Last night, we had the 'home' study portion of the Home Study. Meaning, our social worker, Diane, actually came to the house to check and make sure that our living conditions are acceptable. In preparation, I spent the day cleaning and scrubbing the house so it looked in pristine condition. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed she didn't actually inspect our toilets to see how clean they were! (Because, you know, clean toilets are definitely a sign of good parenting!) Mainly, she just walked around the house and made sure we knew to keep poisonous items out of a child's reach, had working smoke detectors, and a basic plan on where the new baby will sleep. She also met Josh, who was very ready for bed by that point, but was in a great mood. He definitely made us look good.
Last week, Jay and I each met with her for our individual interview portion of the Home Study. Diane is so easy to talk with, and so the interviews were far from nerve-wrenching. She asked questions which easily led into other questions, and before I knew it, the interview was done. I've really been happy working with her so far. We feel very comfortable asking her questions, and she's amazing at addressing concerns that we have.
Our fingerprint clearances just came in the mail, so now all that is left for the Home Study is for Diane to type it up. She'll then send the Home Study to CIS (Citizenship & Immigration Services) in order to complete our I-600A Orphan Application. Once that is completed we'll:
- Send everything (aka. the Dossier) to Springfield in order to have our notarized documents authenticated.
- Send these authenticated documents to Chicago to be translated into French.
- Send these French, authenticated documents to the Haitian Consulate in Chicago to be authenticated one last time.
- Send these re-authenticated, French, authenticated documents to Haiti where they'll then match us with a child!
