IL approves

Lookie what came in the mail, today!  This caught me completely off guard as we were not expecting it for 3 more weeks!  Our social worker emailed us to let us know it was approved, so I ran out to the mailbox and there it was- the official IL home study approval, dated May 27.  Only 1 week from submission, too!

Now it's time to shift money into checking and pick up our officially approved home study!!  I-800A application... here we come!!

It's also time to start getting documents state certified and authenticated by the Chinese Consultate.

Home study approved

We received our home study approval certificate from our adoption agency on Tuesday!  Our social worker also let us know that she would be submitting our home study to the state of IL (DCFS) by the end of the day.  We have been told by several people to expect about a 4 week wait for this approval, which would be June 17.  Not that I'm counting or anything...

I ordered all of the photos we need for our dossier.  They should be here in a week.  Kevin still needs to get his extra passport style photos.  There is really nothing else for us to do while we wait for our last home study approval.

I have been reading lots and lots of blogs and books!

First review of home study

This evening, our social worker let us know that our adoption agency has done their first review of our home study and they had 2 questions for clarification.  I was able to provide a couple of answers for our social worker and she has submitted our home study for its second review.  At first, the extra questions were making me nervous, but our social worker reminded me that it's better to answer any potential questions before they become questions- in other words, better now than later.

I am now hoping our adoption agency is able to finish the 2nd review by the end of this week.  We shall see!  I'm assuming they just need to review any changes/clarifications our social worker has made.  Then, we will submit our home study to the state of IL (DCFS) for their approval.

Still waiting

Our social worker contacted me with a couple of questions to clarify a small detail in our home study at the end of last week.  That's the last we've heard from her.  She said it was her supervisor who wanted the clarification, so I'm not sure if she will notify our adoption agency of the slight change/addition to the home study or what.  I am *hoping* we hear back from them by the end of this week, but it could be more like the beginning of next week.  ::twiddling thumbs::  I am soooo eager to move on to the next phase of waiting- the I-800A application!  I have it all filled out, printed, in a FedEx envelope, and the Airbill filled out.  Can we say eager?!  The only things we will need to add to that FedEx package are the home study itself, signatures to everything, and a big ol' check!  Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself!  We need approval from the state of IL before we can submit our I-800A!

I took some time working on our dossier pictures, today.  I was going to go ahead and order them printed into 4x6's but then had so many options on the website I am using.  They can remove glare from glasses and various other things.  There are also 3 different printing options.  If these were just everyday pictures, I wouldn't worry about any of that.  But these are the only pictures the Chinese government is going to have of us.  First impressions and all...  So I ordered a couple pics done a couple different ways to see if there is a noticeable difference (worth the price?).  I am always eager to compare the quality of photo printing between different companies anyway.

I'll post as soon as we hear something from our social worker and/or adoption agency!

Waiting for approval of home study

Earlier this week, we received word that our home study is in the hands of the dossier specialists at our adoption agency.  We probably have another week or so before we'll hear anything from them.  I'm keeping myself busy with various de-cluttering/organization projects around the house.  It feels good to get rid of clutter!

Today's weather is a reminder that summer is on its way!  I have windows open and ceiling fans on!