Home Study Visit #1

Just a quick update on our home study visit today.  It went much better than I thought.  Of course we (mostly Jeremy) cleaned & cleaned this weekend to make the house spotless.  She spent only a few minutes walking through our house to look at everything.  I didn't think she'd check every nook & krany but thought she would look more than she did.  Well, at least our house is now clean!  She mostly spent 2 hours asking us questions about us, our childhoods, jobs, etc.  We have a 2nd & final visit next week where she wants to meet Jack, discuss discipline, discuss special needs & more.  After that should have complete a week later.  We can then send our paperwork off to US to get approval which has been averaging about 5 weeks but could take up to 90 days.  That is what is going to determine the timeline for finalizing our dossier as I believe that is what takes the longest of all that is required.  I'm excited that our home study is almost done but that means that we desperately need the remainder of the dossier money immediately.  Please be in prayer for donations or that we can borrow the money so we can start on our dossier in 2 weeks when this is all done. 

Home Study Paperwork DONE!

It’s been a while since my last update & we’ve gotten a lot done, yet still have so much more to go before we can even start WAITING!  We have completed our 24 hours of Ohio Adoption Training & 10 hours of Hague Training for International.  We had to do all of it at home by ourselves which I think slowed it down even more than if we had gone to an actual class making us do it on a schedule.  But we successfully did it! We mailed off all of the paperwork to our home study agency last Friday. We have our 1^st home study visit on Monday!  Praying that we can get the house together for it & that we “pass”!  There will be 2-3 visits total.  Some together & some separate.  I’m not sure how quickly the other visits will be, hoping not too long as I’m eager to WAIT!  Once our home study is complete & official copy is received, we will send it off to Homeland Security & wait another month or 2 for approval.  After that, along with probably some other paperwork, we can officially send our dossier off to Ethiopia.  That is when we will officially go on the waiting list.  We of course have no time frame of how long we could be waiting as it is unpredictable with special needs adoption.  It just depends on what children are referred to our agency by the orphanages with special needs, how many people ahead of us are waiting for special needs & what ages & needs they are open to.  I’m really “hoping” to have our child home by next Christmas but that’s probably just a dream!  If we wait too long to submit our dossier, some of the paperwork we have already done will start expiring causing more time & money to re-do. 

Also since my last post we had a Fundraiser Yard Sale on October 13^th.  I think it was successful considering it wasn’t prime yard sale season.  We raised $341.50 & I am still trying to sell some of the stuff online so that could increase some.  I need to double check at home & update the fundraiser thermometer but we should be around $2200.  We still need over $5000 before the end of the dossier process so we still have a long way to go.  Once our home study is complete, I will be applying for a bunch of grants but that money will not be received before this is all due but will help out with the future costs we will owe once we receive a referral which will be another $20,000+.  I do NOT like asking people for money.  I was never allowed to do fundraisers as a child, but this is so important & I know this is what God wants for us so I AM asking!  We have several fundraisers going on now & in the future.  If there is anything you are able to help with, it would be appreciated more than you ever know.  Check out the Fundraising Page for the 2 currently going on as well as information on making a direct donation. 

As always, please be in prayer for our family & our adoption journey.  It is HARD & takes a lot out of me but it will all be worth it to see our child(ren) for the first time!