Required Reading is Done!!!! (for now)

I have finally finished reading the last book! I have written my report; put it in the envelope with the rest of the papers; typed, printed and signed the cover letter; and put the cover letter in the envelope. Tomorrow, I will make copies of all the papers and mail the envelope to Buckner. YEAH!!!! This is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now we just get to wait, pray and wait some more.

Please continue to lift us up in prayer as we wait. Also keep our finances in your prayers. Chris has applied for a part-time job with Wal-Mart to help with our finances, but hasn't heard anything from them yet.

Almost done with reading

While I was in San Antonio this weekend for a Quack Pack (group of friends from high school) Reunion, Chris finished the last book we have to read: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina. Woohoo! Now he needs to write up his report and he will be COMPLETELY DONE with his part. I got through chapter 1 of the book while waiting for my car to get inspected this morning, but should be finished with it sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. Once I get my report written, I can make copies of all the papers (for our records) and send it off to Buckner!

We got an email last week from our social worker stating that her part is done, she is just waiting for these 'book reports' and a copy of the report from the psychologist.

Now we get to continue waiting, only this time we are waiting for our OFFICIAL APPROVAL to adopt. Please continue to pray for us during this time.

Only One Book Left!

Chris finished the second book tonight and wrote his report! Woo Hoo! Now, we just have one left: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina. We plan to read it together and it shouldn't take too long. All the papers should be finished and in the mail by next weekend.

Reading and Vacation

Chris is on vacation this week (if he doesn't take it by a certain time, he loses it) and has been reading one of the adoption books. He started yesterday and read on and off during the day. He took a break and went with me to my dad's house to water his pepper plants and got a lot read. As of right now (5:41 pm, according to the computer), he is about half-way through! Yeah! Once he finishes this book (Adopting the Older Child by Claudia Jewett, 1978), we will read the last book together (Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina). Since Chris set a 'want to be done by' date of the end of July, we don't have much time left if we are going to meet it! Personally, the start of next week is okay with me.

On a different note, I joined Facebook today. Yes, I have gone to the dark side... It is totally addicting and if I am not careful, hours will slip by and I will still be staring at the computer screen (like I did this afternoon).

Anyway, we are plugging along on the reading issue; I am so proud of Chris (he is not a big reader!). If I am not careful, he will finish both books and reports before me!

Please continue to lift us up in prayer: finances available when they are needed, preparing the house for our kiddos, getting ready to take on a second job again (Chris is planning on applying at Wal-Mart this week for a part-time job to help out with the finances), and me getting ready to go back for another school year (I am looking forward to meeting my new students!).

We are NOT crazy!!

Yesterday I spoke with the psychologist that did our adoption evaluation, and we are good to go (according to his report) for adopting! So for all of you out there that asked "Are you crazy?" in regards to adopting an older sibling group, according to a psychologist, we are not crazy!

Okay, maybe we are just a little bit, but who isn't (in some way or another). Anyway, he has sent in his report to Buckner, so the last of the paperwork is on us. Chris has been reading one of his 2 books and I have been working on getting the house back to normal (it still smells a little like paint).

Please continue to pray for our children and for our finances {we got the bill for the psychologist's paperwork (test scoring and report writing) yesterday}.

Two books down, one left to go (for me at least)...

I finally finished my second book (Adopting the Older Child) this afternoon and wrote my report! It took a while, but I managed to sit down, ignore the tv that Chris was watching and read the book. Now I have to read the last book, Raising Adopted Children, and I will be done with my required reading!

All that is left is for Chris to read the books and write his reports, then our part of the Home Study will be done!

Almost done with Home Study stuff

Chris and I met with a psychologist yesterday morning for our "Psychological Evaluation" that is required by Russia. We each spent 1 hour talking with him while the other was working on 3 different tests/written questionnaires. We stayed an extra hour to finish the paperwork so that it would all be done. Last night, we completed an on-line Parenting Inventory and sent the results out in today's mail. Now we just get to wait for him to write up his report, score the tests and let us know the results. We are becoming quite good at waiting...

This afternoon we met with our family physician and went over the "Family's Opinion of Possible Acceptance of Child with Minor or Correctable Medical Needs". We did make some changes after talking with him and listened to his recommendations. He did agree to most of what we had originally put down, which didn't surprise us.

