Home Study Officially Approved!

One step closer to our baby! I checked the mail today to find a copy of our approved home study! Which means we are approved to adopt! We have finally accomplished a major milestone in this adoption process! I have been coasting through these past few months, waiting, not thinking too much about the adoption because there was nothing I could do to speed up the process. Plus, it seemed so much harder to wait when I was thinking about it all the time. But when I got that in the mail today, my my old feelings of pure joy all came rushing back! This is REALLY happening! :) So, now what? Well, we had to wait for our home study to be approved before we could send in a form called the I-600A to the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services). The I-600A is an “Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition” and it starts the CIS process for our international adoption. They then make an appointment for us to go get our fingerprints done at their office in Charleston. Then we wait again for approval. We were told this process should take about a month. In the meantime, since our home study has been approved, this also means we are now able to apply for financial aid. We have been very anxious to make headway on this. We would really appreciate your prayers regarding this specifically because it is the next major milestone (in Bryan's eyes, it is THE MILESTONE). ;) We will be applying to every available grant that we are eligible for, as well as trying to do a fundraiser or two in the very near future. This will ultimately require a lot of additional time, effort, and organization on my part. And will obviously require much stepping out in faith and trusting in God with our finances. Please pray that I will be diligent in my efforts to obtain financial aid, and that we both rely on God's will throughout this important phase of our adoption. We love you all! Thanks again for your support! :)

P.S. HAPPY 6 YEAR ANNIVERSARY to my hubby! Might be our last until our little one joins us! :) I LOVE YOU BRY!