"The Final Home Study"

Our final home study meeting went well. We did however find out that we needed more current birth certificates for Sean, Hannah and myself. Plus, we need 2 more copies of our marriage certificate. So, after our meeting Sean and I did a marathon run downtown to get his and Hannah's birth certificate, as well as the marriage certificates. I still have to get my birth certificate from North Carolina. I called up my mother to ask for her help in getting a newer copy as well as sending it to the NC Secretary Of State to be certified. Hopefully, that process won't take long and we will have everything totally finished and in hand the first week of November.



Our next step will be to fill out the paperwork for immigration. I just can't wait for all the paperwork to be finished. The paperwork is really the biggest form of stress in an adoption. I look forward to being able to sit back and wait on our travel dates. I think I need a change of pace in the adoption process.

"The In Home Study"

We officially had our "In Home" study. It went very well as far as I could tell. I was extremely proud for Hannah, Aidan, and Julian. They all minded their manners and participated in the discussions. They asked many good questions and even had what I describe as "dictionary type" answers when they were asked to answer questions. It was so nice to see them excited and involved in our adoption process. I think our social worker was surprised that they raised their hands for permission from her to talk or answer a question. I have to say that I surely didn't expect them to to do that. (St. Elizabeth School is doing a fine job at teaching my children so many great things...including raising your hand to talk!!)

We now have one last meeting next Monday. (October 27th) Sean and I will go to the office of Bethany Christian Services for that meeting. Once the meeting is over our dossier will be sent to the main office of Bethany Christian Services. From there the dossier will be sent on to Lithuania!! It is so exciting. I can't wait for it to arrive in Lithuania. Hopefully, the approval from Lithuania won't take too long. Once we get the final approval from Lithuania I think I will feel more at peace that Justina is really going to be pat of our family.

Should anything exciting happen between now and our next home study date I will post it. Otherwise, I will let you all know how the final home study meeting went.

Say lots of prayers for us and have a great week!!

April :)

"The Home Study"

Okay, I am a bit behind in this blog. Sean and I did already have our first home study meeting. Our second home study meeting is tonight. It is actually our "in home" meeting. I am really excited for this meeting. Actually, I am excited for every meeting, phone call, or email received about Justina's adoption.

The plan is to have our dossier to Lithuania by Thanksgiving at the latest. From that point we will be waiting for all the approvals and travel dates to fall into place. I think a good time frame for us to travel will be Feb./March of 2009. Keep in mind that everything is subject to change.

I will post more after we have our home study meeting tonight.

Some exciting stuff

Well, I came home today to find out that we were sent some new pictures of Justina. There was a video taken as well, but we will have to wait a while on that. In the pictures Justina seems to be very well taken care of. I have posted the email from Elona in Lithuania below. I want to share the photos with everyone as well...I just have to figure out how to do that.


Here is the first update from Elona. There is also a video coming. It will take awhile because IT has to format if for American machines. As you will see, she is really a cutie! We took a video of Justina! She is such a sweet child. For now I am attaching her pictures and the video will be sent later on. Justina seems to be a kind and disciplined girl. She was described as very musical child: she likes dancing very much. With one caregiver her relationship is very special, Justina loves her very much. It was said that when Justina likes to do something, she does it very passionately and actively. Justina speaks very little but she understands absolutely everything, and displays all she is asked to. However, today wasn't her day and the caregiver said that Justina was not in the mood today. Most probably, because of the stranger with a camera J All in all, the staff spoke very positively and encouragingly about the girl. They said that she is very prospective girl if someone would work with her personally for some time. In the pictures she is spotted with chocolate, not dirty J I really hope the family would love her and will continue an adoption. Sincerely, Elona