Homestudy is so much paperwork!

I have not had a chance to write a blog post in a few weeks because we are buried in gathering all the required documents for our home study and filling out all the required paperwork. Here is a list of some of the items we have to gather:
1. Birth Certificates
2. Marriage Certificate
3. 5-6 Reference Letters from Friends/Family, that have to be sealed and signed OVER the seal in order to vouch that we have not tampered with it!
4. Doctor's notes stating we are in good health and able to take care of a child.
5. County criminal check.
6. State criminal check - fingerprints had to be made first, then sent with this and a money order.
7. FBI clearance - again, another set of fingerprints sent off. If you take a baby across state lines before the courts officially sign off on your adoption, they have to ensure you're not wanted in another state.
8. Notary signed release forms for the FBI clearances to be sent directly to the adoption agency.
9. Application forms - general applications, forms to talk about our marriage, our thoughts about parenting, our thoughts about our spouse, our thoughts about our spouse becoming a parent
10. Guardianship forms
11. Expense forms (monthly budget)
12. Copies of our W-2's, copies of our current pay stubs or letters from our employers vouching for our employment
There's more, but I'm tired and can't remember the rest.

In the middle of filling all that out, we are also required to read a manual from our agency, which so far has been super helpful - it lays out the entire process, pricing, scenarios, emotions etc. It's been a real comfort and has answered a lot of my questions and also quelled a lot of my random worries. After we finish the manual, we move onto some forms for the agency - a questionnaire that allows us to state our preferences when it comes to the child - things like ethnicity, gender, and also how the mother has treated the child in utereo (did she smoke, drink, take drugs, get pre-natal care?), our budget etc.

AND we have to gather 50 pictures - that's right 50 PICTURES of us, our home, pets, hobbies, family, friends and life - for the profile that birthmothers will see both in paper form and on the agency website.

We have a lot to do! It's all worth it though. All these hours spent huddled around our coffee table, on the computer, standing in line at the post office, at the clerk of court*, and at the bank, will be quickly forgotten once that precious child is in my arms. This is really the easy part. Once the baby is home with us and I'm sleep deprived and haven't had a shower for 4 days, all this paperwork will look like a vacation ;)

So if you don't hear from us for the next few weeks, thanks for your patience and grace. We have a lot to do for our home study and agency so we can become a waiting family sooner than later. That and we are both working full-time, Matt is in school full-time and we're trying to keep some normalcy too - church, friends, cookouts, date nights etc. But know we love you all friends and family and are thankful for your constant encouragement and love and prayers.

* Holy crap the clerk of court is scary place to be. The line to get your record check is right next to the line to see the Assistant DA or DA. Needless to say I was highly uneasy and glad I am a law abiding citizen.