fingerprints, references, and applications oh my!

I can't believe that I am actually writing this blog. I have visited so many other touching blogs in the past couple of days that I just couldn't resist starting this to document our little darlings journey from Guatemala to our arms .Let me first start by telling you a little about myself for any of those random viewers " like myself". My name is Kelley. My DH of 4 1/2 years is Clinton. We live in beautiful Newport Beach CA.We have been TTC since we married in June 02. After infertility treatments including a failed IVF, we have made the decision to adopt from Guatemala. We are both over the moon and very excited about this process! I am originally from West Virginia and Clinton is from Australia, so we are already an international family of sorts. Our favorite past times include being at the beach, biking, traveling, hiking and spending time with our adorable first born (who just happens to trapped in a Lhasa Apso's body ) Annabelle.

We are in the beginning phases of this nearly 1 year process. We are in the process of obtaining all of the necessary paperwork including birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc... for our Dossier. We spent the day going to three different places getting three sets of fingerprints. Go figure.. We still have lots of paperwork to complete but it seems to be coming together. We have our first appointment with our homestudy agency on January 17th. I am a little nervous about this because I am not sure what to expect. I have a doctors appointment tomorrow for my required physical and Clinton goes on January 2nd ( which by the way you would think insurance would cover a physical but ours does not. It will be $300 for each of us). We are working with a wonderful agency called World Partners Adoption. Their website is www.worldpartnersadoption.org . Our adoption coordinator has been very nice and helpful, but right now I feel so buried in paperwork that the vision of holding our baby girl seems very far away. This brings me to the title of our blog " for the love of ella rose". We have put in a request for a baby girl. We have decided to name her Ella Rose. Her name means " fairy like rose". I am estimating (and this is just a huge estimate as anything can happen ) that we should receive a referral in April or May. That means right now somewhere in Guatemala there is a woman pregnant with a very special baby that will be ours forever and always!! I pray every night that God keeps Ella and her birthmom safe. We could use all the prayers that we can get that they stay safe and this adoption is finalized. I hope that all of our friends and family enjoy this blog. It should be an amazing journey full of joy and frustration. We love each and every one of you and appreciate all of the support!