home study is done, reflects our interest in Korea and we've applied for our finger prints. In two months or so we should hear back and get those done and the paperwork in. Then the wait begins. We should wait a year or so for a referral. I really hope this works. I miss my new child already.

Interview...check.

I had my individual interview today with the social worker. I was nervous, but it went just fine. It was actually really nice to sum up my life into an hour and a half. When else do we have a chance to do that? To really talk about the challenges and the triumphs, the dark clouds and the silver linings? It's J's turn next week, and then it's just a waiting game with a lot of paperwork thrown in. Phew!

Wild Goose - er, I mean Paper - Chase

Wow. We're in the midst of the Home Study now. And I'm being reminded on a daily basis how much I despise paperwork! Today's example is as follows:

I was told by our social worker that we need to be fingerprinted by both local and federal agencies. She said we could get started doing the local finger prints now, the federal ones come later in the process. Today I waited at the police station for half an hour after being told that the finger printing guy was "really backed up." I finally left because I had another meeting and left the guy a message asking if I could make an appointment to come back another time. He called me back a few minutes later asking if i was there, and I told him I'd already left. He said no one told him anyone was waiting. (There was actually another person waiting longer than I was.)

He said to come back at 11:15 today, so I did. I found him waiting for me in the police station lobby. He took me up an elevator to a room with a table on which all of his finger printing supplies were laid. As I wrote my check, he asked me how many copies I needed. Not knowing the answer to this, I called our agency to ask. What they told me was that I did not need to be finger printed by a local agency for an international adoption. ARGH. I apologized to the guy and went out to my car to find a parking ticket on the dash. The meter I parked at was broken, but I guess the meter maid didn't register that.

But somehow I'm not upset. As Jonathan said today, "It's all for the best of causes." He's right. We will plod ahead.

It is a big day

Today, after almost a year of thinking, wondering, crying, talking, dreaming, hoping and praying, we signed up to start the journey of adopting a child!