New Shelf

We got a new shelf for the nursery. :-)

Homestudy Complete

Hey everyone! I just wanted to update and let you all know that the homestudy went great! The social worker came over yesterday and stayed for about two and half hours. It really wasn't bad at all! She came in and took a tour of the house. Asked lots of safety questions (fire alarms etc).....we showed her how our meds and cleaners are all on top shelves. :) Then, she sat down with us and went over all of the items that will take place from here until placement. As well as prepared us for meetings, and legal stuff. Overall, it was nice to get to meet with her in a personal setting like our home. I think it made us get a new feel for her as a person. From here, she has to officially type up all the paperwork and submit it. She informally told us that we were approved! Yay! As soon as everything comes back, they will post our profile on their website and disperse our family portfolios. :) Thanks to everyone for all their kind words, thoughts, and prayers! We made it! Whew!

Profile Video

This is a sample of a video portfolio that we have put together.

Homestudy Here We Come!

Hey everyone.  I apologize for not posting frequently, but during this stage it is very much "hurry up and wait".  That is probably the most frustrating part about adopting (especially if you are a control freak like me).  We finally heard news back from our social worker and we are scheduled for our last and final interview and the big homestudy this Monday at 3pm.  We are so excited.  This is the last hurdle that Matt and I have to do.....everything else is out of our hands!  I will post again on Monday after our social worker leaves to let everyone know how it went.  I hope you all have a great weekend!

A big week!

The verdict is in.....we are having our individual interviews Monday afternoon and our home study done Tuesday or Wednesday evening. We are so excited to finally be getting this part of the "wait" over with. The home study isn't as bad as it sounds (they won't be sneaking and peaking into every drawer and cabinet)....the social workers are mainly checking to make sure there is adequate space in the home for a new family member as well as all the safety precautions taken for the new little one (fire alarms, cleaning products up high etc.). They will probably ask tons of parenting preparation questions, but mainly they talk about child care plans, finances, discipline, and daily life. Then Matt and I have to give our agency copies of our portfolio (basically a scrapbook) that they keep at each agency location around the state to show to birth mothers. After the home study is finished and typed all we have to be is chosen then! The waiting game continues............

References are in!!!!

We just received notice that all of our references are in and we are ready to move on with the process.  Yipee!  I'd like to personally thank all of those people who took the time to write a reference on our behalf.  We truly appreciate it!  We heard word that our social worker will be in touch with us the beginning of next week, and will set up our home visit.  :-)

Reference Letters

We are almost ready to start the individual interviews with our social workers. We were just waiting on the last of our references to come in. The next step is for Matt and I each to have an individual interview, then we have our final home inspection (the social worker comes to see our home, checks for all safety items, etc.). We are looking forward to the day we are approved and officially waiting!