The first appointment with the social worker.

Our first appointment with our social worker was...disappointing. We were led to a very institutionalized looking room. Small, with metal furniture. Even the tissue box was metal and was bolted to the desk. She started out asking us what we were looking for. We said we would like to adopt a baby, as young as possible, but no older than 2, no sibling groups and I have always wanted a girl, but we are open to either sex. She said that this may not be the best fit for us. That they are there for the children, not for us and if we are looking for an infant, an agency or an attorney may be a better fit for us. She then continued on to go over the process of the home study process. Once she was done, she asked us if we had any questions and I said I did. I had made a list of questions to make sure to ask, although she had already answered a number of them, but first, I wanted to say that her initial statement to us was so disheartening. We have known families who have found what they were looking for through Children's Services and for her to say it is not the right avenue was kind of off putting. Not to mention that the woman we have been working with up until this point with her, has been very encouraging and assured us that this was a good fit. She softened up and said that she didn't mean to be that way and that it just takes a few placements before you find your forever baby. Basically that we have to be prepared to foster and give the baby back too. I asked some more questions and we scheduled our first at-home visit for our home visit.
My husband and I walked out of the building feeling pretty bummed out. We stopped and talked it out for a bit before departing. We decided that we are prepared to foster a couple of babies if we need to, if it means finding our baby.
But I can't help but keep going back to what she originally said....So I am looking into other avenues. I am aware of Children's Services' purpose, but I can't shake this feeling that she may be right. I hope she isn't. I really felt like we were on the right path until she came along.

This is an Exciting Week!

The day after we got the call that we were matched with a social worker, and she would be calling, was suuuuuuch a looooooooong day! I thought for sure she would have called that day! But she didn't and my poor adoption buddy had to hear about my disappointment all day! (She is such a trooper!) At the end of the day, when my son got home from school, in hopes of the application's arrival, I had my son check the mail. After 2 and a half weeks and 4 promises, we finally got it! I was so excited to spend our Friday night filling it out! When I got home, I saw that we also got a smaller envelope from Children's Services and guess what! Our social worker sent us a letter, rather than calling! Who knew people still use snail mail for appointment setting!?!? LOL! We have our first appointment with her on Wednesday at 4:00! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Super excited!
We then spent our weekend in adoption classes, which I enjoy, purely because it brings us closer to adoption. There is always so much negativity, so to counter balance it, I brought in a nice poem (I came across it in an adoption group, I did not write it) for everyone to take home and leave on a brighter note.

Isn't it nice? Our last class is on Saturday!!!!!! We are moving right along! Also, I decided to make the baby's bedding, rather than purchase it because, well, IDK! I just thought it would be fin and cost effective! Here are my inspirations I found tutorials for:

This is the skirt

 

For the sheet

I am buying the rest of the materials this evening! I hope it will come out as nice as these! I am a beginner, ya know!

Another Step Forward

We are one step closer to this!

I am doing a happy dance! I just got the call from Children's Services that we have been matched with a social worker! She said that she will send us a packet and we should be on our way to our home study!I am so happy with how quickly things are moving! Just when I kind of felt like we were being brushed under the rug, I got the call! I cannot wait to go forward with the next steps! Now I am stalking my phone, waiting for our new social worker to call.....

First Purchase For Future Baby!

We are still taking our classes and the instructor on Sunday told us to start purchasing some books about adoption, both for us and our perspective child, so we did and this was the first to arrive!

I cannot wait to read it to him or her! Have you read it? I read it several times to my old daycare class, but never once thought of it in an adoption light! We have 2 more coming and one for me to read!

Checking In!

We have completed a full weekend of classes! We went Friday for 3 hours and Saturday and Sunday for 6 hours each! We are well on our way! Our next class is on Wednesday. The classes are....well scary! One horror story after another. I will make it a goal, to have a fairytale ending to our adoption story! I am not jaded yet!

Today, I told my supervisor at work that we are adopting. I had to tell him for 2 reasons: 1) I have to change my work schedule on Wednesday, in order to make the class and 2) because I had to put him down, along with his direct telephone line, on the application. He was very supportive and we actually had a lengthy conversation about his experience with fertility with his wife and adoption in general.

My mind keeps racing! I plan to call my son's pediatrician and dentist today, so I can see if they take medicaid, in order to have these lined up for a new baby!

The instructor for our class suggested some adoption books to purchase for our future baby. She said we should start buying them now! I wonder what else we should be buying. One of the books is by Jamie Lee Curtis. It was so cute! I had no idea that she had adopted! She has written several childrens' books on the topic! I can't wait to check them out!

I have also been gathering photographs for a book we will have to make for the homestudy about our family. There are so many to choose from and different angles to take the book. I feel overwhelmed with it!

I wonder when we can start thinking about names.....

We applied!

First thing this morning, I called the other agency to inquire on the classes. The cut off for sign up was August 31st, but he made an exception and we are in!!! We start classes on Friday from 9-6, then Saturday from 9 am to 3:30 and the same thing on Sunday! This will continue through the end of the month, but it is by far better than dragging the classes through November! We are so thankful!
So I called the agency we are working with and asked if we should bring in our application, since we would not be seeing her Saturday. She said yes, so we did!!! EEK! She told us she would assign us a social worker now, rather than wait, so we can get the process moving along! This is such exciting news!
After leaving, we headed to the mall for lunch and decided to look at cribs and baby things, you know, to get an idea of what they cost these days (and because it is FUN!) We also looked at bedding and other things we would possibly need. What do you think?

I love that it has birds on it and is in our wedding colors, so I can use our decorations in the nursery!
I cannot wait to update you all after our classes begin!

Byrd Got Married

Byrd got married!

We were married on Saturday and it was even better than I envisioned! We were married under a pergola that my husband built when we took the pool down from our backyard. The reception was under a tent and we made everything but the food! I am sure I will post photos, but for now, we only have some non-pro's and a few previews from our photographer.

The next morning, we invited my new in-laws to breakfast, who drove in from out of state, so our time with them was limited, although we did have an agenda. We wanted to make the announcement to them that we are starting the adoption process on Saturday by turning in our application and attending our first of many required classes. We handed the patriarch of the family,my father-in-law, the wrapped onesy that I made, intended to break the ice. He opened it and looked at it, puzzled. He read it outloud and then I announced that we are beginning our new adventure. Everyone was so happy for us! They were congratulating us and asking questions and I finally felt at ease. I was so nervous, that I forgot to take pictures! I was so disappointed, so we asked them to take a photo with the gift, so we can have it for a keepsake. I then made sure my sister would bring her fancy camera to our family get together.

We did not announce to my family until Monday evening. Everyone went to my grandparents' hotel dining room. I gave the bag to my grandparents to open. They pulled it out and were just giggling and giggling! They read it aloud and then I announced that we are starting the adoption process on Saturday and everyone was ecstatic! They were all congratulating us and it was so wonderful! I was so scared of being met with negativity that it never even occurred to me that both of our families would be happy and supportive of our decision.
Tonight, we filled out the application! It was so exciting!!!! While we were, I realized that we have an option to start our classes on Friday, instead and that they could all be done by the end of the month! It will monopolize most of the weekends for the month, but It is better than dragging it out until November, right???? I am going to call in the morning to see if we can get into those classes, instead! I hope so!!!! We are very eager to get the process started! I will keep you posted!