IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!

Today at 1:24pm I received an email from our placing agency.

"Courtney,

 You are officially matched with Z!!!   Hopefully we will get his update soon!"

 

What a PERFECT way to end the week :-). 

 

Tuesday our Home Study was indeed cancelled because of the weather and a flat tire.  We figured it would be because all schools in the area were cancelled.  We rescheduled for yesterday. 

 

I have to tell you that this Home Study visit was nothing like anything I could ever imagine.  I was very nervous and have no idea why.  I was relieved when she got here and we started talking.  She was so nice and has so much experience.  She and I had a great interview and then she interviewed Dave.  I was not in the room for that one.  Then she briefly talked to all our kids and toured our house.

 

Our house is fine besides one minor thing that has to be done.  Our banister upstairs is a little too short and could pose a danger to Z because he could flip over it especially if he can't see.  We sort of figured that would be an issue.  Thankfully my dad and Dave came up with an fairly inexpensive fix by mounting a railing type thing to make it taller.  Once it's installed it will look just fine and keep our little guy safe!  My dad actually already got the stuff to fix it. 

 

Our last home study visit will consist of getting the final doctors physicals and then meeting with her on February 13th.  She said most will be written up by then so it won't be long for her to finish it up and we can send it in with our I800A form. 

 

In case you are wondering what "officially matched" means for the waiting child. 

 

It means that he is placed on hold by their government so that no other family can request to adopt him.  It means that he is indeed available to be adopted. They met and looked over our file and approved us!!  I had to write a 2 page paper highlighting our family and ask permission to adopt Z. I'm so happy that this part of the process is done. They now know that our family loves Z and desire for him to be our son.

 

It seems so much more real now!

 

Please continue to pray for our family and for little Z.  Pray that we have patience during this "hurry up and wait" chapter in our lives.  Pray that we get an update on Z quickly.  Also pray that Z will be prepared in his own way to join our family.  I know God will guide this transition process as it could be a very scary time for him.  The orphanage is all he knows.  Pray that the Lord will prepare the kids here for the changes that are to come. 

 

Thanks for supporting us on our journey through your prayers and words of encouragement. They mean so much to us!