A few more steps to go

After talking to our social worker and hearing back from the committee, we have been asked to complete a few more steps before we can proceed with this little guy's adoption. Yes, it's heart-breaking to hear that because we are a young, childless couple we need to undergo more tasks to show that we are ready for this particular child. At the same time, however, we can understand the concern of the committee in wanting to see a little more information before they can approve our request. We will do whatever it takes.

Last night through this morning we have already contacted several people and hope to expedite the process by being organized. :-) Aaron smiled and said that because he's married to an efficiency expert, he's not worried about the delay. We had already researched many of these tasks (i.e. consulting a pediatric specialist in the child's needs), so completing them will not be a problem - just a little more time. So far, we've done a great job of delegating tasks and continuing to read anything related to the child, the child's possible needs, adopting, and parenting we can get our hands on. Aaron has put Linux on the back-burner for a bit to focus on the adoption. The other morning I caught him pacing while lost in thought. Instead of contemplating a solution to his in-process Linux operating system, he was reviewing information from brochures our social worker gave us.

So to make a long story a little less long, we'll be going back to the committee after doing a few more things. Since we already planned to do these tasks anyway before we left for Korea, this process will mean completing these tasks a little earlier than we expected.

In the meantime, we will send in our I-600A (immigration pre-approval) to help expedite the process when we do obtain approval. This normally takes a month and a half in Texas, so we will send in the forms tomorrow and get the ball rolling!

Thank you for all of your support! To the many families who have found us through the Holt Forum or friends of those reading this blog, we have loved hearing all experiences related to adoption and waiting child adoption and have learned a great deal from everyone! To our family, thank you for hanging in there with us through this bumping road! To our friends, thank you for your help and resources!