And the waiting begins...

We have collected all of our documents for the dossier! Woohoo!! Now all that's left to do is wait. The question of "when" is coming more and more often. People don't understand that we don't have a "due date" like in a typical pregnancy, we don't know how old he will be or currently is or if he's even born yet. We are stuck in a kind of limbo. I think I would metaphorically call this our 1st trimester. We are waiting to here if everything is okay (with our homestudy from the national center in Missouri and our dossier), we don't know a lot of details (although we do already know it is a boy) so if I'm cranky and tired all the time then it's okay, right? :) At least I'm not throwing up! Once we get our referral (approx 6-8 months from now if all goes well) we'll enter our 2nd trimester when we really begin to prepare the house and we know more details such as how old, his name, etc. We'll begin trying to pick out a name too- I am so excited about that part!! Our 3rd trimester will be when we are traveling to meet him (really uncomfortable plane rides, nerves on edge, exhausted physically and emotionally) and then have to leave him (repeat previous details) and then have to wait for that final appointment to go and get him (labor and delivery). I think it all fits pretty well!
   The moral of this metaphor is: if during this process I have mood swings, cry for no reason, or eat strange foods you'll know why! :) Love you all!

Good News & Bad News

Good news: We are working on gathering our last 2 documents for our dossier!! It hasn't been as bad as we htoght it woudl be but it is still a huge sigh of relief to have it all done. Bad news: We aren't on the list yet. I thought once we had all the paperwork done we would get our DTE within a week or two. Unfortunately, in this country ALL of the homestudies have to be sent to ONE office in Missouri for approval. Once we have that approval, we can go on the list. Read for the kicker- that approval takes 60-90 days. I know it's all God's plan but it's hard not to get frustrated when that now means that it is impossible to bring home Little E this summer (which would be way easier because I would have more time with him before putting him in daycare, which he may not be developmentally ready for because of attachment issues). We have to remember that it is all a part of His plan, praying for patience :)