Papers, papers, papers, and POOP!

Saturday I opened the mailbox and discovered it jammed packed of Christmas cards and two big packages, one from the adoption agency and another from the homestudy agency. Kevin tackled the adoption agency packet and I'm digesting the homestudy packet. Oh my, they want us to fill out all of this stuff before our appointment THIS TUESDAY! We had plans with my parents for a "Roy Appreciation Day" trip to Indianapolis all afternoon and evening Saturday. Today (Sunday) we spent the morning at church and then rushed home to get the house picked up, tables set, and food cooked to host a Christmas party for my work friends. It's been a busy weekend! We stayed up till 2am Saturday night filling out questionnaires for the homestudy agency. I wish they would have told me how much work we'd have to do before the first appointment. If I would have known, I would have scheduled it for after Christmas. We're still not anywhere near done. Tomorrow night is gonna be a late night! I feel like I'm still in college rushing to do a paper at the last minute. Get this, we even have to have documentation that our dog has her vaccines up to date as a part of the homestudy process. Even the babydog Sedona requires paperwork for the adoption process!

I discovered this blog this week. This couple is adopting a daughter named Laney from Taiwan and will travel to her in January. They're using the same agency we are. It has been so comforting to be able to read about their experiences. I feel like we're following in their footsteps, going through the same paperchase with guidance from the same adoption agency. Knowing that they got through it all, and VERY QUICKLY, makes me feel oh so much better. IF ANYONE KNOWS OF ANY RECENT BLOGS FROM FAMILIES FOR CHILDREN TAIWAN FAMILIES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Laney's nursery is so cute! I'm already shopping for crib bedding and thinking about how to decorate Hannah's room. I think pink, yellow, and green round paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling would look so pretty with this bedding called "bubble gum". (Updated 1/2/07: Or maybe this bedding called "scribbles" with pink, cream, and brown lanterns. I can't decide!) What do you think? I'm not making any purchases until after we get our referral. I figure a big project like that will keep us busy during the 4 month wait while the adoption is processed through the Taiwanese court system. But that doesn't mean that a girl can't window shop, right?

Here's a shout out to the girls from work (Dana, Linda, Diane, Jo, Sandy, and Amber)! Thanks for coming to my Christmas party. I think we all had a great time! Cheers to Dana for serving as the toastmaster. Thanks so my neighbors the Quegans for bringing 4 of their 7 wiener dog puppies over so my guests could snuggle with them for a while. And to the 3 weeks old little dapple weiner dog that pooped all over my new white sparkle shirt, I'm so glad that you and your siblings chose me to poop on rather than my guests. It would be no fun to get pooped on at a Christmas party and not have any clothes to change into!