Family of 4 by Christmas?

We have our tree up and the house is decorated with the exception of our stockings. We know we won't bring little miss home by Christmas, but if we could just feel more certain that she will be ours soon, we can start acting like a family of 4. I'd love to fill a stocking with adorable headbands and bows!

Where we stand now is that the agency told us that there is no reason to think that we will not be able to adopt little miss. That said, they then told us that we can fill confident in the process once we get her social history - that is, how she came to the orphanage and when. We've been waiting on this information since the 18th. I know we need to be flexible with Ghana-time and that internet communication is slow and sporadic there, but I'm dying to know that I can fall in love with her. Honestly, it's too late for me. I have her 8x10 photo on the fridge and I look at her face at least 10 times a day including right before I go to sleep.

We decided to share the information with some of our family at Thanksgiving and they were thrilled. We had to give them all of the "maybes" involved. Most people probably would have kept this to themselves until they were certain, the same as people waiting until they make it to the 12 week mark of their pregnancy. We're not those people. We don't share to get everyone excited. We share because we are excited and we need love and prayers that God will protect our child and our hearts. We haven't regretted telling anyone "early" yet. We have needed the support from family and friends more times that we would have liked and we may need it again as we go through this journey of adoption.

I've been able to find some support groups made up of adoptive parents of Ghana who can answer questions about the process and what to expect. I've also found a facebook page for the orphanage where we are told that little miss is living. There are numerous volunteers there and they share photos on the page. I haven't seen little miss in any of them yet, but I did see the other little boy that was referred in the same email.

It is just so hard to be so in love with someone you've never met and know that they don't even know you exist. That right now she might be needing a hug after scraping her knee or might be waking from a bad dream without her mother to comfort her. Yep, it's too late for me. I'm attached.