It's official...our homestudy has been approved!!

At last, we received the word today that our homestudy is approved! Yeh! It was a long process, which I won't go too far into because I am just glad it is over! What it comes down to is that the homestudy and placements agencies believe we are fit parents and therefore capable of adopting a daughter! There is some validation in our parenting! It really feels like a big milestone in this adoption journey. However, don't be decieved, there is still a long journey ahead of us. I have to get the homestudy certified by the state and another copy goes to the Homeland Security & Immigration department for approval. Then we pull all of our documents, of which I have almost everything already ready to go, and send those to the agency, who then send it on for more approval by the Ethiopian Embassy and then finally to Ethiopia......enough of all that. Needless to say, it is a task oriented process. But instead of gaining baby weight and more stretch marks, I am gaining baby patience and stretching my energies to complete every little task to bring her home! I have a stack of paperwork to go over with Andy...I better do it while he is having a glass of wine. Basketball is on so it may be a challenge! Actually, Andy is really excited and the wine was for us to celebrate this milestone!



Today I completed a painting for Andy which I have been working on for a while. It is based on a quote by Lucian de Crescenzo (not sure who he is..) that I found. The quote "We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing eachother". I love that quote and what it represents. For me, it was the perfect painting to express my relationship with Andy. That's today, March 27, 2008 -a day in the life of the Rikkers!