Whew! We made it through the home tour!

This past Saturday was a busy day. Our social worker came at 5:30 pm to tour our home and meet with Chandler and the boys. Of course I spent the entire day scrubbing the floors and making sure everything was perfect. Not even close! We were already scheduled to attend an all day seminar put-on by the International Adoption Clinic here in Birmingham and I didn't want to miss that. So, at 8:30 that morning I left my 2 busy little boys in the hopefully capable hands of Chandler with clear instructions to play outside, eat outside and to do their very best not to touch anything! I will admit that I was a little nervous about what we might find when we got home with social worker in tow. Sweet Chan Chan! Not only were my little men bathed and smelling sweet and everything in it's place, but she had taken the time to light a candle. Needless to say, everything went great and we are inching closer to bringing our baby home. Oh yeah, did I mention I ran 20 miles before going to the seminar? Started my day at 4:30 and crashed hard that night!

First interview with our social worker

We had our first of four interviews with our social worker, Karla, this past Tuesday. She is super nice, extremely knowledgable about the process and put us immediately at ease. It amazes me how real this all now seems. I guess hearing someone confirm that we will be getting a little girl makes it seems so. Now, it is just a matter of working through the process. The rest of our interviews will occur over the next couple of weeks. Karla also informed us that our Alabama CAN (child abuse and neglect) clearance forms are already back. These can often take up to 3 months, so things are moving a little faster than normal at this point. Based on what we have learned from study, Karla, and other families that have adopted, it is reasonablemto hope for a referral by January or February. If that timeline holds true, we would hopefully travel early next summer. Please pray that things continue to progress and that the little girl that will soon be ours is safe, well fed, and comfortable.

Buying my baby's first doll

I couldn't resist going to the American Girl store while we were in Chicago. I didn't go crazy. Just bought one bitty baby. I will wait to buy matching outfits as soon as I know how big our little girl will be. I can't wait to pack the doll up when we eventually get to China. All the books say to take a doll with you when you travel to bring your little one home. Gotta do what the books say;-)