Starting Out

Wow! We have started the process. By that I mean our paperchase so we can travel to China and bring our new daughter home. That is what my focus is. I have not met her-heck she may not even be born yet, but right now my main focus is to get done what I have to do so I can go get her.

We have selected our agency, our social worker and our country. We have sent for our criminal background check, employer verifications and some other minor things. It sure seems like there is a long way to go. My goal is to pull off this paperchase in record time. I have not even met with the SW yet, but I have started collecting the documents she will need. I am not a slacker that is for sure.

I am sure friends and family are wondering what in the heck we are thinking. Well I myself am not real sure how this all happened. All I can say is that when God has a plan, if you are willing to listen, you better just hang on for the ride. He started out by planting seeds in my mind and heart. Articles in magazines, news reports on TV and actual TV shows. That started the thinking. So I planted the seed in my husband Michael's head and decided that if it really was God's will he would fertilize the seed. Meanwhile I am not one to sit around and wait so I started researching on the Internet. We are talking about 8 hours a day for almost two weeks. I started sharing some of my research with Mike (gotta water the seed too) and waited for a sign or answer from him. After two weeks of amused looks but no confirmation I questioned him as to his thoughts. He (after teasing me some) said "Fill out the paperwork, let's go for it".

The reason some friends and family might be surprised is because we have one son Evan who is about to graduate from high school and start his college adventure. We also have a daughter, Katie, who is a junior in high school and another daughter, Morgan, who is 9 and in the 3rd grade. So when we are 1 1/2 years from almost having an empty nest, we decide to throw another egg in it. Who knew? Not me. A couple months ago I was relishing the idea of less housework and less kids to clean up after. I guess that is not what God had in his plans for us.

Oh well, I will be posting here to help vent my frustrations and keep those updated as to where we are in our process.

China Mama to be
Rachel