We Rock!

Well, this week we were on fire getting our papework done! We have almost everything in order and will start our homestudy sometime next week. Greg and I both are "to do" list type people and we found a cool little website that allowed us to have our list of things to get done online and both work off of it. It is really neat if you like that kind of stuff....maybe we're just nerds!

This week we found our new adoption agency (totally a "God" thing), mailed our application fee and application, ordered various paperwork (birth certificates, background checks, letters of employment, etc.). We filled out our VERY lengthy homestudy application, and each of us wrote a 10 page autobiography. (Oh my goodness.....we were so sick of talking about ourselves at the end of that!) We also talked to Greg's dad about a will. Right now we are waiting on our will to be finalized, to get our medical exams (our doctor couldn't fit us in until mid-December), and for our homestudy to begin. Yes, we are frantically organizing our house this weekend! I'm sure it would be fine like it is, but we just wanted to!

After our homestudy is completed (hopefully in January), it will be sent to Taiwan, and they will approve it or not. If they approve it, we will pay our adoption agency our program fee, and then they will finish up everything and send our official dossier to Taiwan and wait and wait and wait and wait for a referral. Our file will probably not even be considered for a referral for at least 18 mos. due to the other families ahead of us. Then when we are picked, we will have to wait 6 months to travel. In Taiwan all the court proceedings are done over time, and you cannot travel to pick up your child until they are finished. OH, WHAT A LONG SIX MONTHS THAT WILL BE! We will receive monthly updates, pictures, and videos while we wait, and are allowed to send gifts to her during that time. So, we are probably looking to have Claire home in two years...still too long, but what can we do?

Good news: We rocked the paper chasing this week! Bad news: I have been sick since Thanksgiving and since we pushed ourselves so hard this week, and many nights I only got 4 hours sleep, I am terribly sick. My little cold has spread to my chest, and I can barely talk, and cannot stop coughing. I am off to the doctor now to get "fixed up" as Connor called it. I am hoping to have some meds in my system soon. Greg has been straightening and organizing like crazy for two days, and all I've felt like doing is sitting. I am hoping to make some sort of contribution this afternoon!