Pre-Home Study Update: We’re Officially in Motion!

We’ve officially taken our next step… and y’all, it’s starting to feel so real.

Just a little over a week after submitting our formal application to Covenant Care, we received our background packet to begin the pre-home study process. I actually got the email while on a plane to Nevada for one of the busiest weeks of my year (hello, conference season), but thankfully my mom was traveling with me—and she got to share in that special moment. What a gift to have someone there to celebrate with in real time.

Since then, it’s been all systems go. We’ve scheduled our background checks and fingerprints with both the FBI and GBI—those appointments are set for next week! I was so thankful to find availability so quickly, especially during a time when my schedule is pretty packed. They say results come in within 48 hours after your appointment, so we’re hoping to keep things moving along quickly.

In the meantime, I’ve been using my long cross-country flights to dive into one of the most important pieces of this journey: our profile book. This book is the story we’ll share with expectant moms, the window into our lives, our home, our hearts. No pressure, right?

I’ve downloaded some profile templates (I’ll link them here for anyone walking this road too, they’ve been super helpful!) and I’ve been slowly building our draft. We also got to look through sample profile books during our in-person training a few weeks ago, and that really helped me get a feel for the tone, length, and layout. Still, this is something Josh and I are approaching with so much prayer and intention. We want any mom who reads our book to feel loved, seen, and cherished—no matter what choice she ultimately makes.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be working on shaping the book and will probably be reaching out to some of our favorite people (you know who you are!) for input on layout, photos, and little things like wording. We want it to feel truly like us.

As for the home study itself, we found out it will include three visits, and the final one will be in our home with our boys. The boys can’t wait to show the caseworker/ councilor their rooms, their toys, and probably tell her their life stories, ha! I can already imagine their little voices giving the grand tour.

On the home front, Josh and I are starting to shift things around to prepare a nursery. We’ll be rearranging our offices and converting a spare bedroom, and thankfully, I saved most of the nursery items from when the boys were babies. I’m so grateful we can reuse many of those sweet things and save a little money in the process. I can’t wait to share some before-and-afters soon!

That’s where we are right now, checking things off the list, praying over the process, and doing our best to walk forward one step at a time. We’ll update again after our background checks and as we begin our home study visits. Until then, we continue to ask for your prayers… for our family, for the child who will one day join it, and especially for the brave mama who may choose us.