AGCI phone call

Today we had our run through for our dossier with AGCI. Through talking with our case worker it made me feel a lot more comfortable with all of the paperwork we have to do. I am still very overwhelmed right now. She said it was great how much we had already gotten done for our home study because we actually had to get together more stuff for that.

We are going to the city county building on Friday to get fingerprinted and get a criminal history report. I am also going to go pick up copies of our birth certificates.

We signed up for our adoption classes that we do online. We started our With Eyes Wide Open workbook tonight. It has 20 chapters so hopefully we can get it done within the next few weeks. We have 6 online courses that we have to take.

Everyone continue to pray for us as we go through all of the processes. I am really a go getter and want to get things done "right now". I am going to learn some patience throughout our journey!

Oh, how I can't wait to meet our baby.

We turned on the TV the other night and American Idol was on and one of the previous American Idols went to Africa to help out. Maggie saw it and said "that is where our baby is!" she is so precious and she was right. That is where our baby is. It is so real.

Dossier

We received our Dossier packet yesterday and all I can say is "wow" we have a lot of work on our hands! I am really excited to get all of it done! I was thinking this morning how much stuff we have to do and then I thought here in a couple of months it will all be done. It won't take long. As long as we let God take control of it all it will not be stressful. We just have to remember that! I am anxious for our phone Dossier run through tomorrow with AGCI, so then I can understand a little more of all of all we have to do.

We are feeling a big ball of emotions right now. Happy, anxious, nervous, scared, worried, joyous...it's tiresome, but I know it will be worth it all in the end when we are bringing our new little bundle home.

the paperwork goes on...

Today we had our office appointment with Adoption Support Center. It took about two hours. We signed some paperwork and answered a bunch of questions about our relationship with our parents, grandparents, siblings, each other and our kids. And we also had to describe ourselves. That was really hard! Trying to describe ourselves isn't the easiest thing to do. We helped each other out.

We talked to the lady from the bank today and she broke the news to us that we weren't approved for the amount that we thought we were. It covered our first payment to AGCI, so that worked out great. I know that when we are trying to do what God wants us to do Satan tries to intervene. I also know that God doesn't want us to solely rely on this line of credit. He wants us to rely on Him! and we are going to. He is going to do amazing things.

We also sent in our orientation packet and first payment to AGCI. I was so excited to finally send it in!

Our next step is to have an in home visit for the home study. We also complete our dossier. We will receive all of the dossier paperwork from AGCI after they get our orientation packet, which will be tomorrow. Next week we have to go to the police station and get fingerprinted and get background checks. We also have to take a 10 hour course online. Lots and lots of stuff to do.

We never knew how much "stuff" you had to do when you are going through an adoption, but wow it is a lot. But totally worth it! We are so excited! Just to think that our baby probably has been conceived is amazing! oh we cant wait!

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Paperwork

Today we had all of our orientation papers notarized. While we were at the bank we applied for a line of credit to start paying for our adoption expenses. We were instantly approved, which was a surprise because we thought it would at least take a few days for an approval. We have really been praying that all of this process would be smooth and so far so good. We will be sending in all of our orientation stuff next week to AGCI. We also start our home study this coming Wednesday. We are just so overjoyed! This is really happening!

pictures of the girls

Here are a few recent pictures of Maggie and Hazel. Hazel loves swinging on the big girl swing. She says "wing" and gets mad if we dont let her swing. Maggie loves dressing up and playing her guitar. She is a diva or she would probably say a rockstar.

Ethiopian Baby

Yesterday I needed some confirmation that this is what God wants from us. After our orientation call Lorinda from AGCI emailed out a picture of this baby. The parents are in Ethiopia right now picking her up. We look at this baby and know that God has a special baby for us. A baby that he wants us to raise. What a beautiful child and definitely confirmation!