Profile Book Here!

A couple days ago I received our profile book in the mail from Shutterfly.  It was exciting to get to see the book in real life!  I have looked over the book so many times online before I ordered it and as I was making it that I think I could almost tell you exactly whats on each page:)  I really wonder what our Birth-parents will think as they look through our book.  Will they think we look like a fun family for their child?  Will they wonder about our age?  Will they know how blessed we really are to have wonderful families and the gift of salvation?  I hope when they look at our book they see a family that longs to have a child to call their own and I hope they see a place where their child will be loved and cared for and given all they wish they could give him/her.  I know God has a plan and so when I think about how our adoption will go I try not to worry to much about why someone would or would not choose us to adopt their baby.  Instead I try to remember that God has a baby for us.  He knew  this would be our future even before we were born.  God knows it all and it is humbling to realize this and to realize just how little we know.  We don't know if we will get a baby in 2 weeks or if it will be two years.  We don't know if we will ever have a biological child or if we will only adopt.  We don't know if we will adopt one child or numerous children.  We don't even really know if what we have "planned" is what God had planned!  One thing we do know is that God's plan is perfect and complete and if we take one day at a time and try our best to stay at the center of His will, He will provide grace for each situation.  It seems weird right now to think about the fact that we will be parents and actually have a little baby to call our own.  I think it's kind of like a couple that is expecting, they know the baby is coming but they really can't imagine exactly what it will be like or even believe that it will be reality to have a baby in the home to care for.  I think God has really worked in my heart to help me with patience through this experience so far.  Most days I am perfectly content with our little family of Jesse and I.  I am thankful for the opportunities that we have together that we may not have some day when we have a child.  Other days I get a little jealous and wish I could have a child to call my own and to care for and love but quickly God helps me to feel content again with where He has placed me right now in life.  I am sure my patience will begin to wear as time goes on and we have nothing to do but wait but I am also so surprised at just how quickly time flies by.  Our close friends baby is about to turn one year old and it seems like she was just born yesterday!  We have been on this journey for a year and a half now! Both of these things help me to keep things in perspective.  Time passes so quickly and someday we will be watching our children become parents wondering where time has went!  So back to the subject of our profile book, it turned out great and I haven't found any spelling mistakes or printing errors in it.  I am mailing it to Family Core today for them to put on their shelf waiting to be shown to a person who will be making one of the most difficult and selfless decisions they will ever make.

Profile Book Ordered!!

So today I finally sat down and completed all the finishing touches in the photo book I have been "about done" with for the last few weeks!  Checking for spelling, adding the last few pictures, and making sure everything looked good before I ordered it in print!  I hope it comes and looks great and I don't find a bunch of mistakes I didn't catch when proofing it.  I suppose though if I do find a lot of mistakes I can always just reorder!  So the book should be in sometime before August 30th!  Then I will send it to Family Core and hope it gets used;)

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!

Online Adoption Class #2

On this past Tuesday Jesse and I found the time to sit down for a couple hours together and complete our second of three adoption classes.  This class was called Let's Talk Adoption!  It was about speaking with an adopted child about the subject of their adoption, barriers that might cause difficulty in doing this, and strategies for making communication open within a family and between adoptive parents and the adopted child.  Like the last class this class gave us some helpful ideas and information to consider once we adopt our child.  I am so thankful that these classes are required and set up so that we can learn and have something to go back to once we adopt our child.  There have been a lot of things I have learned about adoption, communication, relationships, fears and hopes that will truly benefit us when we are raising our adopted child some day!  I know we will make mistakes and not do everything perfectly but I think we are both excited to see what our future holds and who God will provide for us to love and raise for Him!  We have learned that every child will be a little different in the way they handle the fact that they were adopted or the way they view their unique life story.  The classes are great for giving different options and helping us to understand that really how each situation is or should be handled will depend on the child and what they want or need.

We have one last adoption class to complete before our case worker comes for our home visit on the 10th of July!