Getting Tian

I wasn't sure what this final home study visit would be like, with our social worker coming into our house and all. A white glove inspection was not what I prepared for, although I did have tulips growing out of a pot and coordinated candles in a pretty impressive, color-coordinated arrangement on the table... the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls coming from the oven and a steamy cup of raspberry tea. Too much?? Well our sw did tease me that now she could stamp "verified" on my favorite childhood memory of cinnamon rolls and hot tea on Saturday nights.

We showed her our home, the books (explained all of the themes in every room and stairwell), the yard area where the girl(s) will play, the room for the baby(ies) that will hopefully magically transform itself while we are in China (since Steve doesn't seem to think we need to work on it until we are home, each carrying a twin on a hip!)

From here... a few more reference forms and a document need to arrive in the mail for our agency to complete the study. Then we will proofread the home study and send it off to Charlotte to immigration. We will be contacted for fingerprinting appointments and then wait about two to three months for a very special paper called I-171. While we are waiting, our other paperwork will continue to enjoy their little trips to stamping offices around the state and eventually make it to federal buildings in Washington, D.C. They will be translated into Chinese and be already for the big trip to China about ten months before we are allowed to go.

Just think, you may get to read this blog for a whole year... I've been warned that the waiting months are pretty quiet, like throwing our precious, stamped, translated dossier treasure into a deep black hole where there is only long, disturbing silence!