What could've been bad has turned good??

Well, we got the call today that we would have to wait until spring to resume our MAPP classes. Now this would have totally upset me yesterday but today...

Ok, so, how many of you believe in fate? Something weird is happening and I am trying to decide how to interpret it! You all have had to listen to my whining for the past few days about the MAPP class issue...well, this morning DH calls from work and says he has just been offered a six figure position at his company in the Service Dept.!! Now, this new job entails him traveling...alot but home on weekends. My mom swears the goddess (we're kinda into the nature thing) is trying to show us that we needed to hold off on the classes until spring so that we can all adjust to DH being gone during the week. Maybe this is the plan for us...waiting until spring, DH getting this new amazing job (the money would do so much for our family), and then the possibility of growing our family even larger than we had planned. (I wanted a sibling group but we just don't have the money for it.) What do you guys think?? Am I totally crazy for thinking this is the plan that has been set in motion for us?

Stay tuned!!

Thanks Nor'Easter Noel! Argh!!

Ok, after counting down to the day when our classes would begin and we would become proactive in our adoption...a Nor'Easter strikes and we can't go! Now we sit, waiting to find out if we will be able to continue with this set of classes or if we now have to wait...

UNTIL SPRING!!!!!

I am absolutely heartbroken to think that our child will have to sit and wait an additional 3-4 months before being united with us! Our SW said she would speak to her superviser and see if anything could be done to help us. I called yesterday and left a message but still haven't heard anything back yet. The next class is Saturday and I am sooooooooooooo hoping we get to attend.

If we do have to wait until spring that means that our homestudy wouldn't begin until April or June and we wouldn't be matched with our child until the summer. Then we would have the slow "getting to know you" time before being able to finally bring our child home. It could possibly be a year away! :(

I was so hoping that our trip to Disney for DS's 5th birthday would be as a family of four but now that seems like it might be impossible. So, for those of you out there who might be reading this...please keep your fingers crossed for us.

To Do - Home Visit - Done!!

Our visit went very well last night. Both case workers/social workers came for the assessment. They were very nice. They were impressed with DS (which who couldn't be, right? ) He took them for a tour around the house and down into his playroom. Jamie even played cars with him while answering all of our questions. The only thing they mention to us was getting one of those cord thingies for the blinds in what will become our second child's bedroom. We never leave those down and in reach anyway so no biggie there.

The one downer is that usually these classes only have 4 couples but ours will have 10 which means that with only 2 case workers to write up the home studies each will have 5 to do. That means ours may not be ready for approval until March. Seems like forever to me but then again, I am kinda hoping for a Gotcha Date in May so that I can take a couple of weeks of adoption leave and then be home for the summer while our child is adjusting to life with us.

The CW's faces lit up when we mentioned that we weren't looking for a particular ethnicity or sex. One immediately says, "We have a beautiful 5 year old African American girl!!" Of course, my heart jumped but I reminded myself that this is going to be quite an adjustment for DS and that we couldn't make matters more confusing by replacing him in the birth order...he is soooooooo looking forward to being "the Big Brother"!

Anyway, other than that, things went very well and we are excited about our classes on Saturday. Lots of stuff ahead so maybe the next few months will fly by with the paperwork, the holidays and the home visits.

OMG! Time for the Home Visit!!!

Thank goodness I picked up the house and the playroom this weekend! I got a call at 9:30a this morning that Child & Family Services will be coming tomorrow night to do our Home Visit. I don't know why but this made me jump a mile. I even mis dialed when trying to call DH! LOL. I'm such a goof.

I really hope that this visit goes well. I can't see why it wouldn't and fortunately Clyde will have been at doggie daycare all day so he will be nice and worn out so as not to become a nuisance!! Hopefully DS will be ok. I can just see him dragging the SW all over the house showing her absolutely EVERYTHING!!! Can't have any secrets with a very social 4 year old in the house.

We have our very first MAPP class on Saturday and with this visit, everything has just become so clear that, yes, we are actually on our way to bringing home our second child!! Fingers crossed, please!!!

OMG! So soon?? Who would have thunk??

We got our invite to MAPP classes and we start Nov. 3rd!! Yippee!! We have been invited to attend the condensed version: 4 weeks, 9a to 3p each class. We'll be done with our last class on Dec 1st then on to the Home Study!! I never would have thought it would be soooooooooo close.

Yippee! Great news!!

Well, I received a call from our Adoption Development person today and it ends up we do not have to wait to submit our application until Hubby finds a doctor!! I am ecstatic!! So, our application will be in the mail first thing tomorrow...Yippee. Once the application has been received by the "Office" they will run the CORI check, schedule our home assessment then we will be invited to the MAPP classes. Here's hoping this happens quickly. I think I may send it USPS Express so I can have a signed receipt of exactly when it was received. It's a good day!!

The application has arrived!

After a long week of waiting, our application finally arrived on Saturday. I immediately sat down and began filling out all the info. At this point, the application is ready to be returned except that Hubby doesn't have a doctor! We need to find him a GP and get an appointment so we can safely put that on the application without seeming like we're doing something shady. I don't want anything to jeopardize our bringing our child home. We also need to begin discussion as to whom we are going to request references from. We need two family members and two friends to provide references about our character and our parenting abilities. So, once these things are figured out our application will be returned and hopefully we will schedule our home visit. Next step after that...begin MAPP classes!!

The wait continues!!

Ok, so I was beside myself with excitement yesterday as I turned on to our road. I couldn't wait to get to the mailbox, fill out the application and get it ready for mailing today. Well, no application! A dog license, yes but application...nope. Devastation. I can only hope that it will be there today or my faith in the system will be rocked once again.

