Day 22

What an exciting day!! I had an extra spring to my step as I dropped off our final application/paperwork to the post office, today! It feels good to have it off my plate. It has taken a few weeks to gather all the required information. I understand the delicacy of permitting a family to raise someone else’s baby, but the paperwork is unbelievable. I was talking to a fellow adoptive parent and they said the paperwork for adoption exceeds (about 4x’s as much) the paperwork required for buying a house!

It feels good to have momentum. Even though our wait could be months (hopefully not years) my heart is so full of hope, my dark cloud has finally lifted. I feel like a new woman—scratch that—I feel like “me” again [same woman]. I have been no stranger to reflection the past several months and I continue to stand in amazement at the relationship Ben and I have. I have read/listened to many testimonials on how infertility rips relationships apart and fully understand why. My heart overflows with thankfulness that our marriage has not only survived…but thrived. I think we would have been ready for a baby years ago…but now there’s no doubt in my mind that we stand on a solid foundation for raising a baby. We’ve had a lot of fun dreaming about everything from names to character traits.

So far, neither of us have a gender preference but all of the names we like seem to lean toward boy! Here’s what we have left to do:

• Read 4 Books (and they’re snoozers!)

• Attend a Trans-Racial Family Seminar on June 2^nd

• Attend an Adoption/Profile Seminar on June 3^rd

• Finish our Profile

• Home Study (approximately 6-8 weeks after classes are completed)

And then the waiting begins!