hallelujah

we've officially begun the adoption process! 

after a year of seeking, researching, chatting, reading blogs, friending "strangers" on the internet, and submerging ourselves in God's plan - we've finally reached a milestone.  today was the day when we took or initial application to the post office.

we requested the paperwork back in july, but felt we were just not ready to decide which agency we were going with.  after further research and connections with fellow adopters who were working with Bethany Christian Services, we decided they were the agency we'd like to go with.  we're very happy with their work with the expectant parent(s) and feel like their mission is aligned with ours - to find the baby that God wants us to parent.  we know now that we needed the additional four months to get to the right spot on our journey and we can both tell you that we are SO READY to be PARENTS!

it did not take us very log to get this stage of the paperwork completed.  however, i tried to be extra diligent in requesting doctor's letters etc. for any questions that we answered affirmatively on the initial paperwork regarding our medical conditions etc.  we are hoping that the more diligent that we are initially, the faster this process will go.  only time shall tell!

we'll keep you posted with each step, but at this point we're just stoked to have gotten the first set of paperwork into the mail, and to really be in the works!

this is our packet of papers for the initial application.

this is the special padded mailer we purchased to ensure our photo and papers would arrive safely.

here we are!  right before going in the post office to get this paperwork into the hands of the mail carrier!

here we go!