Work In Progress

Last week we were able to conference call with our adoptive family specialist, Kathie, from our placement agency.  Here we are as we were getting ready for the phone to ring. And notice that Kenai was right by us, too... Of course he had to be part of the process!

This last picture was just after we got off the 75-minute phone call with Kathie. We loved her! This process is not easy, so it's wonderful to work with great people. We got to talk about how things are going, and we went over the adoption planning questionnaire that I mentioned before. It was a really informative call, and we felt so good afterwards! Check one more thing off the 'to do' list...!

So where are we at otherwise? Well, we're at a stall in our home study. No worries... this is normal! And we were expecting it... there's not a lot we can do to move it along right now. We've filled out all the paperwork we need to, and I've gotten my physician clearance. Andy's will be next week. We have educational material that we're supposed to watch & read, but that isn't available right now as other families have it. We have a 4-hour meeting to go to, but they haven't set a date for it yet. We will be interviewing with our social worker and she'll have to come to our home to make sure we don't keep skeletons in our closets, etc, but that won't start until our FBI clearances come back -- which, by the way, can take 4 weeks, or it can take 8 weeks. Hard to predict, and impossible to push along. So we wait...

In the meantime, we're working on our profile for our placement agency.  This is probably the most important project, in my opinion!! It's what birthparents will see and how they will get to know us. It's the piece that will show them who we are, and help them to decide if we are the right people to raise their child. Talk about nervewracking!!  How do you let someone know in 500-700 words that you will be a good parent?  That they should trust you, and that you are worthy enough to be given the gift of their child? It's so hard to put all those thoughts into words, and so..... that's a work-in-progress. 

In addition to words -- we have to choose pictures. Now, wait... I know what you're thinking... PICTURES!?!?!?  This should be a breeze for someone who takes a gazillion photos, right?!?!  Uffda.... not exactly!!  We have to submit between 50-70 photos, and I would post the detailed list of what they want, but it's too long.  But trust me, it's specific. 8 photos of this, 8 photos of that, etc... Probably the worst part of it is I'm admittedly way toooooo picky. Given that these photos are going to be the FIRST thing that birthparents see of us, it's just not possible to be good enough. Seriously.

But we'll get there... with the words and the photos. We aren't going to look perfect, and we're not going to sound perfect, either. But I have a hard time believing most birthparents are looking for 'perfect,' and that makes me feel better... Now, if it's a real, and loving family they're looking for, then I think we'll be okay!