4 Down - NONE to go!

Despite the lack of posting, we have been pretty busy on the adoption front this week. We had our final visit with the SW - at our house - today. Here's a brief overview of what we covered with her:

• Signing a few new forms: the first had to do with interstate adoption which is necessary in case we decide to adopt domestically instead of internationally. Let's say a birthmother in another state somehow hears of our intent to adopt and would like to place her child with us. If we choose to switch to a domestic adoption rather than IA, we may do so and our HS agency will support us in that decision. However, the interstate agreement states that we need to follow the laws of BOTH states, not just the laws of Virginia.
• By signing the second form, we both acknowledged and agreed that there are alternative forms of discipline other than corporal punishment.
• We then discussed our desired child at great length. We are still asking for a relatively heahtlhy child under the age of 2. With that said, however, there are realistically some conditions that our child may have but won't present themselves until he/she is in school. We also stated that we would be open for twins or a sibling group. We are still going with our original decision to not specify a gender.
• She then took a tour of the house, met and interviewed Judy for the first time, and also met our wonderful dogs. Somehow she missed the cats. Not sure how that happened since they were sunbathing on our bed when she walked in our bedroom... But I'm sure they were much happier not being noticed!
• She gave us a list of things she is still waiting for such as: (1) one personal reference letter, (2) our pastor's reference letter, (3) our clearances from CPS (child protective services), (4) Judy's criminal history, which as I explained a few days ago had to be resubmitted.
• I was THRILLED to find out I completed the dreaded 5 page financial statement correctly.
• Norm completed the Fire Escape Plan, which we submitted today
• We both completed our Daily Schedules and also submitted them today.

I do have another homework assignment to keep me busy. She asked me to make a list of everything we have done, read, or whatever to prepare and educate ourselves on adoption issues. A few days ago I ordered our child's first books - "Mishka" and "When I Met You." Both of these books are geared specifically towards children adopted from Russia or Eastern Europe. I received them today and they're great. I also have a ton of books and magazines that Norm and I have been reading over the past 2 years. So it shouldn't be that difficult to prepare this list and I've given myself a deadline of Sunday to email it to her.

Depending on how closely you've been following our journey, you may have noticed a new slide show on the right sidebar. Last weekend Chef Judy, Norm & I went to BabiesRUs just to "look." Yeah....right! We saw a beautiful crib that we all actually agreed on, which of course meant we couldn't pass it up. We also all agreed on the bedding, the border and the valance... WOAH! Now this was just fate! So, the new slideshow depicts how we spent our evenings this past week. Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't say "we" because Norm and Judy really did the vast majority of the work. I'm allergic to paint so I couldn't help much with that part. I helped by staying out of the way!

Now, I know many of you may be thinking it is way too early in this process for us to be setting up the nursery, painting, putting up borders and assembling cribs. I must be honest and tell you that at first I thought the same thing. However, after having a few stressful days this week I can say that it is inspiring to have that room set up and simply waiting to be occupied. It is my assurance that this WILL happen, even if we encounter bumps along the way. It is my reminder that while God and I have the same goal, we do have different time lines. His time line is not only going to trump my own, his time line is much better than I can even begin to imagine right now!

There's more to write but I'll sign off for now and catch you up on the rest of the week's happenings tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the nursery photos!