oh the paperwork

Although we have only just begun I am amazed at the amount of paperwork being required!!!  We have already done the preliminary application and formal application and are now beginning the home study.  We received the home study packet paperwork yesterday.  I of course immediately printed it out thinking I would get it finished and get to move on.  Boy was I shocked at the amount of paperwork lol.  So Jason and I sat down last night and started knocking them out....we really had a huge stack of the finished but the stack yet to do is even bigger lol.  We also found out that during this process we have to get "credits" by reading books and writing a paper on it or doing a class online.  You are required a certain amount of these before the home study is finished, between home study and referral, and between referral and travel.  Seems totally crazy that we are thinking about travel already when it will probably be 2 years before that but I really think the process is going to move along pretty quick since there is SOOOO much BUSY WORK!!!

So as I understand it during the home study we are basically getting clearance from the IL government that we are ok to adopt....then we will do our dossier, which in our house I am not allowed to use that word because jason hates it...I have no idea why...so we call it the packet....and that is a TON more paperwork that we have to do that basically gives us the Federal clearance.  Also talked to one of the people we put as a referral yesterday and he received an email from the agency with a form he had to fill out about us.  You know most of the time you put references down for jobs or apartments and they are never called...but this agency is being thorough and I assume they contacted all 6 of our references!!  We also have to have a letter written for each of our children by someone that knows them well.  I guess they want to see how well adjusted they are and also what kind of parents we are.  So, today I need to start mailing back some of the paperwork that we have finished and put the copies of what is finished in my binder.  So the binder....

On friday night I went to the house of the family I told you I followed while they were in China and that is the turning point that God showed me that adoption is the right direction for us.  Well I got to meet their sweet adorable daughter.....man oh man did my heart smile!!!  I am so excited to have our little China doll home!!!  Anyway, I got to look thru her finished paperwork and get a good handle on the best way to organized the amount of paperwork that would be required...and boy was she organized!!!  So.....I am doing that as I go and someday our little girl might want to look thru this as our boys like to look thru their baby book or hear stories about when I was pregnant with them.  I have also started writing a little journal page every day about what we are doing that day or things that happened that day....because she could be born any day and when we see what her birth date is I want to be able to look back and see what we were doing that day!!!

We have started really talking to the boys about this and making sure that they are on board and let me tell you...they are BOTH so excited!!!  I asked them yesterday if they wanted us to get them a sister from China and they both ecstatically proclaimed YES!!!  I asked Connor what he wanted to name her and he said "Ni Hao"...which for those of you that don't know yet, that means hello in Chinese...it is basically the only Chinese I have told them...well that and that GeGe is brother....they think that is so funny because they call their grandma gladson GiGi.  So anyway I told Connor that we probably couldn't name her hello....so he agreed to think on it some more!!  It was so sweet though because he asked me if they have to keep this a secret like they did when we found out we were pregnant with Chesney......I love that boy, he has the most tender heart....I said nope Connor you can tell whoever you want!!!  Connor has already told us that he really wants to go to China with us to see the great wall of china....and although I would love to take him just not sure about that yet.  We will have to make that decision at a much later date.

So....I am sure that all of this paperwork isn't going to be very interesting to all of you but I am going to blog about it just so that I have it to print later for our little China doll to read.  The next few weeks will consist of getting passports, getting our marriage license, continuing paperwork, fingerprints, background checks and starting our education credits.  If there is anyone out there that is thinking about adoption I will say this.  Although it isn't an easy process at all, it is definitely something that any one could do if they really wanted to!!!  I am to the point where the excitement is so great that all the busy work just keeps my mind off of the long process so I think it helps to have this overwhelming amount of paperwork!!  I would also say pick a good agency because they can help at least keep you organized with what you have done and what you still have to do!!  And the last amount of advice I would give you is to find someone that has done it before and ask them a million questions.  Last friday was so educational for me and also like therapy....it was great to see the finished product or at least talk to someone that knows exactly what I am going thru.  I can't wait to be that person that gets to help someone else thru the process!!!!