Sunday, April 24, 2005

We spent yesterday cleaning the house inside and out getting ready for our homestudy. I don't know if this house has been this clean since it was built! It was well worth it! Our social worker came today for the homestudy. It was an excellent interview. I was worried for nothing. Of course all the reading I have been doing said that but some things you just have to see and do for yourself. Here is a quick overview of the process of a homestudy.

1. We were interviewed together. We were asked questions about how we would raise our children, how we would discipline our children, and what kind of expectations we have for our children.

2. Then we were interviewed separately but asked the same questions, like how we met, how we solve problems together, our childhood, our families, and about our marriage.

3. After we came back together, we took Brad on a tour of the house, inside and out. He wanted to know where the children would sleep. He also checked for safety concerns such as plastic plug protectors, fire extinguishers, and smoke detectors.

Brad estimates it will take him about 5 weeks to complete the study. He will send us two originals, one original to the INS, and one original to the adoption agency. Now back to completing the registration packet which will get us on the list for a referral.

April 15, 2005

Application Received!! Little Miracles has received our application and we have been approved for adoption! Our facilitator e-mailed us the next set of forms. Just to let you know how much paperwork is involved - both documents were 28 pages together. These pages only include the instructions! I have read that there are many papers to complete but seeing it really helps you understand. It's incredibly overwhelming! I'm looking forward to the challenge. Stay tuned for more!

April 12, 2005

Mailed our application today to our agency, Little Miracles. They should receive it by Friday. We hope to hear something from Andrea, our facilitator shortly after that. The application is basically just informational at this point. As the process moves along we will have to spend lots of time filling out the mountains of paperwork. Right now, we are entering the first of many waiting periods. Please feel free to pass along the link to this blog to anyone you think might be interested in our adventure.

April 9, 2005

Spoke with Brad and scheduled the home study forSunday, 4/24/05 @ 10:30. Michael & I have both started our passport application process. Those take 3-6 weeksto receive. I got my fingerprints done yesterday and mailed them to DPS. I'm meeting my mom for lunch today in Denton.