Back to School- check! First Home Study Visit- check!

Well, another big step in the process yesterday as we had our first home study meeting with our social worker, Ann. She is so great that we spent hours here at the house and most of it was just talking about life- lol! Its so great to have another major hurdle cleared and since Ann wrote a favorable home study for us when we thought about pursuing domestic adoption (and not much has changed thank goodness), it should be fairly painless.

By far though I have to say one of the most frustrating aspects of this whole journey so far has been getting the child abuse clearances from states we have lived in. Has anyone else experienced this lunacy and even more reason for a master central registry nationwide?? Now, our home state (SC) isn't hard at all and neither was MI, whose online services and information are very user friendly and tell you exactly what you need to complete etc. WI was ok, if not a little unorthodox and odd, but still helpful once we reached the person in charge. A little phone/email tag and finally, success. But MN? Simply awful! Not only did they NEVER answer their phones or return left messages, the time allotment required to decipher their website and find the correct forms is unreal. We asked for help via mail and they sent us back a sticky note with white out on it- I mean, seriously? In the amount of time it probably took to find the white out the person could have emailed us- duh. Our social worker said she had done international adoptions before and they were real bad (but not as bad as VA- boy did she have a story for that!). Still, I think we've got it all figured out and all those silly forms are in the mail or finished, so we're on our way.

Question though about these- did you all have the originals returned to you after the social worker received them and then have them notarized etc OR did the originals get put in the home study and then that whole thing was notarized by the social worker before sent to you? Does that make sense? I know we need at least one set of 12 original documents per Lina for the dossier (and a second set with copies of the clearances and affidavits), but I can't figure out if these clearance forms are separate entities or included in the home study. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

You may remember my little "gossiping" situation I had at the police department? Well, as much as I wanted to, I opted to not say anything since I guess it was an innocent thing and never meant to go far. Granted, it still left me very distrustful and disgusted, but I did decide to get another set of prints done at the same place. My first set looked a little smudged to send to the FBI and rather than wait for them to just reject them, I had them done again. So with trepidation, cynacism, and a little chip on my shoulder I walked into the PD. Well, God must have heard my pleas because the officer that helped me out was the sweetest man who took special care when I told him it was for adoption. Ok, I admit it, I had "practiced" rolling my prints at home, but this set came out great and even he said it was one of his best ever. We'll see if the FBI agree, but for now a big "Phew!"and brow wipe.

We also started to school this week! My son (a 3rd grader- I can't believe it!) was thrilled and so excited! I was too, not because he'll be gone (I miss him during the day) but because this should be a fantastic grade and he'll learn so much. I love seeing what sponges kids are at this age! I spoke with both his principal (awesome man) and his teacher and kinda broke the ground for the potential regarding the trips. They were both super about it and I feel much better already (see my freakout post- lol). That and everything else made it a much better adoption-related week. I know the Holy Mother and our Heavenly Father are supporting and loving us all the way!