Home Study = More Like People Study

More like tell me why you are the way you are. We had our home study on Friday and despite what we were thinking it really DID last 4 hours. We knew it would be a couple hours but assumed the 4 hours was just allotting extra time if need be. As soon as Amanda came inside and said we would be sitting for a while we decided to get settled in the living room. She started with going over some of our paperwork. She didn't split us up and ask us questions without the other one in the room but she did ask us individual questions. For example, she said, "Samantha, you said that one of your weaknesses you think you would have as a parent would be worrying too much." "Can you elaborate on that or tell me what you meant there?" She did the same thing with Aaron. It was pretty much a question and answer session. The actual walk around the house and look at things was super short. Aaron and I felt a little nervous about this but Amanda is great at what she does. She makes you feel comfortable and at ease even when divulging all your personal info and having you explain negative aspects about yourself. Once we finished going through all that and signing some more forms that was it. She said the only thing she needs from us is our photo book/profile and then she can start showing us to birth moms. We should be able to finish up our photo book this week and hopefully get it to her in less than 2 weeks!!!! That's exciting because once we do that we could be matched any time after that!!! Its the waiting and uncertainty with adoption that is the hardest. The paperwork and home study is the easier stuff. We're so thankful the Anderson's told us about the adoption conference in February. We're thankful we saw them in the gym that day and they told us that the agency that did the home study for their second daughter was there and had information available. Aaron and I walked into the conference that day with absolutely NO intentions or any thought of changing agencies. We had barely started working on forms with Bethany Christian when we went to the conference. When we walked over to ABC's "booth" Amanda asked us a few questions, answered a few questions for us and gave us some information. We immediately liked Amanda and her personality and ended up discussing using ABC as our agency. I think it was the best decision!!! So now we wait until who knows when.