Home Study: check!

Well, we're through the first part of the adoption process! We've completed the requirements for our Home Study. We had our last interview/training session on Friday in Waco. Our caseworker will compile the Home Study and send it to us and to our Adoption Agency for edits. Within a month, it should be finalized. It's very exciting to know that the first big step of this process is almost complete!

So, what's next? We get that question a lot. :) We're currently continuing to work on our dossier (pronounced "dos-ee-ey" - you'd be surprised at the number of pronunciations we hear). This is basically a collection of all kinds of paperwork ranging from medical records to financial reports to an autobiography of our lives, photos, etc. We will send this to our agency and once it's finalized it will go to Ethiopia along with our Home Study to be translated and approved there. So, this is the next big step for our adoption. Once the dossier is approved, we'll receive a Referral (also called a "match") - which is a child to say "yes" or "no" to. (Pretty sure we'll say yes!!!) Then we'll be assigned a court date and we'll make our first trip to Ethiopia.

We could still be waiting 3-6 months for our Referral, and then possibly another 3-6 months after that to actually bring our child home. We're hoping for the shorter time frame on both! :)

We have been learning so many things through our online training, Home Study training, and the books we're required to read. I'm hoping to blog a little bit more about that soon. We appreciate everyone who has been checking in on us and praying for us! We are still raising support through our 2 Fundraisers. Please feel free to check them out and spread the word!