A Small Update

I have to admit, this is a pretty fun stage to be in at the moment - looking forward with such anticipation to the day when our family of 5 is all together.  I'm sure as the waiting drags on, it will be a lot less fun, but in the meantime the whole situation is so fresh and new and I love getting out my phone or photo album to show off new pictures of our little guy.  I so appreciate all the people who are asking for updates, and although it's not a huge exciting one, we are one step closer.

As you know, we had to update some of the paperwork from our dossier since it was over 2 years old.  This meant new physicals, financial statements, police background checks, etc.  It all had to be notarized, and one item (the dossier cover sheet of all things) needed to be authenticated in Harrisburg.  Over the weekend, the last 2 pieces of paperwork we were waiting on, the police background checks, arrived in the mail.  (And yes, our records are still clean!)  I was able to send all this paperwork to our agency Monday, along with a check (because there's a check involved basically anytime there's paperwork involved!).  I heard from our Family Coordinator that she received our paperwork and everything looked good.

The next item on our list was the Post Placement Plan - basically we needed to find contacts for basically any professional service we could end up needing for A - speech therapy, occupational therapy, respite care, counseling, etc.  It also had a list of questions to go through to prepare us for different situations that could occur - everything from transitioning A to American food to what we would do if we found out more serious special needs were present.  We were able to complete this and also send it in to our Family Coordinator earlier this week.  We now have a little bit more of a webinar about Adopting Older Children to complete, and then we are done ------ until our Home Study Update and PAIR paperwork, that is ;)

On to more exciting things.....our sweet boy!  I mentioned earlier the unbelievable timing of our referral - just before many friends from our agency were traveling.  Because of that amazing timing, I have been able to hear and see updates several times a week.  Because of these wonderful families (who are there soaking up every moment with their precious kiddos), we have been able to see before & after pictures on haircut day, know that he loves to play marbles, watch him do cartwheels, and hear his sweet voice saying "Hi Mama!"  These updates, pictures, and videos are treasures like no other!

A did receive his first care package last week, and we received so many great pictures of him opening it!  It's hard to describe the feeling of him wearing the shirt we sent, and seeing him looking at pictures of us, his new house, and wondering what he must be thinking!!!  We are praying that God is preparing his heart, and our hearts too, for all the transitions that will take place.

I'll leave you with our first family photo :)