our final home study visit
We did it! We had our final in-person home study visit and we passed! We were so nervous to have everything just right and ended up running on four hours sleep and four double shots of espresso on the actual day. But the house looked as best as it possibly could (thanks to our incredible community of friends who have rallied around us so hard the last month to get us here). The visit itself lasted about three hours. Our social worker Amy (who is just the best) chatted with one of our references who had to come here on the day too, with us, and then with our boys. We gave her a quick tour of the house and that was it. Home study (almost) done.
What's next to get it all wrapped up? A few things. Amy needs to write-up our report, which we need to proof read before it’s considered done. She also has to call and chat to our other two references (all three have already supplied written references too - they like to cover their bases). Windows are installed on the 18th (NEXT WEEK YOU GUYS!) and then we have our two county inspections on the 20th and 26th. That’s it!
Once it’s finalized we can immediately apply for our I-800A with USCIS, and then we gather all our dossier paperwork (which includes the home study), make sure everything is notarized (which also has to be doubly certified at the court the notary has their commission), and then send them to apostilled. Then they go back to our adoption agency who sends them to Bulgaria to be translated before being sent to the MOJ (the office that handles adoptions in Bulgaria). Somewhere in all of this we get fingerprints taken again as part of our USCIS application. Then we wait for the I-800A to be approved and finally, once Bulgaria has everything in hand, we get scheduled for trip one AND we should also be given updated information on Tippi (the only information/photos/videos we have are from when she was listed for adoption and were taken in early April). So many steps to go, but we are one big step closer to bringing our little girl home (and that is what I am holding onto).
