Thursday, February 14, 2013

Making a List and Checking it Twice: Adoption Update

Things are moving right along on the adoption front. Since we had our first meeting with our caseworker a couple of weeks ago, David and I have:

-Both had physicals. Thankfully, we both passed :) I get SO nervous every time I set foot in a doctor's office, no matter the reason. Literally, I get nervous when I take my kids to the pediatrician for an ear infection. Ha! So, I'm really glad to have that behind me!

-Both gotten drug tested. The results aren't in yet, but we feel pretty confident that we'll pass ;) Haha!

-Both gotten tested for TB. You have to go back 48-72 hours after the test to have the results "read." David is going back today to have his arm read, and I go back Friday or Saturday. Hopefully we'll pass that one too ;) I am so curious about why you have to be tested for TB when you adopt. I'm sure there's a really good, logical reason (that I could probably find out if I took 2 second to google it), but it just seems so random to me. I'm pretty sure I've never even known anybody who has had TB.

-Both gotten fingerprinted at the police department. David was told that his pinky is short compared to the rest of his fingers, and I was told that I have really small hands. Neither one of us was aware of these things about ourselves prior to getting fingerprinted, so you never know what you may learn about yourself through the adoption process :) David sent our fingerprints off to the FBI today, so hopefully that whole process will go smoothly.

-Both filled out our paperwork required for our interviews with our caseworker. It really wasn't nearly as hard as I expected! I thought we were going to be answering a ton of essay questions, but our questions were all multiple choice. That was surprising, but I'm definitely not complaining! I know we'll have to elaborate a lot more during our individual interviews.

-And David has probably done other stuff that I'm forgetting about because he's the organized, administrative one who keeps our family running smoothly, and I basically just do what I'm told. Hahaha! He might disagree with that last part ;)

We still need to:

-Take all three kids to get physicals. They have appointments for next week.

-Take our dogs to the vet for checkups. They also have appointments for next week.

-Get our insurance agent to sign something. I think that's happening next week as well.

And then we'll turn everything in to our caseworker, we'll schedule our interviews, she'll come visit our house, and I think we'll just be waiting for her to write up the home study and get it approved after that! I know we're still VERY early into this process, and I'm sure we'll have some setbacks, but I'm thankful that things have been moving along smoothly and quickly so far!

I feel like a total "adoption mom" failure because I don't have pictures documenting every step of this journey. Haha! It's too bad that I don't have pictures of us getting fingerprinted, waiting at the doctor's office, etc. But David and I are having to take turns doing all of this stuff, because we're not about to take our kids to the police department or doctor's office, and I thought it might be a little weird if I asked the police officer or doctor to snap a quick pic for me. Ha! So, no pictures. But things are moving along nicely, and we're getting a little closer to Baby Howie #4 everyday!

1 comment:

David Howie said...

Just to record for posterity's sake, we've also:
*filled out forms regarding training requirements.
*filled out form for State background check.
*filled out form for DHS background check.
*filled out form for police background check.
*filled out financial statement and copied first page of our tax return.
*copied our marriage license and birth certificates.

I'm glad they're thorough, but sometimes it seems a bit much.