So Where Are We On the Adoption Front?

In spite of my silence on this issue, we have been making seemingly slow but steady progress toward our adoption of Abby. We did go to Boise and completed the mandatory parent education for our home study agency. We also got to meet 7 other adoptive/thinking-about-adopting couples while at the training. Thanks to Kevin's nephew, Tyler, for watching our kiddos at the motel and to his sister, Allie, for keeping our girls company. We have also been forging ahead on the online education required by our placing agency--have finished 4 1/3 out of the necessary 6 courses.

We got statements from the vet that our cat is current on her vaccinations and ones from doctors that our children are also up-to-date. This required both the cat and J. getting poked.

We filled out the Older Child Survey of needs we are willing to accept, maybe willing to accept and not willing to accept.

We got employment verification from both of Kevin's employers. One company, however, did not follow the specific instructions for Abby's Eastern European country (even though I listed them very carefully)--they didn't put the information on company letterhead, mention last year's income or have it signed and notarized. They did, however, (to their credit) respond very quickly. So I'll have to resend the request.

As silly as it sounds, the form that was the most difficult for me to fill out was the financial form. It's just a single sheet but it drives me crazy every time. See, I hate to admit it but we don't really have a set monthly budget so to figure out what we spend in the various areas (medical, food, gas, etc) I have to go back through my checkbook registers for the last several months and write down the spending in each area and then come up with a reasonable average. And the part that's usually pretty straight-forward--the income boxes on the form--about made me lose my mind. As several of you know, Kevin was "off work" for two months earlier in the year and was re-hired the end of March. Also one job pays a salary but the other pays weekly on a hourly wage--but hours vary quite a bit from week to week. Previously, I think I've just put last year's income in that spot but that didn't seem to be proper for THIS year. AGHHHHH! I finally got all the blanks filled in to the best of my ability.

And today was finally my scheduled physical exam. I also had blood drawn for HIV. I had to wait until the end of June at earliest due to our insurance coverage. My doctor said she'll have the forms ready by Friday for me to pick up. For some reason getting this Dr. appointment done feels so major to me. Now I feel like I can look Abby's picture in the eye and say we're really on our way. Kevin's doctor visit is scheduled for next week.

And July 5 our home study worker is planning to be back at our house at 1 p.m. Hopefully, I'll be a bit more presentable than last time she came :) The goal is to have our home study completed by August 1. It seems that the home study process is much more tedious and detailed compared to our other adoptions--since we are adopting from a Hague country this time around.