Hurry up and wait

That would be the motto of adooption if there were one. We scurry around to get our documents for our dossier, or our homestudy, or our agency application taken care of as quickly as possible only to find out that we aren't everyones highest priority. We found that out during the process of adopting Lleyton as well. It's good to know that it hasn't changed. If we aren't waiting on a signature from a doctor's office, we are waiting on a signature from an employer. If we aren't waiting on a signature from an employer, we are waiting for marriage certificate to arrive in the mail. If we aren't waiting for a marriage certificate, we are waiting for our fingerprint appointment to be set. Our goal is to complete the paperwork part of the adoption as quickly as possible so that we can be officially be put on the waiting list of families longing to adopt an Ethiopian child. Theoretically, the quicker you get on that list, the quicker you get a referral for a child.

That being said, we have been doing well getting all of the paperwork together that we can. We are two signatures short of having our homestudy complete. We are only a couple of docuements short of having our dossier complete as well. After completing the dossier, we will have to take it to Indianapolis to the Secretary of State, so that we can get the Great Seal of Indiana. From my understanding, that means that the Secretary of State is verifying the authenticity of the documents. After that step, the papers are off to Washington DC so that the State Department can take a look at them and finally, they will make a stop at the Ethiopian Embassy in DC. Sounds pretty complicated, but I think/hope it is going to be easier than it sounds.

We did take a break from our seemingly endless paperchase this weekend to make a very quick trip to Indianapolis on Sunday. Kids First, our adoption agency for Lleyton, put on their first annual Russian New Years Party. We weren't all that interested in the party itself, b/c Lleyton can't quite grasp that he is from Russia yet. We were more interested in getting him back together with one of his old orphanage buddies. One of his "roommates" from Baby House #2 in Samara, now happens to live outside of Indianapolis. This little guy, Roman, is just a couple of days older than Lleyton, so they probably got to spend some real quality time with each other during the first 13 months of their little lives.

Upon arriving at the party, the two boys saw each other and engaged in a bit of a staredown, almost as if they were saying to each other, "I recognize you." It was very cool. Lleyton did what Lleyton does, run like wild throughout the ballroom without regard to anyone or anything that may be around him, while little Roman sat very politely on his parents' laps. But we did corral Lleyton just long enough to get a few pictures with his old buddy. Here is one of the pictures...



It was really nice getting to see Roman and his family again. We think it is very cool to have one of Lleyton's buddies from Russia so close.