Are you kidding me?!?! That was an ENORMOUS donation. I literally almost fell out of my chair when I saw how the fund had grown. Then I had goosebumps and then the tears came. We don't know who to thank exactly yet but let me just say it is so wonderfully encouraging to know that we aren't in this alone. Knowing people believe in us and her and her right to have a family means so much. It builds us up and provides that extra boost we need. There are so many people who second guess a decision to adopt; thank heaven for you kind souls who see the dream and help make it a reality. Every dollar gets us that much closer to her. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Approved!! It came today! Our USCIS approval came TODAY! That means the government has given us the go ahead to bring an orphan into our country and our family. All the homestudy hard work paid off and all the necessary information was present for them to give us the go ahead without needing any extra info. This is the last big piece of the dossier. We're so close to submitting all our paperwork to the little lady's government. Pretty soon we'll be on a flight to meet the sweetie! Oh and a HUGE HUGE thank you to those who donate! All these funds will go directly toward our flights. I can't believe we're this close!!!!!!!

USCIS
So we sent in the "petition to adopt an orphan" and we got a letter today saying they've cashed our check and will soon be notifying us of our appointment for fingerprints.  This is the final step in our dossier so it is very exciting.  Just knowing our paperwork made it to them safely and that I suppose everything was correct is a huge sigh of relief for me.  I felt like a mom on the first day of preschool barely able to hand that envelope over to the UPS man.  I'm sure it is twice as nerve wracking with the dossier but I look forward to that. 
I am missing our sweet lady so much these days.  Yes, I've never meet her but we got some recent pics the other day and just seeing how much she's grown makes me long to be there that much more.  I love knowing that we're close to being invited to travel but passing day I wonder "am I doing all I can?".  She is going to mean so much to our family.  I love the responsibility of raising daughters and all that that entails.  I can't wait!  I can tell she is spunky but kind-hearted and I long for the day when all our personalities can come together for the ultimate family blend. 
I have now reached "term" with this pregnancy (37 weeks) so my family is here awaiting the birth and helping with the day to day until then.  We're making steps in the right direction.  Holidays, new baby, new daughter.  You're next on the list sweet girl!  We love you.  Now will you please encourage your dad to decide on name??  For the first time in 4 children he's not letting mommy choose.  I'm sure he has something outstanding in mind for his little princess we just need to encourage him to decide. 

Homestudy, CHECK!!!!!!!!!
Picked up that little beauty today in all her gleaming black and white glory.  I've never loved a document more.  I promptly shipped one copy off to the US immigration office (expedited of course) and now all we have to do is gather a few copies of our doctors' licenses and we're good to go.  Ahh so refreshing!!!!  Finally the ball is back in our court.  We're coming little lady, we're coming!

S.L.O.W.L.Y but surely...
Patience may be a virtue but it certainly isn't one of mine.  The latest official "done" date of our homestudy is the 4th.  The homestudy agency got it sent down to the international agency who made a few changes and sent it back immediately.  Now the homestudy agency is retyping it and collecting all the necessary paperwork that is to accompany it and they say they'll have it ready for pick on Wednesday.  Wednesday after 1.  After 1??  I'll keep my fingers crossed.  The entire dossier is waiting to be submitted as is our application to US immigration which can take a few weeks to process.  I will be one giddy gal when this whole homestudy is done and we can put this agency on the back burner for a few months til we get our gal home.
So our plan of having our dossier complete by the end of the year didn't happen.  We'll do our best to take it in stride and not be downhearted by things we can not control.  I joke that being pregnant while adopting actually works because it keeps you from going too nutso about one or the other.  God willing we'll get our dossier completed this month and we can turn all eyes to the belly prize for next month while we wait to hear when we'll get to travel.  Sounds like a pretty good plan to me!
 To my sweet little lady patiently waiting for something more- know that we're are doing our best and that we wish everyday we could just grab a flight and to be closer to you.  Whatever it takes little lady, we'll get there and we'll count the minutes until then.  We love you!!!!

"Pollyanna"
Recently our little lady's best friend was moved to the "my family found me" page on reece's rainbow.  We were thrilled to see her there and celebrated as if she was coming into our own home.  At the time we thought she would be welcomed home by our friends who had considered adoption for years but never found "the one".  They'd gone through with the initial paperwork and commitment forms but as life would have it, another family was also being considered for sweet Pollyanna.  This other family has now also been preapproved to adopt her and they will be the ones welcoming her into their home.  I have no idea who this other family is.  I'm sure they are kind and wonderful people deserving of such a fantastic spirit like Pollyanna but it does sting to know we could have kept these two girls together for the transition to life as a sister, daughter and American. 
I do still hope to be able to maintain some contact between our daughter and Pollyanna once they are both stateside.  It appears as though this how things were meant to turn out and anytime an orphan finds a family a success is obvious but possibility was real and it stings now.  We wish all the best to Pollyanna and her new family and we will of course look forward to meeting her when we travel to meet our gal. 
The new family for Pollyanna hasn't made it to the "new commitments" page yet but I imagine that is next on their to do list. 
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday.  We certainly felt incomplete as a family and we look forward to next Christmas when we can celebrate together with our daughters.  My husband's parents gave us a VERY generous gift this year in the form of a donation and others have recently followed in their footsteps.  Thank you all for your kindness especially during this time of year.  We hope to be Eastern Europe bound early in 2012!