News from Gladney

Today I received a few bits of news from the staff at Gladney. One dealt with a meet and greet hosted at The Gladney Center (in TX). Needless to say we must regretfully decline the invitation being that we are in California. Then there was the adoptive criteria changes that are being suggested are:
1)Adoptive parent(s) must be between 25-55 years of age.
2)Adoptive parents must be married for at least TWO years.
3)Married or single heterosexual individuals must have 5 biological or adopted children or less in the home.
4)There must be a 2 year age difference between the adopted child and a biological child.
5)Both parents are expected to travel to Ethiopia to pick up their child/ren, unless extenuating circumstances are presented and approved.

The last point worries us because we had planned on Fernando staying with Marina and making sure she maintained a sense of normalcy. We'll see what the Ethiopian government considers "extenuating circumstances," and go from there.

The last bit of news came in the form of a phone call. Elizabeth called to inform me that our Gladney application was COMPLETE! The only thing they are waiting for is Maggie's home study write up. Happy doesn't begin to express how feel. Any way, now we're only concentrating on the completion of our dossier. Dossier...that word makes me nervous, and laugh at the same time. Nervous because I want it to be done already. But it makes me laugh because the girls in the office are sick of the word...this little word that was unknown to us until 3 months ago.