Well,
This match is not going to work out. We are sad and disappointed, but we also feel very secure in our decision not to pursue this child. We went in today to read his file and found out some background that does not match our family needs. It was so hard to say no, but we also have to think about Boo and her needs. I believe fully that things happen for a reason. I trust that the right child for our family is still out there waiting for us. It doesn't make the sting of disappointment better though.
So, from here we keep looking.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Today we met our future son
Wow. Words don't seem to be sufficient. How do you describe meeting a child that will probably become your son? He didn't know who we were of course. He had been playing on a water trampoline at the park's lake where the adoption picnic festival was hosted. He had caught a heel to his lip while bouncing on the trampoline and needed to get out of the water to get some ice. We saw it happen and used it as our "in" to talk to him where it wouldn't raise suspicion on why we might be so interested in him. He was easy to talk to and very tough; the busted lip didn't deter him from wanting to go back and keep playing.
He's a quiet guy, almost to the point of reserved, but yet he was easy to talk to and seemed to get along with other kids well. We wandered the park watching him play. We met with our Social Worker and and talked about the next steps. We met one of the case workers involved with Ogre. His caseworker has his file and Rod is hoping to get it to us this week! That's great news! The sooner we get the file and read it, the sooner he can be told about us and the sooner we can start our pre-placement visits.
It's been a whirl-wind day. My plane didn't arrive until 2 AM and we had to be in Katy by 10:30 AM. Poor Boo was beyond tired (they came to the airport to pick me up), so she didn't really get much chance to play with Ogre. But she did get to meet him. He is taller than she is even though he is a few months younger.
So we wait for Our Social Worker to contact us with when and where we can read the file! And then, we are on the way towards adoption!
He's a quiet guy, almost to the point of reserved, but yet he was easy to talk to and seemed to get along with other kids well. We wandered the park watching him play. We met with our Social Worker and and talked about the next steps. We met one of the case workers involved with Ogre. His caseworker has his file and Rod is hoping to get it to us this week! That's great news! The sooner we get the file and read it, the sooner he can be told about us and the sooner we can start our pre-placement visits.
It's been a whirl-wind day. My plane didn't arrive until 2 AM and we had to be in Katy by 10:30 AM. Poor Boo was beyond tired (they came to the airport to pick me up), so she didn't really get much chance to play with Ogre. But she did get to meet him. He is taller than she is even though he is a few months younger.
So we wait for Our Social Worker to contact us with when and where we can read the file! And then, we are on the way towards adoption!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Whoooo Hoooooo!!!
AND...... WE'VE BEEN MATCHED!!!
What a crazy week this has been!! I flew out for training at Ames on Sunday knowing full well that we had two matching opportunities this week. The fist opportunity was on Monday. I sat in class all day waiting to hear the results. I didn't have a good feeling and I was right. We weed not selected.
Then Wednesday we had another matching opportunity. I awoke with a great feeling about the day, but as the day wore on I got more and more nervous until I had convinced myself it wasn't going to happen (my usual defense mechanism against brutal disappointment.) About 2 hours after our social worker was to have presented us, I got the email. All I saw was the subject line "Great News". I TORE out of my classroom at full speed sprint to call our social worker! I was beside myself I was so excited!!!
He said he had a great feeling about it when we weren't selected Monday about the matching on Wednesday. We had all felt the best match was going to probably be our Wednesday match as this kiddo just sounds so much like us! Enjoys the same things, similar personality, etc... He is 2 1/2 months-ish younger than Boo! We're getting virtual twins!! Our Social Worker, Rod, told me all about Ogre and I tried to take it all in but honestly, I was so excited it was hard to pay attention.
There are many more steps where something could derail this whole process, but it's hard to think of Ogre as anything but our son already! Then Rod gave me the news, Ogre would be at an adoption event on Friday and could we come so we could meet him? Holy CROW!? I'm in CA!! So then begins the crazy flurry of emails and phone calls to my travel coordinator, my boss, the air lines, the rental cars, the hotels, etc... Long story short, I'll arrive back in Houston in the early morning on Friday, so I am able to go and meet him. I'll then fly back out to Ames on Sun. to resume class. Ogre will not know yet that we have been selected when we meet him because there is another step that must happen before they tell him and get his hopes up.
So, now what, you may ask. Well, CPS will provide us with his full history to read. Once we read it and agree we are still interested, Ogre will be told about us. Then we move on to a formal meeting and slowly after a few of those he'll come for a trial night with us and eventually a trial placement. After that, it takes about 6 months until the adoption is final! We are so hopeful in this process that Ogre's file doesn't hold too many surprises and that we can handle what is in there. I have a feeling this will be the most difficult read of my life.
Boo is handling this with a maturity WAY beyond her years. She is excited and nervous (ha, yah, me too!) In fact, it was her careful questioning of our social worker before the matching day that may have helped win over Ogre's caseworkers! Abbie came up with so many terrific questions for Rod to ask that the caseworkers were really impressed!
So, tomorrow is the big day for us. We'll get to meet him for the first time! I am so nervous - what do I say, how do I act, how do we begin fostering that relationship when he isn't even aware of who we are?!?! We'll figure it our of course, and it all just adds to the excitement we feel. We are getting SO close!! Wish us luck tomorrow!!
