We met our social worker, Michele, at the same Panera's. Once again, Jason and I got there early, so we ordered some soup! Michele once again got down to business. She had a questionnaire that each of us had to complete individually. I volunteered to go first. She started by asking me about each immediate family member, how often I spoke with them and saw them, and how my relationship with each is. Then the questions got harder... including my own personal strengths and weaknesses and then those for Jason. Our expectations for our child, what changes we will make in our lives once the child arrives, and so on. Jason had it easy because I had already answered each question!
We wrapped up by discussing some additional training we need to complete, the outstanding documents we owe her, and the timeline of the process. She said we can expect to see a first draft of our home study 75days after our first visit... or March 25 according to my calculations! Whew! That still seems like a long time away!!
We left Panera and ran to a car store to get a fuse for my cigarette lighter in my car, I had really missed Pandora! Then we headed to Jake's new apartment to check it out! It was AWESOME! I wish I could move in!! Jake gave us a tour of his apartment and the buildings facilities, then we went to CPK for dinner (I thought of you Melissa!!). We had a grand old time talking, laughing, and enjoying each other! The first of many visits with the newest North Carolinian family member!!! So exciting!!
We left Jake's and headed back to our "other home" in GA. We got back in record time in part because there was no traffic and part because Jason didn't let me drive a leg. ;-)
Showing posts with label Paperwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paperwork. Show all posts
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Second Home Study Meeting
Today we had our second home study meeting in our home. Jason and I woke up early to get the house cleaned, the driveway de-iced, and ourselves ready for the meeting. Michele arrived about 20 minutes early, which was okay because we were just playing Wii to pass time until our noon meeting. Michele came in and we all sat at the kitchen table and got down to business. I owed her a couple of papers, so we gave them to her and she checked them off her list. She proceeded to ask us some questions about our home, neighborhood, and community. I gave her a tour of our house, pointed out the room(s) our child(ren) would sleep in, and all the other rooms in our home and their function. I also included my usual commentary on how we have updated the home since we bought it! ;-) After the tour we went back to the kitchen table and chit-chatted a bit, asked her about the next visit on Sunday, and then she was done!! It only took about an hour, and the time seemed to fly by!
Jason wasn't feeling very well, and waking up early to break up the ice on the driveway had not helped! He took a nap for a bit. When he woke up, we went to go pick up a changing table I had to leave behind when I bought baby stuff from a lady on craigslist. We drove out to Summerfield (about 20 minutes away) and arrived at her hectic home just as she was changing her 18 month old's diaper on the couch! ;-) Guess she really doesn't need the changing table!! Jason and I had quite a time getting the bulky piece from the back bedroom, out the front door, down the porch stairs, through the muddy yard to find that it would not fit on my car! Jason confidently, due to his years of working in the furniture department at Mejiers, disassembled the cabinet piece by piece with just two screwdrivers. As Jason was working on the table, the lady's 4 year old came out of the house with flip-flops on. As she was just telling him to go back inside and get better shoes on, he skidded on the mud down the yard and got his pants and jacket caked in the mud!! He was quite upset by this, but didn't cry... he ran in the house and not 5 minutes later was back with a smile and a whole new outfit on! As we packed up and left, he gave us hugs and asked us to come back soon to play Wii with him! So cute!!
As we drove away from their house, Jason said he did not actually want the changing table! We were driving past the Goodwill store on our way home, so we dropped the table off!! Too funny! ;-)
That evening, we had a double date night with our "Greensboro parents" Charlie and Martha (our neighbors, but they have now been deemed our GB-rents because they do so much for us!). We went to dinner at Smokey Bones where they wanted to know all about how our home study visit went, the timeline left in the process, and when we would be back in town. We really enjoy spending time with them and Martha and Jason can have some very funny banter! We saw "The Kings Speech" after that, which does have some bad language, but we all thought was a very good movie! The four main characters do a great job acting and the cinematography (I think that's what its called!) was interesting. We went back to Charlie and Martha's to chit-chat and enjoy each others company! They are such great neighbors and friends!! (and parents ;)
Jason wasn't feeling very well, and waking up early to break up the ice on the driveway had not helped! He took a nap for a bit. When he woke up, we went to go pick up a changing table I had to leave behind when I bought baby stuff from a lady on craigslist. We drove out to Summerfield (about 20 minutes away) and arrived at her hectic home just as she was changing her 18 month old's diaper on the couch! ;-) Guess she really doesn't need the changing table!! Jason and I had quite a time getting the bulky piece from the back bedroom, out the front door, down the porch stairs, through the muddy yard to find that it would not fit on my car! Jason confidently, due to his years of working in the furniture department at Mejiers, disassembled the cabinet piece by piece with just two screwdrivers. As Jason was working on the table, the lady's 4 year old came out of the house with flip-flops on. As she was just telling him to go back inside and get better shoes on, he skidded on the mud down the yard and got his pants and jacket caked in the mud!! He was quite upset by this, but didn't cry... he ran in the house and not 5 minutes later was back with a smile and a whole new outfit on! As we packed up and left, he gave us hugs and asked us to come back soon to play Wii with him! So cute!!
