Y'all. I'm freaking out.

Please notice that the title of this post most clearly says "I'm" and not "we're." Nick is cool as a cucumber, as always. The guy seriously just does not get stressed out. EVER. Which is good in a lot of cases (nobody is better suited for emergency medicine than he is!), but it drives me CRAZY. I'm a worrier, and although most moms are, I'm probably a little more of a worrier than most. Nick genuinely tries to empathize with my stress (although he has no clue what the word means), and he's been doing a great job of doing that lately, because y'all, I'm freaking out.

I FEEL my kids' pain, like on a physical level. It literally hurts my stomach when one of my babies is scared, puts a knot in my chest when I know Abbie is about to go on stage for a recital, and gives me goosebumps to see them shiver.  I'm hoping other moms experience this too, and I'm not crazy! :) So now that we're close to travel, I'm thinking non-stop about what our Gia is about to go through, and it's painful. :( She's going to be taken from everything and everyone she knows and loves, and then go through so many new and terrifying things, with only funny-looking strangers that don't even speak her language to comfort her! And I can't even wrap my brain around the actual physical pain that we are no doubt going to cause her as we're fumbling through her bandage changes. I'm good at maintaining a calm façade in front of my kids, and I'll do the same for Gia...I just hope that from day one, she can somehow feel how much we love her, even when we mess up and cause her pain.

Some days I even feel guilty for adopting her. Crazy, right? She seems so happy where she is. And even on the days when I'm most optimistic, I still wish that there was just another way to bring her into our family (maybe we can convince one of her Little Flower nannies to come home with us!) Nick tells me how kids are resilient, and she'll be fine, but I just hate to think that we're adding to the trauma she's already been through. :(

So that's the bulk of my worrying. Don't even get me started on the stress of riding in airplanes for what will amount to DAYS, or being prepared for Gia with the correct medical supplies and doctors appointments, or what her care will mean for our family, or the MOVE TO NEW YORK after we get home from China! Ahhh! 

China gave us the thumbs up!

It's been a LONG time since our last post, but there wasn't a whole lot to report. We spent our summer waiting for China to translate and review our dossier, and then approve us to adopt Gia. The whole process took 60 days, which is a little shorter than most, and our Letter of Approval (or I've seen some call it the Letter of Acceptance, I guess we'll find out when we see it?) is now on it's way to us! LOA for short from now on. ;)

Looking back, this summer now seems so short (and it was, the big kids only had 10 weeks off from school!), but it was fun! Abbie did paddleboarding camp through the Y, Ryan did a nature exploration camp through Oatland Island, all three kids did Vacation Bible School, we took a week-long trip to North Carolina to see Dad and Mary, and Nick completed paramedic school! The big kids have already been back to school for a couple weeks now, and Eli and I start back at the preschool next week!

So what's next for the Hoffmanns? A LOT. We still have several steps before bringing Gia home, but they'll go by fast (more on that later!), and we're REALLY hoping to bring her home at the end of October, but that would be if everything goes perfectly. Why are we hoping for the end of October? Obviously, the sooner the better, but also, the Army is moving us to Fort Drum, New York this fall! Nick's report date is November 10, they already moved it back once from a September report date, and we're hoping they would move it back again if we're not home with Gia by then...but it would be nice to not have to stress about all that! Worst case scenario: Nick would have to move up to New York ahead of the rest of the family, which is survivable! ;)

As far as the adoption process, the next step is to get our LOA, check the yes box (obviously!), and then send it to US Citizenship and Immigration with our I800 application. We already sent an I800A application to them in the spring, when they approved us to adopt from a Hague convention country, NOW we need approval to adopt our specific sweetheart, and bring her home as a US citizen! After that is a lot of crazy steps leading up to our travel that even makes my head spin (and I'm one of those weirdos that likes filling out forms!), so more about that later.

To summarize, in the next three months, we'll be taking a two-week trip to China, bringing a new baby into our family, and packing up our home and moving over 1,000 miles away to upstate New York....just not sure on specific dates for ANY of that! Hang on, Hoffmanns! And hang on Gia, we're coming soon!!! :)

DTC!

After months and months of paperwork, our dossier is finally on its way to China! All of our sealed documents, along with several family photos, are now bound in a pretty book with a summary translated to Chinese! I wish I could see what it looks like! :) We are about halfway through the process and it now looks like we will (hopefully!) be traveling to get Gia in October. This is a pretty big landmark, because this is now out of our hands and out of our agency's hands for the time being, and it's now time for China to do some homework! Next we will get our log-in date (LID), the date when the Chinese government gets our dossier, which will hopefully be next week. After that is a very long wait to get our Letter of Approval (LOA). It takes at least 30 days for our dossier to get translated to Chinese, and at least another 30 days for them to review our match and approve it. We already have our preliminary approval to adopt Gia, based on a one-page form we submitted with our Letter of Intent, so now that they have ALL our information, they will give us our final LOA, hopefully by the end of the summer! Our last summer as a family of five will hopefully fly by! :) I know I'm not supposed to wish my life away, but Gia has been waiting a very long time already!

May Updates

May was definitely a hurry-up-and-wait month...so frustrating! As far as our progress on the paperwork trail, we are DONE with our dossier on our end! We have compiled everything China needs to tell them about ourselves so they can determine if we will be fit parents for Gia (and our agency is great, so we know that there is no reason for it to get denied once it's in China!) We were waiting for our approval from USCIS to approve us to adopt, so I sent everything EXCEPT that approval to our agency back on May 2nd, in hopes that they would be able to get all that reviewed ahead of time. Then we got our USCIS approval on May 6th, and had to send that document through the sealing process that all the other documents had already been through (notarization, certification by the County Clerk, certification by the Secretary of State, and authentication by the Chinese Consulate in Houston). We rushed and overnighted it through all that and our agency received it last Thursday, on the 22nd! .....and now we wait..... Because we live in Georgia, we first send everything to our agency's branch in Atlanta. It's there that all of our documents are critically reviewed, and because they weren't able to get around to reviewing our other documents (that had been there since May 2nd), they FINALLY got started on our critical review last Thursday and said it would take 9-11 business days to get it done. So everything is STILL sitting in Atlanta. Blah.

So what's next? Hopefully next week it will get mailed to our agency's headquarters in Denver, and there it will be translated to Chinese, bound in a fancy book, and then overnighted to China. They only mail dossiers to China on Fridays, so fingers crossed they can get all that done next week (IF it ever makes it off that desk in Atlanta!!) Then we have the longest and most unpredictable wait in the entire adoption process, the wait for our Letter of Approval (LOA) from the Chinese government. It can take anywhere from 30-100+ days, and there's really no way to tell where in that range we will be! Prayers please for a quick LOA!

We haven't gotten any new pictures of Gia in a few weeks. We are very, VERY spoiled with having her at Little Flower, because most adoptive parents with children in Chinese orphanages only get a couple pictures total...but it's still hard. We are very attached to our little Chinese dumpling already. <3

Fundraising is going great! We received very generous donations from friends here in Savannah, the Benton family and the Pederson family! Thank you so very much! I have also made a good amount babysitting, and Stella & Dot has been a huge blessing as well.

Adoption expenses left to pay, carried over from last month: $23,435
Paid in May: $2,450 (second agency fee)
$790 (fee to China Center for Children's Welfare and Adoption - or CCCWA)
Left to pay: $20,195

May fundraising:
Necklace donations: $60
Donation from the Benton family: $100
Donation from the Pederson family: $100
Stella & Dot earnings: $266.54
Savings account for Gia: $10,790.46

We have only $8,878 to go!! :) Still hoping to hear some good news from grants soon! I applied to ten grants, we've heard from two organizations so far that told us they couldn't help us at this time, but that's eight more possibilities to go!

Next month I will be focusing on using my Stella & Dot business for fundraising! If I can sell $2,308 in one month, my commission gets bumped from 25% to 30%, which means I'll make close to $700! I've hit this goal once before, so I know it's possible, it just takes a good amount of shows! So if you are willing to host a show for me, in-home or online, please let me know soon (you could also be making 25% in hostess credits!) Also, Nick has a manly fundraiser in the works too, more details to come. ;) And guess what folks, I think by the end of June we will be DONE fundraising! We have been totally OVERWHELMED by the amount of support we've gotten for little Gia, thank you so much!!

April Happenings! :)

April has certainly been our most eventful month so far! First, and most exciting, we got pre-approval from China to adopt our precious Gia!! :) So as long as we finish the adoption process, she's ours! If everything continues to stay on track, we'll be bringing her home this fall! If you're not already, join our group on Facebook for lots of pictures of our girl, but I'll do a picture post soon on here too! We have a lot of unanswered questions about what her care will entail, but she has already brought us so much joy!

Also this month, we held our big yard sale, which was a huge success! It was a LOT of work, but seeing how much support we have from the local community was so heart-warming and encouraging, that the work was so worthwhile, far beyond the boost to our adoption fund! We even had several customers (who we had never met before) insist on giving us donations beyond what they were spending on stuff! :)

Finally, we sent off our I800a application to USCIS, and this approval is the last document we need for our dossier! Today I sent off 12 documents to our agency so that they can begin to review them, so hopefully by the time we get our I800a approval they can toss it in the pile and mail everything off to China right away! :) So we are finally at the end of all the fees and postage associated with sending 13 documents all over the country to get them certified and authenticated to China's standards!

Here is our savings and fundraising progress so far, it's a little nerve-wracking now that we have a deadline of this fall, but we still have high hopes of getting a grant or two! We heard back from one grant organization, who informed us that they currently have no funds for awarding grants, but they will post our profile on their website for us, more details to come on that!

Adoption expenses left to pay, carried over from last month: $23,885
Paid in April: $450 (dossier preparation fees)
Left to pay: $23,435
April fundraising:
Yard sale: $1,058.50
Just Love Coffee: $49
Necklace donations: $500
Donation from the Moore family: $100 (thank you!!!)
Stella & Dot earnings: $182.60
Savings account for Gia: $11,426.42
We have $10,118.48 to go! SO close to breaking that $10,000 mark! :)

For fundraisers this month, we still have our coffee fundraiser going (and we'll continue to keep that one open until we're fully funded), the website is www.justlovecoffee.com/hoffmann
Our May fundraiser will be a Partylite Candle online show, thanks to Holly Rafferty!! :) She will be donating her commission, 25% of sales, to our adoption fund! Just visit her website, www.partylite.biz/holraff, and then search for me, Leslie Hoffmann, for your hostess! I LOVE smelly stuff in my home, so I will be posting lots of suggestions in the Facebook group! ;) I've ordered from Holly before, and Partylite products are amazing! In addition to candles and beautiful home décor items, they have melts that I use in my Scentsy warmer, and I have officially been converted!
Thank you so much for all your support! This journey has become even more meaningful now that we've been matched to Gia, and we are so very grateful for our generous friends and family! <3

Meet Hoffmann Baby #4!

We got our pre-approval today!! This means that she's OURS!! Meet our beautiful daughter, Gia!

March Savings and Fundraising!

We didn't have any fundraisers in March, but Nick and I are scrimping and saving so we're still making progress! And I have TEN grant applications ready to go as soon as we get our copy of our home study, which was finalized on the 31st!! :) The only fee we paid this month was $125 that goes to the Chinese government along with the Letter of Intent for our girl! We should be getting Pre-Approval (PA) from China SOON, which means she's ours pending completion of the adoption process! We'll have another fundraiser launching as soon as we get PA, selling coffee! If you're local to Savannah, we're also still collecting items for our yard sale, which will be on May 3rd!

Adoption expenses left to pay, carried over from last month: $24,010
Paid in March: $125 (Waiting Child Program service fee)
Left to pay: $23,885

March fundraising:
Donation from Atkinson family: $100 (thank you SO, SO much!)
Necklace donations: $40
Stella & Dot earnings: $153.43
Savings account for Mei Mei: $11,222.67

So we only have $12,368.90 to go!!! And we have about 6 months to get there! :)

Another Acronym...LOI! :)

Today we finally heard from the specialist who we asked to review our girl's file, and she was VERY positive about her condition! :) She said she looks happy, healthy, and any complications that may come up are very treatable!  So we took that as the green light to send our paperwork to China to make her ours!  We wrote a letter (called the Letter of Intent or LOI) that stated that we understand her special need, described the resources and support we have to help us take care of her, told them about her siblings, school, and church, all to convince China that we will love her and take care of her!  We also had to fill out a family information form (since China doesn't yet know anything about us), and pay a $125 fee to the Chinese government, which is fine because I've been antsy to check off a fee or two anyway. ;) We should hear back in a week or so, and at that point we'll have pre-approval which means she's OURS. <3 So be prepared, the next post will be FULL of pictures, exclamation points, and emoticons. :) :) :D

The Month of Waiting...and Waiting...and Waiting...

March has been torturous! No fundraisers this month, but I stayed plenty busy with grant applications. It ate up most of my spring break, but it was worth it to have them finished! However, we need our FINAL home study report, approved by our agency, before we can mail in most of these applications. Our last home study visit was on February 19th, so I had hoped the report would be done by the end of February, and now I'm worried it won't be done by the end of March. So part of me was feeling like we didn't make much progress this month...until...
We found a darling little girl! She's seriously the cutest kid I've ever seen (sorry kids!) ;) Her grin stole both our hearts, but Nick was a little more cautious about her special need, since it's more complicated than anything we had considered taking on before. Another agency has had her file for a few months, but they were unable to find a family for her, so they transferred her file to our agency when we told them we were interested in adopting her. :) We have now sent her file to a physician in Colorado who specializes in her special need, and we're waiting to get her opinion before we file the paperwork to make her "officially" ours. I was ready to snatch her up a week ago, but Nick needs more information to move forward, and I'm so very grateful to have his level-headedness to balance out my emotional messiness. :) In fact, he may kill me for writing this blog post, but I want to be upfront about the whole process that we've been going through. A few of our closest friends know that we reviewed the file of a little girl at the end of January, but it was missing a lot of information, and when we got an update on her, we realized her special need was way more than our family could take on, and they had probably failed to update her file for so long for that reason. The little girl whose file we have now is a very different situation (and a very different special need). She's in a group foster home in Beijing that has provided us with all medical information they have, a couple updates on how she's doing day-to-day, and an album with 1,200 pictures (yes, there are supposed to be two zeros there!). So we have all the information we could ask for, we're just waiting on a professional who knows what she's looking at to give us an idea of what kind of treatment she'll need as far as daily care as well as long-term treatment. Please send up some prayers for us for the clarity to help us make the best decision for this little girl and our family too. 

February Savings and Fundraising Update....Wow!

We accomplished so much this month! As far as making our way down the paperwork trail, we have 13 documents total that we have to gather for our dossier: two birth certificates, our marriage certificate, two employment verification letters, two police record checks, two physicals, adoption petition letter, financial statement, home study, and our I800a approval form (which is our approval by US Citizenship and Immigration). We've gathered everything EXCEPT Nick's birth certificate (thank you, Oregon, for being slow as mud!), the home study (and the report is being written now!), and the I800a, which we can't even apply for until the home study report is finished. So little by little, we've been getting things notarized and certified. My birth certificate is in DC right now, it will be the first document that we get authenticated by the Chinese Embassy there...woohoo! :) Nick's birth certificate will go to San Francisco for authentication, and everything else will go to Houston. We're HOPING that we can have all this nonsense done by the end of next month, or at least everything except for the I800a form, which is usually the document that people are left waiting on when they gathering dossier documents (it can take up to 90 days to get approval, we're hoping it will be closer to 30!)...fingers crossed that we get a happy, speedy officer assigned to us! :)
The home study was just about as painless as it could be! Our social worker came to our home, interviewed Nick and I together for about an hour, then we gave her a little tour, she asked the kids a few questions, and that was it! And our house was clean for at least a day or two afterwards, so that was nice. :) There was one little agonizing moment, and I debated even putting it on the blog, but hey, it's reality, and one day we'll read this again and laugh. The social worker was asking the kids a few questions about how they felt about the adoption, and Eli was hiding behind my legs as he talked to her...and then he whispered something to me so quietly that I couldn't hear him...so I asked him to repeat it, and he said loud enough for me (and everyone else) to hear,

"Why does she have a big butt?"

...Now...Eli has seen his share of big butts in his life, and we have never said that there is anything wrong with a little junk in the trunk...so what possessed him to ask that, I have no idea! And Nick heard him the first time he whispered it, and couldn't believe I asked him to repeat it! I was MORTIFIED!

So. Our home study is done. Buried that hatchet and we don't have to revisit it. At least not until the follow up visits, but I'll worry about that later. :)

On to a less awkward subject...fundraising! You will be floored by how much progress we made! We have already mailed our agency our check for the I800a application, and set aside the money for it, so I'm counting it as expenses paid in February!

Adoption expenses left to pay, carried over from last month: $24,900

Paid in February: $890 (I800a application and fingerprinting fees)
Left to pay: $24,010

February fundraising:
Quilt donations: $155
Necklace donations: $360
Tshirt donations: $580 (Yeah!!!)
Stella & Dot earnings: $97.06
...and drumroll please...
Savings account for Mei Mei: $8,573.83 (thank you, taxes!!)

So we have $14,244.11 to go!! Holy COW!

This means that we can steamroll through this process as fast as this paperwork will allow, which we are SO grateful for! We are so fortunate that we don't have to stop and save each time we have to write a big check! Our little girl will be home before we know it! We will continue to fundraise until we are fully funded, and I have a list of ten grant applications that we will be submitting in March. So guess what...if an Army guy and a preschool teacher can start from scratch and finance an international adoption...ANYONE can! Of course, we have the advantage of the best friends and family IN THE WORLD! :)

First Home Study Interviews Done!

Today we got our first two interviews done for our home study! Nick met with her at noon for his individual interview, I met with her this evening for my individual interview, and she anticipates that we'll be done with everything next week! Nick said his interview was no big deal, and when the social worker talked about Nick, she said he used the phrase "it's just another kid" a lot (only Nick would be this stress-free about an international adoption!), which she thought was funny. :) I was nervous, but she just asked about my personal history, marriage, children, and why I want to adopt, so none of the questions were very difficult. :) Now all we're waiting on for our home study documents is one lab for Nick's physical. We were at a little standstill, with Chinese New Year halting everything on China's end, and our social worker being out of town delaying the start of our home study, but we're finally making progress again! Once our home study is done, we can apply for an international adoption with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services AND we can start on grant applications! Sorry if all the exclamation points are jarring haha, we're excited. :)
We just started our tshirt fundraiser, and we have to sell 50 before February 28th to be able to get our funds, so please share our link! Others who have Bonfire tshirts have said they love them and they're super soft. And I love the idea of all you wonderful folks wearing the shirts and sharing our story to maybe inspire other families to adopt in the future! :) https://www.bonfirefunds.com/hoffmann-china-adoption

January Saving and Fundraising Progress

January was a little stressful as far as finances go! We were very blessed to have so many donations, and we also had a lot of checks to write! We're just not used to having so much cash come and go so quickly, BUT....we're making progress!!! :) This month we paid our first agency fee of $3600, which pays for: - Orientation (the meeting we went to in Atlanta on the 17th)
- Home study
- Child abuse records search and USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) filing
- Dossier assistance (the Dossier is all the documents we send to China)
- 12 hours of parent training required of all international adoption parents
So it feels good to have all that paid for! Other things we paid for this month that weren't directly adoption related (ha!): $110 for my passport renewal, $24 for passport photos, and $40 for certified copies of our birth and marriage certificates! Our heads are spinning! :) So here is our progress for January:

Adoption expenses left to pay, carried over from last month: $28,500
Paid in January: $3,600
Left to pay: $24,900

January fundraising:
Quilt donations: $1,015 (WOW!)
Necklace donations: $340
Stella & Dot earnings: $108.98
Savings account for Mei Mei: $1,745.96

So we have $21,690.06 to go! That's great for only two months in! :)

By the way, all fundraising from previous months will go into Mei Mei's savings, and that's the account from which we pay all our adoption expenses. The Hoffmanns are making sacrifices to contribute to that account each month too! For all of 2014, we are not eating out, I'm not getting my hair done (it may look kind of scary by Christmas!), we're cancelling cable (after the Superbowl, haha), the grownups are skipping holidays and birthdays, no clothes shopping except for maybe some kids' school uniforms in August, and just penny pinching and couponing in general. So don't think that we're not working hard too. :) The sooner we're fully funded, the sooner we can breathe easy! THANK YOU for all your support!

If Anyone Needs a Good Book to Read...

Just a few months ago, when the idea of adoption started percolating again in the Hoffmann house, I searched on Amazon to find SOMETHING that would tell me more about the whole situation in China that has gotten their orphanages in such a dire state, and I found The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. This book was pretty life changing for me. From the way women in China were treated centuries ago, to decades of famine and the One Child Policy, to modern stories of international adoption, by the end of it you'll have such a greater understanding (and heartache!) towards Chinese adoption! It was written by a journalist, so it reads really well, and it also includes interviews and scientific studies (which this science nerd can appreciate), all of which are cited. You can find it on Amazon, or I have a copy you can borrow too!

Why is Adoption So Expensive?

I have already had several people ask me the obvious question, "WHY does it cost SO much to adopt?" It's a good question, since nearly $30,000 isn't exactly pocket change, that's a life changing amount of money (quite literally in the case of adoption!) So here is the breakdown from our adoption agency. A huge chunk of the money is paid at the end, between paying the orphanage $5,000-$6,000, and the cost for two adults to take a two-week trip to China. The rest of it is agency fees (which are VERY low with CCAI, one reason why we chose them), background checks, service fees to China's government, and PAPERWORK. We've paid the application fee, and on the 17th when we go to Atlanta for the orientation we'll pay the first program fee (which for us was $200 and $3,600, they must have just recently increased them, glad we beat that cutoff!) :)

Ranked the best adoption agency in the world by CCCWA, China’s central authority on international affairs, our service fees are also among the lowest.        
CCAI is proud to be a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable adoption agency. We strive to keep adoption affordable so more children will have the blessing of a loving and permanent family.
We are financially accountable to you as the American public and as an adoptive family. Our solemn promise to you is: Absolute integrity with no hidden charges, no last minute surprises.
Please select your state below for a clear and comprehensive list of the fees and expenses necessary to complete your China adoption:

Select a State:  -- Select One -- Colorado Florida Georgia All Other States International

Adoption Expenses & Chronology For Families in Georgia   

Expense	Amount	Pmt Method	Pay To	Due
Application Fee	$250	Check	CCAI	Application submission
First Program Fee (Includes Home Study)	$3,700	Check/Credit Card	CCAI	After App Approval
USCIS Filing & Fingerprinting	$720 plus $85/adult	Check	US Dept. of Homeland Security	Upon I-800A submission
Dossier Preparation	Approx. $450	Check/Money Order	Secretary of State(s), Chinese Consulate(s)	As preparing Dossier
Second Program Fee	$2,450	Check/Credit Card	CCAI	Dossier Submission
CCCWA Fee	$1,165 if not matched with WC ($775 if matched with WC prior to LID)	Check	CCCWA via CCAI	Dossier Submission
CCCWA-WCP Service Fee	$125	Credit Card	CCCWA via CCAI	Prior to Letter of Intent (LOI) submission, WCP only
Third Program Fee	$3,100	Check/Credit Card	CCAI	Prior to receiving child match
CCCWA Post Adoption Translation Fee	$360	Check/Credit Card	CCCWA via CCAI	Prior to receiving child match
CCCWA Post Adoption Translation Fee	$360	Check/Credit Card	CCCWA via CCAI	Prior to receiving child match
Visa to enter China	$140 per person (plus courrier fee)	Check/Credit Card	Chinese Consulate via a travel agency	Approximately two weeks after child match
US Domestic & International Airfare	$1,200 - $1,900 by coach/per adult plus $200 return lap ticket for child under 2 (child over 2 requires full ticket)	Credit Card	A travel agency of your choice	Approximately 7-10 days prior to China departure
In China Travel & Accommodations	Approx. $3,500-$4,000 for two adults	Cashier's Check	CCAI (wired to China)	Approximately 7-10 days prior to China departure
Adoption Registration and Notarization	$400 - $800	Cash	Local government in China	In China
Child's Passport	$100-$150	Cash	Local passport agency	In China
Orphanage Fee	Up to 35,000 RMB (Approx. $5,700-$5,900)	Cash	Local orphanage	In China
Food	$700 - $800 per couple	Cash/travel Check/Credit Card	Hotel(s), restaurant(s)	In China
Child Physical & Photo	$130-$150	Cash	Clinic	In Guangzhou, China
Child U.S. Entry Visa	$230	Check	CCAI (wired to China)	Approx. 8 weeks prior to travel
Child's Birth Certificate	Varies by county		Your state	After U.S. Return
Court Validation Fee	Varies by county		Your county court	After U.S. Return

CCAI PROGRAM FEE TOTAL: $9,500.00
Grand Total (including travel expenses for two adults): $25,700 - $28,800

Agency Application Approved!

Today I got a phone call that our agency has approved our application! So now the real work begins, ahhh! Nick and I have to go up to Atlanta for an orientation required of all Georgia residents who are adopting, just to make sure we understand the process and paperwork. Then we begin our home study, which involves at least four meetings with a social worker and a home visit! For some reason, the home study is the part of the process that I am most nervous about! I feel like they must have a crazy long checklist of dos and don'ts, and we have the typical home of five people sharing about 1400 square feet...nothing horrifying, and it's clean if you squint, just don't look under any furniture or expect things to NOT fall out of a closet when you open it! :) So wish us lot of luck and sanity! All through this process, we could get matched with a little girl at any time, so keep sending those prayers up for us too!