One step closer...

This morning, I sent off our dossier to the adoption agency!!! Woohoo! One step closer to kids!!! Next, we have to submit our I-600A form to USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Once they get it, they will set an appointment for us to go down to our local Homeland Security office to get fingerprinted.

With all the different documents and copies of documents I've sent to our local adoption agency for the homestudy, and now to our international agency, I feel like I've been a horrible steward of the environment. How many trees have had to die in order for Nate and me to adopt? I maintain that if every parent had to complete adoption paperwork in order to have a child, the human race would die out. It's a frustrating process!

Alas, we are closer, but it's not over yet. As Tom Petty once said, "The waiting is the hardest part." And within a few days, that is what we will *officially* be doing. Waiting. Waiting for our two children, who are most likely living somewhere in Ethiopia as I type this. I just pray that they are safe and happy.