Waiting By the Mailbox...

Right now we're just waiting, waiting, waiting, by the mailbox...

Everything is pretty much out of our hands at the moment, as we're waiting for three things to arrive in the mail:

1.  My amended birth certificate.  When I was born, the hospital made a mistake and reported me as a male, and so that's what is printed on my birth certificate.  (And the last time I checked, I was a female.)  The lady in California said she would put a "rush" on it - the regular waiting time is 7 months, so hopefully a "rush" doesn't mean 6.  But you can't reach anyone by phone, so we're just waiting patiently.  After we receive it, our birth certificates need to be sent to Sacramento to be authenticated.

2. Our amended marriage certificate.  When we were married, we were still using the last name Fendly, and so that needed to be amended to Zeltins in order to match all of our other documentation.  That's coming from Hawaii, but not sure why it's taking so long.  I'll probably follow up on that tomorrow.  And one's being sent on to the Lieutenant Governor's office in Hawaii to be authenticated, so that process is already underway.

3. Our home study report (that should arrive tomorrow or Tuesday).  That will complete all of our Oregon paperwork, and so I will travel to Salem on Wednesday to get all of those documents authenticated.

So, just waiting to do our part.  I guess that's the most frustrating part of the whole adoption process - the waiting.  Like my friend Cathy said, you get so used to doing paperwork, that when it comes time to wait, you just want to ask "can't I just fill out another form or something?"  :)

Also, I wanted to share something sweet that grandma Lola sent our way...LOVE it!

A teacher and her class were discussing a photo of a family.  One little boy in the photo had a different hair color than the other family members.  One of her students suggested that he was adopted.  A little girl said; "I know all about adoption.  I was adopted."  "What does it mean to be adopted?" asked another child.  "It means," said the girl, "that you grew in your mommy's heart instead of her tummy!"

Ciao for now!