Time for another update!  We are currently in the middle of our home study, which means our formal
application was approved. Woohoo!

For those not familiar with home studies, let me give you some background. The first 3 meetings are typically at a neutral location and consist of one 2 hour interview as a couple, and then one 2 hour interview for each individual.  The final meeting is held at our home, where our social worker will check it out and make sure it's safe.  There will also be some final questions to complete our interview process.  

At this point, we have completed 3 of the 4 meetings. We have also completed all our online training and CPR certifications. So basically the only [major] thing that stands between us and the "waiting list" is our home visit from our social worker and an approved home study from our agency. Our visit is scheduled for January 7th.  Our social worker (who is awesome!) has told us that her goal is to have our draft complete for us to review by January 12th.  After we review the home study, it will be submitted to our agency.  The board at our agency will then meet to review and [Lord willing] approve our home study. This typically takes 2-3 weeks.  I anticipate we will then have to meet with the owner of our agency and finish up some final things like our photo book, online profile, and letter to our child's birthmom. We are thinking it will probably sometime in mid-late February before we are able to be on the waiting list. Although it really is hard to know...

After we go on the waiting list, we will be doing just that...waiting. A birthmom will then have to choose our family.  Depending on how open the birthmom desires for the adoption to be, we may or may not meet with the birthmom to make sure we are a good fit. There is also a possibility for a hospital placement, which means we could get a call about a baby that has already been born and needs a family. So many unknowns for my type A personality, but the Lord is using this process to teach me so much, and I am so grateful. We are trusting that he will give us the perfect baby that he has hand selected for our family.

We finally got our crib put together, but I am having a hard time creating a vision for the rest of our nursery since we do not know the gender of our baby or when they will arrive. It is quite overwhelming! We love the fun little gifts we got over Christmas for our sweet baby and it has made us even more excited to meet him/her.

Finally, I want to say a HUGE thank you to those who have supported us, prayerfully and financially, during this journey.  We have raised over $4100 with various fundraisers and donations and are SO SO grateful. We know that adoption is the Lord's work and are grateful that he has chosen us as his hands and feet for this child.  We couldn't do this will our your love, support, and prayers.

Please continue to pray for:
The completion and approval of our home study.
Our child's birthmom: her pregnancy and her heart to be surrendered to the Lord (if it isn't already).
Our child's health and delivery.
A match (preferably sooner, rather than later). Ha!
Patience for us as we play the waiting game.
Our hearts as we prepare to become [Godly] parents.

We love you and hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior!
xoxo,
Brittany