First meeting...

Today Johnny and I met with our adoption attorney for the first time. We called him yesterday and today had a sit down, face-to-face, get to know you meeting. It was great. He is very simple, down to earth and kind. Not at all like I imagined it would be. We discussed what the case is looking like at this point and how it is all going to play out. We discussed all possibilities that could arise as well as what to say when.

All in all it does not seem that hard but it is a bit overwhelming when you still don't know for sure that you are the only one pursuing adopting him.

Close to the end of Oct we have a final termination hearing that will notify the judge that Bear has been officially released to be adopted and from that point, as I understand, there is a 30 day window in which anyone can file an appeal and drag this out longer. Once the 30 days is up then we get moved into the adoptions unit and we begin adoption proceedings. We will then have to wait on the paperwork from CPS to be processed and then we can legalize everything... It was explained that it can take anywhere from 30 days to 90 days to complete the adoption process. We did actually start some of the paperwork today so as to have as much out of the way as possible. It is almost seeming too good to be true. I am counting my blessings though and thanking God that it is going so peacefully. I am sure that not every adoption we pursue will be this easy (God willing it will be) but at least we will have been through it before and kind of have an idea of what it looks like.
We are so excited to continue our family on this road. So many possibilities. I am not saying that every moment is going to be easy... But I am saying that we are fully walking out the will of God in our lives and I am excited to see what He is doing next!!!