Paperwork Round Two

...is FINISHED!  Whoot Whoot!  I am ecstatic!

As mentioned previously, our agency gave us A LOT of forms to fill out and people to visit before they will send over the social worker to do our home study. Our lovely references were given quite the task of saying nice things about us as well! 

I was shown the forms they had to fill out.  Oh my stars, I had a hard time doing it on myself...those poor, poor ladies!  I am so very grateful that they did this for us!  They were asked the obvious questions like how they know us, our characteristics (check list), whether we have a stable marriage, our experience with kids, how we relate to other adults, and so forth. 

The harder questions asked how many friends we have, how active we are in the community and church, how many family contacts we have. They asked how our kids would respond to another child entering our family.  How we would preserve the child's cultural heritage.  How we handle stress.  They were given another checklist of poor behaviours we may have: whether we abuse drugs or alcohol, have a poor work history, are violent, manage money poorly, have a mental illness/depression/suicidal tenancies, etc.  It sounds easy enough until your brain realizes the importance of how you word your answers.  Like my sister said, I couldn't imagine reading all the cheesy answers day in and day out!


So..what did we do for this package?

• Medical Checks - Corey, myselfI and the kids - All clear!!  We have been working VERY hard to lose weight, exercise and work on ourselves.  I was the most scared about this part of the process because we have new doctors and they barely met us.  It turned out way easier than anticipated!  And best of all...it cost us NOTHING!  Phew!
• Criminal Record Checks -Easy Peasy and also cost us NOTHING!  Seriously awesome!
• Prior Contact Check -We thought we were going to have to drive an hour for this one but were really happy to hear that the office does it here!  And it cost NOTHING as well!
• Complete an Autobiography -This SUCKED!!!  It was the worst part of this paperwork round!  Corey wrote a HUGE essay and mine was to the point.  I'm a need to know kind of person (well, except on this blog ha ha).
• 11 page questionnaire about our upbringing, discipline and parenting styles- This was also one of the most difficult surveys.  And very, very personal (like how sexually compatible are you and your partner...ummm!!?!?!  really!?!?!?!)
• Create an Eco Map -This seems rather tedious and useless if you ask me.  Google Eco Map and you'll get an idea of what it is.
• Create a Genogram/ Family Map -Basically a very extensive version of a family tree starting from our parents down to our children.
• Photocopy Marriage Certificate
• Photocopy Pay stub
• Photocopy Property Assessment/ Rental Agreement
• Get passport -This was the most expensive part of this round!  I am now waiting for it in the mail...yay (maybe I can use it for our 10 year wedding anniversary coming up -hint, hint Corey)

So, tomorrow, I will head to the post office and come back a very excited woman!  Whoot whoot!

Please continue to pray for us.  Please pray for the little girl that will (God willing) be placed in our family. Please pray for the Social Worker that will be in charge of our file (that s/he will fit our family). Please pray for our agency that we are dealing with and the people in charge of our file. Please pray for the financial support for this adoption.

Thank you for stopping by!

Update

Oh my, it has been a really long time since I posted and I am really sorry for not keeping you in the loop!  You know how it goes... a day turns into two, and then a week, and before you know it weeks go by!  I actually had two posts waiting to be published/ finished!  Regrettably, now those events and prayer requests just seem like the distant past and so I deleted them.  I will incorporate them into this update instead!  And I WILL publish this one!

Our agency gave us a lot of forms to fill out and people to visit before they will send over the Social Worker to do our Home Study.  I couldn't get into the doctor until the end of March so we have been slowly chipping away at our list.  I have received word that our lovely references have also been given quite the assignment to fill out on our behalf!  I feel really bad for them as there are some really crazy and personal questions on their forms!!!  I sure hope I didn't do anything to tick them off as they do their write ups!

So..what do we need to do?

• Medical Checks - Corey and I
• Medical Clearance -Kids
• Criminal Record Checks
• Prior Contact Check
• Complete an Autobiography
• Fill out a 11 page questionnaire about our upbringing, discipline and parenting styles
• Create an Eco Map
• Create a Genogram
• Photocopy Marriage Certificate
• Photocopy Pay stub
• Photocopy Property Assessment/ Rental Agreement

In addition to this, I need to get a passport.  I have never been on an airplane...let alone going on an international flight!  Yikes!

This all seems surreal and very, VERY daunting.  I am really nervous about my medical even though Corey has already finished his and "passed". The autobiography SUCKS to write!  They gave us a general guideline/ questions to answer but it is still really difficult to talk about myself.  I want to "get the questions right" and not answer in a way that will open me up for any major discussions with the Social Worker.  I am almost finished my very rough draft and Corey hasn't begun his yet (typical male...grr!).  He is, however, taking on the Eco Map and Genogram because he will get to do fancy things on the computer ha ha!  Two less things I have to worry about (well, sort of)!

So my dear friends and family, please continue to pray for us.  We have had our emotional ups and downs this month.  Please pray that the paperwork gets settled, for the medical exam to go smoothly, for guidance and wisdom and support and strength.  Please pray for the little girl that will (hopefully) be placed in our family.  Please pray for the Social Worker that will be in charge of our file (that s/he will fit our family).  Please pray for our agency that we are dealing with and the the new people in charge of our file. 

We are truely grateful that God is financially blessing us.  We are a long ways away from where we need to be but we have faith that God will surely provide.  Until we have the finances available, this will definitely be a fear/ concern/ prayer request for us.  I can't help but feel overwhelmed by the cost.  This is an area that I need people to pray for me about.