How's the adoption process going?

It seems as if I have been getting lots of questions lately about how everything is going.  Maybe it's because the last thing that anyone heard was that we had the awful feedback meeting with the adoption counselor.  Maybe it's because I haven't written anything in about a month.  Or maybe, just maybe, it's because people just truly care and wonder what has been going on.

So, in short, we are still trying to wrap up the last of the paperwork.  We have turned in all of the forms that were needed to complete the home study.  Well, at least all of the forms that we know of.  It does seem that every time we think we are done with forms, there seems to be just one more form that we didn't know about.  But, hopefully they really are all in.  We are waiting for our adoption counselor to finish writing up the report of our home study and home visit.  And then finally, we have to make the finishing touches on our profile and shorter letter.

We received a second round of feedback from our counselor after we made some changes that took her initial feedback into consideration, but that still allowed us to keep the feel of our profile how we wanted it.  The second round of feedback was MUCH easier to take and there were parts of it that were even really helpful.  So, now we just have to make those final changes.  After that, we have decided that we are just going to be done.  We could do this forever.  We could make changes in what we have written until the end of time and we would still be able to find more things to change.  At some point, we just have to be done with it and we are VERY close to that point.  We are happy with it and we think it gives a good portrait of who we are.  And that is good enough for us.  So we will make some final changes, order the books, and print out the letters.  Then, as soon as we have our final approval, we will be ready to go on the waiting list.

It has started to get more and more real as we are nearing an end to the paperwork stage.  I am eagerly awaiting the day we are officially waiting.  I am happy that we will be done sometime soon after my summer break starts.  The thought of waiting doesn't seem too bad at the moment.  I know that I will feel differently as time goes by, but right now, I am anxious to be done with the checklist and done with all the things that we need to do.

I never could have imagined all that would go into this phase of the adoption.  People said that it was grueling, but I just couldn't have known.  It has been a powerful experience.  I feel closer to Carla than ever before.  I feel prepared for what lays ahead of us.  I feel as if we have thought through so many important issues.  And most of all, I feel confident that we are doing the right thing, in the right way, at the exact right time.  And that's not a bad way to feel!