As it turns out...

...It is ***TOTALLY*** possible that we absolutely can adopt a baby or young child through d*h*r, WITHOUT fostering at all!!!
Whew. This was such a relief. And I hesitate to say it like that, because of the potential backlash from pro-foster people, but IN OUR SITUATION, not fostering is for the best. Yes, there is a HUGE need for foster parents, and especially "good" ones (whatever that means!). And maybe one day, that would work for us.
Right now, though, our desires and goals are to be the permanent parents for a child or children. If we already had one or more in our home, it might not be so difficult to let go. Maybe.
We have a friend who has IF issues, and she and her hubby are about to go through this same class in a different county, to adopt their 2nd child. The first was a private, somewhat open adoption. Her mother-in-law works for d*h*r in our county, and she sits in on some of our classes. We had a chance to talk to her after class Tuesday night, and she reassured us that adoption without fostering is totally doable. She said we most likely won't get a baby younger than 6 months, and we may have to wait a little longer than if we chose to foster, but the security will be so worth the wait.
I needed some good news for once!!! And I may have said this once or a thousand times before...But it's really strange to think that this time next year, that could be ME feeding the baby in the mall! I'm trying to decide whether or not I should teach the class on Wednesday nights at church that I taught last year. On one hand, I don't want to sit around all school year, disappointed that I'm not teaching AND we still haven't gotten a placement; on the other hand, if we DO get a placement before May, I plan on stopping a lot of the "extra stuff" I've been doing these past few years. I've waited a long time to be a Mommy, and I'm gonna step back, and spend as much time as possible with my baby (babies?).
Wow. We have a lot of work to get done, and a lotta stuff to buy!