Happy Mail

Today when I ran to the mailbox and flung open the door there was happy mail!!! Our FBI fingerprint clearance arrived. So I faxed them over to my local agency and they will finish up the homestudy and overnight it to me. Then we will schedule an appointment with immigration for more fingerprints. Fun times. We are getting closer to the end of the paperchase. Oh Happy Day!!!

What's funny is that not only one set of fingerprints came back but two came back today. So even though the FBI supposedly lost our first set we got the results of those today as well as the results for the second set I sent two weeks ago. And shockingly they cashed both of my checks. Nothing like getting screwed a little bit by the good old FBI. I'm just grateful they came back at this point! I want to move forward!!!

No Fingerprints

Still no fingerprint approval. Everyday I run to the mailbox and check. I know I'm obsessing. But I just want them to show up so I can move forward in the process. I'm ready to move on to the next phase. I feel like I've been stuck in this spot for awhile now. So maybe we didn't say the prayer enough. Let's practice again folks!

Please let the fingerprints arrive, please let the fingerprints arrive, please let the fingerprints arrive!

Home Study Done.... Kinda

Well my home study is done... Kinda! The write up is all complete and it looks great. All they are waiting on is the dang FBI clearance. Once I get that they will finalize the home study and we can schedule a time to go to immigration for fingerprints. I just keep hoping and praying that the FBI stuff will arrive soon. Every day I run to the mailbox and check first thing when I get home. I just want them to show up so bad!

Let's all do the prayer together. Fingerprints arrive, fingerprints arrive, fingerprints arrive!!!

More Fingerprints

Well the FBI has seemed to misplaced our fingerprints! I sent them express mail with a tracking number on February 6th. I can follow the package online and it is in their facility. However they still can't find them. I've emailed and emailed and their response to me is to "Be patient, they get 400-600 emails a day." Nice, obviously they have never waited on someone else to do their job so that they could be a parent. I'm not pleased. At this point I'm beginning to think they aren't going to find the first set of prints. So we have gotten fingerprinted again.

My sister Heather is just amazing! This girl has now been fingerprinted twice for a baby that isn't even hers. She seriously has to get the most amazing aunt award. I promised her that she will get hand print Turkey's, refrigerator art, and adorable pictures for the rest of her life for doing all this. Surprisingly that is enough for her! So now that we are re fingerprinted they will be sent out tomorrow morning. Then we are waiting another 2-3 weeks supposedly to get them back.

Once the prints are back my agency can finish my home study and then we will have to get fingerprinted again by immigration. Good times!

Class

My sister, Heather, who is prepping herself to be the bestest aunt in the world went with me this weekend to an adoption class. I had to take it as part of the home study process and she went as my support person. She will also be going with me to Ethiopia when I travel to bring home the baby. She is such a great sister! I'm really blessed.

Anyway the class was GREAT! We were very impressed with the amount of helpful information we were given. Lots of information about bonding and attachment, developmental delays that are possible, adoption supports, cultural issues, etc. It really was a great class. We learned so much more than we thought we would. Very fun.

Most of all the connections we made were so worth the trip. We met one other couple adopting from Ethiopia and a single woman also adopting from Ethiopia. Very nice to meet some families that are fairly close by that will also have children from the same country. I'm hoping we can stay in contact and get together once all of our children are home. It would be a great support.

So that's what I know for the time being. Please pray that our fingerprint clearance from the FBI comes back soon. That is the only thing we are waiting on for our home study to be complete!

So Fast

I am working on getting my dossier packet together. I have to have my completed homestudy before I send it in to my agency but there are other documents that I'm collecting now so it will be all ready on the 15th when my home study should be done. One of the forms I need had to be notorized and then certified by the state. So I mailed that form on Tuesday hoping that I could get it back by the 15th. Well Thursday I came home for lunch and checked the mail and the certification was in my mail box!!!! It was actually less that 48 hours! I mailed it out around 4:15 on Tuesday and got it back before noon Thursday. There was a little post it note on the forms that said "Best Wishes on Your Adoption and God Bless You". How sweet is that! It made my day! It really is amazing to me how kind people are when they find out I'm adopting. I've had so many people be so helpful. I'm truly amazed! There are nice people in the world. Now if only my homestudy could get done a little faster!