Weekly Checklist

I am a list person. You know, the kind that has a to-do list for everything. There's a certain joy when I can check something off the list. Side Note: I may or may not add things to the list that have already been done, just so I can check them off.

We recently received a HUGE binder from our adoption agency that is filled with tasks that we have to accomplish, appointments we have to make, documents we have to gather and notarize, etc. The list really goes on and on and on! Within the first 24 hours, I think I had already read just about every piece of information in the whole binder. My adoption to-do checklist grew exponentially. The first few nights, I would just sit in bed with no hope of falling asleep soon, going over the many details that needed to be done still. This was overwhelming--to say the least. I quickly realized that I would need to compile a to-do list for each week, slowly chiseling away at the massive list of tasks. 

That being said, this week, we were able to cross a few more things off our to-do list. :)

On this last week's list:

1) Order brand-new copies of our birth certificates

• All of our documents for our dossier will have to be less than six months old when we send them out. For this reason, we cannot use any of our current certificates and must order new ones. We ordered Dave's from Knoxville, Tennessee and mine from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Mine already arrived at our front door. Unfortunately, we keeping missing the UPS guy and haven't been able to sign for Dave's yet (despite UPS's multiple-3-attempts). 

2) Order brand-new copies of our marriage certificate

• Dave went down to the Waukesha County Courthouse to pick up a few copies of our marriage certificate. Mission accomplished.

3) Police Background Check

• While at the Courthouse, Dave also dropped off our form to the Police for our background checks. These will be forwarded on to our home study agency and our international agency for our dossier. 

4) Character References Received by International Agency

• Each of our character references were received this week by our International Adoption Agency. Yippee! Thanks to our friends, who have already written a few references for this adoption process. 

5) Contract from Agency

• Since our character references all came in, our agency has officially accepted us into the program and has extended the official contract. Hopefully, we'll be signing that and sending it in (along with the starting agency fee) next week!

6) Begin Researching for a Family Doctor/Pediatrician

• When our little boy first arrives at home, we will likely have to have a pediatrician who specializes in examining international children--It is very possible that, although he will be deemed healthy, he could have a variety of physical issues that are considered normal in an underdeveloped country. 
• Dave and I, personally, are not really "doctor people." I basically have to be dying in order to even consider going to the doctor. No offense, to my doctor friends. :) I don't know why--but it's just the way it is with us. I cannot remember the last time I went to the doctor--After all, I haven't been dying any time too recently. For this reason, we do not have a primary care physician. Both of us need to complete a physical for our home study and our dossier. This week, we are doing our homework on choosing a physician. Big step. Pathetic, I know. 

It's been a busy week, but we've accomplished much! We'll try to keep you all posted on what we're up to each week to bring us closer to completing our adoption. Thank you all for your continued prayers, questions and notes of encouragement!