Friday, January 17, 2014

January Events

It's been a busy January for us and now that we're actively preparing for another adoption, there's been plenty of things going on!

First off, we attended our agency's holiday party last weekend.  While we likely would have gone to the party anyway, it put a different perspective on it for us as we got to spend time with adoptive families we have gotten to know over the past couple of years as well as some new families in the waiting pool.  One of the reasons we have really liked working with OA&FS is the environment.  It truly is an adoption "community" in so many aspects.  During the adoption process, they help waiting families connect with each other and with families that have already been through the process.  This type of process is a profound and life changing experience that links people together that might never have met otherwise.  This continues long after placement which just adds another great layer to how OA&FS works with families.  On an exciting note, Andy and I had the wonderful surprise of knowing that our blog has helped other adoptive families out there.  When we started this blog back in 2012, we mainly wanted to use it to keep in touch with family and close friends.  It quickly expanded and picked up far more interest than we expected which was a wonderful surprise.  Hopefully, our posts the second time around will continue to be exciting and interesting...but we'll see  :)

Speaking of doing this process a second time, we have our intake interview scheduled for Tuesday (1/28)!  We were recently contacted by Katie (our original counselor) to let us know that she'd be doing our homestudy this time around as well.  During this interview, Katie will be evaluating us to make sure we're ready for another adoption and she will also likely give us an update on how the rest of the process will go.  Considering that it's been about two years since we last went through the homestudy and paperwork, a lot has probably changed!

14 months old!
Meanwhile, life at home keeps moving forward.  Dominic keeps getting bigger and is already 14 months old. 

We also have plenty of projects at home in addition to the adoption which will keep us busy and certainly occupied once we're in the waiting pool.  A fun one was finally getting some toy bins for all of Dominic's toys and mounting our tv.  Our living room is no longer a death trap waiting for us to trip on 50 toys!

4 comments:

  1. I kinda liked the "death trap" look. It showed that a "real kid" lives at your house. One who is allowed to play and learn and have fun.

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  2. I'm trying to buy a home now and I can't wait to be able to make a home more kid friendly. It's hard to make an apartment look nice with two toddlers always running around.

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  3. Wow - thank you for this blog. My daughter is pregnant and is working with Amara to plan the adoption. What you've written really helps; I feel like I understand the (harrowing) process from the adoptive parents' perspective. I surprised myself by crying when I got to the pages recounting the birth and homecoming of your son.

    Congratulations on your growing family, and good luck with the next adoption!

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  4. Michael, I've got a secret for you. It's hard to make a home look nice too!

    Anonymous poster, thank you so much for your comment! I'm glad that our posts were helpful for you! Best of luck for you and especially your daughter with the upcoming adoption. While our experience was from the adoptive side, we definitely know its an emotional process. The great thing about it though is that Amara is another excellent agency, and you will definitely be able to find some wonderful adoptive parents to connect with!

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