CLASSES ARE DONE!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was our last PRIDE class, so now we're onto the next step. Our License should arrive in the mail in the next week. Once we receive that, we'll e-mail it to the adoption worker we've been assigned to as well as our Family Availability sheet. Basically, the Family Availability tells about our family and what we're looking for. We also get to include pics. So, when we take all the kids to Disneyland on the 19th, we'll be even more picture happy! Once she gets everything, she'll be passing our info along so we can be set up for our interrogation. After we've passed our interrogations, we'll be passed onto the lady that does the matching for adoptions. We were able to meet one of the 2 ladies in Riverside county that does the matching and we really liked her! She's very energetic, very nice, but doesn't sugar-coat anything!

So far, we've been assigned to the Adoption Worker we were hoping for, but that could change. At the moment, she's just getting all our paperwork together. It could be her doing our interrogation, but it'll more likely be someone from a contracted agency. But, once we're into the placement phase, we'll be back to an Adoption Worker from the county.

We're probably looking at having babies as early as March, but it could also take a year. I'm ready NOW, but our babies will find us when the time is right!

State Inspection

Yesterday was our Home Inspection for the State of CA. We did soooo much to prepare. My entire house smelled like Sol-u-Mel (THANK GOD for the new Lemon Burst!), every room was gone through with a fine tooth comb. Every room was organized and cleaned from top to bottom. Cleaners (even though they're chemical-free) were put up out of reach. Pesticides were moved out to the garage. The lock on the garage door was turned around. The side yard was cleaned up (this was a major task for Steve). The backyard was completely cleaned up. The Mela First Aid kit was double & triple checked. The knives were put up out of reach. Baby gates were installed at the top & bottom of the stairs. A 2nd safe was bought for the ammo. When Angela got here, we found that she was such an incredibly nice and laid back lady. Of course, she went thru the checklist and made sure we were compliant. But it was nowhere near what we thought it was going to be. In fact, had we not been chatting with her so much, our inspection could have been done in 30 mins. Instead, she was here for 2 hours! While she was going over paperwork, she got a phone call from the lady in charge at the county. When Angela told her she was at the Norlin's, she said "Her husband is so funny!" Obviously, Steve's made an impression in class. LOL. Thats a good thing! I'm hoping that'll help push us up the list for our interrorgation with the county. We're just waiting now to get our license in the mail from the State of CA.

We have our final class this Saturday and will be putting together a checklist of exactly what we're looking for. I'm definately back to wanting my twin babies!

When we were chatting with Angela, she was asking what age range to put us down for. Since we have Tyler here, we're licensed for ages 0-17. However, there will be a notation that we prefer 0-2. Angela was asking if we'd accept siblings because most babies have a sibling thats 3 or so. Of course, I would consider that, but I'm really really praying for babies. She jokingly said "Do you want to pick them up from the hospital." ABSOLUTELY, YES!!!!!!!

Within a couple weeks after class ends, we'll get our call to have the adoption workers (or someone from a contracted company) come out to do our interrogations. I call them that because they dive into every aspect of our lives (including our private marital relations). When they do it, they interview Steve and I seperately. They'll also be interviewing Tyler & Cheyenne. I have to ask on Saturday if they interview them by themselves. Tyler's old enough that I'm comfortable with them interviewing him without us. Cheyenne, however, is only 7 yrs old. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable talking about our family to strangers that she just met. I don't feel the need to guide her answers, just be there so she's comfortable. She is my baby, afterall! Once thats done, it goes to the supervisor to be approved. Once she approves it, we wait for the phone call. I was really praying for Christmas Babies, but its looking like it'll most likely be at least March. Some people wait a year or more for babies. But, whereas we're looking for more than one (preferably twins), we'll most likely be matched quicker.

I feel so much better now that the inspection with the State of CA is done. I feel like we're more than ready for the County of Riverside to come out. If it wasn't for the darn state budget, it'd probably happen even sooner! I keep telling myself this will all happen when its meant to happen. I've never been a patient person, so I'm really having to retrain myself :)

Thank you to everyone for their thoughts, prayers and encouragement. You've all made this a wonderful experience! I can't wait to announce that we have new babies! I just wish we could post pics right away, but we can't :(  Those will have to wait until the adoption is final.

I'll post more after our final class on Saturday with another update!

Class #4 ~ We're almost there.....

We had our 4th class today and boy did it seem to drag on & on! LOL. We even got out early, so I'm not sure why it seemed so long. Maybe the week off was not a good idea. Today's classes were on Discipline and Concurrent Planning & Adverse Parents (Birth Parents). We also had a chance to talk about how the State of CA does their Home Inspections. Ours is planned for Tuesday, so the info came at the perfect time! From what we were told, everything should be fine & we should pass. We just have a few things to do. I did most of the things on our "Checklist" over a month ago. But, I need to double check everything and put up one more baby gate. We also found out that it will most likely be at least March/April before we're placed with a child(ren). After classes are done, it will most likely be 2-3 weeks before our 1st Homestudy visit is scheduled with the County of Riverside. It sounds like we will have at least 2-3 Homestudy visits prior to being licensed with them. UGH! Definately a longer wait than I was expecting! They'll be interrogating (I mean interviewing) Steve & I seperately & then together. They'll also be interviewing Tyler & Cheyenne since they both live here. As long as they like what they hear & our house is in compliance, I would hope we wouldn't need more than 2 visits (praying for just 1). So far, the process has been much smoother than we'd anticipated. I'm hoping & praying that continues!

