Moving Right Along...

I want to start off by thanking everyone for their well-wishes and support as we share our news about adopting. Bryan and I are beyond excited about this new step in our lives and glad that we can share it with you. I have to keep reminding myself to go to sleep at night because my mind is going 90 mph thinking about all that is to come. It is hard to believe that not too long ago we had never heard of Kyrygzstan and now we have jumped in to the journey called International Adoption!

In the past few days we have found out that our application was officially processed and approved with our agency in California. We also received our dossier packet that outlines all of the notarized documents and forms we will need to complete before our application can be sent to Kyrgyzstan! Fortunately the list doesn't appear to be too daunting, so I hope that getting all the information together will not be more difficult than it appears! :)

We also scheduled our home study! For those of you not familiar with adoption, a home study is an evaluation completed by a social worker to determine our ability and readiness to be parents. The social worker will meet with us in our home and interview us together and individually to make sure we can provide a safe and happy home for a little one. I was a little anxious about how long it would take to schedule the home study. I have heard from some people that there can be a wait list to get your study scheduled. Luckily we are using a smaller agency in Waco, TX to do our home study and their calendar was wide open! We will be able to do the home study during Bryan's Spring Break from Med School. Now I just have to work on getting our house baby-proofed!

It is amazing to think that right now a woman in Kyrgyzstan is either nearing her delivery date or has just delivered a wonderful child that will soon find a 'forever family' with us. I constantly find myself thinking of her and of our child as I go about my daily life here in the USA, not knowing if my son or daughter is being born in that moment. Please pray for our child's biological mother - that she would be healthy, emotionally supported as she gives her child up for adoption, and that she would know in her heart how thankful we are for her choice. Please pray for our child - that he or she will be healthy, have a smooth delivery, and experience love and great care from the orphanage caretakers. Please pray for the country of Kyrygzstan - that it will remain peaceful and open to international adoption throughout our adoption journey.

I can't thank everyone enough for all the support, prayers, and encouragement. God has truly prepared a way for us to pursue international adoption, and we can't wait to see what goodness and joy He has in store for us!!