This is what's going on....

When Michelle suggested that I start blogging about the adoption I dismissed the idea immediately, I'm definitely not blog-worthy. Then I realized that I was answering all the same questions. I guess you guys actually want to know what's going on. So, I'll write it down and then you can read it if/when you want. I'm hoping that this process goes smooth and I won't have any drama blogs...

This is what we've done so far.

• Fingerprinted by FBI and dept of justice (we passed!!)
• Completed gruelling HomeStudy application. 35+ questions we each had to answer separately about how we were raised, relationships with our family, relationship with each other, why we want to adopt, childhood....
• Passed HomeStudy application and met with our case worker Heidi, who is amazing and an adoptive mom too. Just a meet and greet at our home. Gave us paperwork and let us know what home study consists of
• Completed 90% of a approximate 1 foot stack of paperwork. This includes financial info, HIPPA statement, statements from our doctors, 3 personal references (thanks guys!), and the worst document ever, what we will consider and what we will not consider for adoption. This includes age of the baby, race, issues with families medical history, and mother's possible drug use.
• Had 3 final meetings with Heidi, she was nice enough to combine all three meetings into one. She had to meet with Lou and I separately to discuss our Home Study application questions. She made it very easy and the 3 hours flew by. She also had to check out our house and make sure everything was okay, no un-fenced pools, etc. I'll just say that Heidi's awesome, that's about it, went very well.
• Completed rough draft of our Dear Birthmother letter and choose potential photos to use. This is basically our promo pack. Since this is open adoption, the bithmother chooses us, so this is the info she has on us to select who she wants to raise her baby. Crazy when you think about it
• Met with director of communication to discuss Dear Birthmother letter and photos we choose
• Have to tweak Dear Birthmother letter (I'm going to abv in future to DBL). Bascially just move some stuff around. Also add a ton more photos. Once this is good, we need to make a little booklet-type thing on specific paper and colorful and perfect. This is for the birthmother's to view if they are in office. Lou will be good at this. We'll also upload the DBL and photos online

So, a little more work but by the end of February we'll be pregnant on paper. Then we wait.

It's honestly not as bad as it seems. Lou and I are a good tag-team. A little nagging on my end, but what's new. At this point, we're super excited. Lou tells everyone in town that we're adopting and it's a small town so news travels fast. This actually makes it easier on me.

Other than all the paperwork and meetings, I'm re-doing the front bedroom to make it a office/guest room. I'll paint the potential nursery but we're not going to buy too much baby stuff yet. We just need to make sure we have a car seat in case we become parents overnight, which could happen but is not likely.

So, that's been our life for the last few months. It's all good, really really good!

Love Sue and Lou