What's happening now?

We've had some questions about where we're at in the process, so I thought I should give that update.
We're in the last stages of our Home Study.  Today will be the last of what we need to do on our end.  Physicals and drug screens will be complete.  If all of our state clearance are back (one from each state we've lived in since age 18) and personal references have been completed/returned, then our Home Study will be complete.  This allows us to submit our pre-file documents to our little guy's country.  They will need apostilled before being sent, but hopefully they'll be on their way to EE within the next 2 weeks.

We've completed all of our education requirements.  There was some carry-over from our stint in the domestic program, but also some additional requirements including Hague classes.  The adoption classes are great.  Not only are they informational, but they also provide an environment where you can meet other families on the same journey.

Once we have our Home Study in hand, we can submit our documents to US Immigration.  This step gets us the okay to bring a child to the US as well as schedules us for our digital fingerprints.

The past week or so I've felt like I haven't had much to do (adoption-wise).  I keep thinking I should be working on some paperwork.  The crazy thing with adoption is that things have to be completed in a certain order.  Right now, everything on our To Do list has to be dated/notarized after our Home Study is complete.  Once our pre-file documents are submitted (sent to EE, translated, and delivered to the Minister of Education), the real 'work' begins.  There are tons and tons of documents that become our dossier.  They have to be collected, notarized, and apostilled.  However, these are also time-sensitive.  They have to be dated within 3 months of our court date.  If we were to gather them too early, we'd risk them not being valid for our hearing.

One area of prayer is that everything can be accomplished quickly.  We're getting to the time of the year where there are many holidays approaching... Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.  Government offices will be shutting down and workers will be taking vacations both here and in EE.  The paper progression will slow.

On a fun note, I've started my first knitting project for our little guy.  I know several of 'my knitting friends' can't read that statement without wondering what it is.  It's the Milo vest.  I've heard that children in EE tend to be dressed more warmly than we do here in the States.  I've also seen photos of the children in EE orphanages dressed in layers-- one of which is a vest.  I'm planning on taking it on our first trip.  I'm hopeful they'll wear it on him while he waits for our return to bring him home.  I'm also hoping the orphanage will then keep it to be used for the kids left behind.  Afterall, our little guy will have a Mommy who can knit for him the rest of her life.

So that's where things currently stand in our paperchase.  I'm off to get in a little bit more knitting before we head to the last of the doctors' appointments.