WE'RE ON THE WAIT LIST!!!!

Christmas has come early to our home with the news that we are officially on the wait list! The last few steps flew by so quickly that we didn't even have a chance to share the good news! First USCIS approved our application after only 12 days after receiving our home study, a true miracle and I almost hate to post this because I know some people wait months. Then we had this last document notarized and sent off for final authentication, another step that we expected to take at least a couple weeks but we only had to wait 5 days! So as of last Thursday our dossier is complete, we are officially on the wait list, and our agency can now start the process of matching us with our future children. WOW!

Yes, I did say children, as in more than one. We have decided that we will wait whatever time it takes to match us with a sibling pair. After all, it has already been 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day since we decided to adopt (not that I'm counting...), and it will be another several months before we are through with this process, so what's an extra couple months? Our agency is working to match us with either twins ages 0 - 12 months, or a sibling pair with one child 0 - 12 months and the second child up to 2 1/2 years old at time of referral. We are leaving things open on gender since we would be happy with either...or both!

Our agency is still saying that referral times are averaging 4 to 6 months. Although we are hoping for the best, we are taking those time frames with a grain of salt. The local CT friends that we met through our agency have been waiting 6 full months for referrals lately and some even as long as 8 months for siblings. Also, once we get our referral we will have to wait for a court date, then pass court (hopefully the first time) and then travel to bring them home. This means that another three to six months could pass between referral and homecoming. As you can see, we still have a long way to go but we are overjoyed to finally be officially in line! Hooray!!!