Busy, Busy, Busy!

Haven't written a post in a while because we have both been busy!  Summer school is 10 hours a day, so I am pooped by the time I come home.  (Only 2 more to go!!)

We are still waiting on our homestudy to be approved.  She (our caseworker) gave us a timeframe of 4-6 weeks and today marks week #7.  We were told on Friday that the head honcho will be getting the study and reviewing.  *Fingers crossed!* 

Our profile book is printed and in our dining room and our expectant mother letter's rough draft is done.  After Thursday, it should be 100% ready!!

A lady I met through RESOLVE (an infertility support group) posted this article on facebook and I really liked it!  Hope you do too!

Hopefully you will be hearing from us shortly about our approved homestudy.  Then we send in our profile book & letter and officially wait!!  :)

Home Study - Check!

God was really watching over us during our homestudy - no rain!  Thank You Jesus!  It was a sunny, dry day.  :) Thank you to all those that prayed for sunshine.

The homestudy itself was not as bad as we thought.  Our caseworker came in at lunchtime, so we took her to our favorite burger joint - Mooyah! 

Lunch was followed by a 4-hour interrogation.  We had to rack our brains on things like where we have lived in the past 10 years, the name and address of the hospital we were born as well as the nearest hospital (and how far away it is.)  There were some very basic questions like physical description and occupation, to personal questions about our personalities and general outlook on life.  Luckily she had a sense of humor, which made it seem less intrusive. 

Next she toured the house to review the things on the health and safety precaution checklist. That part only took ~5 minutes, which was slightly disappointing after doing all that hard work. At least we didn't scrub the grout like last time (for the health inspector). 

Now we wait another 4-6 weeks for our caseworker to finish the 20+ page report on us which will go to the board to be reviewed and (hopefully) approved.  During that time, we will be writing our "Dear Expectant Mother" letter and printing our profile book.  Once we are approved and have sent those in, we are officially a "Waiting Family"!!! 

Prayer Requests

This Tuesday we have our home study. They say it is not as bad as you think, but of course I worry. We looked over some of the potential questions and have some good answers lined up.

We also spent the weekend getting the house ready for a guest - cleaning, mowing, picking up, etc. We need Monday and Tuesday to be sunny, or at least not heavy rain, days. I decided to go ahead and look at the forecast. This is what I see:


I know God has a plan, but I am praying for light rain, if any, those days. Our yard can not have standing water in it when she comes to do our home study, so the thunderstorms are a little scary right now.

So I am asking you to pray for:
* wisdom to say the right things and not always our first (usually sarcastic) response
* light or no rain Monday and Tuesday - or maybe the storm can just go around our neighborhood

Thank you to all of you who have been praying and supporting us! This is the last big step before we officially become "waiting"! I know that will have it's own adventures once we get there! We almost have our bio book completely done - here is a sneak peek!

~M~

Waiting

We went to the Adoption: Myths & Realities last night and had a great time!  Learned a lot about adoption and the Tapestry Ministry.  I have been looking at their website all day (shhh, don't tell my boss) and came across this that I absolutely love:

From Romans 8 (The Message): “That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.  Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.”

God is good, all the time!  All the time, God is good!  :)

~M~

We Got a Date!

We heard back from our social worker and we have been cleared for a home study!  The date is June 12th - that is exactly 3 weeks away.  Luckily, we have most of the stuff done getting ready for those inspections.  It is kind of nice having a small to-do list for once!  :)

Home Study – June 12th

• Food is stored appropriately – plastic wrap and foil are not used to seal food containers
• Baby gates are used for stairways and fire place
• An emergency kit - change of clothes
• All medication is locked behind at least one lock, including refrigerated medication

We have been working on our bio book every night since Friday and it is coming along!  We want to have it done at the home study to give to our social worker so she can take it back and start showing us to potential birthmoms!  Most people think of shutterfly.com or snapfish.com, but a good friend recommended mixbook.com and we LOVE IT!  It is fairly user friendly, but it is also not too plain.  Another friend recommended viovio.com, which looks good as well. 

Tonight, my family and us (is that proper grammar?) are going to Adoption: Myths & Realities (free for anyone, no registration required) at Irving Bible Church tonight.  We also have a couple from our church going as they are thinking about adopting!!  It's crazy that not too long ago, we felt very alone in this journey, and now I feel like a lot of my friends are adopting!  I know God knew what He was doing all along, I just needed to trust Him!  He is pretty amazing, huh?  :)

Alright, back to work.  7 more days...  :)
~ M ~

Drug (& TB) Free - The Way To Be!

