Slight Delay

About a week ago we learned that we would not be put in the pool of waiting families in January like originally thought. It turns out another AOW couple’s adoption fell through. As a result, they will not be coming off the waiting list (we were going to take their spot). Unfortunately, our social worker now believes we won’t be put in the pool for another 3 to 4 months (April-May).

As you can imagine, we were disappointed to hear this news. In an attempt to keep my mind off of it I’ve started trying to network. I’ve been told by other adoptive families that most matches occur because of interpersonal connections (someone’s cousin’s roommate’s younger sister is looking to make an adoption plan for their child). I honestly have no idea what I’m doing. However, I thought I’d give it a shot!

We are using two main tools to network;

Website: www.rachelandjoeadopt.com

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rachel-Joe-Hoping-to-Adopt/143911249056771  

I am truly overwhelmed with all of the support we've received through our facebook page (we currently have 70 ‘likes’). So many people have been more than willing to share our page on their profile. They have also given us a lot of encouraging words and well wishes. It is wonderful to know we have so much support! Adoption can be a rough road and I know there will be times that we'll need to draw on that support to help us stay calm and composed.

An Update for the New Year

Since it is officially 2012, I decided to write a long overdue adoption update.

The social worker came to our house for the final adoption home visit on December 9^th. She needed to come and look over our home to make sure it was a suitable environment to raise a child. As you could imagine, I was a nervous wreck! I spent a lot of time cleaning the house from top to bottom (even though the social worker had assured us that it wouldn’t be a white glove test). Joe did a wonderful job helping me to stay calm. It turns out my worries were groundless. At the end of the meeting our social worker let us know that our home study was approved! It was a wonderful feeling. Also, our second sets of fingerprints were processed without issue. This means we are all ready to be put in the pool of waiting families. We are due to be put in the pool sometime in January. I will make sure to post another blog once we know when we will be officially waiting.

Since the last visit we have been keeping busy with holiday preparations and gatherings. Now that Christmas and New Year’s is over we will start putting together the nursery. This should be an interesting endeavor since I am not skilled at interior decorating. I plan to ask for a lot of help and opinions! Hopefully my lack of creativity doesn’t prevent us from making a beautiful room for our future son or daughter.