Guess it just wouldn't be fun if it were easy?

When you jump into the world of international adoption - you hear the time lines, the stats, the problems and I know I always thought - "man, I hope that isn't us!" China taking 16 years to adopt a child (maybe an exaggeration, but not by much...); parents waiting 2 years just to get their paperwork completed; parents getting a child referred but going through court multiple (as in SEVEN) times before they could go get them; children referred as toddlers and brought home as early elementary age ...

Just hope that isn't me...

Well... not saying how the rest of this process will go but here's just a beginning taste:

• Started paperwork, started homestudy visits
• Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays delayed visits
• Tony lost his job, delaying visits for a month as we revamped and rescheduled with new job
• Social worker cuts her finger on a cauliflower, (seriously) and as a contracted employee, has to wait until she gets the splint off to start typing again - delayed 4 weeks.
  
• Report sent to AWAA where my caseworker has just taken off on a week and half vacation.
• Report makes it's way back to homestudy agency where it is signed. Well no --- can't be signed because our background checks expired and we have to wait on new ones. - delayed 3 weeks.
  
• Report is signed and we overnight it to Charleston, Citizenship and Immigration.
• Find out we needed to have copy of homestudy license in with that copy just sent to Charleston. That nugget of info must have been hidden in the 35 pages of directions on how to do your paperwork - cause OCD me didn't highlight it.
  
• Get copy of license and send it to Charleston. Whew.
• Get call that as DSS was reviewing our report before sending it to Charleston (huh?) it needed an additional letter from Tony because of his childhood and foster placement situation.
  
• Signed copy of letter, sent it to homestudy agency to be notarized - hoping it makes it's way to Charleston at some point this year. (Insert eye roll....)

It would be kind of funny if it weren't for the fact that in terms of an adoption pregnancy, I've merely just taken that EPT test. This pregnancy's far from even starting. Heaven help us when we get to the labor and delivery portion.... cause I hear those can be a doosey.