It's our day!

Today we were submitted! That means the countdown has begun, and we could be travelling in as little as 4 weeks! That's best case scenario, but it's what I am hoping for!

We also finally decided on a name*, so I will finally share!
It is...

Charles Gabriel! We will call him Charlie.

Also, little Masha found a family!! I am so happy!!


*Name subject to change at any given moment, and then perhaps back again, based on reason or whim.

Sorry to leave you hanging...

...but we got hit by the flu and I have been sick all week! Today is day 9 and there is no end in sight. Tomorrow Ken has to go back to work, which means that I will have Brennan all to myself! I don't know where that boy gets all of his energy from - even when he's sick, he spends most of the day running around the house yelling and destroying everything! He's lucky he's so cute, or I'd go crazy! ;) He now knows 15 signs and has a few emerging signs. There's one sign he does that we're not really sure what it means. I think it might be "cereal". It definitely means something to him, we just have no idea what! Brennan has discovered where the snack cupboard is, and I find him in there about 7 times per hour. That boy's little belly is getting rotund! :) His obsession with laundry baskets continues. In fact, it's grown to include anything he can climb into or on top of! We really need the snow to melt so we can go climb outside!

Now our adoption news...there isn't much. We should be submitted on Thursday, but there's no guarantees! Last Thursday morning I got the news that we hadn't been submitted, but I was expecting it, so I was only a little disappointed. This week *should* be our week, and we should be travelling in 5-7 weeks! I've heard legends of families travelling 3-4 weeks after submission, and I am hoping that is us! We started this process in August, so we have been waiting for quite awhile!
Another little boy in Littlekid's orphanage passed away in November, and we found out this week. He was just one year old. He had down syndrome and a heart condition, just like Littlekid. His heart wasn't fixed (like Littlekid) and he died. It makes it seem more urgent that we get to Littlekid!

I can't wait to hold my little boy!

Dossier, Away!

Our dossier is on its way!
I dropped it it off last night a few minutes before the store closed. So far, it's gone...a few miles. Lol! It's supposed to arrive on Tuesday though! I thought once I sent it off, I would be done. But this morning I received an email saying that effective immediately, we needed to wire $500 to our facilitators at the same time we sent our dossier! So, tomorrow morning we're off to the bank. There's been a flurry of changes in Littlekid's country's adoption process, and I am hoping and praying that there will be NO MORE changes until after we are safely submitted!
A lot of work and stress went into that pile of paper, especially in the last few weeks. Some documents had to be redone 3 or 4 times, including a last-minute homestudy rewrite. We very nearly didn't get the redone homestudy in time, but our social worker "happened" to find an extra signature sheet. It was an intense day - I was waiting for an email from the SW telling me if I could come get our homestudy, or if we'd have to wait several more days. Brennan and I had to leave in the afternoon, and I still hadn't gotten the email before we left. At 4p I couldn't stand it anymore and I called Ken and had him check my email - and our homestudy was done! We left our friend's house and had the homestudy in hand 30 minutes later! I couldn't believe how everything came together at the last minute. I shouldn't have wasted so much time worrying about it :).
It's nervewracking and relieving to have the dossier gone. Now all I can do is wait *patiently* until we are submitted. Hopefully, prayerfully, it won't be long until I am holding my little boy!

Brennan's 15 Month Stats and Adoption Update

Brennan had his 15 month appointment this week! He had a nice growth spurt - he grew two inches in the last three months! He moved from the 8% in height to the 23rd! He's now 30.5 inches and 23lbs 14oz. My little chunker! He's caught up to his age-mates in every way except speech. That makes sense, because his oral-motor development has always taken the longest! He's right where he should be; his doctor says you'd never even know he was a preemie! He has added two more signs, so he now knows more, eat, milk, please, duck, bath, go, and all done. He knows there's a sign for daddy but he can't quite figure it out yet.

Today we went downtown and got our background checks for our dossier. Brennan had a great time flirting with the clerks! Afterwards we went out to eat, which we rarely do. B had a blast. His little head was whipping around looking at everything. I let him stand in the booth next to me, and he thought he was all that. I could barely stand the cuteness.

I need to redo my medical document *again*, and we're waiting for our redone homestudy to come in the mail. If all our documents are given the okay, then I will have everything apostilled by the end of next week! If our apostilles are approved, do you know what's next? OUR DOSSIER GOES OVERSEAS!! I really hope the rest of our documents get approved, or I will probably loose my mind. The last few weeks have been nuts. I am so glad we are almost finished! I just want to bring my boy home already! I got another picture of him recently - it's not a good picture of him, but it shows just how tiny he really is! I can't wait to fatten him up.

Some may know his name already, but stay tuned for the official reveal!