A few more details...

I know my post yesterday was a little on the vague side - sorry about that! I was physically and emotionally wiped out. I know they say having a baby takes a lot out of a woman but I am here to tell you that 'getting' a baby can be just as taxing. I feel like I just went through 168 hours of labour and I have 672 hours left (one more month).
So many of you are wondering about the details of all of this - so I will try to explain it the best way I understood it. We will be Fostering to Adopt *Sadie, which means that we will have her placed in our home even before we are able to permanently adopt her. I will be required to drive her 1 hour and 45 minutes away twice a week to visit with her birthmother for 2 hours at a time. I have to be honest I am not looking forward to those drives especially in the winter months - but it is a small price to pay after all. I will be required to do these bi-weekly visit with her birthmother until she is officially adopted. Once we have adopted her, then we will be required to meet with her birthmother 4 times in the first year of our agreement and then three times a year there after for the rest of *Sadies life. This is called an "Open Adoption Plan". This was a verbal agreement that we made with the birthmother during our meeting yesterday. It is also the same arrangement that *Ann and her husband have with the birthmother with regards to their daughter *Jessica. Luckily *Ann and her family have agreed (schedules permitting) to have some of these visits together. This should help alleviate some of the pressure we all might be feeling around these visits.
Let it also be known that the Birthmother has a mental illness. This could prove to make some of the visits challenging - but we are committed to keeping *Sadie's relationship with her birthmother alive. It won't always be easy, but it is necessary and important.
The most frequently asked question I am getting right now is 'WHEN WILL WE GET HER?'. The short answer is: We are hopeful that it will be in 2-3 weeks! The long answer is: It could take as long as a month (as we have one road block we must overcome with CAS). At the very most her hearing for crown wardship is on October 28th, 2008. Assuming it is not adjourned yet again (aka no one opposes the motion for wardship) then she should be living with us by Holloween. But we are hopeful and wishful that we will have her sooner then that. In the meantime we are meeting with the Birthmother and little *Sadie on Friday the 17th (this is tentative right now). We will also be scheduling some visits with *Sadie in her foster home to help get her accustomed to us in order to ease the transition from her home now to her forever home - US!
So, it appears that our dreams to parent this little girl are really coming true, even after we had given up complete hope. It just goes to show you, never give up even if things look bleak. You just never know what the universe has planned for you.
Holy Crap - We are going to be parents in 3 weeks. Is this really happening??

ps: Here is what we know about her: She was born on December 29th at 5:36pm(Capricorn). She weighed 7.4lbs. She has blue eyes, dark blond straight hair. The only picture I have seen of her is one that was taken hours after her birth. I am told she looks like her paternal grandmother. We are told she is "beautiful" by the CAS workers, and she is mild tempered with a happy disposition. We hope to have a picture of her soon.