Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home

So.

Corey and I are in the early stages of the paperchase to bring home our daughter from China. She isn't born yet. She won't likely be born for some time. This could take up to two years...or maybe longer. She will be worth the wait, though. One day we will fly to China and bring our ladybug home.

For many of y'all reading this, this isn't "new" news. I've shared some on my favorite message board and really appreciate all the support. The ladybug basket I posted yesterday is the first item I have for her nursery. Gin gave it to me at the Lynchburg retreat. Ladybugs are considered lucky in Chinese adoption. That basket makes me smile everytime I see it.

But right now the process is intimidating. Hoping we pass the homestudy...we should, but then, who knows? Hoping we pass the medical (Corey hasn't had a physical in 15 or more years). Plowing through the paperwork. It's a rather intense process. The autobiographies we just filled out consisted of 6 pages of single-spaced questions. Everything from details about our families and early childhood to our strengths and weaknesses as marital partners to our discipline philosophies to how we will help our daughter deal with issues of abandonment, grief, and anger.

We have our first two homestudy appointments this weekend and I'm a bit nervous. I know she wants us to be able to adopt and is looking for reasons to give us our daughter, but at the same time, what if we somehow don't pass? It's scary. Hopefully I will feel better after we meet our social worker.

And today is World Down Syndrome Day, so in honor of that, here is one of my favorite photos of my youngest niece, Abigail, little cutie that she is: