Here at Last!

Here is the news that I have been waiting for...Children's Hope is finally licensed for adoption in Ethiopia! This was the last major obstacle standing in my path...until the license was signed, none of the paperwork could officially go through and that was slowing down things a lot because each step depends on the step before it completing first. There are still lots of little bumps to get through but now it is definite that this is going forward! Whew! A lot of emotions going on--90% of them happy, 10% terror!

As far as what is left...Once the dossier is complete, it gets sent to Ethiopia and I wait 0-4 months for a referral (then another 6-8 weeks to travel). The dossier is not complete until all the elements are done and these include CIS (immigration) approval which does not happen until I'm fingerprinted which doesn't happen until I get an appointment from the government which doesn't happen until my application is approved and also include my home study. The home study is not complete until I've had three visits with my social worker (more about that in a minute) and I complete a few more documents. One of these documents is VA State Police clearance which may now include fingerprinting (they are still debating this)...so I may have to be fingerprinted in order to get cleared to go get fingerprinted in order to get clearance to travel to a country that doesn't have McDonalds! AUGH!!!!

I went to Richmond for my home study appt today and met with my social worker Beth. It was a smooth visit and was pretty quick because I had already finished most of the paperwork she had sent ahead of time. She is coming for my home visit on April 18th and then I go back to Richmond on May 1st for the final visit. That will conclude my home study and I can focus on my dossier.

After I finished at the social work agency, Mom and I went to Babies R Us and I started my registry. It was a little difficult since I'm unsure of the age, size, and developmental level of the child I'll get so I just stuck with general items. My nursery is pretty close to being completed...I'm keeping it simple because some of the literature I've read emphasizes that children in orphanages are not used to much stimulation and may actually be frightened by bright colors and sounds! So I'm close to being done...Mickey and Sam are in love with the baby furniture...Sam sleeps on the changing table and I found Mickey in the crib this morning (that will stop immediately!). Ollie hasn't seemed to care about his room changing so much...he's pretty cool so far. I'll post some pictures soon (I bought a new camera and am still learning the ins and outs of it!).

Well, I think that is it for now. Still a lot of work to do but at least now I can relax a little. I was worried I was getting ahead of myself by working on the nursery and starting a registry but now I feel better about going ahead.