Let The Games Begin

It is official. We have officially retained a fancy attorney! Mr. Attorney will contact our caseworker in the next several days, to send him the paperwork to get our home study started. Our seat belts are fastened and we are ready for the ride of a lifetime. We are coming Baby Z Number Three!

Bailey

It's A Go

Last night we had terrible weather (snow/freezing rain mixture that is still falling right now!) and I was worried that our appointment with the attorney would be cancelled. It was only clear for about two hours today, and those two hours were during the time we were driving to and from the appointment. Anyway, we made it there safely, and on time, and I was incredibly nervous. The office was fancy and distinguished, and I am not, so I was feeling very out of my league. Social workers have never intimidated me, but talking with a lawyer felt like a whole new ball game. 

Let me tell you about our attorney. He was so helpful, encouraging, and smart! He is only a few years older than Boss, and the whole thing was very relaxed. He put me at ease right away! He answered all of our questions and he said he would be glad to facilitate our adoption. When we started discussing fees, I had a few questions, because I was worried it was going to be way more expensive than we had initially thought. From doing research online, I was prepared for him to say his retainer fees were several thousand dollars. However, it turns out Mr. Attorney became a Catholic two years ago, and in order to stay out of purgatory (his words) he decided to reduce his retainer fees for adoption as a way to give back. He said he will facilitate the adoption and handle all of the legal fees once our baby is placed, for a fraction of the cost that I had been expecting. How generous! I am so thankful!

Anyway, we are going to pray, talk, and think about everything over the weekend, and we will call his office on Monday to set the ball in motion. I am so excited! I have heard that home studies can take around three months, on average, but we are a bit ahead of the game since we are already finger printed, back ground checked, and already have the adoption training for our job as houseparents. I am hopeful that we will have everything ready to go by summer, and then THE WAIT can begin.

Slow, yet Steady

I thought I would write an update on where we stand in the adoption process. I am pleased to write that we are making slow, yet steady progress! Last Wednesday was a bad day, and at the end of it I was feeling very discouraged. I had been making calls to different agencies in our area for over six weeks, and we had finally decided on two that had come highly recommended to us. The social workers at each agency had been researching how to do a home study as in depth as ours would have to be (since we have children living in our home that are in the custody of the state), and on the same day, both agencies called and told me that they would not be able to serve our family in facilitating an adoption. I was in tears, because all of my hope had been resting in them, and it seemed that we had no other options. In fact, I prayed that night that if adoption was not meant to be for us at this stage in our lives, that God would help me find contentment in my two wonderful daughters and in the girls that I work with. I started praying that my current situation would be enough for me. A little secret about me, I tend to get a bit obsessive about the things I am pursuing, and over the last six weeks it was like I had turned in to an adoption monster. I was scouring the Internet every free second I had and it was completely consuming me. I had the idea in my head that I had to be holding our baby by the end of the year, and if things didn't start working out, then my plan would fail. I completely forgot about His plan and His timing. So last Wednesday, my wise husband gently reminded me that while our quest for a baby was an awesome thing, if I didn't slow down a bit, I was going to miss Kate's toddler years and Emma's preschool years, and no baby in the world could replace that. He is so right, I just hadn't wanted to hear it. Ouch! That night I began praying for patience, perspective, and peace.

The very next day (Thursday), the children's home state case worker came out for a licensing inspection, and she told me that the state had approved the children's home adoption caseworker to do home studies for anyone that he could not hire or fire. That meant me! He was now allowed to complete our home study! And he has done them for houseparents before, so he knows exactly what he is doing! The only requirement the state gave, is that our home study would need to be facilitated by an adoption attorney. We were given the name of an attorney in our county who specializes in adoption, and we have an appointment scheduled for Friday morning. I am continuing to pray for patience, perspective, and peace, but I am feeling a bit more hopeful. It always seems as though when one door is shut, another opens. Please pray for us Friday morning! Not that things will work out the way that I want them to, but that they will work out in accordance with God's plan for our family. Please pray that we would find peace in the blessings that we already have, no matter the outcome of Friday's meeting. Thank you for checking in and for caring about our family.

Do You Know Where Babies Come From?

I used to write a lot about Emma's toddler tidbits, because one never knew what was going to come out of her mouth at any given moment. However, over the last year, Emma has developed a bit of a shy personality. So the funnies don't flow as freely as they used to. But recently she gave me some new material.

Today, while we were in the baby section of Wal Mart getting diapers for Kate, Emma asked me, Mommy, do you know where babies come from, because I do. My heart started pounding! Emma does live with four teenage girls, so I had no idea if any of them had filled her little mind with facts. I calmly replied, Oh really? Where do babies come from? Her answer, If a mommy wants a baby, she has to close her eyes, count to three, say POP, and God will place a baby in her arms! Whew! If only it were that easy! Emma did inform me that she was too young to have a baby. She said she is going to wait until she is old like mama. Good to know! I simply told her that she was right about the fact that babies do come from God. Silly girl!