Ready, Set, GO!

Yesterday was our Foster/Adoption orientation with Contra Costa County. We received so much great information! Its funny how different this orientation was from the Fresno County orientation I went to three years ago. This one was much smaller and was put on by volunteers. One of the ladies was a former foster mom for infants and she had so many wonderful things to tell us. I was just eating up all the information.

It also happens that there may be a 60% cut in the funding of their program starting June 30, so we were encouraged to sign up for the next class available - and we did! Our classes start this Saturday! I was happy to hear they did Saturday classes because we can get our hours done so much faster - only 4 weeks instead of 8. We will be done with our training by the end of June! (Can you tell I'm excited?)

It seems like everything is falling into place. They told us it would take between 4-6 months before we are licensed, and I'm praying we are closer to 4 months.

And the Lord keeps providing! My sister found out that her crib doesn't convert to a toddler bed, so she bought a toddler bed and is giving me her nice crib. And a family member is giving us a twin daybed that she doesn't need anymore so the nursery will be set up before we know it. Its so nice to finally see things coming together so easily!

Switching Gears

After much thought and prayer we have decided to switch gears and adopt through the foster care system. This is something I've have always wanted to do and we are really excited to get started.

Its funny how we've been so set on private domestic adoption, but God just kept tapping on my heart. We have our orientation on Monday and I am ubber excited. We had actually started the process a few years ago through Fresno County but it wasn't really good timing for us at that point. I'm finally ready to finally see this dream become a reality.

Keep us in your prayers as we know this is not an easy road but are preparing for the challenges it has in store for us!

See what happens when I look?

I finished my autobiography and my questionnaire! Woo Hoo! Now I'm just waiting for Alex to get his done (which he's halfway finished with and I'm amazed. He has finals next week and I've been sweating him getting it done by our May 22nd deadline.)

As a way to congratulate myself for my hard work (it took me 2 FULL days to finish all those stinking questions), I decided I would just LOOK at baby stuff. You know, get ideas for what kind of crib I want and the type of bedding I'd like. I know I want something with yellow in it because its my favorite color. And while I was web surfing I found this...



The entire set is here

Do you SERIOUSLY know how hard I'm am trying to stop myself from buying this!!! One is because I'm worried about buying anything until after my homestudy is approved. Also because I'm debating on whether this is gender neutral. If you've seen what they consider "gender neutral" you'd probably think this is pretty close...

This would be ADORABLE in the "Lion's Den Nursery". Ughhhhh. Why did I ever even look!?!

Expectations?

I can't sleep.

I've been up for the last hour working on one of the home study questionnaires. The question I'm stuck on is:

What do you expect from your children?

Um, I want them to be happy and healthy..... right? Is that enough?


I want to put something eloquent and profound. Nothing is coming.


The other question I'm stuck on:

What aspects of child-rearing are important to you?

Can someone define child-rearing? That's "raising children" right?

This is Websters Definition

1. "The training or bringing-up of children by parents or parent-substitutes. It is used also for child rearing practices in different societies, at different economic levels, in different ethnic groups, etc. It differs from parenting in that in child rearing the emphasis is on the act of training or bringing up the child and the interaction between the parent and child, while parenting emphasizes the responsibility and qualities of exemplary behavior of the parent. "

So how is this question any different than the last 3 paragraphs I wrote on how I want to use positive discipline?!?

Yeah, I really need to go to bed....

Paper Pregnant

We've picked the agency that we want to work with (thank you Kirsten for the recommendation). Alex and I went to the information meeting Saturday and were able to get all of our questions answered and both felt good about moving forward with them. The staff was really nice and very knowledgeable and even though they are a large company they feel like a small office. They have locations in 4 states, but their Bay Area office is literally right down the street from us.

We've just gotten started on the home study paperwork, and boy there is a lot to fill out. I don't remember the last time I had to right a autobiography. Or when I last needed to discuss the things Alex and I usually have disagreements about. But hey, its going to be so worth it in the long run! Of course, I am having panic attacks thinking that we won't pass the home study (apparently that's a pretty common fear, but most people pass). We have a packet of paperwork to do before our weekend seminars at the end of the month. Hopefully I can get these done fast now that we are all moved. The average wait time for a match is 12 months, so we have awhile once our profile is up, but at least we will have our part done.

This is finally feeling real!

Where do I start?

April has been busy! I can't believe its almost over.

I was looking around my apartment this morning at empty boxes I need to fill and asked my self "Where do I start?"

Than I thought, "hum, that's a good blog title"; so I'm ignoring my empty boxes and writting about what's happened this month instead. So, yes, this is a long post about my month and I'll be amazed if anyone can even get through the first paragraph:)

The Wednesday before Easter I drove down to Fresno to start putting together my sister's shower at my parents house. It was a lot of fun, but also exhausting. I'm so glad I had my mom, Aunt Jan, Karey and Marnie to help. By the time Saturday came around I was so tired - and my tiredness was noticeable on every picture of me. It didn't help that I had a "wardrobe malfunction" which the Ann Taylor dress I had planned on wearing and had to wear another one that wasn't as flattering. But the most important part is that Kristi had a wonderful time! She loved the party and couldn't believe how many people made the trip to come a see her. She felt special and loved and it was totally worth the all the work. (I would post pictures but I forgot to take my camera, so I'm waiting to get some of the pix from my parents.)

Alex and I have decided to move. We found a place in Martinez, which is about 20 minuites south-east of where we are now. We have friends living in the same apartments, so Alex can carpool to school, and the rent is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than what we are paying now. So I'm looking forward to living near friends again, and in a town that has more than a just a Walmart for shopping. Martinez is also in Contra Costa County- which is important because we are still considering adopting though the foster care system and they have a great program. We've both felt called to fost-adopt but we are praying about whether right now is the right time.

Last weekend, for our anniversary, Alex and I went to a Weekened to Remember conference in Sonoma. We had been to marriage retreats before and thought this would be similar, but it was so much better! We both feel like we came away from the weekend understanding each other better and more focused on our marriage and each other.

So that's been my month. I guess I have to go pack now....

7 years ago today...

I married my best friend and made the best decision of my life.

We've had our ups and downs, and some really hard years, but it's all been worth it having my best friend by my side.

Happy Anniversary Hubbs!