One Step Closer...

One step closer. This has been my mantra through the whole adoption process. Have you heard the song "A Thousand Years" from the Twilight movies? Each time I hear it I think of our adoption. The lyrics are so perfect "I have died every day waiting for you. Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years, I'll love you for a thousand more. All along I believed I would find you..." and then the tag line...."One Step Closer". Brings me to tears. Every. Time. If you haven't heard it, you can listen to it here: 

Yesterday we took another step closer to our sweet little girl. We headed out to Fort Worth at 7:30 am, in the freezing cold weather, over ice covered roads. We have been iced in since last Thursday and I have stressed all week over whether or not we were going to be able to make it for our appointment. Luckily, the roads were clear enough that it was pretty safe to drive them. We arrived at the United States Citizen and Immigration Services office about 30 minutes early to be fingerprinted. The office was sterile and quiet. The workers there were almost as cold as it was outside. We were just part of their daily routine there and yet, it was a step toward China for us. They rolled our fingers one by one on the cold glass and then we were finished. 

We spent the rest of the morning as a family. A family of five - soon to be six. We strolled one of the malls we used to shop when we lived in Fort Worth. We drove by the hospital where Mig was born and went to eat at our favorite restaurant in downtown Fort Worth. Then we drove to our old apartment building. It was fun reminiscing! We headed home and went about our day. Byron went to work, the kids and I did school - but we are officially ONE STEP CLOSER!

Now we wait to get our approval, which may take up to a month. Once we have that we will send it, and our finalized home study off for more seals and approvals. When that is finished we will send our competed Dossier (a collection of a whole bunch of forms and paperwork that define us) to our agency who will then review it, translate it, and send it off to China! We have come so far and still have a ways to go - but each step is a milestone and a celebration!