Adoption update

We have completed the Homestudy & Licencing Approval process! Now we wait to be selected as a good fit for a child in need of a family. That could happen in a week or in a year, there's no way to predict it. It seems like it's been a long wait already, but we have had many, many things to do to get to this point. We decided to pursue adoption in February of 2013, then researched agencies and programs for several months before choosing WACAP's US Kids program and officially applying in May. From June to November we kept busy with our home safety upgrades, home visits, training classes, references, medical and legal clearances, and of course filling out loads of forms. Now all of that is done and the real WAITING begins.

Halloween

For Halloween this year Conan wanted to be a ninja.  Not just ANY ninja, but specifically the character Zane from the Ninjago cartoon (Yes, the Lego ninja toy line has an animated show.  It's really pretty good.) 

 Zane is the white-and-gold-costumed ninja with Ice Power and the ability to talk to birds.  Actually, later in the show it turns out he's actually a robot, programmed to think he's a human, but I digress...  On to the costume!  

I modified a basic kid's halloween ninja costume pattern to incorporate the key elements of Zane's attire: gold trim "kimono" style wrap front, triple golden shoulder armor wings, golden hood ornament, and of course, a golden three-pronged circular shuriken.  (You have to add the accompanying ice blast with your imagination.) It turned out great.  Conan has been loving wearing it since I finished it, including on Halloween.

Cousin Chloe was a purple fairy princess this year.  We met up over at Grandma & Grandpa's house for early trick-or-treating and pictures.  Then we headed over to the Ericson's for dinner and trick-or-treating in their neighborhood.  Kiah was a princess and Moira was a witch.  The three of them made a pretty classic trio as they roamed the streets looking for candy.

The loot was plentiful and everyone had a great time.  Conan was completely exhausted, the girls are enough older than he is that the endurance gap was noticeable.   There was no way he was going to get left behind and miss out on candy though!

Homestudy Complete!

It's done!  We passed with flying colors, I think.  It'll take a couple of weeks for the report to be written up, then we'll get a chance to proofread it, and then it'll be submitted.  We have appointments to be fingerprinted next Tuesday, November 5th.  And then everything gets sent off to the state for review and licencing.  We could have our licence by the first of December, if all goes well!

Home Study Delayed

Well, today was supposed to be our final homestudy, but our Social Worker is sick and had to cancel.  Bummer!  We've rescheduled for next Wednesday afternoon, so it's not like we have to wait months and months, although it is still disappointing.  The house is super clean, and most of the projects are done: we're ready.  The fire extinguishers are hung, the fire-escape ladder is mounted, and the non-skid bathmats are in place. The bedroom is all set up, the closet and dresser cleared of clutter and ready for a new little person's belongings.

Even if the homestudy had been completed today, we'd still have a bit of waiting time left.  Once the visit happens, the SW has to write up the report, which takes a couple weeks.  When she's finished, we get to take a look at the draft report and have a chance to correct anything that's inaccurate, then it gets submitted to the licensing people.  We also still have to get fingerprinted, which is scheduled for Nov. 5th.  They are pretty cagey about how long it will take to process the prints and return the clearance, but it seems a week to 10 days is about average.

If all goes well, we could have our foster/adopt license approved by the end of November!

And then... then we will officially join the Prospective Adoptive Parent (PAP) pool, and the real waiting begins.  Our file will be sent to social workers around the northwest who are trying to find homes for children whose cases are headed for adoption, rather than reunification with their birth families.  These caseworkers will look over our files (and all the other PAPs) and if they think we're a good fit for the child, we'll get a call.  It could take a week or it could take months... there's no way to predict it.

In light of that, waiting one more week for our homestudy to happen is probably just good practice.

I just called to tell you...

Last night while I was making dinner, Conan asked me if he could call his Grandma Anita and Grandpa Dave. I readily agreed (it was definitely preferable to his continuing to be underfoot in the kitchen, begging for snacks and/or whining that he wanted to watch a show), so I told him their number and he dialed the phone.

I'm not sure which of them picked up the phone, but listening to Conan's side of the conversation had me alternating between suppressed laughter and blushing in embarrassment.    It went like this...

Hi, it's Conan!
Good.
Well, I just called to tell you about this morning, when we were driving to preschool, and we got pulled over by a police car!  With flashing lights and everything!
Mama was driving too fast.
Yeah.  We were only s'posed to be going 50, but we were actually going 66!
We got a ticket.  It's like a consequence.
It was 144! That's a lot.
Mama didn't like it but I did.  The police car was cool.
Yeah, Mama's making dinner now.  It's going to be macaroni and cheese.
Yeah, it's my favorite.  I'm going to eat it all up.
Ok, Goodbye.

