A Very Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to ALL!

Today is a good day. We can finally announce that we have a referral. We have known for 2 weeks but could not share the good news until after Christmas. We shared the good news with our families today, including the girls.

Outline of our entire process:

January 2010: This was the first officially step towards adoption.
July 2010: Completed homestudy
October 2010: Received our USCIS approval
December 2010: Mailed dossier to BG
April 2011: Registered with country of BG
Spring 2012: Homestudy update
Spring 2013: Homestudy update
Dec 2013: Official referral
February 2014: 1st Trip 
May 2014: Started on 3rd home study update 
May 27, 2014: Court Date 
June 23, 2014: Official word he is ours! 

Total time from start to referral: 4 years give or take a few days
Total time from registration to referral: 32 months
Total time from 1st Visit to Court date: 3 months

Now, for the juicy stuff!

Our son is 18 months old. He is healthy both physically and mentally. He has tons of dark brown hair and dark eyes. His skin is clear and fair and I have to say that he is well-fed ;) The photo we have is from his registration when he was 12 months old. He and I share a birthday month :)

For those who aren't aware we cannot post any photos until after he is ours (second trip)

We can't express the extent of our excitement but at the same time we feel numb. We know holding him for the first time will fix that problem. Also for those who are not aware, we will visit him for a week end of January or early February. Then we have to do the most painful thing I've ever imagined. We have to leave him there while we come back to the US and petition to adopt him. This process usually takes 3-4 months.

3-4 months of being away from him. I know I've getting ahead of myself but only to say this: Pray for us. Not knowing him was hard, leaving him for 3-4 months, seemingly impossible.

The hard part has just begun…We are willing but need prayer to get us through to the other side.