Whew! So much to do!

Today we had two meetings - one at Fairbanks Counseling and Adoption, and one over the phone with Bethany Christian Services. Both meetings have resulted in LOTS of paperwork. As my friends Ken and Chelsey joked, we're "paperwork pregnant": instead of prenatal doctor visits we get mountains of paper to fill out!

The meeting at FCA was basically informational. Melody Jamieson, one of the social workers there, talked with us about what to expect in the homestudy process and started a file for us. She gave us a stack of papers that need to be filled out, so we will be pretty busy getting those done. We also made an appointment to have our fingerprints done for our FBI background check. We also need to have a local police clearance done - we still need to get that scheduled, but it's basically a call ahead and walk-up trip.

A little later in the day, our caseworker at Bethany, Becky, called to talk with us about the process at Bethany. She also gave us access to the formal application (MORE mountains of paperwork) to get that started. Originally, I thought we wouldn't get to start the formal application until March but she surprised us. Thankfully, the Bethany "paperwork" is all online, so we won't have to keep track of more actual paper.

One of the things we talked about in the phone meeting was financing. Although the federal government does let us take a tax credit for adoption expenses, it will not cover everything. Bill figures we'll have a substantial tax return coming to us, and we'll have our annual PFD arriving in October, but we'll need to take a look at some other options, too, I think.

So, it looks like we're moving right along. I look at all those papers to fill out and have to take a deep breath - we WILL get it all done! But most importantly, every step we take in our adoption journey takes us just that bit closer to the baby we'll one day welcome to our home. We are already praying for the birthmother and that precious child - I hope you join us!