First Home Study Visit Completed

The first home study visit went very well today. Our social worker, Maria, was very kind and put us at ease right away. We spent about an hour and a half telling her about ourselves, explaining why we were interested in adoption, and looking around our home. We also completed the initial paperwork specific to Illini. We then scheduled our next 3 visits. It looks like we should have a rough draft of the home study by July 6!

We have a few ‘homework assignments’ to complete by the next visit, but nothing major. We will complete one more short online training, purchase a first aid kit, and purchase child safety locks for certain areas of the home.

For those of you that are wondering, Kizzie was wonderful! We did not hear a word from her throughout the entire visit. We were pretty stunned by this, but she didn’t meow, growl, or hiss the entire time Maria was here : )

So, thank you everyone for your prayers for this process to this point. Everything seems to be going smoothly and we are thrilled to pieces! We will keep you posted on the next few visits.

Upcoming Home Study Visit (1 of 4)

Just for a quick update – and a request for prayer – we wanted to let you all know that our first home study visit is scheduled for Wednesday morning. We are very excited, but also nervous, as we are not entirely sure what to expect. We have been assured that the social worker is not inspecting our house for lack of dirt, but we have spent the last day and a half cleaning, none the less. I am not even sure our house was this clean when we bought it : )

Tomorrow, Jonathan and I also celebrate 8 years of marriage! I still cannot grasp that I am old enough to have been married that long. The years, though, have been great and we cannot wait to venture further into this new phase.

We will keep you all posted on how the home visit goes. Thank you, ahead of time, for your prayers.

He Has a Sense of Humor

As of Monday, Jonathan and I made and delivered our last two scheduled pie orders. As census at work has increased and my coworkers have been busier, orders coming in have been slowing. After one month of consistent orders, we were starting to get nervous that people were losing interest.

You would think by now that we would have learned that God has a sense of humor. He needs to periodically remind us that He is in control - because we need reminded, don't we?? After being at work today and checking e-mail when we got home, we now have 14 pie orders to make and deliver by Saturday! We are thrilled! We plan to go to the store tomorrow after work to purchase our second 25 pound bags of flour and sugar.

He really does take care of all things, doesn't He? This pie fundraiser has continued to be a wonderful reminder of what He, and His people, can do to help one another. Thank you all, again, for your wonderful support. We feel so blessed to call you all friends and coworkers : )

A Cat Only a Mother Could Love

Not too much to update you on at this point, but I wanted to touch base.

We are continuing to gather all the paperwork needed for our home study and dossier. Basically every facet of our lives - finances, medical status, social life, employment, criminal history, etc. – has to be written down on paper and notarized : ) I have never seen so much paperwork in all my life, but we are told (and have come to realize) that it is all for the safety of the child we will one day call our own. So, we continue to move forward with the gathering.

One piece of paperwork that our home study required was a letter from our veterinarian stating that any pets we have are up-to-date on vaccinations. Well, for the enjoyment of those of you who are familiar with our ‘precious’ Kizzie, we got to go to the vet this morning : ) After spending 15 minutes chasing both of them around the house to get them in their carriers (watch out if you don’t get it done the 1^st time!), then I take them into the office. Whenever we have to make this trip, I always refer to Kizzie as our “problem child,” as she spends the entire time hissing and growling at the poor vet and his assistant. But, after 45 minutes and a hefty bill, we all made it home in one piece. Kizzie, though, continues to wander around the house, hissing at random objects throughout the remainder of the morning : )

I just keep reminding myself that it will ALL be worth it when we get to travel to meet our child. At least this one won’t growl and hiss at doctors : )