Homestudy Complete!

Thank you all for checking in on our "paper pregnancy"! On July 20, 2010, our social worker came over to complete our homestudy. A homestudy is essentially a written biography of a couple, their marriage, their childhood, and parenting styles. We were so worried, we worked extra hard in the yard (with help from our wonderful families) and slaved over cleaning our house. Ok...I am lying about that part. We were so worried we had Merry Maids come over! We didn't know if she would look through drawers and check baseboards! We had nothing to worry about. Truthfully, it was relatively painless! She reassured us that this portion of the process would be very easy, though time consuming. About three weeks later, on August 6th, we got the call that the homestudy was complete and ready to send to our agency! The agency will make some final additions and send the document to the Federal Government. We will wait for the homestudy to be approved! Waiting....Waiting....Waiting.....We are waiting for forms and currently working on our Moscow Dossier. They call it a "paper pregnancy" because it is essentially 9 months of gathering, filling out, and sending in papers.

I started back to school today and the principal announced our adoption and I felt very loved. Everyone came up to me and said how happy they were. I am glad to work in such a wonderful school. I wish we could go and pick him up now. I hate knowing he is in an orphanage somewhere fighting for attention. However, I know it is important to be prepared! My mom, my sister, and my niece went with me this weekend to look at the baby furniture and motif for the baby's nursery that Andy and I had picked out. I want everything to be perfect for our baby!

Andy has been working very hard and I have never seen him so excited. He watches youtube videos every chance he can get. In fact, I think he has seen them all! He is working hard to get all of his paperwork together, as well, and we are lucky to both have supportive employers. They have assured us that we have nothing to worry about on our trips to Russia!

Speaking of trips to Russia.....We will be taking two trips. Our first trip (before Christmas, hopefully) will be for one week. This is when we will see our baby for the first time. A couple of months later, we will go for two weeks to pick him up. The cost of each trip is approximately $2000.00 per person. Some of you have already offered to help us with this adventure and we are so grateful to be surrounded by such great family and friends. Many people have asked what they can do to help. We are asking friends and family to donate their airline/hotel miles to lessen our travel costs to Russia. The majority of our points will be using Delta Airlines and Marriot Hotel points, as they both offer adoption specials. Even a small amount of points can add up! If you are gracious enough to help, please feel free to email/call.

Please pass this blog onto others you may know. We know there are many people out their who have been touched by adoption and would like to follow us on our journey.

Love,
Cassidy & Andy

Email: cassidyethridge@hotmail.com
nativelli@yahoo.com
864-552-1684