China Doll

Some of you have heard rumors about Bethany and I adding to our family, so I thought I would make an official blogger announcement. If everything goes as planned, we are going to adopt a baby girl from China. We have been approved by the agency to continue the adoption process after they reviewed our application. (Being Naughtons didn't scare them off!) We have moved on to the third step of the process which is to get all of our legal documents together such as birth certificates, marriage license, passports, letters of reference, financial statements, etc. After submitting these papers, the agency will conduct a home visit and then will sign off on our final approval if they see no problems. After that we will have to correspond with the State Department, the Chinese Embassy, and other agencies to work out the details. After all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted, we wait. We wait until the Chinese government approves the adoption and then we hop on a plane to the far east. There we will meet our baby, take her to the hotel to stay with us, sight-see in China for two weeks while waiting for the final paperwork to be completed, and then return home with our new daughter.

The whole process could take over a year and a half, although we hope to speed that up with timely submissions of documents, etc. I think it is fate that has brought us to this crossroads. When Bethany was giving birth to Alex his heart rate plummeted and I saw panick in the nurse's eyes. After the ordeal was over, I commented, "We're never going through that again. Next time we'll adopt a little girl from China." Little did I know then that for four years we would try to conceive another child with no success (although it was fun trying!) only to arrive at the decision that adoption was for us. Fate. Karma. Destiny. Call it what you like. But its just like Momma says, "Everything happens for a reason." I think we were meant to save a baby from a life in an orphanage without the love of a family.

Wish us luck, and don't be surprised if we ask you to write a letter of reference for us. We appreciate your support and love.

PS: Do you know what they call Chinese food in China? Food. Who knew!?