Official Waiting Family!!!!

Today marks the day of a serious milestone....WE ARE AN OFFICIAL WAITING FAMILY! This morning Nate and I headed down to Annapolis (this time snow did not stop us), and completed the Dossier process. We met with our social worker, who looked at EVERYTHING in our packet. She was very thorough, as we sat on the edge of our seats praying there was nothing wrong with what we had brought. Everything was perfect...except for one little number 2, which she said looked like a funny 2, but would probably be fine...phew!!!! We then headed to Annapolis, took the wrong exit...go figure...and went to the circuit court to get a couple papers notary certified. We then went to find the Secretary of State. This was a task. We had been told it was the brick building with the two flags in front of it. Do you know how many brick buildings in Annapolis have a multitude of flags? Needless to say, we took a short tour of the State Capital (thinking that is where we were to be), and then finally made it to the Secretary of State, where we would pay for all of our documents to be stamped with the "Great Seal (which happened to be $5 a page!)." We then headed back to the adoption agency, where we handed off our papers and officially became...A WAITING FAMILY!

We met up with my parents for lunch, who greeted us with flowers, gifts, and a big picture taking moment in the foyer of Damon's Grill! My dad also used his little flip to interview us at lunch...I think maybe people thought we were celebrities...ok, or they just thought we were crazy! But we felt truly blessed by the celebration

Nate and I are feeling a lot of different things right now. We are ridiculously excited...we are nervous...we are overwhelmed (in a good way)...we are thankful...we are anticipating...and we just feel crazy blessed. Nate and I just kept looking at each other in the car thinking, "It's a done deal...we are officially on our way to be parents." Our social worker said our referral could come any time, but most likely about 1 year. She has had a few referrals that have come somewhat quickly, so you never know.

As we were driving into Bethany Services this morning, the song, "It Is Well," came on the radio. As we were leaving and had finished everything, "Be Still" was on. It just seemed as though it was one more reminder that God has been in control and will be in control of this whole journey...and we are so at peace with that. We have no idea what the days to come will bring on this journey. But, we are going to consider the next several months of our life as "being expectant," just like any other couple would be who are pregnant (I am even thinking that I could use this time as an excuse to crave ice cream and stuff...you never know!). Thanks be to God...the author of our story...the story that never ceases to amaze us.