Home Study PaperWORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finished it all about 2 weeks ago. I never imagined getting together the papers to adopt would be so time consuming, but it was. It took me about 6 weeks to finish, and I wasn't even working! I cannot imagine trying to get it all together while teaching school and living life. Here's the list of everything I gathered for the home study, and where I had to go to get it if I didn't have it already.

• Certified birth certificates for every member of the family (health department)
• Marriage license (Rutherford County Clerk's office)
• Financial information form
• Copy of driver's license (I forgot this one- oops!)
• Copy of front page of federal tax returns for the last 3 years
• Statement from bank stating how long we have been customers, that we are in good standing, and the current balance in savings and checking accounts
• Letter from employer stating job title, length of employment, salary, and probability of continued employment
• 4 letters of recommendation (3 from non-family members and 1 from a family member) stating how they know us, how long they have known us, what kind of people we are, and what kind of parents we would be to a child we adopt
• Medical forms for each adoptive parent and for any child in the home (4 doctor's visits!)
• FBI fingerprinting (a place in town does this)
• Residential history form
• Vaccination record for any pets in the house
• Copy of water bill
• Home study agreement form
• Home study release form
• Confidential disclosure forms on members of the household over 12 years old
• Picture of the family

WHEW! It definitely was a lot, but it will be worth it. We also had our first visit with the social worker this morning at 8:30! That is so early for us at the end of the summer. She came to the house, interviewed all 4 of us, and looked around the house. She didn't look in the closets (that would have been okay- you all know Phillip) or look to see if the bathtubs were clean (that wouldn't have been okay- you all know me). She was super nice about everything, and I think we came off as pretty decent people!

We have one more visit with the social worker, and then we will begin working to find our baby. I pray for our baby and his/her mother daily, hoping they are safe and that they will find their way to us sooner rather than later.

Love-

Ashley