Another hurdle bites the dust!

The last few weeks have been ... tough on the adoption front.  We were ecstatic to learn that our dossier had been submitted to ICBF on July 11.  But then... silence. : /  I follow a list serve for families adoption from Colombia. I do not participate frequently, but I try and keep an eye on general news.  As we've been waiting, I had seen more and more families reporting that ICBF asked for follow up documentation on this issue or that.

It made my hands sweat.  :(

I thought we were very thorough. We provided all the items our agency requested. We crossed our 't's and dotted our 'i's. Being an attorney, I can be very meticulous about paperwork. :) But I wasn't sure it would be enough. And days passed. Weeks. No word.

In the meantime, many well-wishing acquaintances have been checking in. "How's the adoption going?" "When are you going to Colombia?" "Heard anything?!?"

I love that people care. I hate not having an answer beyond "Oh,we're still plugging away!" said with false cheer...

BUT

I got an email from our agency on Wednesday. 

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We received our approval from ICBF!! Our documents are currently being sent to the region JS is from.  Now we wait some more (ugh).  The regional office will send us (via our agency) our "official referral" where we can formally affirm that we want JS to be our son! Again, no idea how long this will take. :( If it happens fairly "quickly" (not sure what that means...) we are looking at November travel! If the report is slow in coming... 2013. : /  They don't send families after the first week or so in November, due to the offices that close over the holidays, etc.

Please keep us and JS in your thoughts and prayers.  We're so close, yet still so stinking far.