HOME STUDY DONE!!

The photo has nothing to do with anything. I just felt like the post needed a picture. So here's a picture of Little Buddy eating Jello. :) Our home study is done! Our home study is done! Woo hoo! That felt like an eternity and it's probably one of the shortest, easiest parts of the process. So tomorrow we'll be sending off a request for immigration for a non-specified adoptee. Then we have to be fingerprinted, and then wait for something else (its all very confusing to me), AND THEN we can send a big, fat packet of paperwork to China. We're working on that big, fat packet right now where every document has to be notarized, then stamped with the "Great Seal" of Michigan, and then authenticated at the Chinese consulate. Phew. After all of that, THEN we can start the matching process. Stand by... :) After being matched (and then approved by China for that specific child which takes some time), we were told to expect 3-4 months until we travel. (I usually can't remember how long each step takes until I'm about to take that step, so all I know is we are still on track to have this kiddo home by the end of this year if all the things take the amount of time that they regularly take!) Many people have asked us what age our child will be once we bring her home. Our agency has a policy about preserving birth order and prefer the adopted child to be at least 9 months younger than the youngest child. They said the youngest kids on the list are usually around 10 months. So if we're bringing her home at the end of this year, I'm guessing she'll probably be between 13 and 24 months (ish).