Update

No cute title for this one - just a quick update. More for me than anyone else, as I really want to start documenting our journey now.

After getting all our ducks in a row, we actually decided - for several reasons - it was in our best interest to switch agencies. Fortunately, the new agency was almost identical in their application process and we were able to quickly reassemble our files and get them turned in.

We met with a fab woman from Legacy Adoptions and shared our story. Everything she shared with us sounded great, so we handed in our application and family photo album and finally got the process going!

Since then, we've had our background check run and cleared, and then went on to have our fingerprints done. This is a new law, by the way, that just went into effect about 6 months ago, I believe.

So now we wait for those results to come back, and then we can schedule our home study. That will likely happen around mid-March, and with a 2-week processing period to document their findings, we should be completely cleared for a match by early April!

Needless to say, we're relieved to nearly have the most laborious part of the process behind us. I'm working a little each day to make sure the house is in order for our visit from the social worker - purging old stuff we don't need, organizing, etc. I guess you could call this an early "nesting" phase. They say your house doesn't have to be pristine in order to have a successful home study, but if you know me... Well, let's just say I'll probably be scrubbing baseboards right up until the doorbell rings!

So...(deep breath)...that's all for now! Thank you, as always, for your prayers, encouragement, and thoughts of us and of Joy. We will continue to share updates as they happen!

Love,
Jenn