Off and Running...

About 4 hours ago our last home study meeting was ending. We've answered dozens of questions, had doctors appointments, outlined our finances, proven we have insurance, and shown her our home. Lots of people have been asking "Now what? Are you finished?" Ha! Not even close. Here are the steps:


1.) Lisa takes about 10 hours to write up the home study
2.) We review the home study for any errors or misinformation
3.)The home study is sent to DSS (SC is one of only 7 states that requires this step, of course!) for their approval
4.) Another copy is sent to our adoption agency for their review and approval
5.) When DSS is through with the home study, it is sent to an agency in Missouri that reviews every home study done in the US
6.) Once all of those agencies approve the home study and we finishing gathering MORE documents for our dossier the entire thing is sent to Ethiopia for their government to review and approve (our DTE)


But hey, having our home visits done is HUGE and Justin and I are so excited to have that part done. Justin has been absolutely amazing through this entire process, taking care of almost all of the paperwork. I don't know how we would have gotten all of this done without him. He is going to be the best dad. Before I get all sappy about how amazing he is, I'm going to go finish my online training and then finish packing for Togo. I'll update again when I get back. Thank you all so much for your love and support!

1 Visit Down, 3 to Go!

       Whew! That was so much easier than I thought it would be! The lady arrived (10 minutes early might I add! Good thing we were ready!) and complimented our home right away. She went over some basic information to make sure we understood the process, toured the house, and then we discussed our motivations to adopt. We went ahead and scheduled our next meeting for this Sunday and she said this one will take "several hours" as she will go over all of the questions AWAA sent her. We also have to be interviewed separately, not really looking forward to that one! I'm fine with Justin by my side but when we are separate I have a feeling the nerves will really set in. She said she thinks we will be able to get all of our meetings done before we go to Togo (we leave in 2 weeks!)! So we were really excited to hear that so that while we are gone she can draft her report and get it submitted to her agency. Once the agency goes over everything it will be sent to AWAA and then we will work on finalizing all of the paperwork for our dossier (doss-e-ay).  Justin has been completely amazing and has taken care of almost all of the paperwork for us! We are both having our physicals this week and then working on our financial report. After that, we are pretty much done... I think. I'm hoping our DTE (dossier to Ethiopia)will be sometime in January and from then it's just a lot of waiting. Justin and I are getting so excited and even though paperwork is no fun, it's exciting to be working towards this goal and ACTUALLY MAKING PROGRESS!
    I'll try to make 2 more updates before we leave for Togo but no promises since I haven't even started packing yet! By the way, I found a feature where I can enter in 10 email addresses and for those 10 people it will send you a short little email letting you know when I've updated. I know some of you have stated that you wished it would do that so if you want me to add your email just send me a quick note through this or through email :) I also set it so ANYONE can make comments but put on a restrictor (that's a new Rachel word) that I have to approve comments before they will be posted. Love you all!

Favorite quote this week:
    Justin turns to me in the car and says "I need to get a back seat for my CJ so we can put little Ethiopia back there when we take it out!" Cracked me up!

Here We Go!

     My amazing husband has taken care of all of the preliminary paperwork for the homestudy and a lot of the paperwork for AWAA. We have first home study meeting with Lisa (our social worker) next Wednesday at 5pm! I can't believe we are here! We will meet with her 4 times. This one I think will be pretty easy with  mostly basic information. I'm nervous about the next one though- she will meet with us individually. Justin says he is going to start with "I don't understand why she does the things she does, I just know she's always right... or at least she thinks she is." I'm working on coaching him to begin with a different answer :)
    On another note, we are exactly 3 weeks away from our trip to Togo. I am so excited and time seems to be in a standstill sometimes.  Once we get through this first home study visit I will be able to really focus on packing for the trip and making sure we have everything we need. I have been so humbled at the generosity of our family and friends that have helped to make this mission trip possible. It is amazing how God has planned all of this out! I'll update again next week, hopefully on Thursday to let you know how the meeting went. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support!