We each have one book finished and report written (The Connected Child by Dr. Karen Purvis). I am still about half-way through the second book (Adopting the Older Child by Claudia Jewett). Chris will read it after I am done. Then only one book left to read and report on: Raising Adopted Children by Lois Ruskai Melina.

Once we finish the books, we can send in the papers (after keeping a copy for our records) and our part of the Home Study will be done! I hope to have it done within the next two weeks, but Chris' deadline is the end of July. Once all the papers are in, we just wait for the 'Official Approval to Adopt from Russia'.

Please continue to pray for our children and their current caregivers.

Home Visit Went Well!

Our Home Visit with Joy went really well! We were up early in order to pick her up at Bush Intercontinental Airport. Her flight was early and so were we. Chris and I made a sign with her name and she thought it was great (no one ever had a sign for her before as she usually gets a rental car for the day). It was a quick ride back home and we got to talk during the ride. After getting home, we gave her the "Tour", starting with the outside. She liked the space in the backyard! As far as the inside, she just checked for outlet covers, door & drawer latches, fire extinguisher in the kitchen and checked smoke alarms. We sat at the table and talked for about 2 and a half hours, before we had to leave to take her back to the airport. We got her there in time to check in for her flight, then went to breakfast at IHOP (which was around 2:15 by then).

We decided to pick her up and take her back instead of having her get a rental car for the day (it was less expensive and we have to pay her travel expenses for the trip). I think it was a great idea. Not only did we save on the cost of a rental car, we got to visit with her some more and relax a bit before the "Interview".

We feel that it all went well, and that we will be "Officially Approved" when we get all the other papers in. The only things that she said that she needs to talk with Buckner about are: the number of children we are able to take and the financial aspect of it all.

As far as the number of children, she is not sure that we would be approved for 4, probably 2 or 3 instead. We assured her that we are okay with the decision that they make (it is in God's hands anyway!).

Regarding the money, she doesn't think that we would be denied just because we don't have money in savings (like thousands in savings). We did talk about different ways to raise the money: applying for grants after the Home Study in approved, Chris picking up a second job (probably at Wal-Mart), various fundraisers/garage sale/bake sales that we can do.

Right now, we have an appointment next Monday with a psychologist for our "Psychological Evaluations" that Russia requires. Joy passed on the name and number of the guy that one of the other families that we know used. He charges $160 an hour/session and we are scheduled for 2 hours on Monday to meet with him. One hour is talking with him and the other is working on the 'tests'. I don't know how much it will cost for the test scoring, but he said that it usually isn't that long. We have an appointment with our family doctor to go over the 'Family's Opinion of Possible Acceptance of Child with Minor or Correctable Medical Needs' form. After that, just need to finish the other 2 books, write the reports and send it all in to Buckner; and wait.

Please pray that we have the money we need for the psychological evaluations, Joy and the Buckner staff make the right decisions, that we are patient as we wait for an answer.

Not much going on right now

Chris and I plan to have Joy (we haven't checked with her yet) come down at the end of May to do the house visit and last interview. Still haven't read the other 2 books yet, but we are getting more stuff around the house done. Chris painted the garage door yesterday, so it doesn't look so bad! I am still trying to get used to the latches on the cabinet doors and drawers. After 2 broken nails, I've decided that short is good. I haven't had time during the day to find out about a psychologist yet. With super needy sewing students, phone calls from the office looking for students, meetings in my free time, I haven't had much time. Lunch is usually during class, instead of the 15 minutes I might have during my lunch period. Oh well, 5 more weeks to go then I get lots of free time! Of course, that means I have more time to get everything done that needs to be done....

Overwhelmed right now, but it's getting better!

Chris and I are still working on the Home Study stuff. We got home around 11:00 on Friday the 20th, after sitting in the Seminar all day and then driving home afterwards. Talk about exhausted! It took us a few days to get semi-caught up on sleep, although I don't feel like I am rested yet!