As we drove away from their house, Jason said he did not actually want the changing table! We were driving past the Goodwill store on our way home, so we dropped the table off!! Too funny! ;-)
That evening, we had a double date night with our "Greensboro parents" Charlie and Martha (our neighbors, but they have now been deemed our GB-rents because they do so much for us!). We went to dinner at Smokey Bones where they wanted to know all about how our home study visit went, the timeline left in the process, and when we would be back in town. We really enjoy spending time with them and Martha and Jason can have some very funny banter! We saw "The Kings Speech" after that, which does have some bad language, but we all thought was a very good movie! The four main characters do a great job acting and the cinematography (I think that's what its called!) was interesting. We went back to Charlie and Martha's to chit-chat and enjoy each others company! They are such great neighbors and friends!! (and parents ;)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First Home Study Meeting
We had our first home study meeting today with our AWAA social worker, Michele. We met at a Panera in Concord, NC. Jason and I (surprisingly) arrived about a half hour early, so we grabbed some lunch and a table! We were a bit confused as to how we were going to connect and find Michele since we had not met her before and I did not have her cell phone number! As 12 noon came and went, we started to get a bit anxious and I circled the restaurant to see if there was anyone looking for us. Just after I arrived back at our table my cell phone rang! Michele was also looking for us, and I met her at the front door.
We small talked only briefly, then got right down the business! I had prepared all our documents with sticky tabs with the document description, so Michele made quick work of going through them and checking them off her list! Luckily, I had also brought my "baby binders" (ALL the paperwork) so she was able to see some original documents such as our marriage certificate, birth certificates, and SS cards even though we also gave her copies of each.
She then let us know that it will take her 90 days to complete the study - not what I was thinking. I had envisioned it taking two the three weeks. And therefore, being done with all our paperwork by the end of February or early March. But, now it looks more like June or July. Once we get the home study, we have a couple of documents to get such as our child's visa, which we need the home study report in order to obtain. I was sad on Sunday about the reality of the timeline, but it is so great to have such a wise and supportive husband, dad, and family who knew just what to say to cheer me up! "All in God's time," "Our child will be ready when we are," "We just need to pray that all the timing is in our favor," just to name a few. ;)
Now we are focused on getting the house ready for our home inspection for the home study on Friday! Pray that all goes well!!
We small talked only briefly, then got right down the business! I had prepared all our documents with sticky tabs with the document description, so Michele made quick work of going through them and checking them off her list! Luckily, I had also brought my "baby binders" (ALL the paperwork) so she was able to see some original documents such as our marriage certificate, birth certificates, and SS cards even though we also gave her copies of each.
She then let us know that it will take her 90 days to complete the study - not what I was thinking. I had envisioned it taking two the three weeks. And therefore, being done with all our paperwork by the end of February or early March. But, now it looks more like June or July. Once we get the home study, we have a couple of documents to get such as our child's visa, which we need the home study report in order to obtain. I was sad on Sunday about the reality of the timeline, but it is so great to have such a wise and supportive husband, dad, and family who knew just what to say to cheer me up! "All in God's time," "Our child will be ready when we are," "We just need to pray that all the timing is in our favor," just to name a few. ;)
Now we are focused on getting the house ready for our home inspection for the home study on Friday! Pray that all goes well!!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Week after Christmas
We were sad to see Chad, Teresa, and Gustavo leave for home Sunday after Christmas. But the following day, our good friend Jim flew in!! We were so excited to have him visit until Friday.
