Yesterday, I finished our Adoption Petition and my Non-Employment Verification. I sent those in to be looked over and, today, received a reply that they were both good. I also wrote our Financial Statement but need to wait until Kevin obtains his Employment Verification so that I can fill in the last number. Then I will send both of those in to be looked over. I don't have to email these to be checked at this point but having one of the dossier specialists tell me each document is satisfactory gives me that extra bit of confidence and security.
Next up on the dossier front is something that has me intimidated- the police clearance on Kevin and me. No, I'm not worried about the results of them! ;) I'm just worried about the reaction I will get when I walk into the police station and ask for them. I have read many blogs where people say they received a less than enthusiastic response when seeking these. But, it has to be done...
If we can fit it in, Kevin and I are going to go apply for our passports this weekend. The post office in a town nearby can accept them and has a 2-hour window they are open to passport apps on Saturday. We need to get this taken care of asap because they take some time. The passport website is stating 4-6 weeks but I have heard it can take even longer. I am wondering if we should pay the extra $80 each to have them expedited (supposedly 2-3 weeks, instead). We do need these for our dossier, not just travel.
Tonight, we had our first meeting with our social worker for our home study. It went really well! We introduced ourselves and told how we came to the point of wanting to adopt from China. She went over some paperwork and gave us a stack of forms and things that need to be done for the home study. I'm really glad we pushed our physicals back a couple of weeks because she gave us the forms she needs filled out for these. I didn't realize we were going to need 2 different physical forms filled out by our doctor. Also, we have to get physicals for the kids. I gave the social worker some papers I already had for her (home study packet from our adoption agency, my birth certificate, residential history form).
We will be taking our pre-adoption classes through our home study agency on Feb. 25 and 27, and March 4. They are 4 hours each for a total of 12 hours. The state of IL does not accept the classes our adoption agency offers, so these are the ones we have to take to meet all IL and Hague requirements. I'm actually looking forward to them except for how crazy they are going to make those 3 nights for us. I know they will be worth it, though.
The main thing we need to be working on for our home study is the application, which includes all of the basics that you'd expect, plus a very involved questionnaire from Kevin and me. That needs to be done by our next meeting, which is Feb. 18.
I'm feeling pretty good about things right now.
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