November Update

Hello All!  Well, it's more of the same as far as the adoption goes.  We're pulling together all of the necessary medical tests, summaries, etc. from our doctors and we're also waiting for documents on our background checks from the state of Texas and from Homeland Security.  It's amazing how much stuff you have to pull together to make this happen.  I told Heidi that there is no way I would ever adopt if I had to be responsible for getting all of the required paperwork together.  

Anyway, we are hoping to have all of the necessary items for our dossier completed in the next couple weeks.  At that point, most of the hard work is done as far as we are concerned.  It becomes a waiting game except for notarizing and apostilizing (like notarizing but involves sending papers to the state) some of the documents.  Oh yea, we also have to take some psychology test to make sure we are sane - this wouldn't be so bad if it didn't cost $750+ each!  Once all of this is done, the completed dossier will be translated, multiple copies will be made and then our file will be sent to Russia (and to our adoption agency) for their initial review.  Once it is in the hands of the Russian government, I think we could be matched at any time although I expect to wait 3-6 months before we get word that there is a baby girl available for us.  Once we get this phone call, the planning for trips to Russia will begin and things will start to get crazy again.  

So, please keep us in your prayers and help us keep our sanity as we continue to work through this process.  As an aside, it looks like we have found someone to lease our home in Keller which will be a tremendous help to us financially.  This deal ain't cheap...but it's worth it!!!

We are thankful for your love and support as we continue this wonderful journey!

Mike

Homestudy Complete!

With much anticipation, our Homestudy was finally complete last night. Our social worker Mark came over and interviewed Mike, David & me individually and together. He also inspected our home for safety issues. Luckily, this old house passed!

The interviews were long and tough. Lots of questions about our childhood, our marriage and our parenting philosophies. I'm not sure what Mike said...I tried to coach him before to use lots of flattering comments about me but Mark said he was happy to see we weren't a perfect family (what does that mean?!?) Oh well, I guess we aren't.

David was very excited to be interviewed. He waited and waited and waited until it was his turn. He gave Mark a tour of our house and pointed out the TV, the bathroom and specifically the washer & dryer...I think Mark was impressed by the modern machines. Mark asked him about how he feels about sharing his toys with his new sister and David simply replied, "Not so much". He asked him about how he gets disciplined, whether he gets spanked or not, and whether he has ever seen us hurt each other. It was a little difficult to listen to (yes, we were listening) but of course we have nothing to hide.

We have numerous paperwork to get together still, even though I have been gathering paperwork for the last month. We are in the first stage called the Pre-File. This will take approximately 3 months. We are so glad this part is over, though!! Back to a messy house!