Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Update

So I have not been all that great at staying on top of my blog. It seems that when summer finally arrives, that my already too-crazy life just gets all that much crazier. This summer my brother John-Ben is getting married and I am fairly heavily involved in FANA's annual golf and dinner fundraiser that takes place in July. To top things off, we are in the midst of a huge construction project at our house - reconverting our duplex back into a single family home... So to say the least, things are a little crazy right now!
Adoption update - our dossier is in Colombia! Yay! It went with another couple - Ben and Deana who were united with their baby boy Carlos a couple of weeks ago. It is very exciting to have the dossier in FANA's hands and no longer in our own. A lot of couples have indicated that this is/was the hardest part of the process for them - when all the paperwork is done and the "real" waiting begins. I feel the exact opposite. I am thrilled to not be keeping tabs on the progress of various documents in various states and to no longer be making appointments with doctors (both the medical and the head type), adoption counselors, and the Secretary of State. This new kind of waiting feels more secure to me. I have finally allowed myself to relax and start registering for baby things and envisioning a beautiful nursery. I am very, very excited most days. My waiting moms group is an amazing and consistent support group. I have grown quite close to a couple of the waiting moms and love getting together with them on a weekly basis for dinner and the occasional glass of wine. We talk excitedly about adoption, recent referrals, what to do while we are waiting, ect. We "ooohhhhh" and "ahhhhh" over each other nurseries (or plans for nurseries) and share feelings about everything adoption. They are amazing women who I am so grateful to have in my life.
The most frequent question we get about the adoption is "What's the next step?" Well, we now wait for formal approval from FANA (although apparently this sometimes happens after the referral, so it's a little confusing), we get a buddy couple (another lifeline while waiting) and wait for that precious referral. We hope to be parents before the end of next year, but nothing is certain. Right now we just take things day-by-day and try to enjoy living in the moment. We are taking a Spanish class to hopefully help us get by while we are in Colombia and are looking at places to stay both in Bogota (the capital and city in which FANA is located) and on the coast. It's so exciting!