I have decided that I will personally drop off the application at the office with a real live human being on Monday so that I can be assured it was received and when it was received. I will not put up with any more excuses about vacations, the mail, etc. Our child is out there somewhere waiting for us to get the things we need to get done. Time to take matters into my own hands.

Finally!!

Ok, so I got the call this morning that our application was sent out on Tuesday the 4th so here's hoping it is in my mailbox this evening when I get home. Yesterday I received the copies of our marriage certificate and DH's and DS's birth certificates. I am still waiting for the dog license and a couple of other things which have slipped my mind. I also spoke to the AD person and gave her DH's social for the CORI check so that is one more thing off my list! Yippee!

I spent the weekend reading the two books in my Recommended Reading" list and learned sooooooooooooo much! I have learned that we are to let our child mourn and speak about their birth family which I guess is something that a lot of adoptive families have a hard time doing. You know, now that I'm writing this I am getting deja vue!! I wonder if I already put this on here!?

The other thing recommended by these books was giving family and friends time to adapt to the adoption itself especially if it will be a transracial adoption. I have already talked to my mother about this...she's known all along about our adoption plans anyway. We have to find some times to talk to DH's family (much bigger than mine) about it and give them time to get used to it and ask us questions, etc. I really don't want to shock anyone with our decision and would like everyone to be accepting of our child when he/she finally comes home.

Zero, zip, zilch!

Ok, so I am going crazy! I still have not received the application to start the process yet and it's driving me bonkers. Without this application, we cannot have a home visit and without the application and the home visit we cannot participate in the MAPP classes. So come on already!! You can't tell me that the need isn't so great that they don't have to rush to get people onto the books because we all know how many children are without homes at this point. Hopefully it will be there today (which is the same thing I have been telling myself since Monday the 27th.) Ok so there's my vent for today and hopefully I will have a chance to get back on and write about all the reading I did this weekend and the information I learned.

Paper, paper everywhere!

I spent the day filling and sending out requests for birth certificates, marriage certificates, dog licenses, etc. I have calls out to the MSPCA and doggie daycare in regards to getting letters of reference for Clyde's temperment, just in case. I tried to get a hold of the AD person today but just got voicemail so I'll try again next week. Still no application. So bummed as I really wanted to get it back to them this weekend so we could be that much closer. So again, it's hurry up and wait! Fine with me as long as I know we're moving forward. Had a great talk with one of the psychology professors today about transracial adoption and all that that entails. I am going to be learning alot if in fact we end up with a transracial adoption which is more than likely since there are, unfortunately, an overwhelming amount of African American children available in the state and we are open to any race and either sex. The AD person says that this will be extremely beneficial for us as far as wait time for our child. We could end up with our child home with us sooner than if we were looking for a "racial match". Yippee! I'm all for anything that brings our child to us sooner rather than later! I plan on going to the bookstore and getting a book on the State Adoption process AND transracial adoption (even though we could end up with a white child in the end). I want to be prepared ahead of time to bring a child of another race into our home. So off I go!!

Step One...Done!!

We got the call!! Yippee!! Supposedly they have already sent out the application so hopefully it is in the mail today and I can work on it this weekend. Then once we send that in a SW will come to the house and talk to us and check the safety stuff then we will get invited to the next session of MAPP classes!! Yippee!! Those go 8 weeks or we could a weekend intensive but she didn't have any info on those. I am just sooooooooo excited because she seemed to think where we are open to any ethnicity that our wait will not be too too long!! So here's hoping. I have already started rounding up the documents that we are gonna need for our Home Study and she has the info she needs to do the CORI check so there's a couple more steps out of the way!!! I am tinkled pink!! ETA: Upon arriving home, major disappointment as the package/application was not in the mail. Hopefully it comes tomorrow so I can return it over the weekend but I have a feeling it hasn't been sent yet. :(

Waiting is the hardest part...

I can't handle all this waiting but I know I have no choice. I just want to get this process underway so we can bring our child home. The coordinator/licensor isn't in the office again until tomorrow so I have no choice but wait. Hopefully we will not actually have to go to the informational session but can sign right up for the next session of classes. Especially since we know this is what we want to do and an information session isn't going to change that for us. I plan on talking to my friend today about her experience with the process and the issues that she faces raising her two F/A children. I believe she adopted them when they were both babies so I would like to hear about the bonding, etc. that comes with that. My biggest fear, I guess, would be that by adopting a preschooler we may never have that tight bond that I so want. I want this child to know that they are loved, safe and will be cared for forever in our family. I know they say that sometimes if children do not have a chance to bond with their parents at birth it can lead to emotional dettachment as they grow older...I wonder if you can ever get that back or something close to that? So many questions...

Call back!

Wow! Miracles of miracles...we actually got a return call from DSS within two days of making the initial call! Two years ago when I was trying to get information about doing Respite Care I never received a call back until over 6 mos. later when I finally contacted the state. By then we had decided that we wanted to go the fullfledge adoption route and began researching international adoption. As you can see, we have changed our minds a few times during this process but our desire to adopt has never waivered. We will bring our 2nd child home and hopefully within the year. Wishful thinking, yes but anything is possible. Anyway, the person who returned our call only works Monday, Thursday and Friday so I called her and explained that we are very anxious to get this started and would like to know when the next informational session is so we may attend. Hopefully I hear back from her on Thursday and we won't miss the upcoming session. I also received an e-mail from the DSS site that our information packet has been sent so I will be checking the mailbox every day until it arrives! I am so excited that we are finally beginning the process!

Our journey begins...

Well, after much discussion we have decided to look to Foster Adoption rather than China for our second child. The thought of a 2 year plus wait just kills me at this point as I really want to bring our second child home as soon as possible. So, phone calls have been placed, forms requested and informational meetings set up.