Good News

We received word from our agency yesterday that our hearing happened on November 2nd (Lauren's 4-month birthday)! The hearing is the first step in the court process, in which the birthmother and social worker appear before the judge. Everything went fine, so now we wait for the next step, which is known as the first ruling. From looking at other adoptive parents' timelines, it seems the first ruling could happen anywhere from within a month to a couple of months. Ten days after the first ruling, the birthparents' rights are terminated and arrangements for travel can begin to be made. At the VERY least, we are still a couple of months away from being able to travel. I am hoping for February as an optimistic yet somewhat realistic estimate. It could still be longer than that, too.

Here is a picture of Sun Moon Lake, which is in Taichung County, where Lauren is.

Thank you for all of your good thoughts!

November Update!

We got an update this evening on Lauren -- exactly four weeks since the last one. She is getting even more beautiful! Her last doctor's appointment was on 10/27, just shy of four months old. She was 13.2 pounds and 23.6 inches.

Unfortunately, we have not received any updates regarding our court proceedings. I did email our caseworker back after she sent the pictures asking when we might expect to hear something in that department; I'll post again when we have news. Please keep thinking good thoughts for us that we can get this little cutie home before too long!