Chapter Fourteen: Homestudy...Check! The Next Step Is...

It is done!!!!!

We had our homestudy visit this past Thursday. We are so glad to be done with that. It was quite stressful leading up to it, but then before we knew it...it was over!

After Pabbi came home from his internship this summer we wanted to do a huge 'Fall Cleaning' before he went back to school. So we started uprooting every room in our place, cleaning it thoroughly and putting things back. Of course, it didn't get done before school started again; as did his new internship. I tried to do things as best as I could, but did not get too much done. So our apartment looked in total disarray creating a bit of panic to settle in. Lucky for us, a dear friend came to help clean the day before the homestudy; but even after she left we still had the dreaded room: office/storage room upstairs - the room that would become ours, so Sufi could have our room. Thursday morning, I woke up so so sick! I had had a cold the week before that I thought I kicked (and had passed onto Pabbi) but Thursday morning I woke so ill! Sneezing, coughing, body aches, headache, and fever. I persevered and with Pabbi's help we cleaned that office so it at least could show that it had potential to be a bedroom.

By the time the Social Worker came, I was exhausted, yet strangely calm! She came in and we talked for almost two hours. We laughed, joked, informed, and discussed all that needed to be talked over. She was an incredible woman. In fact, she has 12 children herself, from all over the world. She really knew what she was doing. Before she left, she said she just needed to see our kitchen, and that she would not need to go upstairs through the rest of the rooms (we were dumbfounded and somewhat disappointed). We know she could tell the size of the upstairs by the downstairs layout (our apartment is not that complex). Later Pabbi told me he wanted to herd her upstairs to show off our hard work!

All in all everything seemed to go real well. She said that all she needed was to await a final confirmation from Iceland on his background check and then she could write up the final report. We kind of got the feeling we would be approved, but we will keep praying that this feeling is indeed accurate.

THE NEXT STEP

We were told to start focusing on the I-600a and the Dossier for Ghana. So that is what we are doing. But once we get our homestudy report things are going to be going fast. So not only do we need to get this paperwork done, but our attention now needs to focus on doing some serious FUNDRAISING. If things go well, and as fast as Jessica's pace went, we have about a month and a half to two months tops to raise all the money we need. We have about $3,050 and need to raise another $7,000 so that all this can really actually happen!!!!!

It brings tears to my eyes and my heart swells thinking that in just 3 months I will FINALLY be a mother, that Pabbi will FINALLY be a father.

We Love you Sufi!

Chapter Thirteen: Homestudy Panic

This post is merely a way to document my fear (with a hope that in reality I can look back and laugh at being so afraid). But I am terrified! Our homestudy is on Thursday and I am terrified we will be rejected/not approved to adopt! Plus, there is still so much to do before we have this appointment and the hours are ticking away faster than we can move.

I think our greatest fear is that we are still poor students. Yes, we know here in Happy Valley, that most parents are poor and that they have two or three children on a budget that only one person should be able to survive on. But the reality is that the Government requires much more before giving permission to become an adoptive parent. I think it is sad because we do well, and don't need much, but we fear our documents may say otherwise. So our fear stands and will probably stand until both our homestudy and the USCIS (INS) clears us. It is interesting we haven't yet feared our ability to fundraise what we need for the 'process' itself; we have full confidence in God that we will be able to. But we lack that faith when it comes to proving we have enough to care in the long run. We do have to do our part. At this point it is all on pure faith!

We are not too concerned about our Social Worker coming to talk to us. We are actually excited to meet her, and ask our billion questions.
We are concerned, because she will come into our apartment and well, we had started an in-depth 'Fall Clean" before school started for Pabbi, and well, did not quite make the deadline of getting finished before he started. So I have been trying to patch up and put things back together before Thursday! Yikes! Will she come and think we are filthy or that we are too clean?

I know, I know we just need to

It is just soooo hard, when something so important is riding on us and our fear of failing will rip the one most beautiful thing going in our life right now.

Please pray for us, and that all will go right; that we will be approved in our homestudy and that the USCIS will also say we are good enough!

Chapter Twelve: Gifts for Samuel

Because L.M. is going to Ghana, we couldn't resist sending some things for Sufi. We wish it were us being sent to go be with him; but we will settle sending these few things.

This first idea was taken from another adoptive parent, who created and sent a book to their little girl.

A few sample pages:

He will have a home...
He will have a mamma and a Pabbi
That Love him.

He will have a Grandma Kay and a Grandpa Lynn
who love him very much.
He will have an Afi and an Amma in Iceland
that love him very much. We will be a happy family.
This is a dog and a baby cougar (BYU).

An adoptive mother gave us a great idea to get stuffed animals and sleep with them in our bed for a week or so, to pick up 'our scent' and then when Sufi plays with these, he can become familiar with how we smell. We had alot of fun sleeping with these two in our bed.

This is an outfit we hope that will fit.
We chose colors that we hoped would not look to dirty
after wearing and washing.Notice, the shorts are the same?
We only sent one pair of shorts and three shirts.
We do hope that the clothes fit, and when we pick Sufi up,
we will leave these outfits behind to be used by any other children who can fit into them.

We also sent a book. Isn't it so cute.
We hope L.M. and other children will be able to read this to Sufi.
We also sent a Poof ball for Sufi to play with.
We hope Sufi will love these and that he will enjoy sharing them with the other little children.

We can't wait for him to come home!

We Love You Sufi!