The Process and Progress We've Made

First of all I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all my friends and family who have showed us so much support and been so happy for us since we shared our latest news. It means so much to us to have each of you in our lives and to know you are praying for us.

We've completed all the initial paperwork (with the exception of our medical reports). We're simply waiting for Troy's new insurance to go into effect November 1st. Daniel's medical form was completed today!! We turned in all of our paperwork last Friday and had our first initial safety visit to our house. This visit doesn't really count towards the homestudy, but it's a way to do a preliminary check on an inquiry family.

We were also able to knock out our fingerprint cards because they were able to bring the fingerprinting equipment to our home and do them right on our kitchen counter!!

The initial visit was a simple walk-through of our house, checking for fire alarms, and other safety issues. We passed the initial phase just fine. We were also given a sample of a foster agreement to hold on to and review because often times a placement happens quickly and when they bring the child they want your signature right away on a form and it can be a bit over-whelming at the time to try to read it. This way we know what it says in advance.

The paperwork was much easier than the international version of adoption paperwork. It was pretty much the standard documents (budget sheet, background check) and then several more localized papers.

We were told the fingerprints and background checks would take approximately 3 weeks to come back. During this time we can set up appointments for the homestudy meetings or we can wait until after they come back. Since Troy is in his training program we are waiting to see how tough the training he is in is before we try to schedule any evening meetings.

We do get to "drive" this time around which is completely different from international adoption. In other words the timing belongs to us. We can go as fast or as slow as we want.

I can't lie - I would love to speed right on through, but I know we have to be patient and let Troy finish the training (and yes - this is serious training involving written tests and all the physical training stuff as well). So while I would love to move forward I'm trusting that God is in control of the situation and we'll become ready when He is ready.

We have at least 3 other meetings and then we'll have to wait until the homestudy is completed. At that point, I'm not sure when we would actually become licensed, but I believe it doesn't take long. There is training involved also, so we will be taking care of that as well in the interim. We do have prior training from Daniel's adoption also and it is comparable to what they teach.

I feel good about what has been completed and we were told we were off to a great start! I know these next few weeks will fly by and with the holidays coming, we'll be very busy!!

I'll be updating soon about our pumpkin patch visit and the costumes Daniel keeps showing up in in all the photos!! I'm helping with his Kindergarten "Fall" Party (they get to dress up!) on Friday so that should be loads of fun!!