You're safe with us!

This week Jim and I received our First Aid and CPR certification! Several weeks ago we took a 4 hour (mandatory) class at the Springer Center in Champaign. We learned Infant CPR, Adult CPR, Choking, Fist Aid, etc. Basically, you are safe with us. We've got you covered. Unless there are snakes involved - Jim is out. Or if you're vomiting - I'm out (should probably get over this before baby arrives *mental note*).  All joking aside, even though these classes, webinars, booklets, are expensive and time consuming, I'm glad we have developed the necessary knowledge that will keep baby Meek safe and healthy. And yes, the rumor is true, it's good to know the song "Stayin' Alive".


Want to learn more? Check out www.heart.org for classes near you!

Home Visit

Today was our in-home visit with LCFS, and it was a breeze. We gave Lori a tour of our home and went over some of our paperwork. The rest of the time she was answering our millions of questions. Did I mention she is like the dictionary of adoption? We also got her feedback on our current potential birthmother situation, and she was very hopeful for us. :) All we have left is some online classes, and our home study is complete. If we find time (in-between football), we should be done this week!! What a relief to have this portion of the process completed.

First meeting with our social worker

Today Jim and I traveled to Springfield to meet our social worker, Lori. We didn't know what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised to meet her and find out that she's completely down to earth and so easy to talk to. It was very refreshing to talk to someone that is so knowledgeable about adoption. She was like the dictionary of adoption, and we asked her millions of questions that she had answers to!! We filled out (and received) more paperwork to complete the process. We have scheduled our in-home visit for September 28. By that time we hope that all of our paperwork will be done, and we will officially be completed with our homestudy! Today was a very exciting day. 

Getting started!

Things have been happening to get the adoption process going! We sent our contract to Angel at the beginning of August, and received the information to start building our profile. It’s hard to describe what it’s like to write to your potential birthmother (expectant mother). We found ourselves very humbled finding words to express not only our gratitude, but our endless compassion for this person and the decision they are making. In such a short time I feel like this experience has already changed who I am as a person. I feel like I have already expanded my open mindedness and this is just the beginning!

 It’s funny, we kind of struggled with how to portray our relationship, our life now and how we are going to incorporate our future child in this life we share. Seems simple enough, except that you are writing this to someone that ultimately decides if their child is placed with you… All I kept thinking was don’t say something stupid, don’t make it sound like we have too much fun, because then they can’t imagine us with a child… But we don’t want to sound boring either… You see where I’m getting here. And then it clicked. We just have to be ourselves. We have to describe our daily activities (that typically revolve around our dog), our family, and our passion – building our family.

 In unison, we sent our application for our home study to LCFS (Lutheran Child and Family Services). Wow! That’s a lot of paperwork. And just when you think you’re done, they’re like, “Great! We received your packet. Packet #2 is on the way out today.” Oh bother, this one is a doozy. It’s taking us more time than we anticipated because we have to gather so much paperwork that we don’t necessarily keep at hand. But we are almost there. I’m anxious for this one to be complete. Except that she explained that the next one is the “homework packet”. :-/ We’ve sent off our finger prints, which we hear takes the longest to turn around (4-6 weeks). Pretty soon we will be traveling to Springfield for interviews and then finally, our in-home visit. We’ve already started the little things like outlet covers, etc. We’re waiting for the last minute to install child safety locks on cabinets (Yes, you have to have these in place before you even have a child…) – I’ve never been good at managing child locks. And if I put locks on the cabinets for my cleaning supplies, I’ll probably just see it as an excuse to not clean.