New Furniture for the Nursery

We didn't have our Adoption Class this past weekend due to it being right after Thanksgiving. However, on Thanksgiving, my Mom ordered us a new crib, dresser & changing table set. It actually arrived on Saturday & I put it together that day! I'm so excited. It really looks like a nursery now....complete w/2 cribs :)  The walls are bare, but I'll fix that once our babies are home so I can customize it just for them. I'm back to wanting twins and can't wait to see them in there. Steve's excited to get another boy, so I'm just praying that there are boy twins (or boy/girl) that are looking for a home. I can't wait to have new babies in the house!

Just 2 more classes and then we have to wait for our Home Inspections to be scheduled. I'm getting nervous because we haven't heard from the State yet. We did our fingerprinting for them quite awhile ago. We were told that they'd be calling to set up the appt as soon as they got the results in. I've gotten my copies, so I'm hoping they got theirs. I'll call this week if I don't hear from them. After our classes are done, we'll be scheduled for our County Inspection. Gotta love all that "red tape!" LOL

Teens

I forgot to mention something we learned in class about teens. I think we all know it seems they've all "lost their marbles" and I know I'd heard in the past that their brains aren't fully developed (especially the decision making part). But, did you know that part of their brain literally stops working? It does that so the rest can continue to grow. Sounds strange, but makes a lot of sense!

We're HALF-WAY DONE!!!!!

Yesterday was our 3rd PRIDE class. I'm so incredibly grateful that we're taking the Saturday classes! Since our classes are longer, we actually have 2 sessions in one day. Yesterday's first session was very heavy and depressing. It was on Grief and Loss. We talked about the loss that the children in Foster Care and the kids that are Adopted feel. We had a video that was simply words across the screen and children talking. It showed a child's view of going thru the process. All the feelings they experience and how they don't understand why they should feel grateful. They've lost so much and all they want is to go home and belong. It was so heart-wrenching. We then had to explore our own losses in life (health, death, etc).

Thankfully, the 2nd session was much easier and we ended class on a very positive note. We all sat in a circle and each one of us expressed what it was that we wanted to offer a child. It was really neat to hear from everyone in the class. There's some in class that we hear from all the time because they speak up & answer questions (like my hubby). Then we have some in class that sit back and listen and we rarely hear form (like me). Most of the things everyone came up with was what all of us want to offer (sense of security, love, faith, acceptance, etc). Mine was a sense of family and that, no matter what happens, you can always come home. Steve's was a sense of humor and not to take life so seriously.

They were also finally able to update our folders. I checked ours before leaving class to ensure they had everything I'd turned in. Thankfully, they did. I'm just waiting to get a copy of Steve's Divorce Decree in the mail and we need to finish our Auto Biographies and turn them in.

One of the ladies was also talking about the home inspection she had with the State of CA. So, it sounds like those are getting done, too. I'm hoping to get a call to schedule ours very soon! So, today I'll be cleaning house and making sure everything is in place! I want to be sure we're ready. I'm pretty sure everything is done that's on our Checklist, but I want to check it several times to be absolutely certain. I can't chance having to reschedule. After we're done with class, we'll get scheduled for our home inspection with the County of Riverside. After that, we'll be licensed and then its just a waiting game........

Class #2

Today we had our 2nd PRIDE (Parent Resource for Information, Development and Education) Class. A lot of it really is simply common sense (especially for those of us that already have kids). Today we were talking about how children are affected by all sorts of abuse (physical, emotional, sexual, etc). I'm not sure if I've just heard too much in my lifetime because today's class didn't affect me like it seemed to affect others. Although I don't like hearing about these cases, I can't say that anything actually surprised me. I'm sure, if we end up with a child thats been subjected to any sort of abuse and/or neglect, things will be much more emotional. Its much easier to put on the "tough girl" face and just take in the facts when its not directly affecting your life right at that moment.

We also talked to Cheyenne a bit more when we picked her up. We explained that her new brother/sister may be scared and may act that out. She's such an understanding little girl and truly amazes me! Again, once that new brother/sister is here, it won't be as easy for her, either.

We also found out that, while we're allowed to (and encouraged) to have pictures of our new children in the house, we cannot share their pictures with others. I was not too surprised that we couldn't post them online. I was, however, very surprised to learn that we cannot send pictures to family/friends via e-mail or even snail mail or handing them a picture. This is going to be hard because, as with any new child, you just want to show them off because you're so proud. However, until the adoption is final (at least 6 months), we cannot share those pictures. Considering how many pictures we take at family events, thats going to be very difficult.

One really cool part ~ We've now completed enough hours for the State of CA! All we need to be licensed by the State of CA now is to have them come out to do our home study. We won't be able to be placed w/children until we've completed everything for the County of Riverside, but its nice to know that we've done everything for the State that we can. Now we wait for their phone call for our home study..........