a bit discouraged...

Hello to everyone on this cloudy, but relaxing Tuesday afternoon.   I am sorry to say that I am feeling just a little bit discouraged about our adoption process today.   We got a copy of our homestudy in the mail the other day for us to read and sign and realized there were quite a few errors in it.  Reuben and I went through and fixed everything and let the agency know, no biggie right?  Right.  We also got OUR medical exam sheets back AGAIN with some missing or mixed up information that needed fixed.  We fixed that.  So Reuben talked to the lady from the agency today who is helping us with the dossier process and we realized that it's looking like its going to be towards the middle or even end of January until we are ready to send our dossier to China!  It takes 2-3 months after that to get logged in with China and then we can officially start waiting.  So I start doing the math.  I'm thinking to myself that it could technically be another year until we travel to get our little one! What!  And that is why I'm discouraged.  But I remind myself that God's timing is perfect and we keep saying we are not in a hurry anyway.  We need time to get the financial end of this in order so what am I freaking out about.  Just being impatient I guess:)  On a happier note we have been checking out some travel tips from other families who have adopted from China and got some good ideas!  Like what to bring lots of and what not to worry about because it's easy to get over there or you don't really need it.  If any of you have travel tips you'd like to share with us please do!  Send it to facebook or e-mail me:)  Also we would appreciate your prayers for us during this exciting but trying time.  There are so many ups and downs through all of this.  I hope Reuben will start working on the baby's room soon so maybe I will figure out how to post some pics.  He is also planning on building a super cute toy box!  Can't wait!!! 

A very interesting weekend.

Well I've been itching to write an update on our blog but to be honest I didnt really have any updates to report! But, Reuben and I went to Ravenna over the weekend to have our adoption training classes.  It was Saturday from 8:45am to 5:00pm with a lunch break and Sunday from 8:45am to 1:00pm.  We heard so much good information I don't know where to start and what to share and what not to share.  The main thing that sticks out in my mind I guess was the information on bonding and attachment especially in the first days and weeks after getting home from China.  The social workers from the agency couldn't get done saying how important it is to have family time for those weeks and to "hibernate" as they put it avoiding lots of visitors and comotion.  As you can imagine social workers are not very popular with Grandparents and other family members! ha They also told us not to push our child toward independence or doing things like giving up bottles and potty training and just let them be a baby and even regress if necessary.  Also the importance of an adoption clinic vs a regular pediatrition.  Today we got to hear from a birth mother who gave her baby up for adoption when she was fifteen and also a couple who adopted two girls from China.  All in all it was soooo interesting however it was a lot of information to process so I may update with thoughts or if I remember something I want to share.  Well to say the least I'm exhasted so until another time...