The 3-Month Form

We received our official home study approval packet in the mail last weekend!!  This is what we were waiting on to be able to mail the next form... our I-800A.  This is sent to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for "Determination of Suitability of a Child from a Convention Country" (basically, to be sure we are qualified to adopt internationally).  Once we receive approval from the USCIS, our entire dossier will be complete and we can notarize each document, state certify them, and have them sealed by the Chinese consulate in Chicago... and then SEND IT ALL TO CHINA!!

I was under the impression we could have the paperwork in China by Christmas... but unfortunately when I looked further into it I found that the USCIS typically takes around 3 months to approve your form.  It could be anywhere from 10-20 weeks!  So that's putting us closer to Feb/March for approval, and then a couple weeks to finish the dossier and mail it.  We could still be "Matched" with a child during that time, but we have a higher chance of a match after our papers are logged into China's system.  It sort of feels like a set-back to me, just because my expectations were a little off.  But then again, even in the beginning I knew this process could easily take 2 years, so we aren't doing too bad in the long run!

As always, I have to remind myself that everything will happen in God's perfect timing!

This week's round of paperwork!

Many Blessings

I've been holding off on my next blog entry, hoping to have some "real" news to share as we wait for the next step.  We are finished with our four home study interviews; they went really well (praise God!) and our case worker completed the 11-page report.  It is currently being reviewed by our adoption agency, and then will be sent to our home study agency's director for official approval.  We aren't worried about being approved... that's pretty much a shoe-in.  What they are really looking for is the right wording so that all the details will match up with our other paperwork, and so that it fits exactly with what China requires.  It's more of a "fill-in-the-blanks" kind of thing, and if something isn't worded right or some numbers don't match up perfectly they will need to make some adjustments before we send our dossier to China.  It's best to catch any errors now; once we send it overseas it will be complicated to make changes to our paperwork.  We expect to be officially approved by next week, and then can finish the rest of our forms!

We enjoyed working with our case worker. 
One of the kids took this pic with their "toy" digital camera- didn't even know until I saw it!

We have had some answers to prayer recently that have been such blessings, I have to share them!

First, I had started watching Craigslist for a second bed for Evie's room.  Although we have several months before it will be needed, I figured I might as well keep an eye out for a good deal.  I was looking for a white wooden twin bed to match Evie's.  I remember thinking, "Wouldn't it be AWESOME if I could find the exact same bed?  That would be a long shot...but if anyone could make it happen God could... dare I ask Him for something so trivial and so specific?"  So I prayed over it, simply asking God to provide what we needed, and sharing my desire for a matching bed, but my willingness to be content with whatever He brought my way. 

Low and behold, an exact match came up and it was nearby.  I actually waited a week because the price was a little high.  The price came down.  So I contacted the seller and offered him even less.  He accepted my offer and Curt picked up the bed.  When Evie saw it, she squealed with excitement and jumped up and down.  (Then jumped on the bed).  For the first time she said, "I am soooo excited about getting my 'baby China sister'!  I can't wait for her to come!!"  I think seeing the second bed made it feel more real to her, and gave her visions of staying up late talking to her new best friend.  :-)

God does care about the little things, and sometimes likes to surprise us.  (Check out Matt 7:7-11) "...how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" 
But here's the real kicker... Curt's been working a second job, just something seasonal for a small business owned by a family from church, and had no idea how much his pay would be.  He got his first paycheck the day after he picked the bed up, and -I'm not kidding- it was for the EXACT amount as the bed!!  That is NOT a coincidence, my friends!  I love it when the Lord makes us laugh with his goodness.

Twin beds!  We will have to get the matching quilt soon too!

As if that was not enough, here is the other huge answer to prayer:
We were a little worried about how our paperwork would line up with some changes taking place with Curt's employer.  His job is secure, but his company is changing.  (Henry Ford Hospital Systems will now be directly employing their I.T. workers, rather than using Siemens/Unify as the contract company).  I wasn't sure what effect this would have on our adoption process.  I thought at the very least we would have to re-do some of the paperwork regarding his employment, and at the very worst we would be set back several months to wait for the changes to take effect at work and to get new papers.  BUT... our social worker didn't see any reason to make ANY changes to our paperwork or process because she said that by the time the transition at work takes effect we should already have all of our paperwork in China and already be approved for adoption!!  Plus it's such a small change that it's pretty much insignificant as far as his employment goes.  YAY!!  

And another kicker.... as an official employee of Henry Ford Hospitals, Curt is eligible for Adoption Assistance!  It sounds like they are going to give us $2,000 to use towards our fees!!  (And to think, I was worried! LOL)

Thank you for sharing in this journey with us, and for your prayers and encouragement in both the joys and the struggles!  We will keep you all updated, and let you know when we hear back from our agency about our home study approval!