Home Study Papers Signed...

Four months along and finally we have pasted the first milestone.  Now we find ourselves in a holding patterned while we wait for our stamp of approval saying that we have the Ontario’s government’s permission to adopt, and the agency’s go ahead to start collecting the papers they are are in need of.

Dale’s VOG certificate came in the mail yesterday and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. 

I wish I could go into more details about some things (especially with what transpired in the past two weeks) but I won't.  I am too emotionally drained but needless to say there were bumps, bruises and hurt feelings along the way.  Nevertheless what is done is done and it is time to move forward.

I am excited, nervous and incredibly happy.  I pray that the fates will be kind.

Untitled...

This has been an extremely draining week.  If you've read my previous post then you can more or less gather what has happened.  I've decided that I'm not going to blog about the on goings just yet....but I will.   Things are still up in the air and are very senstive.  I'll post more later.

Homestudy Visit Done!

What a difference!  Compare to the first time I did this, this one a huge success.  I did warn our adoption practitioner that it would make for a crazy time, (just after school with my daycare kids) and it was, but the kids were good and happily decorating cupcakes while we toured the house with her. 

The only one glitch was hearing back from her that one of my friends still hadn't submitted the referral.  So I gave her another friend who is more than happy to do it for me.  I will add here make certain that your friends are willing to give you a good review/and be on time with submitting the referral. 

My emotions are drained, and my heart feels like it has been put through a wringer.  If the tables were turned I would not have done this to her.

*I've been debating about going into more depth with this, and decided that this isn't the time.  Just take my advice and be extremely selective about who you ask to do your referral.

Being Calm & Collect ~ Easier Said Than Done

It is amazing how some things can be amplified over the course of a night. I thought I had my need to have a perfect house under control, only to have lists of tasks jumping around in my head bringing along a surge of panic.  

So to this I am going to write a list and do the things on the list as most important and not worry about the smaller things like dusting the window sills, or touching up the chips of paint in the hallway, and do my best to remember no mother is perfect.

Preparing for Home Study Visit...

After finally getting the VOG (certificate of Good Conduct) forms to the Netherlands, we are schedule to have our home visit from our adoption practitioner next week. 

 I know when we went through this the first time around I was obsessed  with having the house perfect and that turned out to be a disaster of a visit.   The house was immaculate but the kids were too stressed out and nervous.  Their learning disabilities and behaviour hit the fan so to speak,  not that they were bad, but having Cyrus ask if he can have a glass of wine to drink, (which never happens) left me so flabbergasted I didn’t know  to say.  Needless to say I am not making that mistake again, I will remain calm so my kids will be calm.  Ever notice how parents are the spearhead of emotions, and when one is cranky everyone else follows suit?    

With this in mind I am aiming for clean and tidy instead of perfection.    

I might post some of the kids drawings on the fridge, or maybe on a bulletin board.  I haven’t decided on that.  We need to make changes to Preston’s routine, so a bulletin board may be the way we go.

But other than getting a lock box for the medicine I think we are pretty much all set.  Keeping my fingers crossed and taking plenty of relaxing breathes.