It has been some time since my last post. It hasn't been due to lack of content or laziness. The root reason for my absence is the adoption itself....well the paperwork involved I should say. I have come to realize that this process is all about perseverance. In some ways, I'd compare it to running a marathon. You get into a steady stride only to come across a pot hole or a drink station....and you have to either stop or at least slow down. The process of adoption is not for the faint of heart!

If you have ever once considered adoption, I strongly recommend asking someone who has what to expect. My personality likes efficiency and timeliness.......nothing about this process is either. I would like for someone to hand me an entire list of everything that I need to accomplish by a certain time and then go to work. It seems that this process is more like peeling an onion.....once I get below one layer...there is another...and then another....and so on.

In the last two weeks.....I have spent my evenings coordinating the following:

- Applying for MO State Highway Patrol background checks.
- Applying for background checks in Virginia and Florida where I worked briefly in college.
- Applying for Missouri's Family Care Safety Registry check.
- Copying our 2009 Federal income Tax Return.
- Obtaining birth certificates for every member of the family.
- Locating and copying our marriage certificate.
- Physical exams for all three kids we currently have.
- Physical exams for us.
- Local police checks.
- Writing a multi-page, multi-question autobiography (mine was five pages single spaced...Greg's was much shorter)
- Completing a diversity tool questionnaire...again multi-page, multi-question
- Savings/Checking account verifications
- Retirement fund verification of amounts
- Verification from health insurance of when a child will be covered by insurance
- Complete list of expenses vs. income for a typical month
- Pet vaccinations verifying up-to-date status
- Verification of life insurance amounts
- Employment letters - verifying date of hire, amount of pay, etc.
- Writing our adoption petition
- Writing a financial statement
- Notarizing documents
- Coordinating documents to be sent to the Missouri Secretary of State's Office for certification
- First home study visit
- Scheduled the second and third home study visits.
- Obtaining three sets of visa pictures
- Starting the process of taking three pictures of us as a couple and then eight pictures of our family with friends, neighbors, etc.

I'm sure there were other things along the way as well.  And, you'd think with all that work....I'd be nearing the end...but no...we have a way to go.  Sadly today, I found out that once we have completed all of the documents and can submit our I-800a form (yeah, I had no idea what that was until we started this process) to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.....it will then be a 60-90 day wait. Ugh. So, if I can get it coordinated by mid-July....pending the state depts. get their paperwork in......we're looking at September before we can even submit our dossier to China. 

Never did I realize how much patience played a role in perseverance....until now.