On January 16th Chris and I submitted our formal application, copies of important legal documents and paid our fees for the application and home study.
The next day Chris called our agency to see how it all looked and if there was anything we had missed. We got things all squared away and our application and payment had been approved. They also told us once everything was squared away on their end we would be assigned a caseworker.
The following day we were assigned a caseworker! And so began a whirlwind in a period of 24 hours. We scheduled our first meeting with her and were told to get our fingerprints scanned so that we could submit them upon our first meeting, these can take anywhere between 6-10 weeks to process, so it was THE most important thing to get checked off of our list.
Our first meeting with her was very comfortable. We were seated on a comfortable couch and then were asked a list of questions about our marriage, what our roles are in our relationship and some questions on what we see our parenting styles to look like. Our caseworker's main client is the child but she wants to be apart of our team as well. Her job is to collect as much information on us and our life so that she can make a thorough report to the state.
We left that first meeting feeling rejuvenated in our marriage, stronger even. It was a great chance to relive our early days of dating and to reflect on how far we've come and how much work we've already put into our marriage. I am so blessed to have Christopher as my partner in all of this!
So what's next? Well we have our individual interviews with our caseworker in mid February. Then after that we will schedule a time for her to come to our house, where she will assess the safety and maintenance of our home. After that she will write up a home study report and submit that. In the meantime Chris and I have work to do on our end as well. We have a portal through our agency and are required to fulfill every single task. Some of those include: submitting a rough sketch of the blueprints of our home, sending personal references, employer references, family fact sheet and of course reading 2 books, a handful of articles and a few online courses to complete our education and training as adoptive parents.
After we have all completed everything, we can create our profile, for birth mothers to look at and choose from. When our profile is created we become a waiting family.
It's a lot! And what's more is I have felt the urge to nest. We've completed our 3 part kitchen project (after 3 years!) and I'm making lists of items needed for baby. I told Chris that it feels extra overwhelming that we have all of these adoption tasks but that we also have to prepare like any other parent would, in preparation for baby. How many bottles and what sizes? How many clothes and what variety or sizes? Bath items, diapering, swaddles, pacifiers, food and formula etc.
But God is alongside us, the whole way. And I've had to take the time to breathe, pray and meditate. I've also had to remind myself that it will all be okay and that there's no need to rush. I'm trying to enjoy this busy time, after all it's only going to get/feel busier and without joy in the midst I would most definitely fall apart.
Continue to pray over us, over our caseworker, over the birthmother, and over our child. God's hands have been apart of this from the beginning and we know that He answers prayers. Thanks for following along with us, we are excited and can't wait to post another update soon.