We both went to the doctor and got the OK to be adoptive parents and passed our TB & Drug Tests!!  (Were you worried??)  :)  On a side note, it grosses me (Michelle) out that they injected dead TB into my arm to see if I had it.  I felt like I was being used as an incubator for some weird science experiment.  (I know, weird thoughts...) 

The next step is the home study, which we are just waiting on our case worker to schedule.  This is the all-day interview/home inspection.  We hope to have our bio book done when she comes so we can give it to her to take back and start showing prospective birth moms!!  I will post the link to it once we are closer to being finished.
 
Fire Inspection – passed (4/26)!

Health Inspection – passed (5/2)!

 

Health Status Forms – TB & Drug Free (5/18)

Home Study – waiting on case worker to schedule

• All mattresses for children have plastic cover/protector (just not going to have a crib yet)
  
• Infant cribs meet proper safety requirements
• Crib bumpers, soft bedding/comforters, stuffed animals and pillows are not used in crib
• Adequate and accessible personal storage space for each child
• Each child has a towel and there is adequate soap/hygiene items available for use
• All food items stored off the floor
• Food is stored appropriately – plastic wrap and foil are not used to seal food containers
• Thermometer temperature in refrigerator is at 37 and freezer is at 0 degrees
• Cleaning supplies are stored separately from food and out of the reach of children – if stored anywhere else, they must be behind a lock
• Baby gates are used for stairways and fire place
• All windows have screens
• Tobacco products are used outside
• An emergency kit (water, change of clothes, battery powered radio, sanitary wipes, blanket and non-perishable food) is readily accessible, and includes at least 2 working flashlights with batteries
• At least one fire extinguisher on each level of the home
• Fire inspection and environmental inspection are posted
• All medication is locked behind at least one lock, including refrigerated medication
• All psychotropic medications are locked behind two locks
• All outdoor areas appear safe and clean
• Pool area is enclosed by a 4’ locked fence – at least 2 life-saving devices are accessible
• Vehicles used for transporting children are in good repair
• All child safety car seats meet requirements and are installed safely
• Tools and lawn equipment kept out of reach of children or in locked sheds
• Thermometers in refrigerator and freezer
• No trampolines

We Passed 'Em All!

Sorry it has been awhile on the updates, getting our house ready for inspection was a lot more work than we thought it would be.  However, it was worth it because we passed both inspections with flying colors!!!  WHOOP!  Now if only we could keep it that clean...  It was stressful for us as we had some long nights.  Oddly enough, when we open a drawer/cupboard and it snaps back closed because of the child locks, we just bust out in laughter.  That may be a sign of being crazy, but I think we are taking all these hoops with a grain of salt. 

Anywho, here is what we have left before we officially become a "waiting family":

Fire Inspection – passed (4/26)!

Health Inspection – passed (5/2)!

 

Health Status Forms – filled out by doctor, not yet scheduled

• Medical history
• Physical
• Drug screen
• TB test
• Hepatitis B immunization

Home Study – schedule after health status forms are done

• All mattresses for children have plastic cover/protector
• Infant cribs meet proper safety requirements
• Crib bumpers, soft bedding/comforters, stuffed animals and pillows are not used in crib
• Adequate and accessible personal storage space for each child
• Each child has a towel and there is adequate soap/hygiene items available for use
• All food items stored off the floor
• Food is stored appropriately – plastic wrap and foil are not used to seal food containers
• Thermometer temperature in refrigerator is at 37 and freezer is at 0 degrees
• Cleaning supplies are stored separately from food and out of the reach of children – if stored anywhere else, they must be behind a lock
• Baby gates are used for stairways and fire place
• All windows have screens
• Tobacco products are used outside
• An emergency kit (water, change of clothes, battery powered radio, sanitary wipes, blanket and non-perishable food) is readily accessible, and includes at least 2 working flashlights with batteries
• At least one fire extinguisher on each level of the home
• Fire inspection and environmental inspection are posted
• All medication is locked behind at least one lock, including refrigerated medication
• All psychotropic medications are locked behind two locks
• All outdoor areas appear safe and clean
• Pool area is enclosed by a 4’ locked fence – at least 2 life-saving devices are accessible
• Vehicles used for transporting children are in good repair
• All child safety car seats meet requirements and are installed safely
• Tools and lawn equipment kept out of reach of children or in locked sheds
• Thermometers in refrigerator and freezer
• No trampolines

Getting closer - I think  can see the light!  Please keep us in your prayers, as we try to finish up the last few hoops, our calendars are filling up and slowing up down.  We need to make sure we keep our priorities straight!

Here is a sneak peek at our photo book so far: 
(only have the first few pages done, but will be working on it as summer nears!)

http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/family/john-michelle-jackson-7384084