One down, one to go!

Things are moving right along in the adoption process. I finished all of the home study paperwork and everyone in the family completed our medicals last week, so we are good to go! Last night was our first home study visit and it went beautifully. Honestly, I was hardly nervous at all. The Holy Spirit let me in on the fact that this lady was going to be awesome and that there was nothing to be concerned about- He was right! Turns out she is another mom (of three) who shares the same faith in God as Robby and I and she actually attends a church in our town. Knowing that she shared my core beliefs made things so simple in terms of describing how and why we are on this journey and what our plans are with and for our daughter. It seriously felt like we were visiting with a friend. And she was incredibly patient with the consistent interruptions from our charming, but needy brood of miniature redheads. She believes that we will get finished with interviews during our next visit (April 13th) and that she'll have the report written up within 3ish weeks. Awesome!

Once the home study is completed and approved we move right onto mailing in our I-800A form to receive USCIS approval. That will cost approximately $900.00 and we want to get that sent in immediately after the completion of our home study, as the wait on that is typically several weeks once it is mailed. Right now we have about half of the money to pay for that and so we will be meticulous about pinching pennies over the next few weeks in order to have what we need right when we need it.

It is my goal to do everything in a timely manner- although not FRANTIC- because it has already been a year since we began this process. The thought of our girl spending another birthday in that orphanage is both ridiculous and heartbreaking to me. We're hoping to be able to travel to get her at the end of this year or very early 2016. That's where our sights are set.