We attended our all day orientation meeting with our adoption agency yesterday. We were a little bit anxious since we really had no idea what to expect. There were about 20 other couples in the orientation, with 3-4 of those couples planning to adopt internationally rather than domestic (US). We were able to listen to several former adoptive parents speak (3 domestic, 1 international, and 1 couple that had chosen embryo adoption). Our agency representatives kept stressing that it was "our day," and we were free to ask questions. We then heard from 5 agency employees who spoke about their different responsibilites and also took questions. The last item on our agenda was to go through our "folder". Oh my goodness, we were sent home with a stack of paperwork that is about 1" thick. We will start on our folder this week and plan to have everything complete within the next 2 months. We will also start our Homestudy classes this next week. We are going to be very busy little waiting parents!

All in all it was a great day for us. It was a good time for us to just talk about our expectations and really feel like we are on this Journey together as a couple. We were told that 95% of the couples in our class will complete this Journey and have a precious child in the end. Some will, unfortunately, become frustrated or just feel that they are being led in a different direction. The funny thing for us (I guess you can call it funny) is that if we were able to just have a baby "the old fashioned way," none of the things we are being asked to do would ever happen ~ for example: urine drug screens, TB skin testing, criminal background checks, psychological examination, infertility consultation (again), in-home visits, family/personal references, and the list goes on and on. We know that these items on our checklist are needed to provide the Birthmother and her family the peace of mind that their child will be placed with a good family, but it can just seem so overwhelming for two people in love that just want to share their wonderful life with a child.

But, we both came out of yesterday feeling that we are definitely on the right path for us. We know that there is staff available to help us through each step, and they will be there with us when we are finally able to bring Our Precious Gift home. I can hardly wait! You know we just had to look at the baby aisle at the grocery today. It is so much fun to finally have Hope and feel the excitement of knowing we are moving closer to becoming parents.