Finally waiting

One of the most welcome messages ever in my inbox:

Dear Michael and Allie:

CONGRATULATIONS!  YOUR DOSSIER WAS SHIPPED TO BEIJING TODAY!

Currently, the wait from dossier shipped to travel approval is approximately five to eight months.

There are many milestones in this journey and each one seems more important than the last. I would be hard pressed to try to rank them-  the day we received the photo of the little boy, the day we applied to adopt him, the day we sent our first shipment of official paperwork... not to mention the myriad events that brought us to this adoption in the first place! But today seems so important. This was the Big Project we have been working on since December last year. I don't even know if I could count up the number of times I met Mick for lunch so we could have more papers notarized. Or how many times I sent and received papers at the nearby UPS store as we had every item separately certified and authenticated by the various official offices. At last, it is all compiled and on its way! 

From here our job is to wait. We will pray, read parenting books, paint rooms, and gather items our little boy will need. This is not how I imagined waiting on the arrival of my first child. Five years ago this month we started this journey. I spent hours imagining being pregnant, designing a nursery, and how I would tell family and friends the good news. I stressed over medical costs and invasive doctor visits. Looking back on what we have experienced that makes me really laugh! God is funny.

So, here we are. Painting a little boy's room, not a nursery. Reading books on attaching and parenting a school-age child, not on "What to Expect...". My "visits" have been far more invasive than I had feared, just in a different way. And my announcement is that our dossier is on its way to China. (They don't have reveal parties for that kind of thing!) Although it isn't what I expected, I know I am exactly where I am supposed to be. And I can eat whatever I want.