Homestudy is Done...One Step Closer!

Mailing contracts to CAS!

Yesterday, Jenna from Adoption answers came back out to our house for the first time since Mikhail's post-placement reports were finished a few years ago.  It was good to see Jenna again and to work with someone familiar to have this new homestudy done for Ana's adoption.  It was great, too, to get to "show off" our sweet boy and how he has grown and matured since she saw him last. :)  Jenna will need a few weeks to get her notes and all our information organized the way they need to be presented within the dossier, then our agency (CAS) will approve everything inside the homestudy and it will be ready to head off for translation in Russia.

While Jenna is getting her part ready, I have been given the go-ahead to start gathering the rest if the documents for our dossier.  Whoopee!  We sent in our signed contracts to CAS last week so we are officially part of the Russia Program at CAS now and working on our dossier.  In my strange little brain I enjoy this step because it gives me something to have some control over in this whole event that is waaaaay too complicated for me to pretend like I can be in control!  I will be running all over Austin, San Antonio, Houston, etc. to get what we need, so there will be a lot of "car-schooling" taking place in the next few weeks....but it will be fun to have my sidekick along while we keep making progress toward bringing little sister home.

My sweet guys at work!

We used the homestudy as an excuse to get Ana's room painted.  I've been daydreaming about how to decorate her walls (my favorite part!), so I think we will be painting birch trees on one wall with Russian dancing bears on canvases or in frames on the other walls.  I think it will be very peaceful with the soothing colors and sweet matroyshkas and smiling bears all around.  Seeing her room come together helps the realization sink in that there will soon be another little human being in our house. :)  God speed, Ana!