::part 1--nearly done::

We are SO close to turning in the last of our homestudy paperwork!

We had our fingerprinting done today, which was very interesting to Mr. Isaiah.  Thankfully, they don't use ink anymore, so we had digital scans done (same with Isaiah's adoption process 3 yrs ago, although the price really went up!).  Isaiah kept saying "big finger, Mama!" as he watched our prints show up on the computer screen.  We keep telling him this gets us one step closer to "Baby Cinnamon" from "Ep-o-pee-a" which is how Isaiah pronounces the name we've chosen for our child if it's a boy (which is very likely).  ;)

All we lack for our homestudy materials is our medical screenings  (scheduled for next week) and our financial and insurance forms (which I'm nearly done with). 
Whoa...I thought I had more to do, but I guess not.  Once everything is submitted and they receive our check, our home visits will be scheduled. 

I have enjoyed working with Holt.  We've been able to submit everything electronically so far, and our caseworker has been just a phone call away.  They have written up every step to the  homestudy and dossier processes so that we can streamline our work.  When something that is part of our homestudy can double for our dossier packet, then they tell us so that we can get things done at once. They have a very detailed online guidebook that has been really helpful thus far. 

Once our homestudy is approved and written up, we can file our I 600A (immigration).  In the meantime, we work hard gathering documents for our dossier.  Everything has to be extremely specific and requires all kinds of certification and notarization.  I'm thinking about having a notary seal permanently tattooed onto the palm of my hand just so everyone knows I'm really who I say I am. 

This process makes Isaiah's adoption process look like a walk in the park.  It's probably triple the amount of paperwork. 

BUT....we are a step closer every day that we turn something into our agency.  I will breathe a sigh of relief when our dossier is complete and we can just resign ourselves to waiting and watching our name move up the lists. 

In case you are wondering what our parameters are for a child, we are open to either a boy or a girl, age 2 or under.  They like for you to allow for one year to separate your youngest child from the child you are adopting.  Isaiah is 3, so that puts the age of our future child at 2 or under.  We are open to a sibling group, but with the age limit of 2, they would almost have to be twins since we aren't allowed to adopt biologically unrelated children at the same time.  Twins are unlikely, and girls are in high demand.  So in all probability, we are looking at a boy aged 2 or under.   We could definitely be wrong, though.  :)  
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And now, here is something else we are excited about while we wade through all the adoption paperwork.

Tune in later for more info on the forthcoming "Love & Family" CD.  :)

And...just because he's cute: