One Month

Dan and I have joked about how we're going to take "monthly" pictures like women often do when they are pregnant. Since we started the process exactly one month ago today, what better day than today to start? We've also talked about doing something special as we go through this time of waiting. So look for a new picture and a little update on the process on the 20th of each month.
Here we are, one month into the adoption!


Saturday evening found us heading out to Laura and Chris Bravo's house for what we thought was going to be a quiet birthday dinner and a movie with the two of them. We had no idea when we were driving over that we would be walking into a surprise party! (My first words when we walked in was to tell everyone that it's generally a good idea to not park in front of the house where the surprise party is taking place...). Anyway, we were totally shocked! I couldn't believe that I had spent the evening before with several of the girls, and no one slipped! We had friends come that we had not seen in several months. It really was a great evening, and a nice way to celebrate our birthdays, and as a bonus, it was a fun way to end month one of the adoption process.



Speaking of being one month into the adoption, here is a list of all we've accomplished so far...

~applied to our agency
~been accepted by our agency
~signed our contract
~filed our I-600A
~had our homestudy visit
~had our references completed
~been fingerprinted for the FBI
~had our police records notarized
~had our physicians letters notarized
~gotten certified copies of our marriage certificate
~filled out paperwork for our state clearances (FDLE & DCF)
~done 10 hours of parent education, and filled out 6 pages of essay questions each
~sent various checks to our agency
~assembled two dossiers
~received a Certificate of Completion for our parenting classes
~gotten confirmation that our FBI fingerprints were "fine"
~been given verbal confirmation that our FDLE clearance is "in the mail"

We're waiting on...
~FDLE & DCF clearances

Once we receive those...
~our homestudy can be completed
~we can finally move forward to get our I-171H
~complete our scrapbook (2-4 pages with pictures of us, our house, and a story about our lives)
~submit our dossier(s) for certification and authentication

Once we get our dossier(s) certified and authenticated...
~we can send our dossier(s) to Vietnam
~wait...
~wait...
~wait...

And on the home front, we have started some remodeling projects...
~Dan is installing new windows on the downstairs, "Low-E" ones, which will hopefully cut down on the heat in the kitchen during the afternoon hours!
~Dan is also building cabinets along the railing for the loft. He has completed the shell for each of them, and now they need doors, trim, and a top. The cabinets will hopefully enable us to make the loft more versitle...another bedroom, a play room, the guest room, or whatever we need it to become.
~I'm also trying to talk Dan into letting me rip out wallpaper and freshen up the kitchen. It hasn't worked yet, but I'm trying! :-)

That's all for now!