Home Study Finalized!

Since our last post, our adoption process has moved quickly.  In December, before Christmas, our adoption coordinator came out to do the home study.  This is where they make sure your home is safe for children (no chains or items of torture) and that you are sane enough to have children in your home.  Really all she did was check to make sure we had a room designated for a child, that every sleeping room had smoke detectors, and that our guns were locked up.  After that we sat down and had a conversation about what we were looking for in a child, how we met, and other biographical questions.
The home study writer came back the following week to do the second of three home studies (the third one will be done when a child is placed with us).  This time she only spoke with Lindsay for about an hour and a half and then with Matt for an hour and a half.  She asked questions about our childhood, our families, how we felt about our spouse, how we dealt with stress, work, and what our support systems were like.
It all went really well.  The writer had told us ahead of time that it is pretty difficult not to be approved on the home study.  You would have to be some crazy criminal.  Lindsay was not worried, but was very surprised that Matt was worried about being approved.  Matt is usually the optimist.  The writer sent a copy of the home study to us to look over before she handed it to her supervisor, and we had to fix any errors that we saw.  With a few minor errors it was ready to be finalized.
As of January 26th, we are officially able to have a child placed in our home!! YAY!
So what are the next steps?  We are currently working on our portfolio that will be seen by birthmothers (or soon-to-be birthmothers) and our "Dear Birthmother" letter.  These are handed to those parents who we are considered to be a good match for.  It's pretty much our life in a few pages and photos.  So it will take a bit to finish.
We also have to take an infant care class, which will be February 14th.  After all those are done, we will be officially placed in the pool of adoptive families!  I'm hoping by the time our class is finished, we will be good to go - so mid- to end of February is my goal.
We are both very excited!  It has been quite the experience so far, but we know since it's gone good so far, this must be what God wants us to do.  We are currently taking a break from all the injections, ultrasounds, blood draws, and fertility medication - letting Lindsay's body relax for a bit.  We are not giving up having a biological child, but it's nice to have a break!!