Jim was such a trooper as I dragged him and Jason around to complete some of the tasks off our list of adoption paperwork. Jason had to have his physical, including a TB test that had to be read two days later, we got fingerprinted for the State Bureau of Investigation, we got our police reports, and Jason had to have a mini-physical to buy life insurance. On top of that, we replaced our downstairs furnace because it was on its last leg, and I started to feel sick and ended up going to the doctors office and getting a Z-pack - this made my tummy really upset!
Jim was such a trooper as I dragged him and Jason around to complete some of the tasks off our list of adoption paperwork. Jason had to have his physical, including a TB test that had to be read two days later, we got fingerprinted for the State Bureau of Investigation, we got our police reports, and Jason had to have a mini-physical to buy life insurance. On top of that, we replaced our downstairs furnace because it was on its last leg, and I started to feel sick and ended up going to the doctors office and getting a Z-pack - this made my tummy really upset!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Homestudy Meetings
We cemented our first 3 (of I think 4) meetings with our social worker, Michele, today. We will be meeting with her January 9, 14, and 16. She is so gracious to give up some of her personal time on weekends to meet with us so that Jason doesn't need to take too much time off work!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Paper Preggers!
Our adoption agency affectionately calls all the paperwork that must be completed as part of the adoption process our "paper pregnancy" because it is laborious. It is tedious, exact, time consuming, and frustrating... Good thing God prepared me for this by having me be an auditor for 5 years! ;-) Note: most adoption agencies refer to the paper part as "the paper chase."
No really, at first I must admit that I felt overwhelmed with the lists of documents we need to collect and obstacles to complete. But as my very wise parents always told me when I was overwhelmed with all my make-up homework or piles of stuff messing my bedroom, just take it one step at a time - or as my wise hubby says "the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!"
So, Monday I spent the afternoon getting my head around what needed to be done and going to the library to print applications for our birth certificates and social security cards and making copies of our passports. After talking with my neighbor I realized it may be more effective to go the social security office, and today I spent an hour or so at the SS office waiting with my number - 95R - it was 82R (R for reissue) when I walked in. I quickly learned that there were several different "number lines." R for reissue and M or N got you a pass into the actual office behind closed doors, must be for some more personal issue. As I am a chatty and friendly person, I got to talking with the people around me who all did not share with me why they were at the SS office, but were intruiged that I was there to reissue our cards as part of an adoption process. And when one couple saw I had an iPhone they requested directions to their next errand for the day and I happily obliged. I always like those random interactions with strangers, somehw they always remind me that we are all God's creation!
Once I arrived home I worked on writting both of our autobiograpies. I know by definition and autobiography should be written by the person it's about, but this is not our first time writing them so I stole parts from his other autobiographies and pieced it together to fit this agencies questions. We have other autobiographies from starting paperwork with another agency and deciding not to persue an adoption through them.
Much more to continue...
No really, at first I must admit that I felt overwhelmed with the lists of documents we need to collect and obstacles to complete. But as my very wise parents always told me when I was overwhelmed with all my make-up homework or piles of stuff messing my bedroom, just take it one step at a time - or as my wise hubby says "the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!"
So, Monday I spent the afternoon getting my head around what needed to be done and going to the library to print applications for our birth certificates and social security cards and making copies of our passports. After talking with my neighbor I realized it may be more effective to go the social security office, and today I spent an hour or so at the SS office waiting with my number - 95R - it was 82R (R for reissue) when I walked in. I quickly learned that there were several different "number lines." R for reissue and M or N got you a pass into the actual office behind closed doors, must be for some more personal issue. As I am a chatty and friendly person, I got to talking with the people around me who all did not share with me why they were at the SS office, but were intruiged that I was there to reissue our cards as part of an adoption process. And when one couple saw I had an iPhone they requested directions to their next errand for the day and I happily obliged. I always like those random interactions with strangers, somehw they always remind me that we are all God's creation!
Once I arrived home I worked on writting both of our autobiograpies. I know by definition and autobiography should be written by the person it's about, but this is not our first time writing them so I stole parts from his other autobiographies and pieced it together to fit this agencies questions. We have other autobiographies from starting paperwork with another agency and deciding not to persue an adoption through them.
Much more to continue...
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