Stick a fork in us. WE. ARE. DONE.

Remember the post where I raged against the home study?

That thing. The home study. We are finally done with it.

Two months of filling out paperwork, going to notaries, uploading documents, digging up birth certificates and our marriage license, researching where to get fingerprinted, driving to said location and waiting in line to get fingerprinted, calling doctors to schedule physicals and get forms completed, going to the doctor to get those physicals, getting poked and prodded for blood work and TB testing, peeing in a cup, going back to have the TB test interpreted (while my son lay asleep on the arm the nurse needed to look at), sitting in front of the computer to do online coursework, reading books on parenting, sitting in front of a social worker for multiple hours of interviews, having our home inspected, going out to get a fire extinguisher and first aid kit (both required), asking friends and family to complete forms (and prodding them when we needed said forms), outlining our finances, finding and uploading tax returns, writing autobiographies, scanning and uploading…scanning and uploading… so. much. paperwork.

I wish I’d kept track of how many hours I sat at the computer or scanner, drove around greater Los Angeles, spent on the phone, sat in a waiting room or office, etc. doing something related to this home study. Come to think of it, Jeff probably did track his time spent. He’s a big fan of time tracking because, as he often likes to quote to me, “What gets measured gets managed!”

Well, today we got the final report from the social worker, in all its 12 pages of glory. I cried when I read the last paragraph.

Even though I expected nothing less, just knowing that we are finally done stirred up all the feels. (I’m a 4 on the Enneagram, if you know anything about that. Lots of emotion lives inside this gal.)

Can I just take a minute to thank all the folks who have and are walking this and our previous adoption journey with us?

We had no less than 8 people – 4 individuals and 2 couples – write us character references for this adoption home study (and 4 people the last time). We have no idea what you said, since we weren’t allowed to see them, but thank you for whatever it was. It worked! They said you were all very supportive! Phew!

Thank you to the friends who let me vent (often whine) via text, phone, or in person. Thank you for your encouragement and positive feedback, and for gracefully and supportively receiving my outbursts of frustration.

Thank you to the community we are part of, the women’s and moms’ groups I’m in, our church family, and our family family. You’ve heard a lot, you’ve asked a lot, and we are eternally grateful for your love, support, and investment in us and our family’s story.

Lest I forget… thank you, wine. I would be remiss if I didn’t thank wine. You got us through many a late night sitting at the computer answering the same question, asked in a different way, for the billionth time.

So what’s next?

Funny you should ask. There have been some other developments, and you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out more about those.