Home Study Update

Happy Fall! We have been busy! On October 12th we were notified that our dossier (our pack of documents and home study) was out of translation and had moved into the review stage. This is where it is reviewed by officials in China to see if we meet their requirements. Then, on October 20th we were notified that our dossier had completed review and we were in the "to be matched" stage. Basically, China is done with our paperwork until we match. Our agency sent out an email a few weeks ago that the wait for a referral is growing longer and is now at about six months. This is longer than we expected, but "our spot in line" started when we were LID (August 23rd), not from the home study update, so we're already over two months in on the wait. Also, while I'm anxious to know who our daughter is and to bring her home, Tom and I have both had peace through this entire process that God does not make mistakes and we will be matched with the child He has always intended for our family, regardless of how long that takes. It could be anywhere from a few days to more than six months, so we just prepare for a long wait and might be pleasantly surprised with a short one!

It's hard to believe that Charlie is already three months old! Since he is, we were able to update our home study. The social worker came over this morning for a brief visit. She met Charlie and asked how everyone was doing with addition of a new baby. It really was a short and sweet visit, which was nice! She said the Home Study addendum should be completed sometime next week. I also received information from our social worker in Alabama on how to update our immigration application, so we'll work on that and send it and the official home study off to the Department of Homeland Security. I'm not sure if this is when we are eligible to match, but it feels better knowing we are accomplishing tasks rather than just waiting. We also have about nine (more) hours of mandatory education to complete before we can travel, so we're getting started on that.

Graham continues to adjust to life as a family of four, but has been doing much better. He loves to show his brother "Charry" to his friends and always wants to know where he is when they aren't together. Our social worker encouraged us today that the first child usually has a tough time with the addition of the first sibling, but it's not as bad with subsequent siblings. Charlie is getting so big and is starting to smile, "talk", and occasionally giggle. He likes to watch his brother play and despite my best attempts to prevent it, he tries to get his thumb in his mouth. I wish he would take a pacifier so we could take it away eventually, but I guess you never have to worry about forgetting a thumb at home. He also is sleeping through the night 7pm-6am a few nights a week and only waking once at about 4am on the other nights, so we are getting some good sleep! I started back at work this week, just two mornings a week, and it's good to be back. I truly enjoy my work and am glad it works out for our family for me to work some, even if it's not much during this season of life. We took a quick family trip to the mountains a few weeks ago, which was quite the adventure, and are heading to Disney World for a few days next week. It's been a very busy fall, but it makes the wait seem shorter!

At Shenandoah Cavern. It was so beautiful!