It was a great 2 days, but we hadn't had much time to really talk about what we learned when we got an email from our social worker the following Tuesday evening asking when (in April) can she come down for the home visit. As she was going to be out of town the last weekend, and Easter wasn't a good time, that left the first weekend and third weekend of the month available. Talk about extremely short notice! Since we haven't completed everything in the house that is on the CPS check list, the visit will have to wait! It took 2 emails and 2 phone calls to convince the social worker that we are not ready yet (in more ways than one!), but she has accepted that this is our process and we will let her know when we are ready. The good news is that we don't have to have all the other stuff (2 books, psychological evaluations, financial plan, medical check list) done before she sees the house. It all has to be done before the Home Study process can be completed and Final Approval is given to adopt.

Of course, we will have to pay as we go (which is something we already knew and planned for), so that will slow the process down as well. We need $500 for the second half of the Home Study process, fees for the psychological evaluations & medical check list meeting with a doctor, and $3,500 for the 1st installment of the Agency Fee when we are given the Final Approval. Please continue to pray that the funds will be available when they are needed.
Chris has installed the drawer and cabinet latches in the kitchen, children's bathroom and our bathroom; as well as smoke/fire alarms in the 2 extra bedrooms and checked to make sure that the other ones work. You never think of all that is necessary until you get 2 check lists that CPS requires.

School has been rather busy lately, but should get better soon. My students are starting their sewing projects this week and that is always a good time for me. Chris is seriously considering going back to Wal-Mart part time this summer (after the home visit by the social worker) to earn more to go towards the adoption (and get the last 2 credit cards paid off). I have been working on more baby blankets to sell. Liz (my sister) and I spent the morning at the Seven Lakes High School 3rd Annual PTSA Garage Sale on the 28th and sold 3 blankets! One lady bought a nap mat from our online store: www.LandRDesigns.etsy.com when Liz reactivated it on Sunday the 29th! I am really praying that more will sell (when they all get posted). If you know anyone who is looking for baby blankets, Burpcloth Babies or children's clothing, please feel free to pass our store site on!

International Adoption Seminar

Chris and I attended the required International Adoption Seminar by Buckner this past week and it was great! We drove up Wednesday afternoon and came back after the seminar was over Friday night. It was a long and tiring trip, but well worth it all.

The Seminar talked about attachment & sensory issues our children may have and we will have to deal with as well. It helped that we both had finished the book: The Connected Child by Dr. Karen Purvis prior to the seminar as alot of what was discussed was in her book. We feel better prepared now, but we still know that there will be other issues that pop up when we get our children home. We also had a break-out session that was specific to Russia, and that gave us a better insight in what to expect as we continue in the process.

It was really neat to meet 2 other couples that are adopting from Russia that live in the Houston area (one is about 10-15 minutes away in Sugar Land, and the other is in the 290 area, which is still rather close)! They are both looking for 1 child, age 2 and under. We are already planning on getting together in May, probably at a support group meeting.

Chris and I are still really tired, but that is to be expected when given an overwhelming amount of information for 2 days and then driving home that second night! We did walk to the Celebration Station (it is next to the hotel we stayed at) to paly 2 rounds of Putt-Putt Golf Thursday night to de-stress. We had a lot of fun; Chris won both rounds (by just a few points)!

We now have a lot more to discuss and plan for, but God is with us and will provide. Attending the Seminar puts us about half-way through the Home Study Process...

One book down...

Chris finished one of the books we have to read "The Connected Child" and wrote his summary report. I started reading it yesterday at school, but didn't get very far. I should be able to finish it before we leave for the seminar on Wednesday. He started reading the next book "Adopting the Older Child". I had to find it on Amazon.com because it is out of print (was written in 1978), but it still has good information. Our social worker, Joy, said that she wanted us to read at least one book on adopting older children since we are asking for older children. I still plan to read the one my sister got us for Christmas, "Toddler Adoption" as part of my list since they may be older in age, but on an emotional/mental level of a toddler.

We are attending the required International Adoption Seminar with Buckner this next week in Dallas. We plan to drive up when Chris gets off at 11:00 on Wednesday and drive home after it is done on Friday so that we can pick up our dog from the vet on Saturday (it will save us about $60 at the vet's and one night at a hotel). It will make for a very long day, but we are okay with it. We had hoped to get together with friends in Burleson, but they are going to be in Houston visiting with their kids and grandkids.

As far as the other parts of the Home Study: psychological evaluations and getting the house ready, we are waiting until we finish with the Seminar this week. I have been a bit stressed out right now, so I need to wait and do one thing at a time. We have done little things around the house, but are waiting (for now) to do the big things.