He hung up the phone and asked me for GG's phone number.  I stifled my laughter and embarrassment long enough to give it to him.  He called her up and after a little small talk about the pumpkin she gave him to carve into a jack-o-lantern, reported the whole incident to her as well.  I have to admit, I'm impressed that he remembered the specifics of the speeds and the amount of the ticket.

Luckily, by the time he had finished reporting the exciting news of my speeding ticket to his great grandma, I had finished cooking dinner.  Otherwise, I think he would have kept calling until the whole family knew!  (I suppose I've just finished the job with this post, haven't I?  Oh well.)

Nature Facts I Was Wrong About

C: Mama! Did you know, Rhino horns are made out of fingernails?
M: Um, well, no, that's not quite right. Rhino horns are just made from the same thing AS fingernails.  They grow on the Rhino's head like your fingernails grow on your fingers.
C: No! Their horns are Made. From. Fingernails!   It's true.
M: Nooo... They just grow, their horns grow like really, really thick fingernails.
C: You're wrong!  I learned it on a SHOW!
M: But, I mean, how would Rhinos even get fingernails to make horns with?
C: They take them from dead people.  That's why nobody is afraid of having Rhinos steal their fingernails, because they only get them from dead people who don't need them anymore.  Rhinos are sneaky.  They know when people die.  They take all the dead people's fingernails off and [hand gestures] boop! boop! boop! they make their horns.
M: ....
C: It's TRUE.
M: Well, I'm glad you've got it all figured out.

Adoption Update

"So, how's the adoption stuff coming along?" is a pretty frequent question these days.  We're still plugging away at it, I usually say.  Nothing to report yet.  No timeline to completion, but we are making progress, slowly but surely.  It's really hard to tell, though.

For those who are interested, I thought I'd take a moment to compile a more detailed list of what we've done, and what is left to do.   It's kind of an esoteric process so it's good (for me at least) to see everything listed out in one place, and hopefully the Done list will come out longer than the To Do list!

We have:

• answered 176 essay/short answer questions about ourselves (88 each! I counted!)
• answered 47 essay/short answer questions about our preparations and motivations
• filled out half a dozen pages, each, for our formal background checks
• gotten 4 couples to submit references on our behalf
• each had a physical and gotten a statement from our Dr. that we're healthy
• each been tested for TB & submitted results
• submitted Conan's immunization records
• submitted a copy of our marriage licence
• submitted copies of all of our birth certificates
• submitted copies of our 2011 and 2012 tax returns
• submitted a financial statement
• submitted copies of pay stubs
• submitted proof of car insurance
• submitted details of our health & dental insurance coverage
• submitted copies of our drivers' licences
• submitted our resumes/work histories
• attended a 1 day adoption orientation seminar
• taken a 3 hour online orientation class
• taken a 30 hour class on being a foster/adoptive parent
• taken a 6 hour class on First Aid, CPR, and Blood Borne Pathogens
• gotten a big fancy first aid kit
• installed fire extinguishers in our house, both upstairs & downstairs
• installed child safety window locks in upstairs windows
• gotten non-skid bathmats for both tubs
• gotten three locking boxes for medications (human internal, human external, pet)
• gotten a baby fence to block off the wood stove completely
• moved our liquor to an "inaccessible" cupboard
• moved our cleaning supplies to "inaccessible" places
• cleaned ALL the things
• passed our first home visit (Yay!)

Remaining tasks:

• answer 32 more essay/short answer questions (at least)
• take another 4 hour class on adoption
• get cats to the vet to update immunizations
• submit our cats' immunization records 
• submit a guardianship plan (in case we die before the kid is 18)
• install a fire escape ladder on the second floor roof
• get septic pumped (and provide proof of it)
• get a kid-appropriate bed
• set up kid's bedroom before final home visit
• pass final home visit (Oct 24th!)
• get fingerprinted
• get clean background check results back

Whew! When all of that is done, we'll be licensed as Foster Parents in the state of WA.  Yay! Then we can start waiting to be selected as a potential family for a child, which will be much, much more difficult than any of this stuff was.   And even with all these preparations and questions and paperwork, the whole process is still MUCH preferable to being pregnant.