And now... we wait!

Well, yesterday went wonderfully.

And, you'll be proud to know that I left our bed covered in laundry.
(Mind you, the bed was made military style and the laundry was folded and sorted into piles according to family member AND color... but it was out, in plain view, and J.D. saw it!!!)


I'm not sure what I was so nervous about. Our homestudy was actually a lot of fun? Dave picked up some donuts (which J.D. thought was hilarious and his attempt at making a joke. But it wasn't. We just really like donuts. Who doesn't?) We made coffee, and orange juice, and quiche. We got to sit around for 2 hours with our social worker, talking about ourselves and hearing constant compliments about our boys. How cute they are. How well they play with one another. How polite. Really, what's not to like about all of that?! The highlight of our visit, perhaps, was when Theo needed to use the bathroom and yelled into the kitchen, when he was finished, for J.D. to come and "wipe (his) butt!!" Talk about making her feel right at home!

J.D. really only had a few questions for us about our autiobiographies. She asked us both a few questions about work. She was interested to talk about our religious/faith/spirituality beliefs (as they somewhat differ.) She needed more info about our "courtship." (Actually, I think she was a little intrigued, as I was very open in my statement about our coming together, and all of the hard work that Dave was!! Hell, he still is...)

At the end of our "grown up meeting" (as Theo referred to it) J.D. asked us, again, about our timeline. And, again, she told us that she has never before seen things moving as quickly as they are right now in Korea. She told us that it's her impression that A.I.A.A. feels the same way... they've called her on a number of occasions, inquiring about her "Korea families" and whether or not we are "ready." Because they are getting referrals. Babies need families.

And, since her unexpected phone call to us last week, Dave and I have talked a lot about how soon, exactly, we'll be ready to bring our third child home. There are a few things that we know that we need...

First of all, we booked a trip to Mexico for March. Dave and I need to go away together before we become a family of five. I was feeling a little bit guilty about that, thinking it selfish, what if our baby is ready to come home before then? But both J.D. and Janiece had words for me that helped to lay that guilt to rest. J.D. all but ordered us to go, and we can't very well say no to our "gatekeeper..."

We also decided that we need our youngest to be at least 12 months younger than Emmett is. For him or her, and for us, and, especially, for Emmett. We don't want them to be in the same grade (and, for us, that will mean the same classroom!) in school. As Jessica put it best, she isn't sure how "cut out" Emmett is for being the "middle child." He'll need some room of his own.

The only paperwork that we have left (that we have control over at this point) is the foster care licensing packet and the I-600. I hope to have both of those sent in next week. I'm dropping our application to A.I.A.A. in the mail tomorrow morning. Now, we wait.