Home Study is Finished

Okay so finally we have our home study finished, and by finished I mean we have turned in all that we are required to turn in. We are lacking a couple references but Amy (social worker extraordinaire) is going to call the remaining 3 people. So now we wait. At least for the most part.

Our home study goes to our state DHR (Department of Human Resources) for approval. Once we get their approval they will send our home study to CIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services). Somehow during this time we also will send our I-800 form requesting citizenship for our new child and our Dossier will be completed as well I believe. A Dossier (pronounced dos-e-a) is comprised of 8 documents. Most of which are already on file. Once CIS determines that we can indeed bring a child into the country as a U.S. citizen, then the dossier goes to China. We wait for a LID (log in date), this is when China says that they have our paperwork and we can adopt. Once we get this then it is "game on" to be matched with a child. Our agency will handle most of that but if we find a child on the shared list, a list we only have access to once we get a LID, then we can request any child we find on said list. Sigh, is anyone exhausted yet? After we get our match then it is roughly 5 months before we can go and get our child to bring home.

So now, for the most part, it really is a waiting game. We get emails from our agency periodically of waiting children and just last week we received an email with links to about 60 children in a special needs orphanage in China. Our agency is partnering with them now and so we had access to the videos. It was enough to make me scream, I want them all! So precious. Noah watched a couple videos with me and was quite taken with a few children. I wanted him to look at the videos with me so he could see what some of the special needs look like...for example, clef palette and lip. That one was shocking but he gets it now and is not as taken aback. He also saw a little boy with his left foot missing and a brace on the other one...this is the boy that Noah really liked. I really liked a little girl who had on her right hand only her thumb and one opposing finger. Noah's first reaction was, "Cool Mom! She is a T-rex!" Coming from anyone else that would have been totally inappropriate. But if you know Noah, then you know his love for T-rex, and you know that was a total compliment.

So we will sit and wait on the Lord. It is a good place to be.