Update

So much for keeping this blog updated! We've been so busy in paperwork I haven't shared so much great info.

We received our Home Study paperwork and Dossier paper work a couple weeks ago and have been fervently working on them.

The home study is a combination of paperwork and interview meetings with a social worker so that she can learn about us, our parenting style, etc. In the end a "home study" document is written up about us and we (hopefully) are aproved to adopt by the social worker!

The Dossier (pronounced with a silent "r") is a packet of documents that are required by Ethiopia to adopt in the proper layout and order. One of the main items of the dossier is the USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) aproval. This consists of getting an appointment for fingerprinting and submitting a completed copy of our home study and can take a few months before the approval is received. While we wait for the USCIS approval we can fininsh the rest of the paperwork for the dossier. Once we receive the USCIS approval and have completed the dossier then we get placed on the waiting list for a child.

The home study needs to be completed before the Dossier so that is our first priority although some of the paper work overlaps. There were medical forms for both home study and dossier and so I wisely made one doctor appointment and had both filled out at the same time.... and also got a tetnis shot to my surprise!