What a crazy week this has been!! I flew out for training at Ames on Sunday knowing full well that we had two matching opportunities this week. The fist opportunity was on Monday. I sat in class all day waiting to hear the results. I didn't have a good feeling and I was right. We weed not selected.
Then Wednesday we had another matching opportunity. I awoke with a great feeling about the day, but as the day wore on I got more and more nervous until I had convinced myself it wasn't going to happen (my usual defense mechanism against brutal disappointment.) About 2 hours after our social worker was to have presented us, I got the email. All I saw was the subject line "Great News". I TORE out of my classroom at full speed sprint to call our social worker! I was beside myself I was so excited!!!
He said he had a great feeling about it when we weren't selected Monday about the matching on Wednesday. We had all felt the best match was going to probably be our Wednesday match as this kiddo just sounds so much like us! Enjoys the same things, similar personality, etc... He is 2 1/2 months-ish younger than Boo! We're getting virtual twins!! Our Social Worker, Rod, told me all about Ogre and I tried to take it all in but honestly, I was so excited it was hard to pay attention.
There are many more steps where something could derail this whole process, but it's hard to think of Ogre as anything but our son already! Then Rod gave me the news, Ogre would be at an adoption event on Friday and could we come so we could meet him? Holy CROW!? I'm in CA!! So then begins the crazy flurry of emails and phone calls to my travel coordinator, my boss, the air lines, the rental cars, the hotels, etc... Long story short, I'll arrive back in Houston in the early morning on Friday, so I am able to go and meet him. I'll then fly back out to Ames on Sun. to resume class. Ogre will not know yet that we have been selected when we meet him because there is another step that must happen before they tell him and get his hopes up.
So, now what, you may ask. Well, CPS will provide us with his full history to read. Once we read it and agree we are still interested, Ogre will be told about us. Then we move on to a formal meeting and slowly after a few of those he'll come for a trial night with us and eventually a trial placement. After that, it takes about 6 months until the adoption is final! We are so hopeful in this process that Ogre's file doesn't hold too many surprises and that we can handle what is in there. I have a feeling this will be the most difficult read of my life.
Boo is handling this with a maturity WAY beyond her years. She is excited and nervous (ha, yah, me too!) In fact, it was her careful questioning of our social worker before the matching day that may have helped win over Ogre's caseworkers! Abbie came up with so many terrific questions for Rod to ask that the caseworkers were really impressed!
So, tomorrow is the big day for us. We'll get to meet him for the first time! I am so nervous - what do I say, how do I act, how do we begin fostering that relationship when he isn't even aware of who we are?!?! We'll figure it our of course, and it all just adds to the excitement we feel. We are getting SO close!! Wish us luck tomorrow!!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
And Again!
We were just notified that we we're selected as a candidate for yet another child. We are so excited! We are candidates for two great kids! This new candidate offer will have our social worker present to the child's case workers next Wednesday!
Our social worker said we should know the results of both candidacies next week! If we are selected for the first child before the presentation to the second child's case workers, we will not then subsequently present for the second child. Apparently you can be selected for only one at a time. It is amazing to think one of these two kids may be our new family member. Even once we are selected there is still quite a long process of learning more about each other, having our first meeting, our first sleep over and then a long trial run before the adoption becomes complete. So this is really just the beginning! But what an exciting beginning it is!
Next week is sure to be exciting! I'll keep you posted!
Our social worker said we should know the results of both candidacies next week! If we are selected for the first child before the presentation to the second child's case workers, we will not then subsequently present for the second child. Apparently you can be selected for only one at a time. It is amazing to think one of these two kids may be our new family member. Even once we are selected there is still quite a long process of learning more about each other, having our first meeting, our first sleep over and then a long trial run before the adoption becomes complete. So this is really just the beginning! But what an exciting beginning it is!
Next week is sure to be exciting! I'll keep you posted!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Movement!!!
Yipee!!! We have our first selection!!! We have been chosen as a candidate for a boy! We have no idea how many others have also been selected as a candidate. Our social worker will present us by phone to the child's caseworker and the others on the selection staff on June 13th. We'll know more sometime after that if we get to move on to the next step. Next steps could include a request for more information on us, a phone interview with us, providing us with more detailed information to review or perhaps even meeting the child.
We are so excited. This is the furthest in the process we have been to date. There are so many more steps in the process that this barely touches the tip of the iceburg, but it is still positive movement. And the child we were selected for is one we are VERY interested in. It is exciting to finally have some positive movement :-)
Boo is really excited. Our social worker asked us to provide questions for the staffing on the 13th. Boo came up with 8 of her own! And the questions were very thought provoking and mature. I was impressed at how well she is participating in this process. We have included her in most every step so that she feels control in her life and she is really stepping up to the plate. She is processing what it will mean in her life to have a sibbling. I am very proud of her.
So, as soon as I know more - I'll post back here!
We are so excited. This is the furthest in the process we have been to date. There are so many more steps in the process that this barely touches the tip of the iceburg, but it is still positive movement. And the child we were selected for is one we are VERY interested in. It is exciting to finally have some positive movement :-)
Boo is really excited. Our social worker asked us to provide questions for the staffing on the 13th. Boo came up with 8 of her own! And the questions were very thought provoking and mature. I was impressed at how well she is participating in this process. We have included her in most every step so that she feels control in her life and she is really stepping up to the plate. She is processing what it will mean in her life to have a sibbling. I am very proud of her.
So, as soon as I know more - I'll post back here!
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