On The List!

I was anxious and excited to get our Dossier submitted and find out where we are on "the list".  Several blogs that I have been following have a countdown list for families once they are DTE.  They get monthly updates of where they are - such as Infant Girl #23 - so families know how many families are ahead of them and can see their file move up the list with each months update.  As you know we were DTE last week 8/19/2011!!  I waited for the email with where we were on "the list" but it never came.  I contacted our family coordinator and asked her if our agency had such a list.  She said due to confidentiality reasons and unknowns in international adoption they do not have an agency list - SAD!  I was so looking forward to seeing where we were.  She did mention, however, that we have a yahoo chat group for families from our agency and they have taken it upon themselves to start their own list!

I joined the group on Friday morning but was at work all day so I wasn't able to go look around and see what all they had.  It has turned out to be a great resource and am excited to get to meet so many families.  They have packing lists for your travel over, info on air travel and currency, and lots more.  It is so great to get info and advice from families that have been there and that are going through the same journey as us.  I finally found the document that I was looking for - "The List"!!  They have it broken down into different categories(infant girl, infant boy, sibling groups/twins, 12+ girl, 12+ boy, etc.)  We are requesting a girl 3-4 years old so we fall under the 3 and older category.  I looked over the list and noticed that boy and girl requests were both in this category.  I counted the families on the list that were girls and there were only 5!!  That would make us #6 - SO EXCITING!  I messaged the person in charge of adding new families and gave her our specifics so that we could get on the list!  Now, it is important to mention that not ALL families from AWAA(Our Agency) are on the Yahoo chat group so the list isn't 100% accurate - but it is close!  I checked the list when I got home last night and was excited to see our names were on there!  We were listed at #6!!  I went to bed excited to be chatting with fellow families - some awaiting referral, some in homestudy, some awaiting court approval, some awaiting their embassy appt., and some who are home with their children!  I woke up this morning and it dawned on me that we should have been #6 out of just the girls, but there had been boy requests on there too.  I got back on this morning and took a look!  When we were added to the list, they also updated a couple referrals that had been given yesterday!  Also, originally I counted all the families and didn't pay attention to their DTE - a couple of them are within the last 2 weeks(After us!).  So, what I am trying to say is that we are techinically #6 on the list - but with only GIRL requestes included - we are #4!!!!

It is hard to guess how long the wait will be with children that are older.  They either have them available or they don't.  I am settling in for the wait and keeping my mind and heart at peace knowing that our Heavenly Father knows where our daughter is and when she will make it to us.  He knew her even before she took her first breath and long before she came into our hearts.  He will protect her and guide her and keep her safe while we are apart.  So excited to be at this point!  So excited to be on this journey!  God has taught us so much so far and I'm excited to see where He takes us next!