I don't know if anyone paid attention to the title of the blog, but we thought a quick, fun, explanation was in order.
The bottom line is that adoption is the most paperwork you will ever submit in your life.
BEFORE you can even qualify for the PREadoptive classes, you have to submit a 20 page questionairre about your family, personal and work references, plus allow criminal background checks and affidavits of good moral character. Then, while in the classes, but before your homestudy, you submit birth certificates, marriage licenses, physicals from your doctors, taxes, etc. You also turn in homework for each class, and there are workbooks that you keep. This is all BEFORE your homestudy. Then, AFTER your homestudy, you have finalization paperwork, once you are adopting a child. So...yeah.... lots of paperwork= tons of papercuts. I think adoptive parents are personally responsible for keeping Neosporin in business.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
The waiting game....
It's a long shot, really, but we talk constantly about if our child, or children are with us for the holidays. What will it be like to have our son or daughter wake up and see the Christmas tree that hopefully they will have helped decorate, or to have our son or daughter help us make dinner and cookies and pies. We can't wait to pass on all of our family traditions to this mystery person who we already love so much.
Maybe all expectant parents feel this way, but it's new territory for us.
In some ways, it feels like they are at camp, and we are waiting for them to come home. This wait has been the biggest challenge for us so far.
We have been making lots of "Before The Home Visit" lists, and then trying to get them accomplished. We want to have the house cleaned, have the spare bedroom (that will be their bedroom) cleaned up and organized, the pooches need their vaccinations and check ups, we need to clear out any clutter in any area of the house, put any "Summery stuff" in the attic, finish hanging pictures (there is one 4"x6" frame with a picture in it, and one 5"x7" frame without a picture in it hanging on the wall of the stairs where our "gallery" is supposed to be! Pretty pitiful!), decorate for the holidays, and plan for Thanksgiving, which we are having at our house this year!
In a lot of ways, it's good to stay busy because it keeps our minds off the wait. We are especially enjoying the cool weather outside right now. It is a welcome relief from the heat and humidity we have suffered through this Summer. Any time we have that isn't "to-do listing", has been outdoors! We need to enjoy this weather while we have it!
Maybe all expectant parents feel this way, but it's new territory for us.
In some ways, it feels like they are at camp, and we are waiting for them to come home. This wait has been the biggest challenge for us so far.
We have been making lots of "Before The Home Visit" lists, and then trying to get them accomplished. We want to have the house cleaned, have the spare bedroom (that will be their bedroom) cleaned up and organized, the pooches need their vaccinations and check ups, we need to clear out any clutter in any area of the house, put any "Summery stuff" in the attic, finish hanging pictures (there is one 4"x6" frame with a picture in it, and one 5"x7" frame without a picture in it hanging on the wall of the stairs where our "gallery" is supposed to be! Pretty pitiful!), decorate for the holidays, and plan for Thanksgiving, which we are having at our house this year!
In a lot of ways, it's good to stay busy because it keeps our minds off the wait. We are especially enjoying the cool weather outside right now. It is a welcome relief from the heat and humidity we have suffered through this Summer. Any time we have that isn't "to-do listing", has been outdoors! We need to enjoy this weather while we have it!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
We're adopting!
Hello to all of our family and friends who have found this blog! We are so glad to share our news with you! As we have information to share, we will post it here, and also encourage you to ask questions, via Gianna's e-mail, this blog or phone calls, about our adoption. We are very happy and extremely excited!
What's Next?:
We can't thank you all enough for your support! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to share this amazing journey with!
A Little Info:
We have talked about adoption since we first met. We knew it was something we wanted to do when we were ready. When we were finally ready to talk about starting a family, we began with the traditional way; trying to have biological children. But when Gianna's mom began working for the Safe Children Coalition, the public foster and adoption agency in our county, it seemed that we were being lead down a different path. We started doing some research, and a lot of reading, and a LOT of talking. We finally came to the decision that now was the right time for us to adopt.
We let our families know, began our paperwork and training classes (Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting). Some of the scariest days were the ones where we told our families. How would they react? Would they be as excited and willing to open their homes and hearts to a child as we are? Thankfully, the answer to that was a resounding yes! We were met with excitement, love, a little worry, and a lot of support. We couldn't be more thankful and grateful!
What's Next?:
We have finished classes required to adopt through the state foster/adoption system, and we are currently waiting to begin our homestudy.We will be using this blog as a way to communicate with everyone, as well as Facebook, as events and news occur!
At this point, we do have a child in mind, but are not sharing any information for privacy's sake. If we are not matched with this child, we will probably pursue adoption through fostercare, which means we will be licensed to foster children, and if they become available for adoption we will be able to do so.
As we have info to share, we will be doing so through this blog, but also appreciate hearing from you via phone calls and e-mails!
At this point, we do have a child in mind, but are not sharing any information for privacy's sake. If we are not matched with this child, we will probably pursue adoption through fostercare, which means we will be licensed to foster children, and if they become available for adoption we will be able to do so.
As we have info to share, we will be doing so through this blog, but also appreciate hearing from you via phone calls and e-mails!
Where Can I Find More Info About Adoption?:
We know that there is a lot of misinformation out there in the world, and on the internet, about adoption. We are happy to share what information we can, answer any questions, and just hear from all of you in general!
We know that there is a lot of misinformation out there in the world, and on the internet, about adoption. We are happy to share what information we can, answer any questions, and just hear from all of you in general!
In the meantime, if you would like to read about adoption, we can recommend some great books!
There are also some good, trustworthy, websites to get information about public adoption, and adoption in general. AdoptiveFamilies.com, and AdoptUSKids.org are two great places to start, but here are some links to great info:
We can't thank you all enough for your support! We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to share this amazing journey with!
Love,
Greg and Gianna
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