Exciting Mail...Again!

Today we receieved a written copy of our Home Study Report from Family Core in the mail!  This is the report that was written by our case worker about everything she has learned about Jesse and I in the last few months.  Every couple who adopts is required to have a written home study report completed about them and on file with the agency that wrote it or the agency they are working with for the adoption. I actually didn't know that we would recieve a copy of the report and get to read through it so it was pretty exciting to be able to do that. It was interesting to read through the report and see our life from the perspective of someone else! I also got a little peek at some of the things written about us in the reference letters that were written by five friends and family members.  I want to say a special thanks for those of you who wrote those reference letters for us! (You know who you are!)  We really really appreciate it.  The few quotes I read that were written in our home study taken from the reference letters were great, so thank you! 

So as far as I know that is all the exciting mail we are expecting for a while:)

Exciting Mail!

Our foster home (adopt only) license arrived in the mail today!  It came even faster than we were told it would.  I felt so accomplished as I looked at the license today.  It is so exciting to be somewhere that only seemed like a distant thought a year ago when we began our journey!  I know we still have a long journey ahead us but getting the license is a big step and a big part of our adoption process.  We are now certified by the State of Illinois to adopt a child! 

As far as the profile book goes...I have been working on it a lot!  It takes so much time to get everything just the way I want it.  Not too many words and not too many pictures, just a perfect combination.  Not too much decorations but not bring.  Just the right photos to best portray our family and our life.  I am kind of a perfectionist in the first place so as you can imagine it does take a lot of time to get it "just right"!  I am about done with it though.  I have the bulk of it done but still have to sort through more pictures and even take a few to get just the right ones.  Also there are a few places Jesse has to write his thoughts but I should be done sometime soon I think. 

And then we will wait for our child...

Fifth Adoption Meeting (Home Visit)

Yesterday morning we had our final meeting with our case worker!  It was our home visit meeting.  Our case worker came to our house around 10:30am and we showed her around our home.  Then we did some paperwork and went over basic saftey requirements we needed in our home in order to hold a Foster Home (Adopt Only) License from the State of Illinois.  They were mainly basic things, like cleaning supplies in a safe place, carbon and smoke detectors on each floor, and water at a certain temp so it will be safe for a child.  Most of the things we went over where things she said we didn't really need to have until we actually adopt since it could be awhile until we actually get chosen and have a child in our home.  We signed a bunch of paperwork and talked for awhile and then we went through a sample profile book that the agency had created.  Our case worker told us a few general guide lines for creating a profile book about our life and gave us a few tips to help us get started!  Our case worker also was able to get information she needed to complete her report, our official home study, on everything she learned about us.  Everyone that adopts or fosters is required to have a home study report.  The meeting went extremely well and by around 11:45am our case worker was on her way back to Peoria!  At this point the only thing left to do is create a profile book for Family Core to have to show birthmothers.  This is just a basic book with pictures and descriptions like you can make on shutterfly etc.  It will have pictures of us, our families, jobs, our home, and things we like to do etc.  This book will be shown to birthmoms looking to make an adoption plan along with other couples books as well.  The birth mom then chooses a family by looking at the profile books and eventually we meet the birth mom if she chooses us.  Along with making a profile book we will also be waiting to recieve our Foster Home license from the state of Illinois before we will officially be a waiting family.  It is a requirement to hold a Foster Home Liscene in Illinois if you are going to adopt.  Our case worker said this Lisence should be coming to us in the mail sometime in the next three weeks or so.  Once we have that and turn in our profile book we will be a waiting family and could be chosen at any time to adopt a baby!  We are so thankful how smoothly this process has went and it seems crazy that we are almost finished!  I think that the hardest part is yet to come as we wait on God's perfect timing in providing us with our little baby.  For now we have our profile book to keep us busy but after that the waiting will begin.  We are trying to look at it from the perspective that it will be awhile before we will have a placement, partly because we don't want to get our hopes up to be dissapointed if it does take awhile and partly because our agency does not usually have very many placements each year so the statistics show that it could be awhile.  But despite all that I also try to remember that God already has our baby chosen even if he/she is not concieved yet.  The timing is all in His hands whether it ends up being a few months or a few years.

I feel like there are times I write things and it makes sense to me because I have been able to talk to our caseworker and we are getting used to all the adoption "terms"  but it might not really make sense to you!  Or maybe the way I word things doesn't really explain it very well:)  If you ever have any questions please ask us!  I would love to do my best to explain anything you might be wondering about!

Online Adoption Class #3

Yesterday we completed our final online adoption class!  It was called The Journey of Attachment.  This class gave us information on attachment both of the adopted child and the adoptive parents.  We learned signs of attachment and things that could cause issues with attachment.  We learned about the importance of attachment between an adopted child and the adoptive parents and things that can aide in attaching to your child.  The class was good but we both felt like it wasn't as informative and helpful as the other two classes seemed to be.  I think this was partly because of how the class was presented.  We were able to learn some helpful information though that we will definitley look back on someday when we are dealing with the struggles of attachment with our child.  We did learn that even an infant adopted at birth can have attachment issues and we as well in attaching to our adopted infant.  As I said about the other two classes I think we will find this class helpful to look back on once we have our child in our home and are dealing with these issues head on.  Anyways we have now completed everything that we need to complete on our end.  Now we will wait for our home visit and then create a profile book and then we will officially become a waiting family!