Our first application has been handed over!!

We drove to SF this evening and hand delivered our application and some initial forms to the adoption agency that is going to do our homestudy. Whohoo!! We also got to meet in person the sw that I have been bugging this past month with all my questions. While there we attended a required education class and received our binder full of info. It was fun to meet other preadoptive parents there...it's amazing how many countries there are...it seems every couple had a different country they were adopting from..no one else is adopting from eastern europe or Russia like us. We did meet a very nice couple adopting from China who gave us some great tips for when our sw visits our house...we hope everything moves quickly for them.

We also heard back from those that are going to write a recommendation on our behalf..and they all said yes, they would do it. Yeah!! Thank you, thank you guys!! We so appreciate your help. Tomorrow we have our fingerprinting appts, hubby has already picked up his criminal clearance report and I have ordered all of our birth and marriage certificates. Next up.. to make a doctor's appt for all so we can get that paperwork cleared and to renew our passports as they expire next summer...bummer!!

Every step is one step closer...I'm just beaming!!!

So why adoption?

I've been asked this before. Why adopt when we have two biological children? I have always been drawn to children and spent a great portion of my life volunteering in some capacity with children and eventually children in the dependency court. Before we started our own family I was a CASA (court appointed special advocate) and had worked with my advocate siblings for 3 years. The youngest was just 6 months old when I first met her and during those 3 years the children were eventually placed in a foster adopt family. It was my first experience with adoption and witnessing this couple who wanted and loved these children so much...would do anything to be able to adopt them even though they had no biological ties...it was an incrediable experience and that left an unforgetable imprint on my heart.

I always imagined I would have 3 children and after having two boys I knew I would like to have a daughter so very much. The idea of adopting our daughter seemed and felt right. I never felt the need for her to be biologically mine. In my heart I always felt she would come to us through adoption and even though it is still scary to me it is also so exciting and I can't wait for the adventure of it all to begin and to finally hold her and meet her. I have been given so many gifts so many blessings in my life. The idea that I could give a child the blessing of a family, to be loved, to have a good life...it felt so good to me to be able to share in my blessings, my life with a child.

Adoption was something that took hubby a little longer to think over. He never questioned that he couldn't love and parent a child that wasn't biologically tied to him. He was more worried about how our adopted child would feel being the only adopted child in our family and when she was old enough to comprehend the emotions behind being adopted would she feel sad, would she feel abandoned by her birth parents and could we love her enough, could she feel our love enough to not have that knowledge break her spirit. It made me cry to even imagine such a situation. And I know in my heart it will all be okay...that no matter what our daughter's story holds that she will know that she is loved by both her families. And so I believe it is with faith and trust that we take this leap and know that this journey will change us all.

First Steps

We signed up for our preadopting class. Yeah!! It's just a few days after our anniversary...7 years this year..wow!! What an exciting way to celebrate...an afternoon in the city (San Francisco) talking about international adoption. This week I hope to finish the packet of questions (hubby needs to sit down and work on his as well) and then we can submit our application to our local adoption agency.