The Approval

as i'm sure you know by now, one part of this adoption process we're ready to have behind us is our home study. more importantly, an approved home study. our adoption case worker mailed our completed home study to DCFS for approval a couple weeks after receipt of our foster license. we've been waiting on the edge of our seats ever since. Emily and i have literally been asking our friends/family to pray for the person who would be receiving it. it just so happens in the state of Illinois there is only ONE person who has the power to approve or deny home studies. we've heard from a few other families that it's in this phase that they've had some slight difficulty, so naturally Emily and i were freakin' out a little bit. 

I slept in this morning. Not over slept, just didn't have to wake up to an alarm. I can't stand morning alarms. I find no repeating noise pleasant when I'm waking up. No buzz, ding, song, beep, or nature noise....nothing outside of my own biological clock creates an enjoyable waking experience. Thankfully this is how I started my day, because Tony and I had the day off work...yay for PTO! So it was mid-morning before I was seated at the computer with a large cup of coffee and the intent to post a few of our Christmas photos online. Before I could make much progress I received a phone call from our adoption case worker. I could feel my hopes rise as I answered the call. There wasn't much small talk before she happily announced that our home study had been approved by the state! I told her I'd try to finish our conversation without getting all teary and thanked her all over again for the hard work she'd put into it for us. As I hung up the call, I returned to our front room and patiently creepily waited for Tony to return from his morning run. I couldn't wait to tell him our good news!

i was just getting in from a run and as soon as i walked through the front door Emily hopped up to greet me. she tried to ask how my run went and how i was feeling, but there was something else she wanted to say. don't get me wrong....Emily often greets me after a run to ask me how it went, but this morning was different. since i wasn't expecting her to tell me that our home study was approved, i figured she was going to tell me about a donation that came in unexpectedly. i was so caught off guard when she told me she had gotten the phone call we have been waiting for. the same phone call we weren't expecting until after the holidays. 

getting to this point totally rocks. as far we know we're still on track for travelling in the spring. next step: US Immigration and shipping our dossier off to East Africa!