Waiting until April...

Just to check in - I checked the status of my passport online (you can do that!) and it probably will not be here until April! So, I can quit running to the mailbox with anticipation.

I did, however, pass some waiting time by ordering some items from a website called "From Ethiopia." The proceeds go to the Grace Fund, which gives financial assistance to families in the process of adopting, and they also go towards an orphanage in Ethiopia. http://fromethiopia.us/ (that's the link) I ordered a beautiful scarf and a necklace. So, I can run to the mailbox with anticipation for these things instead of my passport! I'll post pics when I receive them.

Waiting for my Passport & Sad Day

Just to check in - we are SO CLOSE to being finished with the home study. I turned in a few more documents this week and am now waiting only on my passport to get here. Kevin applied for his last week, had it expedited, and 'poof' it appeared. I, on the other hand, thought I was being smart and applied for it almost 8 weeks ago and am still waiting. As soon as it gets here Erin can finish the homestudy and we will send it off to our government and wait for the fingerprint appointment.

I also have to add that today is a sad day. My dad & stepmom had to put their dog, Murphy, to sleep. She had Cushing's disease and hasn't been doing well for some time. She was a great dog- and she was a champion swimmer at the lake (in Arkansas). I was there the day we picked her out and I was lucky enough to go visit her this afternoon and give her kisses. I will really miss her. So, in tribute to Murphy Lynn (aka Lynnaburger) here she is at last year's Bark in the Park parade.

The Home Visit

Just to let everyone know - the home visit went very well. The only real blip was when Annie decided to nose-kiss Erin (our social worker) when she walked in the door and then Annie rubbed her peanut butter face on Erin's black pants. We were a little freaked out when Annie did that! For those of you that remember, Annie used to bark at people when they come in the door - and now, a nose kiss! How would you like to get a nose kiss from this? :)

But, overall, everything went very well. The dogs were great (thanks to peanut butter kongs) and we had a really good conversation with Erin about our plans for parenthood.

SO, what next? We will turn in the last few pieces of paperwork for our homestudy within the next week or so (providing that our passports get here soon) and then Erin will compose the homestudy. We'll send one copy into CIS (I think that is it) along with another government doc and then wait for an appointment to have our fingerprints taken. And, as always, we're still waiting on word from the Ethiopian govt. on licensing, so keep us in your prayers!
Stacie

Two Days...

Two more days until the Home Study visit! (Well, one and a half, really, but who's counting?) Tomorrow we're expecting spring-like weather with the possibility of tornados, so that should be fun for me while at home trying to make the house look 'pretty.' The dogs are due at the Beauty Shop at 8 am (they have to look pretty too!). They'll get all clean and then come home and get muddy in the rain (and our mud hill backyard). Good times. I guess that when you're a parent, you have to roll with things like this, so I'm going to relax and take it all in stride. DISCLAIMER: I KNOW that having dogs (even three of them) has in no way made us "ready" to be parents, and that we don' t know what we're in for, and dogs are way different than kids. (Just so any parents out there won't feel compelled to tell me! :) But, since I think reading a blog is more fun with pictures, here is Pedro. (Won't this be fun when I have baby pics to share?)


And, since I know she is our SUPERFAN, I want to tell Chryssi (& John and Emma) CONGRATULATIONS on their good news - they're having a baby boy! I can't wait!

The Home Study Begins

So, last Friday we started the Home Study and it wasn’t that bad. We went to our adoption agency’s office for the first round of interviews. Erin (our social worker) sat with each of us separately for about an hour and then interviewed us both for another hour.

We both left feeling very positive about the whole thing and excited to move on to the actual home visit, which will be next Friday (March 2nd). So, we’re going to try take everyone’s advice and not go overboard, but it’s hard.

I’ve decided to post a picture of all three dogs- mainly b/c they are very cute, but also b/c my last post only had Annie, so Pedro & Livy were left out. :)
Annie (Ham) is the black lab looking one, Olivia (Pickle) is the spotted beagle looking one, and Pedro (Peepers) is the little guy.

Adoption Class and Home Study

This past weekend we were able to attend an adoption class that our agency offers. It was very informative and we were able to meet another family who is adopting from Ethiopia. There were only two of us there, but we found out that there are 22 families currently working with our agency (nationwide) to be in the first round of families to get referrals after licensing. There are more families on a wait list, but we are lucky enough to be among the first. Of course this also means that we have to be prepared for the “bumps” that might come our way as would happen when you are trying anything for the first time. Kevin thinks that will be ‘fun’ and he likes to refer to us as pioneers. I’m a little less adventurous, but at the same time I’m excited about helping our agency get established in Ethiopia.

And, today we turned in our first set of ‘assignments’ for the home study – our autobiographies are finally finished (harder than I anticipated) and we also finished the Issues to Consider and the letter to the Ethiopian government (easier than I anticipated). I got a little behind b/c I am reading some great books right now on transracial adoption, including Are Those Kids Yours? by Cheri Register and In Their Own Voices, which includes interviews from adult adoptees raised in transracial families. There are so many more books out there that I’m planning on reading too – these are the first that I’ve gotten from our reading list.

So, the next step will be interviews with our social worker at her office (hopefully this Friday). She’ll interview us separately and then a little bit together and then we’ll set up our actual home visit. We’re getting the house ready and hoping the dogs are ready! It’s been so cold we haven’t been walking them as much and they don’t like that. But, I will say that Chris & Rob brought all four of their kids over for Superbowl and all three dogs were great with the babies. (Not that I expected different, but it is good to see them so relaxed around the kids.) This is a picture of their babies with our dog Annabelle. They were very cute together.

Just Checking In...

Hi All,

Just checking in to let you all know how we are progressing. We’ve had our background checks (ALL CLEAR!) and have been busy acquiring our passports and writing our autobiographies. We are hoping to turn in the first three “assignments” of our home study this week, which are our autobiographies, a letter to the Ethiopian government explaining our desire to adopt from their country and a questionnaire called “Issues to Consider” which asks us questions about our feelings on becoming a trans-racial family. After we turn those three things in, we will be able to set up the first set of interviews with our social worker.

Also, this weekend we are going to an adoption class hosted by our agency. The guest speaker will be from Parents as Teachers (which I am so excited about), and they will also have adoptive parents and adult adoptees tell their stories. We will then break into groups according to the country we are adopting from, so hopefully Kevin and I will get to meet some other people hoping to adopt from Ethiopia. We’ll be sure to fill you all in next week!

We’re still waiting to hear about licensing, so keep it in your prayers that Children’s Hope receives licensing soon!!

Stacie