Keeping current

On Friday afternoon, our social worker, Wendy, came over to update our licensing (which happens every 6 months) and gather some information to finalize our home study revision (which has to be done every year while in process). The licensing update was pretty quick; she checks our hot water temp, tests the smoke alarms, checks for carbon monoxide detectors and ensures all things hazardous are locked up.

For the home study part, she had already collected the documents prior to the visit, but now that our kids are older she had to talk to them about the adoption and include that in our report. Tessa went first and said she was excited to get new brothers or sisters. She reminded Wendy (multiple times) that she is 4 1/2. Wendy asked how she would feel if babies came, and Tessa told her, "Well, they would be, like, 1 (year old) and I am 4 1/2. Glad we got that squared away... Wendy moved on to Mark, and he said, "We just keep waiting and waiting and waiting." She asked him how he thought he could help when the babies or kids arrived, and he said that he would write down some words and tell them how to read the words. What a great kid! Wendy suggested that Mark help us make some flashcards for the children to help them communicate with us while they learn English; regardless of their ages, I thought this was a great way for Mark and Tessa to get involved in the preparation and bond with their siblings when they arrive at home. Mark was brainstorming important words and Tessa immediately suggested "chocolate"; that girl is always thinking. We'll let you know how that project goes!

I've also added a bunch of blogs written by families who are also adopting or have already adopted from Ethiopia to the right of this page. Some are people using our agency, some we found through other blogs and we are even fortunate to have one other family who we know "in real life"; it has been so great to have them with us in this process (Insert shout-out to the Hanson family here...). I enjoy reading all of their stories and seeing how their families have evolved. Thanks to all of them for sharing that!