Tyler and I traveled to Nashville today to be fingerprinted for our I-600a application (Application for Advance Processing of Orphan Petition). This has been our first BIG step in our adoption journey since our home study was finalized, so we were really excited about doing this today! It was also nice to just get to spend a nice day together. The weather was GORGEOUS and our appointment was at 2:00 pm, so we were able to take our time, relax, and really just enjoy our day together.
Now, I suppose we will just wait (We do a LOT of that these days!) and see if the U.S. and the Department of Homeland Security will give us their stamp of approval to proceed with our adoption. I don't think we have gotten into TOO much trouble (with the exception of toilet papering a few yards ;0) ) - well, hopefully we haven't gotten into any trouble that would keep us from being granted permission from the U.S. government to adopt our baby anyway! On second thought... maybe we SHOULD start praying that the results of our fingerprinting come back clean of any mischief! ;0)
(Quick side note: If you are reading this and don't know me - I am SO just kidding! No criminal activity here! LOL!)
I was REALLY hoping to take some pictures of us being fingerprinted (You all know how I love taking pictures of every part of this process!), but there was a big sign and an an even BIGGER security guard right as we walked in that said "ABSOLUTELY NO CAMERAS, CELL PHONES, OR ANY OTHER RECORDING DEVICES!!" It made me so sad! I was even afraid to snap a picture OUTSIDE! LOL! The girls who did our fingerprints were super nice, though, and Tyler even made friends with that big, bad security guard (who turned out not to be so big and bad after all). :0)
I was kind of expecting Tyler to have some difficulty getting his prints made since he has a "unique" (I've been sitting here at the computer trying to find the right word to use - LOL!) pinky finger (It was torn off in a yard rolling - aka toilet papering - accident when he was a kid. No worries, though. They put it back on. ;0) That's a whole new story for another day - now that I have you intrigued!), but I'm the one who they had to redo several times. Apparently, my "ridges aren't deep enough" to get a good enough print. I had no idea that was even possible. Oh well! I guess I'll just have to live with my deformed fingerprint ridges! LOL!
Anyway, our fingerprints are finished! We are praying that we only have to do them once (We would LOVE it if you would pray with us about that). I believe they expire in 18 months. We've known of a few people who have had to redo this part of the process a few times because of expiration. As a matter of fact, we saw a lady doing that same thing today. She was still smiling, though, because she knew that although she was repeating this step (and paying for it again - not cheap); it was bringing her one step closer to her child! I'm praying that she gets to bring her child home VERY SOON! :0)
