A picture is worth a thousand words...

We have received so many kind words and excited smiles as we've told people about our adoption plans. But we've also had a few ask, "Why China?" "Doesn't it seem weird to think of raising someone else's kid?" "Why adopt when you can have your own?" and perhaps our least favorite, "How much is she going to cost you?"

Take 3 minutes and watch this movie. Every time I see it my heart leaps, and I just want to look at each questioning person and say, "We are the blessed ones! We feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to bring home a precious daughter ~ our daughter ~ and to be her forever family!"

Where we're at today...

Good morning! Popping in for a minute to update our blog.

Today we're visiting with with our social worker for the 3rd time. The next (and final) visit will be at our home with the children. *scary* LOL! So far, I have completely enjoyed our home study. I'm not sure I've enjoyed it to the tune of $1400, but it has truly been beneficial and interesting. Nancy has been incredible to work with. She is very current on China affairs, as well as adoption issues. She has helped us sort through and think about our own desires to adopt, and she has educated us on so many things to expect. Laney's needs, attachment issues, how to incorporate her history into her present, etc. It's been excellent!

One of the things I loved the most was when Nancy talked us through how to create Laney's "Lifebook." It's a picture book of her life -- beginning at birth, not beginning at adoption. To learn more about Lifebooks, and to see examples click on the link I've posted in the bar to the right. Pretty powerful, cool stuff.

In other news, completely adoption un-related, I found a great new blog. It's

http://chocolateandzucchini.com

. Love the foodie discussions and topics. Lots of calorie-laden fun! :) (Good thing I'm back to running... LOL!)

Read this quote and loved it...

It certainly touches my heart as we near the beginning of the long wait.....


"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now, it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing." ~ Elisabeth Elliot

Sweetest thing...

Colby said the most adorable thing a few days ago. We were sitting together, talking about our adoption and he said, "Mommy, we don't know what Laney is going to look like yet, do we?"

I answered, "No, we don't."

He sat for a minute and thought about that and then he looked up, grinning and said, "But we do know one thing! We know Laney will be the best baby in China!"

How sweet is that? I love my children. :)

Chasing those darn papers...

The paper chase is surely that -- truly a fast-paced, wacky, frustrating, detail-driven ride that the Chinese government seems determined to keep you on before they'll let you in. But we're chasing just as fast as we can!

Tonight I'm working on typing up our adoption petition and our financial statements. I'm hoping to finish these up tomorrow and then fax them to CCAI for approval. I don't want to waste any time getting papers notarized that are incorrect.

The adoption petition is a one-page, typed document that introduces us as adoptive parents, states our adoption motivations (we want another kid!!), expresses our specific desire for the child we're wishing to adopt, and promises to the China Center of Adoption Affairs (CCAA) that we will love and care for our adopted daughter. Whew!

The financial statement is just a one-page typed statement that lists all of our income, assets, liabilities, etc.

I was getting so frustrated and down today, with all of the hiccups with our home address (house sale, etc), I ordered my new daughter a little gift. It's an adorable onsie/hat set (size 9-12mos) and it reads: "I was worth the wait." Truly she is!

We had our first meeting!

I'm going to write more later. I have so much information spinning through my head right now, but the most important thing is ~ we had our first interview with our Social Worker (Nancy Bean) and it went blazingly well! She is wonderful and we both (Troy said this, it isn't me putting words in his mouth ) really enjoyed it!

Guess who called?

Our SW ~ Miss Nancy Bean. We're so anxious to get the homestudy underway. She seemed great on the phone and we already have all four of our interviews scheduled. The first is set for October 11th. I'm sure I'll have a lot to debrief about when it's over. :)