Progress!

We just started our Ethiopian adoption process last week but as most of you guys know I am NOT a procrastinator! So here is what we've done so far:

- Sent out our I600A forms to USCIS
- Sent out our homestudy contract
- Completed all paperwork requested by homestudy agency (local police clearance letters, Florida Department of Law Enforcement clearance checks, employment verification forms, copies of last years tax returns, summaries of our lives and children, physicals for both my husband and I, health forms for all the children, Good Moral Character Affidavits, Department and Children and Families clearance checks, Guardianship affidavits, five personal reference letters - most of these documents needed to be notarized)... THIS IS JUST FOR THE HOMESTUDY!!!!! We had our visits in January so that's done!
- Sent out our agency application form which also necessitated copies of birth certificates, divorce decrees, tax returns, pictures of the family, proof of health insurance

So as you can all see, we have a jump on things and have been a bit busy lately. We are waiting to hear from our selected agency to see if we have been approved for their program. Once we get approval they will send us a contract and instructions to start the dossier process. This will require us to gather even more documents most of which will require a notary and authentication.

We will then wait for our homestudy to be completed and we will ship copies out to the USCIS in order to have them complete our request. Oh... I forgot, we will both need to be fingerprinted for USCIS to approve us. We will need to wait for an appointment date. They usually send out your fingerprint appointment date about 2-3 weeks after receipt of your application, so we are still waiting for that.

Yes, the process of adopting internationally is not for everyone. It takes tons of time and dedication just to gather all these documents and follow the process. But, I must say that the rewards have been amazing. We will continue to follow the process and allow God to do His mighty work. I'm sure He already knows who our daughter is and when she'll be in our home. We trust in Him to watch over her and bring her home in His perfect timing.