the dossier...i'm tired just thinking about it

November 2nd...that was the day we got our referral. It has been a whirlwind since then complete with lots of highs and lots of lows...

First we were elated. How exciting a beautiful little boy and it is all happening way faster than we anticipated. The kids couldn't wait to tell their friends and classmates. We couldn't either for that matter. Maxim's name is always on our kids lips. Derek asks about him daily and asks when can we go get him. He is in our kids' bedtime prayer time and Savannah always prays he has a good meal when we ask God to bless our dinner. It is very sweet. The girls realize it isn't a sure thing that Maxim will be "the one" but we all decided even if he isn't the one he will be one prayed for little boy.

Then there were doubts...Should we accept this referral? Will he have medical issues we can't handle? Will he have severe attachment problems? Should we have a little boy so close in age to our biological son? How will we know until we meet him? And worse case, can we have the strength to make the best decision for our family and possibly turn down this referral after we meet him?

Then there were moments of acceptance....God has put us on this path and it is our job to have Faith that He will see it through. We know that we don't have all the answers but He does. Adoption is a huge leap of faith. This is where we are...today. We will likely go back and forth but ultimately I know that God has us in His hands and he will be with us through it all. Friends, just remind me of this fact if I start doubting again. :)

Emotional roller coaster aside we have been pushing forward. Our dossier is mostly complete. We are waiting on a few documents from our home study agency and then we will have it on its way to our agency and then Russia hopefully by the end of next week.

For those of you who are wondering a dossier (for adoption purposes) is a super duper report of every aspect of our lives. We have documents in there like passport copies, marriage certificates, home deeds, financial reports, bank statements, pictures, police records, doctor's evaluations, and the list goes on and on! And every one of those documents has to be notarized and then apostilled by the secretary of state for Louisiana. It is a huge undertaking and sometimes takes months to put together. We were asked to put it together in a little over a month at the busiest time of the year.

I am told our document collecting has gone very smoothly compared to some families. As annoying as some of it is I have to admit it wasn't that bad. We could not have done this in this time frame if it hadn't have been for a couple of great friends and notaries. Jim Welch and Marti Thomas...you are our heroes. Sorry for the cramped hands and the crazy amount of signatures. Please know that you were a huge blessing to us. We would have gone broke paying for notaries and for you guys to travel to our doctor's offices, police stations and banks to notarize documents on the spot free of charge is amazing and we will always be grateful.