Update

Found out today that one of the people we put down as a reference for the adoption got their questionnaire in the mail! This excites me because I've felt like we've kind of been at a stand still for a week or so. Some of the things we need to get done we really only have time to do on the weekend. My sister and I are planning on getting some of our photo book set up next week. We're hoping to take 2 of the 3 classes this weekend and also proofread and print out our autobiographies. Even though it seems slow going this week, overall things seem to be moving fast! I was thrilled when I heard the questionnaires were being sent out! Even when we don't have a lot going on with having to get things done we still know that things are being taken care of on the other end! Have a great weekend!!!

Homestudy and Dear Birth Mom Letter

We're making progress!!! YAY!!!! Last Wednesday we turned in most of our adoption paperwork and set up our home study for April 15th. She said it typically takes 4 hours. My first thought was the same as Aaron's, "What is going to go on for 4 hours? I know we have to have the house somewhat child proof so she can make sure it is safe for a child but I also know that that won't take four hours. I'm nervous as to what else is going to happen? I don't know how else to prepare or if we even can prepare for it. Over the next week we will be "childproofing" the house. Moving chemicals up at a higher level, child locks on cabinets and the like. It seems odd to me to put child locks on cabinets when their is no child around? But, I'm glad we were able to get it set up pretty fast. One of the hardest parts of adoption (other than waiting) seems to be writing that dear birth mom letter and coming up with a profile of ourselves. We have a rough draft that I need to send to Amanda so she can see how it looks but I keep reading over it again and again to see how we can make it better. The profile we have kind of drawn out (sketched I guess I should say) on regular paper and just drew squares for where we want the pictures to be. We have to include some captions and tell a little about ourselves also. However, it is so hard because it really feels like you are trying to sell yourself so you struggle over finding the right words that will make the birth mom want to choose you. I'm getting help from my sister on putting this profile together. Since she does photography she probably has some creative ideas up her sleeve! So, we're looking forward to getting the process moving forward even more! Another positive...starting at the end of May I'm dropping my hours a little at work. I would like to go to 3 days a week but I think I'm going to start out by dropping to 4 and go from there. We'll see what happens.

To Do List

Our to do list for adoption stuff this week and many more weeks to come.

To Do List

Our to do list for adoption stuff this week.

Adoption Meeting/Interview

Hey there reader! Well we're halfway through the week and I'm actually off work tomorrow so that's cool! Only one more work day for me! Tomorrow we go to get fingerprinted and work on some adoption paperwork.

The meeting went really well. We got to the office and then sat down in this waiting room with lots of pictures (drawn not real photographs) of kids and flowers hanging on the walls. There were lots of little kid toys in bins and little kid books in bookshelves. We had only sat down for about a minute when she came and got us to go back to her office.

She has a big office and led us in and told us to sit down. The room had very neutral colors all around, the floor, the walls, etc. The only thing that wasn't neutral was the bright orange very low to the ground couch (kind of like a futon). We sat down and started talking. She asked us a little bit about ourselves. You know how you see in movies you sit or lay on a couch and talk and the person writes everything down. This is pretty much what happened. It was fine though. We really like her and feel comfortable talking with her. We haven't felt intimidated by her but she seems very genuine and kind. This is one of the main reasons why we chose to go with this agency. We felt comfortable with her just in talking to her at the adoption conference.

After answering questions she gave us a few packets of paperwork to read and fill out. There are papers where you fill out just basic information and financial information and then there were a few packets where we each get a copy. These ones we have to fill out separately but they are the same questions. Some of them I'm not quite sure how they are related to us wanting to adopt but oh well.

So for now, that's what we're doing. Filling out lots of papers. Tomorrow we are going to get our fingerprints done and we have physicals we have to get done also. Once we get these fingerprints done she can start on our background checks which takes about 6-8 weeks. I think we can start the home study during this process? I'm hoping I understood her right on that but I don't know.

Well have a good night!

First Step

Well we've FINALLY gotten set up on our first step in the adoption process. After we found out we were getting to stay here in Illinois we sent an email to our adoption lady and set up a time for an interview on this Friday at 2:00. We have to go through this preliminary interview (not sure what it all entails) and then I think they give us some paperwork we have to fill out about ourselves and then we do the home study after that. I think home studies usually take at least 2-3 months. We won't have to worry about that until we get through the first few steps. We're thankful that we were able to set it up quick and we're just praying that it goes well.

I'll update afterwards.

Prayers Answered

Aaron and I are very thankful to announce that we get to stay in Illinois (in the Peoria area). He's in his final rotation with the program he is in at Cat so he's up for his permanent placement. We were supposed to find out tomorrow but actually got the call today. He will be switching jobs and switching buildings(and will be closer to home) but this is more of what he's interested in. He should be back on 1st shift so that is a blessing. (he's been a little crabby the past 8-9 months). This is such an answer to prayer because with starting to look into adoption we really did not want to move away from our support system.

The other answer to prayer was that the union guys at Cat did not strike!! This is great news because now Aaron doesn't have to go to Decatur and only be home on weekends.

We're thankful for all the Lord's provisions these past years with his job. We've just emailed the lady with the adoption agency to see when we can get the first step going.

Have a great week everyone!