[diane614]

We had our first home study appointment yesterday. I was very nervous, but it went really well.

We covered our life stories - where we were born, where we grew up, how many in the family, how we got along, school, work.

We have our second session next Saturday, where we'll cover our marriage and reasons for adopting.

I started a binder with all the info from the adoption agency, social worker and home study agency, with folders for all the letters sent and documents received.

Some days I feel like we haven't gotten that far, but then I look into the dossier documents folder (which is getting larger every week) and the requests sent and feel better.

[skingspan]

Congratulations, glad to hear it went well, That is a big step in the process out of the way. Most of us stress about the home study apointments way more than we need to. You will be DTC before you know it.

[canthardlywait]

Every piece of paperwork done is a small victory;that's how we viewed it!

We were very organized and it REALLY helps. I ended up with 3 binders during the process!

Soon you will be LID and waiting with the rest of us!!!

[lovemybulldog]

Congratulations! I remember how stressed out I was about the SW visits, but it turned out to be nothing to worry about at all (unless you count when DH mentioned aliens when religion came up...or when my dog jumped on the SW's white pants with dirty paws). When it was all said & done, even our martini pantry wasn't a big deal! LOL.

Keeping a binder is a great idea. Trust me when I say that it helps a ton when it's time to pull everything together for travel. You'll have everything in one place. A list or spreadsheet of all your expenses and receipts is also a good idea.

Put a check mark next to that one...on to the next milestone!

[PiperH]

Every document sent off, every document received, every appointment made - they are all victories. You can't look too much at the big picture right now or it will seem overwhelming. (OMG! Look at how far we still have to go and how much we still have to do.)

But, if you look at each step and mark off each thing you do, you begin to see progress, and as you go along, it's like a snowball rolling down hill. It just gets bigger and bigger as you complete more steps.

There's no stopping you. You're doing great. Keep it up.

[diane614]

Thanks for all your words of encouragement.

It's encouraging that every Monday our agency sends us an email with tips on what needs to get done that week, and I've either already gotten it done or it's in the works.

Tomorrow we have our appointment to meet the notary (my best friend) at our doctor's office to pick up our medical reports, so that's one more thing off the checklist.

Lovemybulldog, my hubby is an accountant, so a spreadsheet was inevitable!